Tuesday, July 31, 2012
just like his mother
We are learning that Jakob is very prone to accidents. Just like Kara. Need we remember the great finger injury of 2009 that resulted in an emergency room visit on Kara's birthday and a kitchen that took me over an hour to clean-up. How does a cut on the finger turn into several stitches and the fear that our landlord will think someone was murdered in our kitchen. Need I say more? Now the problem is that Jakob's injuries are not always the result of his own doing. It's just that if someone is going to get hurt it's going to be Jakob. The boy always has scratches and bruises on his body. Just last week Jakob almost lost a finger tip while Kara was trying to cut his fingernails. Note: This is why I bite their fingernails as opposed to using the nail clippers. In fact I think Kara has thrown in the towel on fingernail clipping duty. She will just stick to using the Nosefrida to suck out snot. Our experience with the Nosefrida is a whole other story for another day! And then over the weekend we were trying to put Jakob in the carrier and we somehow managed to pinch his arm in the snap portion. Poor little guy. It's not a good idea to take an already fussy baby and injure them in the process of trying to calm him down. Oops. And these injuries are all on top of the scratches Jakob gives himself over and over again. If Jakob gets too hungry he will start to dig at his eyes with his fingers. I'm serious. The little man thinks he is going to starve to death from time to time. I'm afraid the next time we take Jakob to the pediatrician they are going to call child services on us. I have officially decided that once Jakob learns to walk he will be wearing little baby football pads. And then there is Mr. Chill Alex who has never scratched his face to this day.
Friday, July 27, 2012
big fat FAIL
We were wrong. Jakob definitely needs to be on the Zantac. We had four glorious medicine free days and then BAM! the old Jakob reappeared. And let's just say I did not miss the old Jakob. It is impossible to console Jakob when he is dealing with the acid issues. He withers around after eating and tightens his entire body. He also does this scary "holding my breath" and "foaming at the mouth" thing that I can do to live without for the rest of my life. His scream is so different from the "I'm bored", the "I'm tired", and the "I'm hungry" scream. It breaks my heart into a million little pieces. We immediately put Jakob back on the medication and within 48 hours we had our little guy back to feeling better. I really struggled alone on Monday and Tuesday evening while Jakob was feeling bad. I called my mother in tears on Tuesday evening because I was terrified of holding a screaming Jakob for hours on end. There was nothing I could do to help him feel better. Thankfully the misery for Jakob only lasted until Wednesday and I was back to being able to somewhat competently care for both boys alone. However, I am banning my mother from ever taking another vacation! It's just nice to have some help a few nights a week.
I successfully did bath time by myself this week. This is a huge accomplishment for me. Most people (including Kara) would not bat an eye doing bath time by themselves. But for some reason bath time has always made me super nervous. I'm afraid of dropping a wet baby. But since I am going to be alone in the evenings and we want bath time to be part of our bedtime routine I knew I had to jump feet first into the tub at some point. So bath time was not a complete fail but I still have some learning to do. My goal is to someday have babies who do not scream during bath time. No matter how hard I try the boys do not stop screaming during bath time. I even try to sing, "rubber ducky your the one. you make bath time so much fun." but for some reason this makes them cry even more. I get the message. No singing.
Yesterday Alex followed Kara around the living room for the first time! Alex was sitting in the bumbo (this little boy has amazing head control) when I got home from work. I went over to give him some snuggles so Kara got up and went into the kitchen. I noticed Alex follow her like a hawk to the kitchen. I told Kara to start walking around the living room to see if he would continue to follow her. And he did!! It was so neat to watch. Now if only we can get him to smile for us ... Jakob on the other hand smiles all the time!
Mary
I successfully did bath time by myself this week. This is a huge accomplishment for me. Most people (including Kara) would not bat an eye doing bath time by themselves. But for some reason bath time has always made me super nervous. I'm afraid of dropping a wet baby. But since I am going to be alone in the evenings and we want bath time to be part of our bedtime routine I knew I had to jump feet first into the tub at some point. So bath time was not a complete fail but I still have some learning to do. My goal is to someday have babies who do not scream during bath time. No matter how hard I try the boys do not stop screaming during bath time. I even try to sing, "rubber ducky your the one. you make bath time so much fun." but for some reason this makes them cry even more. I get the message. No singing.
