Baby Products I'm Using, Trying and Sometimes Loving

I've been trying to find a good solution for feedings so that they can be virtually hands free. When the boys were newborns they didn't move a lot so we could just prop the bottles up with blankets. But when they got to where they could see better they started moving their heads a lot, so propping bottles is now out of the question. So I've been looking for different products, and ideas, that are designed to make feedings go a little smoother.

My friend, who also has twins, told me about these neat bottles you can find at Babies R' Us.




The nipple is hooked up to a tube that siphons the milk out of the bottle like a straw.

My big boy is getting very good at using this system.

My little boy doesn't have the attention span for it. At first he didn't like how much sucking it took to get the milk up to the nipple. Then I figured out you can squeeze the nipple at the base and it pulls the milk up. Well then he doesn't want to put the effort into keeping the flow going. I also think he gets confused because he can't see the bottle in front of him.



They also get distracted by all the fun tubes, and the fact that the bottle is sitting on the floor by their heads, so they try to play with everything which gets a little annoying.

I think if we keep practicing with these bottles they will be a very nice thing to have. At least I know my big boy can use them. If you are interested in trying these bottles they are called Podee bottles (or feeding system?). I recommend starting when your babies are newborns, so they can get used to how they work.

While at Babies R' Us, looking for the Podee bottles, I made another discovery. I've asked myself before why they don't make bottles with handles like some sippy cups have. Well low and behold they do.



My little boy is a pro at these. He caught right on. My big boy. . .not so much. But at least one can use the Podee Bottles and one can use these.

These kind have a slower flowing nipple- to prevent spills when the baby waves them around- so don't use them at night when you just want to get the feeding over with and go back to bed.

The last product I have to mention is one you all probably know about. The Gerber Graduates Puffs. The only reason I mention them is because I didn't realize I could use them already until a friend recommended them to me.



Gerber doesn't go by age, they go by stage- supported sitters can start eating cereal, etc.- I really like this system because it seems fairly reasonable, so I figure it fits in well with my mommy-ing ways. According to their system you should start using the puffs when your baby is crawling, which is why I didn't think to try them yet. But I went and bought some and I am so glad I did. I now can get my grumpy, tired and hungry boys through church meetings. I can also get through that long stretch of night where we are stuck between two feedings without a nap. They have just worked wonderfully for us, and I'm so glad my friend told us to go buy some.

Keeping Up With the Schedules

I am seriously so strict about keeping a schedule. I never wanted to be this strict. I would love to be easy going and roll with the punches, but it causes me too much stress. I can't handle it when things are up in the air. Especially with the babies. When they pull random stuff on me my world collapses. ;) I do try to let things go here and there. Sometimes occasions arise that require you to just deal, but for the most part I try to take extra care to keep them on that schedule.

If I execute their schedule just right every day, I get to sleep in until ten. And if they stay on this schedule things go so much smoother during the day. They're happy when they're supposed to be happy. When they cry I know exactly why. They're naps usually go well, and mom can be happy and well balanced.

But things can't always go as you plan no matter how hard you try. And I'm afraid to admit that when my boys throw me a curve ball- wake up an hour early from their nap or won't go to bed when they're supposed to- I have a break down. I usually get hysterical and yell and scream. I try so hard to calm myself and handle it, but each cry that they utter, when they are supposed to be asleep, just digs deeper and deeper into my nerves until I can't handle it anymore. A lot of the time I get frantic. I'm so upset that I can't think of how to logically handle the situation- try teething tablets or gas medicine, maybe check their diapers- and I just become a ranting raving monster mom.

Today was one of those days. The boys gave me a hard time going down for their nap at noon. Then they woke up early from that nap. Then they ate lunch and spent the afternoon making, what my family has come to lovingly call, barnyard sounds.

I feel like I spent the whole day screaming. And then when the day was over I just felt like crying. I was so frustrated and worked up I felt like I needed to rant yet I had nothing to rant about.

