5 Months: 07-27-2011

Guardian Angel:
I'm saddened to say that grandma left us on 7-1-11. She loved/s the kids so much and was so excited when she found out we were expecting. Every time she would see me she wanted to make sure the pregnancy was going good and would touch my stomach and cross her fingers. While the babies were in NICU grandma would come to visit and watch Richard and I as we took temperatures, changed diapers and had our kangeroo time. When each baby came home from the hospital she was so excited to hold them for the first time. She will be missed; however they will know who she is through stories and will still be a huge part of their lives even from above. They now have a guardian angel watching over them from heaven. 

Dax, Grandma, & Blake Mother's Day 2011

Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde:
I took both up to the hospital for that last blood draw on Blake. Everything was going smoothly until Mr. Dax man decided to have a tantrum. I went through the lists, diaper, hot, hungry. None of them would work. The child was screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs in the lobby. I continuously appologized to the sick people waiting and to the staff. Luckily they bumped me to the front of the line. I began calling my mother to get some back up help. When she arrived he still continued this tantrum. As soon as we walked outside the child stopped, he still would not take his bottle but instead was cooing, smiling, and carrying on. He was not hungry, dirty, or hot. I really believe he could sense that he was in a hospital and only bad things have happened in his life there. 


Beds:
We officially moved from our bouncers to our beds....yay!!! We were prescribed an incline at night and with the doctor's permission we chose the bouncers. I've been worried about the transition so we started out during nap time which was tough and eventually worked our way up to the beds. The first night we only made it till 3AM and moved to the bouncer. The second night Dax woke up and was able to go back to sleep in the bed. Since then we have been going strong in the beds. It finally dawned on me that I could use the preemie wedge from the car seats to make the perfect incline under the matreses. 


Since the lake has been plagued with the green algae and the babies are to young to be out we have become pool rats this summer. On July 10th we actually put them in the water once we had some shade. Dax man loved it and was very chill in the water; however the pool was not Blake's favorite. 

Friday July 15th or should I say Friday the 13th....

Yes this is a day I will not forget and yes it was a day from hell. My sweet angels broke their momma! Momma made it three months without a break down and on this day it happened. It all began very peaceful sleeping in until 8am. This should have been my indicator that things were not going to go my way. I decided to take them to Starbucks for some coffee at around 9:45...big mistake! From 9:45 to 4 they screamed non stop all day. As soon as one would quiet down the other would tag team me and start screaming. Both were not consullable, extremely tired, and had broke their momma. At 4pm momma had to put them in their beds and walk away. I called dad crying and told him that I was losing it and that I needed to get out of the house. My shower for the day did not come untill 10pm that night. Honestly they scared me and I was on pins and needles on whether or not they would behave at Knox's birthday party the following day. Luckily they were on good behavior.

Doctors:

Blake has been regularly attending Physical Therapy to work on her neck. She has torticolis which is a stiffening of the neck. She only turns her head to the right and will not look the other way. We are working to keep her from having a helmet to correct her irregular shaped head from sleeping on one side.

July 19th..It's official my baby girl is more than likely going to have a helmet. We were referred on to get a second opinion. I think this is more tramatic for me than it is going to be for her. The plan for now is to bedazzle the hell out of it and do whatever I can to make it not be so ugly. I'm saddened to know this and hope that it will be off sooner rather than later. I really don't want this elephant in the room when venturing out of the house.

 Sleeping through the night:
My children are sleeping through the night-Hollar! They have been for over a month now; however I was to scared to write it down with the thoughts that it could back fire on me at any moment. The trick that I promised once completely figured out. Again this worked for us so I'm not saying it will for others. We do this thing we call "the power feed" and let me tell you it has done wonders for our sanity. B and D are on a 3 hours feeding schedule; however at night beginning at 6 we change it two two hours. So they get breast milk at 6 and 8 and then at 10:30 before we go to bed we load them up on a third feed which is formula. The formula is the magic trick for us. It all began when I did not have enough milk thawed out and had some Bud Light Lime on a Sunday so we supplemented with formula which made them sleep longer.