Yesterday Alex followed Kara around the living room for the first time! Alex was sitting in the bumbo (this little boy has amazing head control) when I got home from work. I went over to give him some snuggles so Kara got up and went into the kitchen. I noticed Alex follow her like a hawk to the kitchen. I told Kara to start walking around the living room to see if he would continue to follow her. And he did!! It was so neat to watch. Now if only we can get him to smile for us ... Jakob on the other hand smiles all the time!
Mary
Sunday, July 22, 2012
no need to send a search party
So there have been some rumblings from my loyal blog readers that I am long overdue for an update. There seems to be so few extra minutes in each day. And when I do get an extra minute ... I sleep!
Let's start with some cuteness ...
Jakob
Alex
The boys had their 2 month pediatrician appointment on July 19th. Both boys are doing wonderful!!! Jakob is tipping the scales at 9 lbs 2 oz and is 22" long. Alex is tipping the scales at 8 lbs 10 oz and is 21" long. They boys did receive their first round of shots at this appointment. And overall both boys did just fine with the shots. Kara and I went in with a game plan in hopes of making the shots a bit more tolerable for the boys. We scheduled a morning appointment (when the boys are happiest) and we schedule the appointment to fall close to their next feeding time. We made sure to shove a bottle in the boys mouth as soon as the shots were done. It worked like a charm. Both boys screamed for only a second but immediately calmed down once they started sucking on the bottle. We just spend an extra 20 minutes at the pediatricians office finishing the bottles and then headed back home. Both boys experienced some fussiness the first 24 hours but it really was not super horrible outside of a restless night of sleep. We did give them a couple doses of Tylenol which seemed to help a bit. The boys are not due to go back to the pediatrician until they are 4 months old.
Jakob - We made the decision to take Jakob off of the Zantac at the pediatrician appointment last week. And at the moment (about 96 hours after his last does) Jakob does not seem to be bothered after finishing a bottle. The pediatrician seems to think we will know within a week whether or not we need to put Jakob back on the medication. I really do believe that the digestive issues were related to the formula. The boys have become so much more alert over the last few weeks. We got our first smile from Jakob on July 17th. Of course I missed it. But Grandma and Grandpa Russell were in town and got to experience it! But now he smiles all the time. Jakob continues to love to spend time on his playmate. There are lights on the mat and he just loves to stare at them. We have been putting the boys in their cribs from time to time and Jakob really seems to love the mobile in the crib. He also loves to sleep on his back.
Alex - We are still waiting on smile from Alex but we think he is getting very close. Alex is not a fan of spending time on his back. We are working on it. But this boy loves to sleep on his belly. It never fails that tummy time turns into nap time for Alex. Alex is also a fan of mirrors. He can stare at himself for hours. He also loves to lay back against our knees when he is fussy. If you try to hold Alex in the traditional "baby hold" he will get pissed off!
I made the decision this week to drop a pump session. I am now only pumping six times a day. I know most breastfeeding experts strongly discourage a woman from dropping pump sessions before 12 weeks postpartum. However, I was really starting to struggle with seven pump sessions a day as that extra pump session always fell in the middle of the night due to my work schedule. I was becoming super sleep deprived. Plus I am making more milk as the weeks go on so pump sessions that used to last 15 minutes when the boys were first born are now lasting 45 minutes. So I now pump at 1:30am, 5:30am, 9:30am, 1:30pm, 5:30pm and 9pm. I tend to get the most milk at my 1:30am pump session. I actually got 12.5 ounces last night. It was crazy! I am averaging about 55 oz - 60 oz per day. The boys are eating anywhere between 22 oz - 28 oz per day.