Tonight was my girls night out, so at least I was able to get out. But by the end of the day I was so upset with how things had gone I couldn't even get enthused about being able to spend the night shopping baby free.

I know I'll recover. I know I'll probably wake up tomorrow and be overflowing with love for those boys. But as for now I'm still trying to sort through all my worked up emotions. Luckily I've started a blog where I can do just that ;)

Don't Say Mom Anymore Today

My mom is always telling me that there were days she'd tell us kids not to call her mom anymore.

After spending the afternoon with my nephew I can now understand this reasoning.

I love my nephew a lot, and I can normally spend a lot of time with him and not get overly annoyed. But for some reason spending Saturday afternoon with him pushed me into the "Don't say Mom. . ." mindset.

It may have been because I was tired from subbing at work for two days, or because we were running errands with two babies and a 4 year old. Who really knows?

Either way when we got home I told him, "Don't say Tricia anymore today! If you have a question ask Craig." ;)

There's a First for Everything!

I had to post a picture of the boys in these pajamas because they are the first articles of clothing that were purchased for my twins.



Shortly after I found out we were having twins I called my friend. She informed me that she was going to run out and buy me a present. She presented me with these adorable pj's. I put them on the boys for the first time tonight, and I have to admit I was rather excited to do so!



When I first received these pajamas I was about 18 weeks pregnant, and I thought it would be forever before I saw the day they would wear them. Of course, forever came a lot sooner due to the fact that my boys are 6 months old wearing 12 month clothes. But either way that day is now here. I can't believe how far we've come, and how fast we got here.

If all Days Were Like Unto This Day. . .I'd Surely be Dead

I have to share the events of my day.

I woke up to babies crying. It usually puts a damper in my morning when my babies wake me up instead of vise versa. I'm so much happier when I can go in and coo them to life and see their overjoyed smiling faces. When they wake me up, especially before 10:00, I get a little upset. But I tried to turn my attitude around.

I made them breakfast, and I also made my nephew part of his breakfast. I fed the twins, changed their diapers and cleaned up. I made the remainder of my nephew's breakfast.

I went downstairs, and I forgot why. Then I remembered I was going to grab my vitamins and the boys outfits. I took my vitamins and dressed the boys.

I then went back down stairs, and I forgot why again. I think it was so I could get dressed now. So that's what I did.

I came upstairs and made sure the boys were still happy. I then went back downstairs, and, of course, I forgot why. Oh yeah, I needed to grab my purse.

I go upstairs and see the boys have spit up all over. I go to change their bibs, and see that we don't have very many left. I take the boys downstairs for their nap, and run back upstairs to ask my mom if she wants me to bring up some bibs to wash. I have a enough time before I have to take my nephew to school to run back downstairs and grab the laundry, but not enough time to sort out and grab just bibs.

Three trips later all of our dirty laundry is upstairs.

I try to help my mom sort it out a little, and then I run out the door to get my nephew to kindergarten.

I drop him off and return home to enjoy my 2 hours of alone time. Aww! This is my favorite time of day.

I make myself lunch and watch some TV and before I know it it's time to start getting the boys lunch ready.

I get their lunch made just in time to hear them wake up from their nap.

I start feeding them, and I decide to have my little boy eat sitting up. That was a whole new kind of mess :)

We get lunch down and I have to rush to get the boys all packed up for a walk.

I plan on taking the dogs, so I start looking for the harness we bought for our dog. I look upstairs. I don't see it. So I go downstairs, and of course I forget why I did. The thought comes back to me, but I still can not find the harness. I finally just grab her leash.

Out the door we go, me, the boys, my dog and my parents dog, on our way to the school to pick up my nephew.

We get there just as the bell rings. I stick both dogs in the little basket on the stroller because dogs and kids just don't mix well.

We arrive to find the normal rush of kids flowing out the gate. Another mom, that has a kid in my nephews class, offers to grab him for me. That way I don't have to battle the crowds of children with my limo of a stroller.