Activities:
Both are cooing, reaching for things (the cow), smiling, and kicking up a storm. Everyday we have "school" where we do flash cards. I flash animal cards at them and make the noises of each animal. They both laugh and smile when I make these noises. I think Blake really likes the monkey the best. Dax on the other hand seems to prefer my tiger sound. I must have a mean monkey and tiger.

We now have a strong emphasis on tummy time these days as a result of that damn helmet fear. I'm talking tummy time overload compared to how we did it the first few months. It was rough getting them started. Now they love it. I've been putting bright colored books in front of them so they don't get bored while laying on the tum tum.


The Cow:

Some would say you have a cow hanging on the toy mat or what's the big deal with the cow. For us the cow is "baby crack". For some reason or another they are obsessed with this cow. Their cousin Aidan gave them the cow because he was addicted to it as a baby. His mom told me we have given a cow to all of our friends and there is just something with "the cow". I hung it without  much thought beyond the conversation until I saw how much they love and I mean love that  cow.



"Baby Crack"

 Time just keeps flying by and it seems like only yesterday we were in the delivery room. These little one's are true miracles and it's so fun capturing every moment. Thank you for all the kind words, thoughts and prayers we have received this month. Even though it has been a sad month we find strength with these little ones. They bring true joy to our lives and each day gets better and better. Enjoy some of our favorite pictures from this month.



Blake Evelyn Foster



Dax 5 months

Blake 5 months

4 months 06-27-2011

13 Weeks:
We made our first official trip to the lake and both Blake and Dax did so well in the car. My secret...a huge bottle right before leaving to put them in a milk coma and yes it worked. We spent our time in the house since the weather was very warm and they even decided to dress up for the Memorial Day occasion. Papa did not agree with my choice for his son; however once again he's a baby and I think his outfit was a grand choice for MD.

Doctors....
Blake has made it to 5 pounds 9 ounces so she was released to go every two weeks instead of every week. Our doc was so excited when he heard the news. At the same time he pulled the plug on my in home daycare that I found. My bubble was busted because I was so excited that I got into this particular day care and that all the parents are first time parents so I thought I was doing good against the illness fight. Since he pulled the plug he is writing a letter to the lady so we don't get a bad name in the "day care world". A term he found to be quite entertaining.

Bath Time:
As a clean freak when it comes to hygene one would think that I would do a better job on my children. My disclaimer is that I'm a new mother and I have never done this job before so here goes. I refer to all baby center articles and books and thought you give them a bath once or twice a week. All these references do not mention a head and butt cleaning daily until I got an article from what to expect. It said you need to clean them daily. Again sleep deprivation and common sense just flies out the door. I know in reality that I would want a clean butt and neck.


A few weeks later I kept smelling something more like a fish like infection type of smell that I could not figure out for the life of me. I was cleaning their necks nightly; however I realized I missed the area behind their ears. Yes crusty dried up milk behind their ears. It was the foulest smelling thing I've ever smelled....poor babies. 

Personalities:
Dax- My sweet little guy who found his voice has decided that his mommy and daddy will end up flying through sitters. He loves to bow his back backwards, legs completely stretched out, red faced, big tears, and scream at the top of his lungs in the 8 o clock hour every night. This is his bed time routine that he has established. As long as it's not 8pm he's very content and enjoys the nap nanny. He babbles and smiles at us when we talk in high pitch voices and every time we see this it makes that 15 minutes of screaming torture become a thing of the past.

Chillin in the Nap Nanny

Blake- She is just as sweet as ever and such a laid back little one. She is starting to coo and babble at us and recently began smiling too. We constantly wear bows so that when she is able to pull them off she will feel like they are part of her head and leave them alone. 


14 Weeks:
Our first night without the monster at 8pm two nights in a row and I'm hoping we have nipped this one in the butt. Dax has moved up to 5 ounces a feed and Blake is now in between 110cc and 4 ounces. We have come a long way since the days of TPN and 5cc's of food. 