The boys sleep schedule also fits nicely with my new pumping schedule. We start our bedtime routine at 8pm each night and the boys tend to be asleep by 9pm. I then pump upstairs in the bedroom and I am usually asleep before Kara gets home from work around 10pm. They boys then eat again around 2am after I am done with my middle of the night pumping session. I will wake Kara up before I go to the work in the morning to feed the boys again. We are thrilled that the boys are sleeping so well at night. We don't expect for them to start sleeping entirely through the night until we are able to introduce solids between four months old and six months old.
My office had their annual summer picnic yesterday and we took the boys to meet all my coworkers. It was definitely their biggest outing to date. I think I did a good job not being a paranoid mother. But you were required to use hand sanitizer before holding a baby! And thankfully all my coworkers obliged to my requirement. I only panicked once during the day and that is when I glanced up and could not find Alex. The boys were under a picnic pavilion to avoid sun exposure and for some reason a coworker decided it would be a good idea to walk Alex outside to where all the games were being played. Um?? My child is only 10 weeks old and not wearing any sunscreen!! Thankfully I had a wonderful coworker who noticed the panic in my eyes and she ran out and stole the baby back!! Otherwise the boys did wonderful!
Some pictures from the day ...
And this gem ...
That would be me at the end of the table shoving my face into a pudding filled pie. How do I get myself roped into these things? I will never eat vanilla pudding again.
The boys also had the honor of meeting Grandma and Grandpa Russell this week. I was so glad both were finally able to make the trip to Columbus. We enjoyed having them both in town for a couple of days. I think we wore them out ... !!! Because you know you can't come into our house without being put to work!! We hope that perhaps Grandma and Grandpa will be able to come for another visit sometime this summer. If not, Kara and I will be making our first big family trip to PA for Thanksgiving. I'm already getting nervous about all the stuff we will have to pack. Luggage rack anyone?? Here are a couple of pictures from the visit ...
This is a big week! My parents are on vacation. What does this mean? I will be alone with the boys in the evening each night. A big deal? Not really. It just makes me nervous as evening time is always fussy time. And I am usually tired after a full day of work. But remember ... what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!
Until next time...
Mary
Let's start with some cuteness ...
Jakob
Alex
The boys had their 2 month pediatrician appointment on July 19th. Both boys are doing wonderful!!! Jakob is tipping the scales at 9 lbs 2 oz and is 22" long. Alex is tipping the scales at 8 lbs 10 oz and is 21" long. They boys did receive their first round of shots at this appointment. And overall both boys did just fine with the shots. Kara and I went in with a game plan in hopes of making the shots a bit more tolerable for the boys. We scheduled a morning appointment (when the boys are happiest) and we schedule the appointment to fall close to their next feeding time. We made sure to shove a bottle in the boys mouth as soon as the shots were done. It worked like a charm. Both boys screamed for only a second but immediately calmed down once they started sucking on the bottle. We just spend an extra 20 minutes at the pediatricians office finishing the bottles and then headed back home. Both boys experienced some fussiness the first 24 hours but it really was not super horrible outside of a restless night of sleep. We did give them a couple doses of Tylenol which seemed to help a bit. The boys are not due to go back to the pediatrician until they are 4 months old.
Jakob - We made the decision to take Jakob off of the Zantac at the pediatrician appointment last week. And at the moment (about 96 hours after his last does) Jakob does not seem to be bothered after finishing a bottle. The pediatrician seems to think we will know within a week whether or not we need to put Jakob back on the medication. I really do believe that the digestive issues were related to the formula. The boys have become so much more alert over the last few weeks. We got our first smile from Jakob on July 17th. Of course I missed it. But Grandma and Grandpa Russell were in town and got to experience it! But now he smiles all the time. Jakob continues to love to spend time on his playmate. There are lights on the mat and he just loves to stare at them. We have been putting the boys in their cribs from time to time and Jakob really seems to love the mobile in the crib. He also loves to sleep on his back.