We head home and when we get there I shoo my nephew into the bathroom and start making him lunch.

He comes out and needs help with his belt. I help him, and continue making his lunch.

My gosh! He's taking forever in the bathroom. I go to see if he needs anything. I guess he couldn't get his pants zipped up. He finally finishes in the bathroom and eats lunch- after constant reminders to keep eating from me.

An hour later we start homework time. We work on words, we work on numbers and we work on writing. My husband comes home while we wrap up reading time, and my nephew decides to throw a fit. He goes up the stairs and won't finish his homework.

"That's fine!" I say, "I'll just go to the park without you!"

I've convinced him to finish his work.

My husband then goes to the store to get stuff for dinner and I pack up the babies, the dogs and my nephew, once again, so we can all go to the park.

We come home after 20 minutes of playtime, and my nephew is just out of control. He's grabbing and pulling, running into furniture, playing to rough with the babies and yelling and talking.

Seriously! How do you calm this kid down?

When my husband comes home I head back to the park with my nephew, and my dog, and we run. . and skip. . .and hop. . .and gallop. . .and do cartwheels and crab walks. . .- I'm Trying with all my might to wear this kid out-. . .I run out of ideas.

When I've had enough, and I've lost the dog, we run home. The dog decided to meet us there thank goodness.

At home I try to help my husband with dinner, while trying to keep two babies content and while trying to figure out why the heck my nephew is still so wired.

I try my hardest to keep my little boy happy and smiling, but he is just so whiny. My Dad comes and takes over. Thank you Dad!

I do one more homework assignment with my nephew- seriously he still has more homework to do?

I finally give my grumpy babies some juice and all the while I try to remain conscientious of my husband in there making dinner for all of us.

Dinner is ready. I'm starving, but so are my children. Of course, they come first. Both babies eat sitting up this time, which is an even bigger mess

Finally I can sit down and eat. Oh my Gosh! I'm so hungry!

After dinner, and a partial desert. My little boy is upset again. I pick him up to find that he has peed through his diaper. He's left the evidence on my shirt.

I undress him and take him upstairs to the bath. My mom brings up the other baby, and I have my nephew hop in too just for good measure. This, of course, means our bath time consists of, "No that's too rough! Play nice! Be soft!"

My husband and I get all the children bathed and lotion-ed.

I then head down two flights of stairs and grab pajamas for my boys- I didn't forget this time!

The boys are so tired so they cry the whole time I'm dressing them. I get them dressed I go downstairs, and I grab a blanket and cuddle with my big boy on the couch. I'm trying to put him to sleep, but in reality I'm the one falling asleep.

The boys go to bed and I can finally relax. I have not felt this exhausted in a long time.

The Unconventional Mom on Breastfeeding

OK, I know this is a very sensitive, political, controversial, up for opinions subject. But even so I've decided to try and write a post about it. But first I have to say a few thing:

-I am in no way trying to offend anyone. I have thought long and hard about how I can approach this without causing offense, and I hope I have found a way to do so.

-I am also not trying to say, "You should Breastfeed!" or "You should use formula!" I'm trying to say, "This is what worked for me and this is why."

That said, on with the post * * *

When it comes to tough pregnancy decisions for me attitude and personality seemed to be the icing on the cake. I'd research, I'd ask around, I'd try to find out all that I could, but in the end my husband and I would make a decision that we felt would work best for us, our family and our lifestyles.

Basically if I wanted something to work I'd make it work. For example:

I wanted a c-section. A vaginal birth is the easiest to recover from, but to me a c-section recovery didn't seem that much worse. I decided to ask around and do some research. I asked friends and family. I read books. I asked my doctor. I decided to at least try to deliver vaginally, but I still really just wanted a c-section. I had a c-section and I loved it!

Why? I'm sure a lot had to do with the talent of the doctor and the staff. The pain pills helped too. But I also enjoyed it a lot because of my attitude towards it. I never thought it sounded that bad, and so to me it wasn't ever that bad.

