We had another follow-up appointment with the GI clinic today to talk about Cole’s nutrition. See we kind of got a little reprimand for putting Cole on Pediasure. His little body just can’t handle the osmolality of the milk based products (I’m not even sure what osmolality is, if I’m using the term correctly, and why it’s a problem). Anyways the conclusion Tobie and I have come up with is Cole hates his formula. Hate hate hates it! That was the main topic of discussion today. The nutritionist gave us the okay to put him on some other hypoallergenic formulas that maybe are a little easier on Cole’s digestive system. Today we put Cole on Similac® Alimentum® Hypoallergenic Formula. Like always, he did really good eating today with the dietary change. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but sometimes this kid seems like a one hit wonder if you know what I mean! We’ll see what tomorrow holds.

Doctor’s appointments are tiring!

Do what you want to me, I’m going to curl in a ball and take it!

While at the GI appointment, the NP noticed Cole’s ears were a little red inside. “Is Cole irritable lately”? A little. “Has he been coughing”? Just started last night. “Any congestion”? Just started last night. She wanted us to go see our peed. Luckily our peed’s office was in the same parking lot. We called and said we are walking over. Not so quick! No appointments until later in the day. Ugh. So we went home and came back to the peed’s office. She confirmed that Cole is definitely getting a little sick. His lungs sound great, so that’s good. Hopefully this just a standard cold. The peed prescribed some amoxicillin for Cole’s ear infection. On a side note, the peed we saw is also pregnant. She kind of insinuated that we were breeders! That’s a story for another day. It’s about 10:30 PM and waking up a few times every hour. It’s going to be a long night.

This appointment isn’t even for me, I’m just going to sleep!

Tobie here: Much better spirits today than Sunday. I have slept wonderfully the last two nights since we separated the babies. They have been sleeping better too! We only had one wake-up last night and the night before there were a few wake-ups, but there was a long sleep in between. Overall I am so glad we (read: Eric) rearranged their living spaces as it seems we are all benefiting. We also have been putting the babies to bed later and this seems to be working out better for Mommy as well. Our new bedtime is 7pm -7:30pm with a wake-up around 7-7:30am. Cole sleeps an extra hour with a wake-up around 8am. This is fantastic. Our neuro-developmental doctor said they should be sleeping 12-14 hrs a day now…so that explains their minimal nap times. I don’t care. I’d rather have them sleep more at night.

So I’ve been trying to get out more with them too while the weather is nice and I’m not too big. It’s a chore…seriously packing up their stuff, working around eating times and nap times is serious business. Last Friday we went to the park and rode the baby swings for an hour or so. The best part of getting out is that other moms at the park were so outgoing and friendly and I really felt part of the “real world”. That is until I got all the questions about Paige’s glasses. I have to get used to people asking me about them. I know this won’t be an issue in a couple of years as it won’t be so unusual for her to be wearing them.

On Saturday we went to my sister’s first softball game. The babies did great (so did my sister–go Kim!). I overdressed them because it was cool when we first got there, but then it got really hot and I stripped them down to their diapers and they ended up a little pink. Oops. Have to remember to pack sunscreen. Yesterday we went grocery shopping. We have only tried this once before on our own and I only got a couple of things that time and threw the items on top of their stroller. Yesterday we actually tried the shopping cart as I did some serious shopping. I don’t know how other multiple parents do this. They have big signs that kids are not allowed to stand in the cart (which I know Cole would have got a kick out of). So I ended up putting Paige in the seat in front of the cart with a cart cover to protect her from germs and I kept Cole in his infant car seat in the main part of the cart. His seat ended up taking up most of the cart space so I ended up just piling all the groceries strategically around him or in his lap. I wish I brought my camera because by the time I was done, he was practically buried. I figure when baby brother arrives, I can strap him on my back and our grocery store has cool carts that look like cars (with steering wheels) that P and C can both go in. Right now I don’t think Cole would be able to handle sitting still long enough to use those carts and I’m lucky(?) that he’s still so small he’s in an infant car seat.

All in all things are getting better. Maybe not Cole’s eating, yesterday had to have been his worst eating day ever, but we made a deal this morning that he’ll eat better today. We have to change his nickname too from King Cole to Count Cole. Seriously, with his fang teeth growing in on top he looks like a little vampire. And he’s always trying to bite my face. I don’t know what is going on with that, but he’s constantly trying to bite my nose or chin. Funny kid.

Tobie here: Hello oh sweet 3rd trimester. I’m so glad to finally meet you! Hooray!! So….I’m kinda cranky this morning (Eric here: I can confirm said crankiness) despite being thrilled that today marks the 3rd trimester. Why you ask when everything seems peachy? I’m totally, completely sleep deprived. What the heck is going on lately? I think back to two weeks ago…we were sleeping pretty good. There were even some nights that Eric did the midnight feeds and I could get 8+ hours a night. What happened between then and now?

I don’t know. Could be a multitude of things. Both babies are teething. Paige cut her top left front tooth and I can see her top front right tooth right behind it. Cole is jumping ahead (the kid can’t do anything in order) and cut his left eye tooth on top and I can see his right top eye tooth coming in too. So my sad sob story is that both babies who we used to wake up to feed around midnight are now waking up at least 3 times EACH every night. Yes…that’s a total of about 6 times we have to get up now. Even if I don’t get up to take care of them (which most of the time it seems I get to their room before Eric) (Eric here: What can I say, I’m slow!) …I still wake up because I hear them crying. I am a very, very light sleeper. I think it started when they came home from the NICU. I was always listening in my sleep to the baby monitor to see if they were aspirating in their sleep or if Cole’s apnea monitor would go off. I finally weaned myself off the monitor at the start of the year. Mostly because Paige’s voice is soooo loud now. So back to my story again (I’m tired, bear with me) they wake up crying and most of the time it’s not that they’re hungry…they just want to be held. We stopped feeding Paige in the middle of the night as of last Wednesday following Dr. E’s recommendation. She told us that we don’t need to feed the babies anymore, they should be capable at this age of sleeping 10 hrs straight. Sweet! We were supposed to feed her water for two weeks if she woke up crying, then let her cry it out after the two week period. First night was great. She slept the whole night. Second night, great…she woke up multiple times but we fed her water and she made it without eating. The third night I was so tired I brought her back to my bed so she’d stop crying. Last night Eric brought her into bed so she’d stop crying. I’m guessing tonight she’s going to cry until we bring her into bed. I hate that habit but if it means Mom and Dad getting a good night’s sleep, what are parents to do?

Cole is another story. They wake each other up all the time. I’ve heard of these miraculous siblings that sleep through each other’s crying. Yeah, right. Has never happened in our house. We are separating them today. I’m thrilled. I hope it works and they sleep better. It doesn’t seem fair to make Cole a bottle in the middle of the night then not feed Paige either. She’s smart enough to know what’s going on. So Cole has slept with us on several occasions too. Last night was one of them. Paige slept with Eric in the guest bedroom and I brought Cole into my bed after being up all night out of desperation. I knew it was wrong and I know the easy fix isn’t good for the long run. Tonight I’m going to suggest to Eric to let them cry it out. Even if it means we get no sleep. Something has to change. I’ve been getting migraines and I know it’s due to the sleeping situation.

Okay..my whining is over. Eric told me I could sleep in a hotel room tonight or go to one today during the day. Sweet offer, but I don’t think I could sleep being away (Eric here: But she won’t let me go to the hotel, oh sweet irony). I just want one good night at home in my own bed without worrying about smothering a baby.