Alex - We are still waiting on smile from Alex but we think he is getting very close. Alex is not a fan of spending time on his back. We are working on it. But this boy loves to sleep on his belly. It never fails that tummy time turns into nap time for Alex. Alex is also a fan of mirrors. He can stare at himself for hours. He also loves to lay back against our knees when he is fussy. If you try to hold Alex in the traditional "baby hold" he will get pissed off!
I made the decision this week to drop a pump session. I am now only pumping six times a day. I know most breastfeeding experts strongly discourage a woman from dropping pump sessions before 12 weeks postpartum. However, I was really starting to struggle with seven pump sessions a day as that extra pump session always fell in the middle of the night due to my work schedule. I was becoming super sleep deprived. Plus I am making more milk as the weeks go on so pump sessions that used to last 15 minutes when the boys were first born are now lasting 45 minutes. So I now pump at 1:30am, 5:30am, 9:30am, 1:30pm, 5:30pm and 9pm. I tend to get the most milk at my 1:30am pump session. I actually got 12.5 ounces last night. It was crazy! I am averaging about 55 oz - 60 oz per day. The boys are eating anywhere between 22 oz - 28 oz per day.
The boys sleep schedule also fits nicely with my new pumping schedule. We start our bedtime routine at 8pm each night and the boys tend to be asleep by 9pm. I then pump upstairs in the bedroom and I am usually asleep before Kara gets home from work around 10pm. They boys then eat again around 2am after I am done with my middle of the night pumping session. I will wake Kara up before I go to the work in the morning to feed the boys again. We are thrilled that the boys are sleeping so well at night. We don't expect for them to start sleeping entirely through the night until we are able to introduce solids between four months old and six months old.
My office had their annual summer picnic yesterday and we took the boys to meet all my coworkers. It was definitely their biggest outing to date. I think I did a good job not being a paranoid mother. But you were required to use hand sanitizer before holding a baby! And thankfully all my coworkers obliged to my requirement. I only panicked once during the day and that is when I glanced up and could not find Alex. The boys were under a picnic pavilion to avoid sun exposure and for some reason a coworker decided it would be a good idea to walk Alex outside to where all the games were being played. Um?? My child is only 10 weeks old and not wearing any sunscreen!! Thankfully I had a wonderful coworker who noticed the panic in my eyes and she ran out and stole the baby back!! Otherwise the boys did wonderful!
Some pictures from the day ...
And this gem ...
That would be me at the end of the table shoving my face into a pudding filled pie. How do I get myself roped into these things? I will never eat vanilla pudding again.
The boys also had the honor of meeting Grandma and Grandpa Russell this week. I was so glad both were finally able to make the trip to Columbus. We enjoyed having them both in town for a couple of days. I think we wore them out ... !!! Because you know you can't come into our house without being put to work!! We hope that perhaps Grandma and Grandpa will be able to come for another visit sometime this summer. If not, Kara and I will be making our first big family trip to PA for Thanksgiving. I'm already getting nervous about all the stuff we will have to pack. Luggage rack anyone?? Here are a couple of pictures from the visit ...
This is a big week! My parents are on vacation. What does this mean? I will be alone with the boys in the evening each night. A big deal? Not really. It just makes me nervous as evening time is always fussy time. And I am usually tired after a full day of work. But remember ... what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!
Until next time...
Mary
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
full circle
A year ago yesterday (July 16, 2011) Kara and I went to PA to visit Kara's mother and stepfather. I was pregnant. I also had a really bad feeling that the pregnancy was not viable as I was experiencing some bleeding. Plus I just had a bad feeling overall. It was a horrible day. Yesterday (July 16, 2012) Kara's mother and stepfather came to OH to meet Jakob and Alex. It was a wonderful day. A year ago I would have given anything to catch a glimpse into the future to see that things would turn out just fine. I have thought a lot about the miscarriage since the boys were born. I have such mixed feelings. I often wonder about the baby Kara and I lost a year ago. But then I look at the boys and realize they would not be here had I stayed pregnant. It is such a weird feeling. I feel very blessed today.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
8 weeks
It's time for a long overdue update on the boys!
