The Colburn Girls: Double Trouble

Today the girls turn 10 weeks old. So far our days have been really busy and we are quite exhausted. I don't think anything could prepare us for twins. I told Mike that our lives have definitely slowed down. He informed me that our lives have not only slowed down, but they stopped. So far this summer, we have put all of the things we have wanted to do on hold. It has taken me a month so far to read a book that would have taken me a week. Mike is in school right now and taking a couple of online classes. There are some days, I have to take the girls and feed them and entertain them so he is able to get his work done. For the most part, our girls are really good, but recently we have experienced some double trouble.

Juliana and Olivia have started to refuse the bottle. They cry and fuss if they are really hungry and we offer them a synthetic nipple. I even had my first battle with Juliana last night. She fought me so hard...and she won. I gave up trying to feed her from the bottle and decided to breastfeed her. She immediately fed and then went to sleep.My precious baby was exhausted from trying to fight me. I was reading that Mike should be the one to bottle feed them because they have a connection with me. I found that babies can smell their mothers up to 20 feet away....I guess that would mean I would have to leave the house for awhile. I imagine that would be the opportune time to have a little "me" time. We will see. I also read that we should try to bottle feed them three times. If they refuse the bottle each time, wait 5 to 10 minutes and then breastfeed them. This is so they don't see that refusing would be the result of breastfeeding. SO FRUSTRATING.

Juliana

The other issue we are still encountering is their reflux. We started putting baby rice cereal in their formula to help keep it down. This has helped, however, we thought we could take them off of the medicine, we were wrong. They were off of it for about 2 weeks and now we are back to the beginning of the vomit issue. I have experienced a river of formula all over me, twice in the past two days. Needless to say, the girls are back on their medicine. I know that God will get us through this, but it has felt like a never-ending battle. I just keep telling Mike and myself..."not much longer...you can do it!" We appreciate all the prayers that have been made for us. They are very much needed. Many people do not understand the demand and the toll it has on the mind and body. For those of our friends that have twins....hats off to you and thank you for all the advice. It is so nice to have friends that have actually gone through raising more than one child of the same age. It is reassuring that we too can get through this.

Olivia with Daddy

This afternoon was unbelievably peaceful. This was the first time that we as a family took a nap together. We were washing their car seat covers, due to a massive spit up occurrence, so we were not able to put them to sleep in their nursery.After feeding our little ones we decided to lie down in bed, Juliana on my right side, Olivia on my chest and Daddy, and Precious,our dog, on the left side. It was a peaceful 2 hour nap. A special family memory. These are the moments that Mike and I try to remember when life throws punches at us.