MicroblogMondays: Sleeping Through the Night

The babies are almost 5.5 months old and officially slept through the night for the first time on Saturday!

Prior to that, this was the schedule: bed time at 8pm, dream feed at 10ish pm, and waking up at 6:30 to 7am.  They had been consistently waking up after 6am without crying much.  On the days without night time help, I would wait until about 10:15 to 10:30 before feeding them.  Our night nanny made the suggestion to try to wean them off the 10pm feed.  I was initially hesitant because Bunny was drinking majority of her calories (6 oz) during her dream feed.  She is already smaller and gains weight more slowly to begin with.  I was nervous about not feeding her at night and for her to lose weight.  Our night nanny was not worried.  She had confident that Bunny would regulate herself during the day to load up her calories for the rest of the night.  So we were brave and made a decision to try on Friday.  That night, without the 10pm feed, Okra woke up crying at 5:35am.  We stalled their feed until 6:30am.  I would consider that a very good start.  Then on Saturday, the babies had their last meal at 7:30pm, went to bed at 8pm, and slept all the way until almost 7am!  And what is interesting and quite a relief is that the babies started to up their intake of formula during the day to get ready for sleeping through the night!  The human body is amazing and knows what to do.  I hope that this is not a one-off but a consistent schedule.  I already find it very freeing to not have to worry about feeding them at 10 something and I can actually go to bed early.

What a milestone to accomplish for the babies!  (And it makes our life a lot easier.)

MicroblogMondays: Birthday Wish

Bob turned 40 on Friday.

He loves pecan pies.  I am not much of a baker.  In fact, I had never baked any cookies, cakes, pies, or pastries in my life.  I wanted to do something special for him especially that his dream of vacationing in sunny and warm Hawaii for his 40th birthday was replaced by a day at work.  We couldn’t possibly travel to Hawaii with the twins at this age and still have a decent time.  It also happened to be Chinese New Year on that day.  My dad came to visit the grandkids and spend Chinese New Year with us.  All in all, it was a special day.  The babies’ first CNY and Bob’s first birthday with them around.  I decided to take a chance and bake him a pie.

My boss has this chocolate pecan pie recipe.  I had tasted the pie and liked it a lot.  She told me that it was extremely easy to make.  I took one look at the recipe and thought that it would be manageable.  I didn’t have any of the equipment or ingredients.  It tells you how often I bake (never).  I had to look it up online about the kind of pie crust to get and learned that a glass pie plate might be better with the refrigerated pie dough.  (Excuse me for not making the pie crust from scratch.  It still counts as a home-made pie.)  After a huge mess on the counter and spilling chocolate on myself, I successfully lay the pie crust on the glass plate and poured the filling inside.  I didn’t understand what it meant by letting the pie “set”, so I had to look it up.  I jiggled the finished product and felt semi-confident that it was done.  The pie turned out to be beautiful.

Bob left work early and we had an early dinner at a Burmese restaurant with the babies and my parents.  When we returned home and before the babies started their night time routines, we sang happy birthday with a candle that said “40” on the pecan chocolate pie.  Bob had both babies in his arms.  When it came time to make a wish, he paused for a moment and went on to blow the candle.  He loved the pie and the fact that this year’s celebration included the babies.

For many years, Bob’s only birthday wish was for us to finally have a baby. He told me that when it came time for him to make a wish this time, he looked up and saw me, Bunny, and Okra.  He did not feel the need to make a wish.  He thought for a second and just blew out the candle.  There are many things in life that we complain about, but when it comes to birthday wishes, those other things don’t feel important or matter anymore.  The one wish has now been fulfilled.  A new wish is not necessary for him.

I had been wondering about that.  I too made every birthday wish in the last few years to be about having a baby.  Now that we have the twins, I wonder what I will wish for this year.

MicroblogMondays: Parents of Multiples

We belong to our local parents of multiples club.  I love being a part of it.

Having twins is expensive.  As a member of this club, we have access to the FB page.  Many parents post free stuff on it.  If you are fast enough, you can score a lot of things.  Even before our babies came home, we already received a jogging stroller and two rock n plays that turn out to be something we use daily.  If you don’t mind hand-me-down items, this is definitely a great way to save some money.

About a month ago I picked up some sleepsacks that these other twins outgrew.  The same mom recently posted free size 2 diapers and a few sleepsacks for transitioning the babies to be unswaddled.  I was fast enough to respond and went to pick up the items on the same day.  The husband greeted me in the garage and gave me the items.  We chatted for a few minutes and he showed me the Bumbo chair in the garage.  I happened to have researched for it the day before because the babies are soon going to be able to sit.  He said that one of his babies outgrew it and that’s why the chair was sitting in the garage.  He told me to connect with his wife again as he suspected that they’d soon upgrade both babies to highchairs.  I messaged her and she told me yesterday that we could pick up the chairs any time.  And we did!  I am just so grateful for parents who are willing to pass on items to the next parents.  We will for sure do the same when our babies outgrow their gear.

Other than getting free things, anyone can post questions, ask for recommendations, and ask for advice on the FB page.  I have done it plenty of time and often get many responses.  It helps to feel that you are not alone on this journey, especially when it comes to a baby who doesn’t like to eat much.  I like how instant the FB platform is vs. the old way of posting questions and responding on an online forum.  Things move along so much faster that way, and members can connect via private messaging if they so desire.

This club also hosts meetings for new and expectant parents twice a month.  I went to one in the evening and one in the middle of the day.  It is a wonderful opportunity to connect with other parents and to learn from their experience as well as to offer what you have learned so far.  I enjoyed my time there tremendously, although it was still a bit weird.  As my babies’ mom, I didn’t give birth to them.  So whenever someone asked about the birth experience, I had to explain about the surrogacy.  It was all fine but I sometimes do feel like I am missing out on the pregnancy, the birth, and the breastfeeding part especially when I hear the other moms talk about their experience.  But because this was the only way for us to have these babies, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  One expectant mom has booked my night nanny in a few months upon my recommendation.  She also wants to hang out with me and the babies.  I look forward to making new friends this way.

Being parents of twins has its unique challenges.  But with the help of these parents who have walked the same path, it makes it feel like it is much easier to navigate this messiness with their advice and guidance.  The membership fee is the best $40 I have ever spent.

MicroblogMonday: Two Sick Babies

One person in the house gets sick.  Everybody gets sick.

We are all taking turns being sick.  It was my mother first.  And then my husband.  Okra was the next one to catch whatever germs that made him cough and have a stuffy nose.  This has been lasting for almost two weeks now.  Shortly after he got sick, I caught his cold and have been quite miserable with a cough and stuffy nose as well.  Poor boy hadn’t been eating too well and lost a bit of chubbiness on his cheeks.  Bunny looked as lively as ever while brother was sick.  I was secretly and not so secretly hoping that she could be immune from all the illness.  No such luck.  As brother became better and better, baby girl started sneezing a bit and coughing once in a while.  These past two days she started to have a runny nose and a more serious cough.  She is still mostly in a good mood, but is crankier and clingier than usual.  Yesterday she threw up three times during her feeds.  She started coughing after taking in about 3.5 oz of formula.  According to an advice nurse with whom I spoke, her cough might have triggered her gag reflex that made her throw up.  It was quite scary to see her throw up so much.  I also don’t want her to be dehydrated.  It pains me to see the babies suffer, but I guess it is part of having kids.  They get sick and there is no avoiding it regardless of how careful we are with hand washing.  I just hope that this passes quickly so we can all be healthy again and can get out of the house again.