I always hesitate to say it out loud but things continue to go well for Jakob. Kara and I often look at Jakob and cannot believe we are looking at the same baby that was living in this house only a month ago. We went through a growth spurt with Jakob last week. It was a long few days as Jakob was eating every couple of hours. Jakob and Alex continue to take about 3 oz of breast milk every 3 hours. We give Jakob about 100 mL at the 8pm and 11pm feedings. This helps him sleep a bit longer at night. We have found that neither Jakob nor Alex can take much more than 3 oz at a feeding as both spit-up quite a bit after the feeding. The boys are so alert these days. Jakob loves to play on the playmate. He can watch the lights for upwards of 30 minutes without ever getting fussy. Both boys prefer to sleep on their backs. We try to do tummy time each day but on some days we have limited success. Because the boys are so alert these days they no longer spend much time in the vibrating chair and/or swing. Actually it appears that Alex is starting to really dislike the vibrating chair. I have not had him in it for several days. Alex is also going through a phase of wanting to be held in the evening but often it has to be in a very specific position or he will scream at the top of his lungs. We found a really awesome video on YouTube called We See that Jakob absolutely loves to watch. I tend to reserve the video for night time when Jakob needs to fall asleep. We prop up the iPad and Jakob will watch it for upwards of 40 minutes. It helps to calm him down. We love free entertainment. The boys are still sleeping in their Rock N Plays in our bedroom but both seem to have our bedtime routine down pat. We consider "nighttime" to begin at 8pm each night. We do the 8pm feeding and then I turn off the lights in the living room. The boys can stay awake but it is not play time. We then do a final feeding around 10pm when Kara gets home from work. We carry the boys upstairs and put them in their Rock N Plays. They get goodnight kisses and then tend to fall asleep within minutes. The amount of time both boys sleep varies night to night. On a bad night we only get a two hour stretch but on a good night (which happens more frequently these days) we get a four hour stretch. I believe a five hour stretch is considered sleeping through the night so we are getting very close. The boys sleep upstairs until their 8am feeding. Both boys can turn their heads back and forth while on their stomachs. Both have also turned over from their bellies to the backs though that is not accomplished each time we do tummy time. Kara and I are still waiting for smiles from the boys. We think they have smiled at us but we are not 100% certain. I cannot wait!
Other notes ... I am still exclusively pumping breast milk for the boys. It continues to be a very exhausting process but I am committed to it for the long haul if at all possible. I pump seven times a day and I manage to get between 50 - 60 oz a day. It is not a great supply for twins but it is all I can manage to get at this point. I know at some point I will no longer be able to be the single source of food for the boys. And to be honest the longer they go without getting formula (neither have had formula with the exception of the fortification of the breast milk since they left the NICU) the more difficult it gets to accept that they will have to receive formula at some point. I know I am being really hard on myself but it just breaks my heart to think that I could potentially be introducing discomfort to Jakob because my body does not produce enough milk. Plus do you know how obsessed people are with breastfeeding and breast milk? It can get annoying and it puts undo pressure on mothers. I have complete strangers ask me all the time if I am breastfeeding the boys. Since when did that become everyone's business?? I was a formula fed baby and I turned out just fine (Kara may disagree!). The good news ... we are not at that point yet and I am hoping the longer we go without formula the more developed both of their digestive systems get and perhaps formula will not be as big of an issue. I have been pumping at work and it has also been a learning curve. Our office has a "quiet room" where employees can go to make private phone calls or just get away from the office. My company put a lock on the door and I now use that room to pump once per day. I will be pumping twice per day once I return to work full time. It took me a week to even get comfortable with the environment and I still check the door about a billion times before I start pumping each session. My freezer stash stands at about 300 oz - 350 oz so that gives us a bit of a cushion. But I have not been able to freeze any additional breast milk since last weekend when Jakob began his growth spurt. So it appears I may be done freezing any excess breast milk.