Now someone who thinks a c-section sounds just awful might take those things, that I said weren't that bad, and say they were part of what made a c-section so hard.

Not saying one is right and one is wrong. Just saying that different people like different things, and different things work better for different people.

Now I feel like this applies to breastfeeding as well.

There are women who have always wanted to breastfeed. They decided it was something that they really wanted to do. They want their babies to have the absolute best, and as we know breastfeeding is the absolute best. Not only that, they also probably feel that it will work best for them and their lifestyle.

And so they breastfeed. They work through the hard parts because to them it's worth it. It's what they have always wanted, and they know it's what they want for their baby. They make it work, and in the end they love it. To them it works wonderfully with their schedule, their life and their goals. And I have to say these woman have my respect and admiration! They did something hard that I couldn't do.

Here is how breastfeeding panned out for me.

First let me just say that I never really liked the idea of breastfeeding. Even when I was young. I don't think breastfeeding is bad or wrong. I just don't feel like it works for me and my personality. My friend had me slightly convinced when she told me that it helps you loose weight, but I still wasn't completely sold. As I got older I started to lean back towards using formula. I knew how to loose weight. I've been dieting most of my life. But breastfeeding takes a toll on your body that I didn't know how to fix.

When I got pregnant the battle raged on, "Should I just breastfeed? Everyone says that they love it and I probably would too. Plus it saves money. But I still just don't feel comfortable with the idea."

I read in all my pregnancy books and, of course, they all tell you to breastfeed. Most of them say to at least breastfeed for the first two weeks. So I thought, "OK then I'll breastfeed for the first two weeks and see if I like it."

Some people thought that was a lot of work to go through for just two weeks, but I was comfortable with that decision.

The boys were born, and I was still a little uncertain about what I wanted to do.

(One decision maker was when one of the nurses said, "You need to decide because you need to start pumping so you have enough milk for those boys!" Bah! I wish they would just let you do your own thing. They have to be so in your face. I'm the mom. I'll make sure the baby gets fed whether it be with formula or breast milk. And if I don't have enough breast milk then I will make some formula.)

Well I tried to breastfeed and it turned out that the boys were wonderful eaters. They latched right on, so I decided to try and take breastfeeding more seriously. I pumped. I latched them on. I supplemented with formula. But then my little boy ended up in the level 2 NICU because of low blood sugar. I decided just to give him formula because I wasn't sure if I had any milk yet(the boys had latched on, but it didn't seem like anything was coming out) and I didn't want him using up energy to eat if he wasn't going to get anything. When I did start to get a little milk from pumping I'd take it in for him to eat. Later I started to latch him on, and the breast milk really seem to help him a lot.

That was when I decided I'd just breastfeed. I actually really enjoyed it while I was in the hospital. I was excited about loosing all that weight and saving money.. .but then I got home.

Of course it was enjoyable at the hospital. I didn't have to cook meals, clean and take care of a house. Soon breastfeeding got so tedious. It took so long with two, and I never knew if they got enough to eat. If I cut them off they would cry. If I let them eat until they just stopped on their own they would projectile vomit it all up.

I tried to hang in their. I thought, "What if we need to save money later on? I'd better just hang on to my milk. Everyone says they have a hard time, but they end up really loving it. Maybe if I just get through the newborn stage I'll enjoy it more."

One night, after Craig had gone to work, I fed the boys and then decided to clean up the house. After a little tidying up I took the boys back to the bedroom, so we could all catch some "Z's" before the next feeding. Right as I put the boys into bed they started to cry.

They were hungry?!?! But I swear I had just finished feeding them!

I went from happy to hysterical in 0.5 seconds. I was crying. I was so sick of breastfeeding and latching them on and making sure they got enough food at each feeding. I was sick of how long it took. I just wanted to give them bottles. But if I just gave them bottles, even if the bottles had breast milk, the boys would become lazy and wouldn't want to latch onto me anymore.