Blake is officially 6 pounds 12 ounces..YOU GO GIRL! This will be the only time in her life where we are super excited for a weight gain. Hopefully later in life she will have a petite little frame where she does not have to worry about her weight.


Smiles, smiles, and more smiles....
This is our absolute favorite! They are both smiling when we talk to them and it is simply the cutest and sweetest thing ever. Dax at 3AM loves to start smiling at me after I'm done feeding Blake. 


Sleep..
So far both Blake and Dax have given us very little sleep until one night they decided to sleep from 8:30 to 4:50. I woke up prior thinking what's wrong, do we have a case of SIDS, did aliens abduct my babies? No, they were peacefully sleeping away. A couple of nights later they did the same thing. I've learned that if both of us are working the next day they do not give us this much needed sleep. Again it's like they know with their baby ESP that mom and dad have a hidden agenda. 

This Coos for You...
Yes the sounds of my sweet angels making cooing noises along with their precious smiles melts our hearts every time. We have become a customed to burps, cries, and poop noises so this is a wonderful sound to hear. We started playing patty cake and this gets Mr. Dax going like no other. He just loves it. Blake coo's and smiles when she is laying on her back looking up at the play mat toys. She prefers my game we made up where we point out her nose, mouth, ears, and such.

15 Weeks: First piece of Tail
Dax  got his first piece of tail the other day...dog hair that is. He grabbed Bellas tail and yanked some hair out. She surprisingly did not run and I'm sure this will not be the last time.

When he is on his playmat he will grab and hit his cow that hangs from the top. At first I didn't think he knew what he was doing until I sat and watched him do it over and over again and smile at the result. Blake was sitting right next to him watching, cooing, and smiling while this went on. I really think they knew what they were doing.

We ventured out to the pool for the first time. We stripped both down to diapers and put them on wet towels. They loved every moment of it. We even borrowed Elle's pink sunglasses and again they loved it. Father's day weekend we got both their own pair of shades and you would have thought they had been wearing shades forever. Both really were not bothered by it at all.



Four Month Check Up:


Dax: Today 6-29-2011
Dax weighed in at 12 pounds even, length 23.5 inches, and 15.5 head circumference. Overall he is in the  4th percentile for weight, 6 percentile for length, and 2 percentile for head. This is all based on a 4 month old baby. As you know, I'm a bit competitive and feel that's not a fair determination considering they are really 2 months gestation so of course I asked what it would be if we were looking at  2 month charts and he guessed that Dax would be in the 60 percentile range. This little man has come along way and today he ended the day by rolling over for the first time. 


Blake:
Little Miss thing is now 8 pounds 3 ounces, length 20 inches, and 15 head circumference. Overall she is .02% for weight, below 3% for length, and .9% for head circumference. Again I asked about her as a 2 month old and was told around 20%. She is finally catching up, prior to  today she was not even on the charts due to the slow growth. We have one last blood draw before our apt in July with the GI specialists and again we are hoping the results will be good so we can cancel that appointment....fingers crossed.


In the four month check up I was asked a series of questions regarding our routine, sleep, food etc. I must say I left with some confidence. One of the questions he asked was if they are sleeping in their own room. My response with hesitation yes, they only lasted in our room for 48 hours. I had no idea what the response would be and I was told I'm very rare and that he is usually convincing moms to move the babies to their own room. I left with an inflated head because I felt a little guilty for doing this so early but decided I could not handle the noise. I must say that I feel a lot better about this decision. Second question, Do you wait to go in the room in the middle of the night? My response...umm yah (again with hesitation) sometimes it takes a bit to wake me up does that count? Again I was told it's okay and that they will more than likely go back to sleep.

We have been on quite the ride and this journey continues to get better and better each day. Everyday we learn something new about one another and as we do this each day gets easier. Yes some days are extremely hard and others are easy; however I say to myself God gave us what we can handle and so far we seem to be doing okay. These children light up our life and we could not ask for anything more. Well maybe some more sleep and a date night. Please enjoy some of our favorite pictures from the past 4 weeks.