We continue to cloth diaper the boys. And I absolutely love it!! It took some time for me to get on board with it when we first got home from the hospital but I think that was because I was overwhelmed with so many things. We have been using AIOs and prefolds during the newborn phase. Both Kara and I agree that we love the prefolds the most. Because we go through so many diapers a day the prefolds just make the most sense. We also love that it is summertime so we can hang the laundry out on the balcony to dry and then we are saving money by not running he dryer. We are going to start using some pocket diapers as the boys get a bit bigger and start sleeping longer at night. I do not think the prefolds have enough absorbency to last through the night. The pocket diapers will allow us to add more absorbency if we need it at night. We use the prefolds at night at the moment but because the boys are only sleeping for two or three hours at a time the lack of absorbency is not an issue. I will be sad when the boys are out of the newborn prefolds though. They are too cute.
I think that is all for the moment. I know I am forgetting some things but I am just glad to get some things on paper so that I don't forget it all.
Mary
I always hesitate to say it out loud but things continue to go well for Jakob. Kara and I often look at Jakob and cannot believe we are looking at the same baby that was living in this house only a month ago. We went through a growth spurt with Jakob last week. It was a long few days as Jakob was eating every couple of hours. Jakob and Alex continue to take about 3 oz of breast milk every 3 hours. We give Jakob about 100 mL at the 8pm and 11pm feedings. This helps him sleep a bit longer at night. We have found that neither Jakob nor Alex can take much more than 3 oz at a feeding as both spit-up quite a bit after the feeding. The boys are so alert these days. Jakob loves to play on the playmate. He can watch the lights for upwards of 30 minutes without ever getting fussy. Both boys prefer to sleep on their backs. We try to do tummy time each day but on some days we have limited success. Because the boys are so alert these days they no longer spend much time in the vibrating chair and/or swing. Actually it appears that Alex is starting to really dislike the vibrating chair. I have not had him in it for several days. Alex is also going through a phase of wanting to be held in the evening but often it has to be in a very specific position or he will scream at the top of his lungs. We found a really awesome video on YouTube called We See that Jakob absolutely loves to watch. I tend to reserve the video for night time when Jakob needs to fall asleep. We prop up the iPad and Jakob will watch it for upwards of 40 minutes. It helps to calm him down. We love free entertainment. The boys are still sleeping in their Rock N Plays in our bedroom but both seem to have our bedtime routine down pat. We consider "nighttime" to begin at 8pm each night. We do the 8pm feeding and then I turn off the lights in the living room. The boys can stay awake but it is not play time. We then do a final feeding around 10pm when Kara gets home from work. We carry the boys upstairs and put them in their Rock N Plays. They get goodnight kisses and then tend to fall asleep within minutes. The amount of time both boys sleep varies night to night. On a bad night we only get a two hour stretch but on a good night (which happens more frequently these days) we get a four hour stretch. I believe a five hour stretch is considered sleeping through the night so we are getting very close. The boys sleep upstairs until their 8am feeding. Both boys can turn their heads back and forth while on their stomachs. Both have also turned over from their bellies to the backs though that is not accomplished each time we do tummy time. Kara and I are still waiting for smiles from the boys. We think they have smiled at us but we are not 100% certain. I cannot wait!
Other notes ... I am still exclusively pumping breast milk for the boys. It continues to be a very exhausting process but I am committed to it for the long haul if at all possible. I pump seven times a day and I manage to get between 50 - 60 oz a day. It is not a great supply for twins but it is all I can manage to get at this point. I know at some point I will no longer be able to be the single source of food for the boys. And to be honest the longer they go without getting formula (neither have had formula with the exception of the fortification of the breast milk since they left the NICU) the more difficult it gets to accept that they will have to receive formula at some point. I know I am being really hard on myself but it just breaks my heart to think that I could potentially be introducing discomfort to Jakob because my body does not produce enough milk. Plus do you know how obsessed people are with breastfeeding and breast milk? It can get annoying and it puts undo pressure on mothers. I have complete strangers ask me all the time if I am breastfeeding the boys. Since when did that become everyone's business?? I was a formula fed baby and I turned out just fine (Kara may disagree!). The good news ... we are not at that point yet and I am hoping the longer we go without formula the more developed both of their digestive systems get and perhaps formula will not be as big of an issue. I have been pumping at work and it has also been a learning curve. Our office has a "quiet room" where employees can go to make private phone calls or just get away from the office. My company put a lock on the door and I now use that room to pump once per day. I will be pumping twice per day once I return to work full time. It took me a week to even get comfortable with the environment and I still check the door about a billion times before I start pumping each session. My freezer stash stands at about 300 oz - 350 oz so that gives us a bit of a cushion. But I have not been able to freeze any additional breast milk since last weekend when Jakob began his growth spurt. So it appears I may be done freezing any excess breast milk.