I called Craig crying. I told him I didn't know what do it. My boys were in their crying. They wanted me. They wanted breast milk. I knew they liked it the best. But I couldn't do it, and it broke my heart. I was so torn. What should I do?

That night I decided I'd just pump and give them bottles. I'd latch them on every now and again. Since they were such wonderful eaters they always latched on like pros.

But soon pumping became tedious. And I slowly started to pump less and less. And, soon after I returned to work, my milk supply slowly diminished. I had made it to two months, and I was done.

Was I sad to be done?

At first, yes I was.

Do I regret stopping?

No, I don't.

This was a very long winded story, but my main point was this. I was never going to like breastfeeding. The idea just never seemed to work for me. I tried, but, lets face it, I never wanted to like it or do it.

Those things, that may not seem so bad to mothers who always knew they wanted to breastfeed, were just further proof to me of why I didn't want to do it.

I made a decision that I felt worked best for me and my babies. My cousin told me, "Do whatever you need to do to enjoy your baby." And that's what I did. I didn't want to loose this time with them. I wanted to enjoy every second I could. I didn't want to spend the first 6 months to a year full of anger and disdain. I wanted to try and make things as easy as they possibly could be, and for me formula was the easiest way to feed them.

Here are a few reasons Why I use formula (These are all personal preference):

- The difference between breastfed babies and formula fed isn't so incredibly great that I thought breastfeeding had to be an absolute. I mean when you walk down the street you can't just point out those people who were fed formula when they babies.

- I'm kind of hyper and I didn't like to just sit. Some people enjoy the excuse to just sit and not do anything, but it drove me crazy. I just sat and thought about all the stuff I had to do, and I would get so anxious.

- I enjoy that I don't have to be the one that feeds them. I can hand them off to my husband or a family member. When I was breastfeeding I'd miss a feeding and just have someone give them formula, but then I would be in so much pain! Missing feedings never seemed to work well for me.

- I like the certainty of formula. I'd give them so many ounces a feeding, and if they got hungry sooner then normal I'd just add an ounce or two. To me that was easy to figure out and work with.

- I know this stage soon ends, but I'm a very private person and I was tired of playing with blankets. I'd be somewhere with people so I'd throw a blanket over me. I'd then get all adjusted and slip the blanket over my head and latch the baby on. After ten minutes they'd come off, and I'd have to throw the blanket back over my head and latch them on again. I know some women can just whip it out and they don't give a second thought to if they are showing or if someone sees. But I am not one of those woman. I don't like to be naked when I'm alone. And I most certainly don't like to be naked in front of people.

Another reason I wanted to write this post is for all those women who may be thinking of using formula. Lets face it, it's easy to find people who will agree with your decision to breastfeed. It's not easy to find people who will understand why you would want to use formula. I've been in certain circles where people got so defensive when I told them I wanted to use formula you would have thought that I was talking about feeding their baby and not my own.

So if there are those of you out there that want to use formula here are just a few things I've learned.

- If you are going out somewhere take a water bottle. Not one that's been in the fridge but one that is room temperature. The temp should be just right and you won't have to worry about being stuck somewhere without water to put in the bottle.

- I'm sure everyone knows this. I like to pre-measure. I get a bottle out, put the scoops in and then I just have to add water. I'm sure you have also seen the containers that have dividers. I always keep two of those on hand and I try to always make sure they are full.

- Always take food with you. Even if you think you'll be back before the next feeding.

- Even though the package says to discard any unused formula you can refrigerate it and use it later. I'm sure most of you know this too. I try to use it within 24 hours, and I try to get the bottle in the fridge within an hour after a feeding. Sometimes, when I'm away from home, I'll leave them out for longer. As long as it stays with me and at a reasonable temp I'm fine using it again. I've even popped it back in there mouth if they start crying. Using formula this way has never made my boys noticeably sick or ill.

I hope I didn't offend anyone with this post. It really was not my intent. I just wanted to share my experience with everyone, and hopeful I did it in a semi tactful way ;)