Ma and Pa Foster

First pool day



06-11-11 Dax, Blake, and her future hubby Aidan

Cranky day so I figured these shirts were appropriate.

Ladies just call me Maverick

Sassified

06-28-2011

12 pounds 4 months old

8 pounds 3 ounces 4 months



What exactly did she do?



Father's Day 2011 

A fish, a life guard, two swimmers & a dog

12 week Post 05-22-2011

Time has flown by and my goal of one post a week is out the door as I have very little time these days and have found that the best time to write is in the middle of the night while pumping the tata's. 


Baby Stalkers and Back Blasters:

I've always kind of known the rule that if the baby is covered up in the car seat the mother is obviously not wanting to expose the baby and wants it left alone. So keep in mind my only outings are to the doctors office and of all places to have a car seat covered that's going to be your number one place. I think all babies grab the attention of others; however when you walk in with two car seats both covered, one in blue and one in pink you are an open target for the baby stalkers. Of course no harm is intended however the women flock to me like flies on poo as I walk in and actually go for my covers, pacifiers, and touch my babies. This happens so quickly that you are at a loss for words and then they start in on the questions. Not that I'm complaining I love bragging about my angels just not at the doctors office. My absolute favorite question is if they are identical....pink and blue is not identical. 

Back Blaster (adjective)-- A tiny little baby under 5 pounds shoots yellow poop so powerfully out the sides of the diaper and up her back that it requires a hose down in the sink. Luckily I've been able to zap this one with the oxyclean stain remover. 


Life at home:
So far Blake and Dax are still continuing the NICU schedule of every three hours at night. I've got my system down that if everything goes as planned I can get both changed, fed, back to bed and a pump session in within an hour. I've been experimenting with them by doing some back to back feeds before bed time and so far it has bought me 5 hours in between feeds. Of course this has not been consistant so once I get this figured out I will share my secrets. I was released to work out again and found that you MUST and I repeat MUST pump prior to a workout or you are in some serious back pain and end up with wet spots. 


BABY ESP:
I've decided that during the day and any other time for that matter if mom or dad wants to do anything for themselves they scream. I've officially had two "dirty days" (a full 24 hours without a shower) Keep in mind my norm is two a day; however lately I've been lucky to get one a day due to the demands of mommy hood. 


Doctors, doctors, doctors....
We go every week for follow up appointments to check for weight gain. Dax grew 3 ounces the first week, the second week he shot up to 7 pounds 5 ounces and was released. Blake is not gaining 4 ounces a week as desired. She is up to 4 pounds 14 ounces and has not been released to discontinue the weekly check ups. She is on her third type of medicine to assist with the reflux and digestion. Every other week we have blood draws to check on her jaundice and this last week we found out it has gone down. Fingers are crossed that we get to cancel our appointment in July with OU GI specialists. 
One week later....
Blake gained 5oz and is now 5 pounds 3 ounces, still not released from the weekly appointments. She is almost out of preemie clothes and still to small for newborn. Dax on the other hand has moved out of newborn diapers and can wear newborn and 0-3 months. He is just growing like a little weed. 


Personalities...
Dax: He has discovered his voice and will let you know when he wants something. We currently work on tummy time daily so this is when he expresses his distastes for tummy time. He's a snuggle bug and loves to be held or rocked. 
Blake: She is a very happy baby and seems to follow Dax's lead when she hears him cry. It's really funny because when I'm changing her she will look at me and be perfectly fine then she will let out this high pitch screa then stare up at me completely quiet. It's really quite funny. She has become a little night owl so at bed time she will look around and suck her paci in the dark.

 First Mother's Day:
My baby daddy surprised me with some beautiful ear rings that are the babies birthstone and a very special card. 

Please enjoy some of our favorite photos of the darlings...

Ma and Pa

9 weeks old

10 weeks Dax

10 weeks Blake

Preble toes...

10 weeks Blake

4-21-2011-size comparison

Mother's Day 2011





05-17-11

love baby hands

oh such a sad face...

hear me roar



Where's my Cuban Cigar?!?!