We continue to cloth diaper the boys. And I absolutely love it!! It took some time for me to get on board with it when we first got home from the hospital but I think that was because I was overwhelmed with so many things. We have been using AIOs and prefolds during the newborn phase. Both Kara and I agree that we love the prefolds the most. Because we go through so many diapers a day the prefolds just make the most sense. We also love that it is summertime so we can hang the laundry out on the balcony to dry and then we are saving money by not running he dryer. We are going to start using some pocket diapers as the boys get a bit bigger and start sleeping longer at night. I do not think the prefolds have enough absorbency to last through the night. The pocket diapers will allow us to add more absorbency if we need it at night. We use the prefolds at night at the moment but because the boys are only sleeping for two or three hours at a time the lack of absorbency is not an issue. I will be sad when the boys are out of the newborn prefolds though. They are too cute.
I think that is all for the moment. I know I am forgetting some things but I am just glad to get some things on paper so that I don't forget it all.
Mary
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
let's go camping
I feel like so much has happened since I posted the last time. I need to give updates on the boys but first …
We survived the great power outage of 2012 (barely)!!
Our area was bombarded by a severe thunderstorm on June 29th. The storm was much more severe than originally predicted by the weather forecasters. I was home alone with the boys when the storm hit our area. I had just finished feeding the boys and I was in the middle of changing a diaper when the news came on for the evening. It was 5:00pm. I cannot even remember whose diaper I was changing when I realized the chaos that was about hit our lives. I immediately noticed panic in the voices of the weathermen on television. I never knew a weatherman could be panicked about a storm. Don’t they live for these things? The storm was moving fast at around 75 mph (CRAZY!) and the forecasters were urging people to seek shelter ASAP. There were strong wind gusts associated with the storms. They had clocked the wind gusts to be upwards of 90 mph. We live in a three story apartment unit. I was on the 2nd floor of our unit when the storm hit. I ran outside to pull in our chairs and table that were out on the balcony. I didn’t want them flying through the windows. The moment I set foot back inside the apartment our power went off. I turned to reach for a flashlight out of the cabinet and in those 30 seconds the storm was on top of us. Yes. It was moving that fast. I ran over and grabbed the baby off of the changing pad and tried to think for a moment how to get both boys down to the first floor. It was an impossible task. I put both boys on a blanket on the floor and literally put my body on top of them. You could hear the wind just howling and when I looked out the window the trees were literally touching the ground. I have never been more terrified. Both boys were complete oblivious to what was going on outside. I had my cell phone and I kept trying to call anyone I could think of just so I wouldn’t be alone. I could not reach anyone. The cell service was sporadic at best. I was able to get in touch with my good friend who was still at work during the storm. She knew I was alone with the boys and was worried about us. She stayed on the phone with me during the remainder of the storm. I think I sang “The Wheels on the Bus” to the boys about thirty times during the worst part of the storm. The storm was over just as fast as it had begun. And we were still alive!!! But I quickly realized we were in trouble as it was 95 degrees outside and we now had no power.
My concern … my breast milk!!!
