07-21-10

It is my 3rd day back to work and I HATE IT! First of all, I am so out of shape. My job requires me to stand for a good portion of the day. My feet hurt so bad. Not to mention my knees are ready to explode. I haven't had a very welcoming comeback from the entire crew. That is lovely to face everyday. But that is a completely immature issue. The joy of my days so far are waking to crying hungry babies, lunch at home with cute little babies, and my ride home...anticipating seeing those sweet little babies. It is a job trying to not miss them to the point of just quitting and staying at home. I did cry Monday night. I was talking with my Mom and I lost it. Not everyone can be fortunate enough to raise their kids and be involved in every aspect of their lives. For those of you that do have that fortunate ability please love every minute of it.

We do have a great system. We have created this spreadsheet that notes the feedings, diaper changes, and any spit ups or other details from their day and night. It is our foolproof way of communitcating about the babies. If it happens...write it down. And she did the girls laundry today. LOVE HER! That means I have another 30 minutes of time tonight to spend with the girls.

It isn't the fact that I have a Nanny at home with the girls. I enjoy her and I am comfortable with her watching the girls. I just don't want to miss out on anything they do. I want to see all those gassy smiles. I want to be involved 100% and not have someone else raise them. My goal is to work toward that option. Richard and I are currently looking for opportunities to make it happen. One of us will be home raising the girls by the first of the 2011 year. If not...we will eat Ramen noodles for every meal. Yum Yum!

The physical therapist was interesting yesterday. Her name is Jenna and she would leave us notes on the girls beds in the NICU. We have never met her because she would go during the day and we would visit at night. She is a unique lady...very vibrant. She said the girls are doing great considering how bad it could be. We do have a hefty list of things for "homework." A couple of the things are corrective measures and then there are the exercises that will help them to catch up to their corrected age. We don't want them falling too far behind. So we will need to go over the entire homework listing to give them an opportunity to be physically able to crawl and walk. Anna, the girls Nanny, went with me to the appointment so she could learn first hand how to work with the girls. By lunch she was already working out some of the PT homework.

They are already doing so great. Quinn and Brooklyn both will lift their head and look around. Quinn will hold hers up longer than Brooklyn but they both are noisy little girls. We have to constantly be on alert that they will just bobble that head about. They favor their right side so that is the toughest job. We have to break them of that habit. It is a habit created by the NICU. All beds are approached on the right side. All things are done from the right side. I never realized that until she mentioned it and then I realized I even approached on the right side. Creature of habit! So she gave us ideas on how to incorporate toys to help their PT homework.

I will say that the girls made it very interesting. Both of them had constant gas the entire time she was working with them. I believe both of them rumbled their britches when she was holding them. It was a brilliant performance from the Summers Farting Brigade. It was so humorous and a bit embarrassing. The therapist finally said that at that stage the gas is cute. I had to agree with her because I adore their performances. I especially love their faces when they carry out the long notes. They almost look scared and stonefaced. LOVE IT!

Miss Quinn is so close to sleeping through the night. She is such a comatosed sleeper that I think she could sleep through anything. Brooklyn is a little fiesty and burns her intake with her crazy antics. She is starting to eat more and fill out those cheeks. I expect her to be out of Newborn diapers within a couple of weeks. We are trying hard to CHUNK her up.

I have added a few things to my list of expertise...

Changing diapers
Making Formula
Performing on VERY little sleep
Washing bottles
Dressing hungry babies (very difficult when they try to eat the arm you are putting in the sleeve)
Loving on cute little babies

I will add more later.

For the record, I have done awesome considering I have only called or texted the Nanny when needed. However, if she calls my gut rumbles right before I answer the call.

Please visit www.photographybylandl.com to see a ton of pictures of the girls in the Little Miracles section, even on the homepage. We have another photo session next week. My house will soon be filled with babies on the walls.

Thank you all for your concerns this week. I really love that all of you cared enought to think of me on Monday and this week. They say it gets better. It will because I am working toward staying with my babies. So this feeling will soon be better. I assure you that it will! God is being so kind to us by providing Anna in our lives. She is a blessing. A bit of information for you. Anna's sister, Sara, was in the operating room when the girls were born. She is in nursing school and was doing her clinical. God meant for these ladies to be in our lives and the lives of the girls. I tell the girls daily about how great He is for giving them to us. They don't understand but I do and that is what matters right now.