2 Months old

Last week I had a bad case of Mastitis. It started with the bright red breast that was painful and hot to the touch. Then I got a really bad fever that went up to 103.5. That lasted for a few days until the antibiotics kicked in. The weirdest part was the chills. I'd be so hot and burning up one minute and drenched in sweat an then an hour later I was freezing w/ two sweatshirts and blankets piled on me. I even got so cold that I put mittens on. I felt pretty bad. I'm still a little under the weather but not sure if it's the lasting effects of the Mastitis or if I'm just exhausted from sleep deprivation.

Breastfeeding is tough. I'd be fine if it was only one baby. But they are both eating 5 ounces every 3 hours and that means I need about 80 ounces of milk a day. Before the Mastitis I was able to come up with at least 80% or more of that and then supplement w/ formula for the rest but now my supply is a little lower since the Mastitis. Every day I think about switching to formula b/c I just don't have the time to pump. I'm no longer putting them on the breast, instead I'm just pumping after each feeding session. I then save the milk and have it ready for the next feeding. Not sure if this was a smart decision but there was no way I could deal with two babies that weren't satisfied on the breast. And I couldn't try to take the time (there is no time) to make them more efficient. I'd have them on the breast for 30 mins each and they'd be crying and hungry 30 mins later. That leaves no room for burping, diapering and getting any necessary chores done (let alone finding the time for me to eat or even pee) At least if I pump I can get them to go 3 hours by feeding them the milk in a bottle and therefore making sure they get a full belly. I have to be honest that I'm disappointed. I had hoped I'd have them both breastfeeding at the same time on the breast and I'd be doing it for at least 6 months or a year. I know that breast milk if the best for them. But- I'm just doing the best I can. I am not giving up just yet but I may be switching to formula soon.

Two months have gone by and we are now starting to fit into 0-3 clothing. Newborn size is getting snug. I just can't believe how fast they grow. When we came home from the hospital the newborn outfits were huge. We've also moved on to size 1 diapers for the most part. We were at Valley Children's Hospital yesterday to talk to a specialist about Andrews kidney. He still has fluid in his left kidney and we will be doing some more testing to see what the cause is. While there he was weighed and is now almost 10 and half pounds and 20 inches long! Matthew's kidneys were checked while we were there and he got a clean bill of health. Thank goodness. They didn't weigh him but I would guess he's around 9 and a half pounds. He's a little smaller than Andrew.

I've now been on my own almost a month. My Mom was going to come the first week I was alone with the babies but she came down with Shingles and we couldn't put the babies at risk plus she has been miserable. I didn't realize how awful shingles are. I hope I never have them. Hopefully she's all better soon. My parents were here for Thanksgiving and that was really nice. My parents are the types that can't sit still and want to stay busy. So both vehicles got washed, my oil was changed, the windows in the house were washed and all of my wooden blinds cleaned, ironing got done and we had full on meals the entire time they were here with no help by me....plus much more. Not bad, huh!

Also for my own records to look back on. We decided to switch from Avent plastic bottles to Evenflo glass bottles. There is the current controversy that certain chemicals in hard plastic bottles could be harmful to a baby so we decided we'd play it safe and just switch. We have also decided to put off the vaccinations. They will still receive all of their vaccinations but we are going to start the first shot at 4 months instead of at 2 months and space the following vaccinations out much farther. This came at the recommendation from our RE (Dr. Z) that we read a book on autism and other disorders and their link to vaccines. I love and respect Dr. Z and he has a son with autism so we decided to order the book and read it. It's called What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Vaccines by Dr. Cave. It contains some scary info that I definitely didn't know and you have to wonder why there is such a drastic rise in Autism. I'm also thinking about going organic with the baby food when it comes to that time. Or at least a good portion of it. J and I are just wanting to do everything we can to safeguard their health. I feel paranoid at times that everything out there is harmful. We were at Babies-R-us and ended up not buying a toy we were looking at b/c it was made in China. I tried to look for a toy...any toy...not made in China and couldn't find one. But all of these recalls on toys b/c of the findings of lead content is scary.