I had several frozen bags of breast milk in the freezer (Most of my freezer supply was actually being kept at my parent’s house because they have a generator. We were actually trying to be prepared for a loss of power situation.) and I also had several containers (about two days worth) of breast milk in the fridge. And we all know how important excess breast milk is to an exclusively pumping momma. I did not want to lose that milk. We had also gone to the store that afternoon and our fridge and freezer were packed with about $150 worth of groceries. I finally managed to get hold of my parents who agreed to come over and get all the food (and breast milk) to take back to their house. This was not an easy task as power was out all over the city and both power lines and trees were littered across the roads. My parent’s actually lost a tree at their house. My parents had also lost power but the generator was hooked up to the fridge at their house. A funny story … My parent’s neighbor is also a new momma and when the power went off she called my parent’s house freaking out about her frozen breast milk. So eventually the freezer at my parent’s house was filled with both of our freezer stashes. It was comical to open the freezer and see such an abundant supply!! I had confidence that power would be restored no later than the next morning so Kara and I stayed in our furnace (I mean apartment) with the boys on Friday night. Because I no longer had breast milk in the freezer or fridge I had to pump before each feeding session. This put a lot of pressure on me overnight. But we survived the night and the boys had enough to eat. The boys slept only in a diaper and did not seem to be bothered by the heat. I was more concerned about them being unswaddled but they didn’t even seem to notice. However, when I woke-up on Saturday morning and we still did not have power I knew it was time to head to my parent’s house for a bit of relief. The generator at least allowed them to run some fans. We got the boys all packed up (I literally had one bag that was half full of my stuff and the boys stuff packed the entire trunk!) and I was at my parent’s house by 8am. Side Note ... Because Kara had to work on Saturday I had to drive the boys to my parent's house by myself. This would be a big deal on any occasion but let's throw in the fact that I had only driven our new car one other time and that was back in March!! I was a bit nervous to say the least ... I was also stinky because I had not showered in two days!! Kara came over in the afternoon after she got off of work. It was a long day but we did manage to survive. The worst part of the day was between 4pm and 9pm when the sun just heated up the house to an oven. But we were able to sleep with no problem. Kara decided to sleep at home with the dogs on Saturday night. It was my first night alone with the boys. My parents were a huge help though and my mom helped me with the middle of the night feedings. We all reached our breaking point on Sunday though …
Our apartment was horribly hot and we knew that we could not let the dogs sleep in the apartment any longer. We debated back and forth about the best plan of action and we finally decided to bring the dogs to the basement of my parent's house. There is only one problem with this solution ... the dogs love to bark!! This meant that either Kara or myself would have to be with the dogs the entire time in order to prevent a barking feast. It also meant another car load of stuff to lug to my parent's house. Kara was a superstar though and she managed to get everything over to my parent's house and set-up in the basement. We were sitting in the basement of my parent's house that afternoon discussing how we could possibly make it a week without power as this was the time frame given to us by the power company when suddenly ... the lights came on!!! We were so excited!! Unfortunately, the power still remained off at our apartment. We decided to once again spend the night at my parent's house on Sunday evening. It was a rough night all around the house (subdued a bit by a couple of beers). I slept upstairs with the boys but Kara slept downstairs in the basement (unfinished) with the dogs on an air mattress. Needless to say she did not get any sleep that night. We started to pray with all our might that the power would be back on at our apartment by the following morning. I had to be at work at 7am so I headed over to our apartment on the way to work (to feed the cats who remained at the apartment) and I was crushed when I arrived to find the power still off. We made the decision to bring the dogs back to our apartment and Kara would just remain at the apartment with the dogs until the power was restored. This was not an ideal situation but we knew Kara could not sleep in the basement another night. Plus the dogs were super stressed being away from home. I had to stop at home after work at noon to feed the cats again and get some clothes for the next day. As I drove up to our apartment building I saw the greatest sight in the world ... our porch light was on!! We had power.
We are sure this is a story we will tell the boys many times as they grow-up. You know ... "Did you know that we lost power for three weeks when you guys were just seven weeks old?" ... of course the length of the power outage will only increase over time.
I will be back soon to give an update on the boys (who are doing wonderful).
Mary
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