Twin two month update

I can't believe we are coming up on it being two months since the babies were born. Of course when you consider that they should have been born on April 8th, I like to think we have been lucky to have them in our lives for one extra month. 

Napping

This is just an FYI for people who haven't had experience with preemies before (like me pre-baby): parents will talk about adjusted ages which means counting from when the baby should have been born. For example, my girls are two months old, but one month adjusted (since they were born at 34 weeks). You make this adjustment to be more realistic for when they will hit different milestones. Vera and Laura very may well reach developmental milestones later than a baby born on time, although in reality it is all relative since there tend to be such big windows for when babies roll over, talk, crawl, walk etc.

This last month since Laura came home has been a whirlwind of bottles and diapers. The girls are still eating every three hours which means lots of waking up in the middle of the night. Jose and I have been splitting the feedings from midnight to six am. The best advice I got from the NICU was to maintain the schedule they had established and to feed both girls at the same time. This means that when one eats at 300am, then the other gets up and eats too. There is no feeding on demand. Otherwise you can end up constantly feeding since they might get hungry at different times. So far it has been working really well, although I am looking forward to the day when I get more than three or four hours of sleep at a time.

Exhausted cuddles

We have also had lots and lots of appointments with different doctors. We meet with our pediatrician for wellness checks. We have taken the girls to a neurologist to see if they will need any kind of early intervention. They have gotten ultrasounds on their brains and hips. Soon they will have their two month vaccinations. Unfortunately Laura will be undergoing surgery next week which though isn't too serious is still a bummer for such a small baby. In good news, both girls have basically doubled their birth weights!

Meeting Marta at the hospital

All three girls

The year 2016 has been and will be a very fertile year. We have lots of friends and family who are welcoming babies this year. Most recently was Jose's cousin who had a baby girl. One of our first outings with the twins was to go meet their new cousin at the hospital and later at his cousin's apartment. I am sure they will have lots of fun playing together in the future! 

Laura with her bisabuela Maria

Laura and Vera have also met their three Spanish great grandparents. Jose has a large extended family and we have been introducing the girls to them gradually. Now that they are a bit bigger and stronger we feel comfortable having people over to our apartment and taking them out and about more. We even had a big gathering with Jose's Dad's side of the family a few weekends ago. All his aunts, uncles and cousins were there and the babies behaved themselves quite well. We will be doing the same with his mom's side soon as well.

The girls also just recently received their American passports. There was a lot of paperwork to do to make sure that Laura and Vera were registered in both the U.S. and Spain. I am happy to say that their birth certificates and passports didn't take long to arrive and I feel relieved. They are now officially dual citizens!

Jose has recently gone back to work after his long paternity leave which means that I am home alone during the day with the girls. It has been a bit of an adjustment and you can expect a post soon which explains what we do every day together. So far I am enjoying being a mom even though it can be stressful at times (especially when both babies are crying at once). In general the babies are good. So let's hope they stay that way (for my sanity)!