ready, set, go ??? (and other ramblings)

We made the decision to give cereal a try just over a week ago.  The first time around the boys did wonderful!  And we go some super cute video!  We gave them each about five spoonfuls of cereal and for the most part they seemed to enjoy it.  They would both make a "yucky" face when you put the spoon in their mouth but then they would swallow the cereal and get the look of "this isn't too bad" on their face.  But then the next few days did not go all that great.  The boys were spitting out most of the cereal.  And with everything I read that is a big sign that they aren't ready for solid foods.  So we decided to take a temporary break from the solid foods.  There is really no reason at this point that we need to be feeding them cereal.  They take their bottles like champs.  They are sleeping through the night for the most part.  And the pediatrician indicated that it would be perfectly acceptable for them to come back at their six month appointment still on breast milk only.  I have to remember that they are still only a bit over 3 months old adjusted age.  So I think for now we are just going to play it by ear.  I really want to do some reading on baby led weaning.  I think for the moment I might be more inclined to start (at minimum) with vegetables around six months old and actually skip the cereal altogether.  But I'm also inclined to learn more about skipping purees altogether.  But if I have learned anything over the last several months its that Kara and I will eventually know what is right for the boys.  I have to stop over analyzing things so much and just go with the flow.  And for the moment that means we are skipping the introduction of solid foods.

I have dropped another pumping session.  And let me tell you ... I feel like I got a part of my life back!!!  I now pump at 1:30 am, 5:30 am, 10:30 am, 3:30 pm, and 8:30 pm.  It has been a week and I only noticed a slight drop in my supply.  I averaged about 1/2 ounce less per day last week then I did the week before when I was still pumping six times per day.  I still average over 60 oz per day so I am able to keep up with the boys demand.  There are days when the boys get an extra bottle and thus consume about 64 oz for the day.  But we have been turning to our freezer supply for those days.  I feel as if I could go for an indefinite period of time at five pumps per day.  Obviously my first goal is still to keep the boys only on breast milk until six months but in the end I really want to get them to their first birthday.  I am blessed to have a decent supply and I don't want to take that for granted for a second.  I know there are a lot of women who would give their left leg for such a supply so the last thing I want to do is stop pumping simply because I am "tired" of doing it.  I was born a math nerd so of course I have been documenting my daily numbers for some time now.  However, I didn't start recording my numbers until the boys were two months old because it never dawned on me to do such a thing.  Plus I was in the newborn twin fog!  But since July 13, 2012 I have pumped 523 times for a total of 5,127 oz of milk or an average of 9.8 oz per session. Did you let that sink in?

And finally in other news (before I conclude this blog of very random topics) I got the nerve to call the sperm bank last week to ask about the number of vials that remain available for purchase from our donor.  And the good news ... No one knows that CB*** makes adorable little kids!!!  I purchased our vials from this donor between January 2011 and April 2011 and no additional vials have been bought since my last purchase in April 2011!!!  And because our donor has 121 vials available for purchase (our donor had 127 vials available when I first called the sperm bank in late 2010) Kara and I can take a breather and not be forced to make any decisions about a future sibling for a long time!!!  We decided to just give the sperm bank a call every six months until we make a final decision about what we want to do.  I am glad to be able to move this worry off of the table for a bit and just to be able to concentrate on enjoying Jakob and Alex.        

Mary