Got milk?

I had a reality check today.

I met with the Nurse Practitioner, Cari, who had told us that Sydney needed to have fortified milk for the next 6 months. BACKGROUND: The human milk fortifier they'd been given at the hospital had made both Ethan and Sydney miserable--upset to their stomachs and so gassy. After Sydney came home, I said, "forget it" and took her off the fortified milk that we mix and give to her in a bottle. We told the pediatrician and he gave us another formula that had no dairy--alimentum. I guess it's partially digested and nasty tasting. Sydney showed us how nasty by refusing to swallow one bit of it two nights ago.

Cari told us today that babies who are not caught up in size to other kids their age by 18 months have a risk of a lower I.Q. She also said that without the extra calcium, they have an increased risk in bone fractures because their bone density is poor. Bummer. She gave us some specialized formula for premature babies and told us to add 1 tsp to 4 oz of my milk and then bottle feed them. Sounds simple, right? Logistically, that is going to be tough. I already feel like a milk cow. She wants us to do this 3-4 times per day. Sounds a little more complicated, right? She then said to do this for 6-9 months! Yes folks, that's until September.

Then, I started looking up the cost of the stuff. They gave me 3 cans and I did a little google-ing and found out it's $16.99 per can. If I were to have to give them bottles of this stuff (if I weren't feeding them my milk), it would cost us $600 per month to give them 8-8oz bottles per day. Isn't that a little crazy? Thank heavens I don't have to do that (at least yet).

My reality check was that my life has gotten a whole lot busier. People tell you that it will be tough, but I don't think they had premature twins. So, family and friends--you may not see much of me until September. Good thing I have this blog for my connection to the outside world!

I asked about taking them out for walks in the sun to increase their calcium absorption (getting vitamin D from the sun helps absorb calcium). She said it was a great idea. Those will be the times I will see the sun, I swear. It makes me laugh just thinking about it.

On a lighter and much more fabulous note--Ethan is still brady-free. He also had his Echo tonight and the tech said that the hole that was there when he was 1 week old is still there. But, he said that it is still common to have it open. It should close over the next 2 months or so. Yeah for nothing wrong there!

The nurses tell me that he is getting 'bored' in the nursery lately and is too old to be there. They are having to stick him in a swing to keep him entertained the last few days. Doug is down there still tonight (nearly midnight) feeding him and keeping him company. We can hardly wait until Saturday! It is getting so close. I meet with Annie, the occupational therapist, tomorrow at noon to help me with Ethan again--he's been fed too many bottles and is struggling to eat when I visit him.

Sydney continues to do well from home. If you didn't know better, you'd think she was a normal newborn (just forget that she is 8 weeks old this Saturday). I check in her basinet about every 30 minutes to make sure she is breathing. This is an improvement from every 10 minutes when she first came home. She is so adorable and Doug and I are loving cuddling her whenever we want. She is our favorite girl.