Thursday, December 24, 2009

Happy Christmas Eve 2009!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIMI!!! (aka my mom) We miss you and wish that we could be with you to celebrate. We love you!!!
***

I have a confession to make... In this season of confessions, I feel it is only appropriate. :) I let Bobby and Maya sleep on their tummies.

Now, before you tell me I'm a horrid person, we do NOT let them sleep on their bellies in their crib when we are in bed asleep. But, after they eat, if I can't hold them upright (because I need to feed the other) or if they are sound asleep and I'd like to wash laundry, do dishes, etc, I lay them on their bellies in their bassinet and do housework. I check on them constantly and, if I am more than one room away, I have a monitor in with them and a monitor with me. And, because I really buck the system, I also lay a burp cloth or sheet saver underneath them. I check on them every few minutes and adjust things as needed, but they digest so much better and rest so much easier than when on their backs. At bed time, when we arent checking on them every few minutes, it is back-to-sleep only, but during the day, they do have some sleeping tummy time.

And while I've been told that I should be ashamed of myself for "risking their lives" by letting them rest on their tummies, I really dont. Yes, children can smother themselves if left alone and unsupervised on their tummies or own burp clothes or in cribs with bumpers. I dont mean to imply otherwise. But I also think that diligent parenting can help prevent some problems. And, seeing as Maya can already roll over from her back to her belly, it isnt as though I can stop them all the time. (And, although I hate when people use this example to tell me how to parent, I will stoop to the "my mom put me on my stomach and I'm fine" comment.)

So, all in all, back to sleep is best. But, I've found that tummy to sleep, as long as watched like a hawk, is okay after eating if you need to toss a load in the washer or put away dishes.

And, while I'm confessing... I just started adding rice cereal to their bottles. After the instance with Maya (which was a week ago- can you believe it???) and the fact that Bobby has a mild case of reflux (his only issue was spitting up if placed down immediately after feeding), I've been paranoid about putting them to bed at night after their early a.m. feeding (words like "Honey, what if she chokes???" had become mainstream). So, after doing some research, we decided to try adding some rice cereal to help thicken the formula. I picked up rice cereal at our local market and added it to one bottle each, to try and gauge if we were going to have an intestinal issue (since rice cereal isnt always well tolerated prior to 4 months old; the twins are 15 weeks old today). They seemed to dig the taste for the one bottle (which we gave prior to bed) but were hungry for more than their bottle! And were hungry in 4 hours (rice cereal additions, I'd read, would give you more time between feeds). We did the same thing the next night: no issues and still hungry 4 hours later. So, yesterday, I made all the bottles with the cereal added. They both took their full bottles (Bobby actually took more than his normal on one and Maya finished every single one- a big feat for our little princess!) but the biggest thing was that, over night, they slept an 8 hour stretch! I dont know if that will be the norm, but I was really shocked! We fed them at 8pm and 8:30pm, put them to bed at midnight (assuming they'd want another bottle and shocked when they both stayed asleep even as we moved them from downstairs to their crib upstairs) and then Bobby didnt wake until 4am and Maya around 4:45am! WOW!

Okay... Confession over...

***

It's Christmas Eve... I can't believe we are already here. Christmas always feels like the end of the year for me, even though we have a few more days, and it seems nuts that we are already ending 2009.

I realized today while making breakfast that we saw Dr Lee for the first time on Sept 14, 2007. Bobby and Maya were born almost 2 years to the day after we first started treatment. In between Sept 14, 2007 and Mar 13, 2009, Dr Lee helped us add seven beautiful children to our family that only had one beautiful baby until then. Even though I have only two living children, I am so grateful for every fleeting moment we had with every single one. Merry Christmas to me for being able to have those seconds of motherhood and for being able to mother Bobby and Maya on earth.

***
Update from Glenda: "Thank you, Michele, for calling on your support people for me. We are doing well for now. It has been a good day. Praising God for the time I have to slow down, feel her moving, and hear her heartbeat so much! It is a miracle of God that any pregnancy occurs and survives! "

Thank you for all the prayers and thoughts for this dear woman and her daughter. Keep them coming! Hopefully I can post a birth announcement in TWELVE weeks! :)

11 comments:

Barb said...

I'm a big fan of "common sense" parenting. You can't make all rules a rigid system. It just doesn't work. And I've always felt badly about the back thing b/c I know I've ALWAYS loved sleeping on my tummy. Too bad we don't know all the real reasons (probably so many) for SIDS so we could not have to worry about every little movement and have Mommies and Daddies blaming themselves if it does happen. :(

My sister was ADVISED by her doc to give her almost 3 mo old cereal b/c he just wasn't getting enough. Sometimes it happens. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Mother Knows Best Reviews said...

I don't think anyone could ever think that you are endangering those babies' lives - of all people, you ooze concern and affection for them. I love that they're just moving so quickly!

I'm glad to hear Glenda's doing well!

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Debby@Just Breathe said...

I wish I could be a fly on the wall (not that you have flies in your house) but I would love to see your Christmas with these two blessings that God has given you to raise here on earth.

Let me tell you that my children were from a time when the belly was the only way so they wouldn't die from spitting up! I know that more lives have been saved from sleeping on the back and that is a wonderful thing but belly time is also good. Your a wonderful mother.

Also, I added cereal too! They slept allot longer with the full belly. I like some of your old school thinking, that's how I raised my children.

Have a beautiful Christmas and may you create wonderful memories this year. Love, Debby

Alex said...

I let my last 2 sleep on their bellies after my first one was so hard to get to sleep(although she stayed asleep well once down), and I don't regret it at all. The 2nd started showing signs of fussing like the first so I put her down on her tummy and she slept beautifully. So I did that again later. And later. And then I mentioned it to my doctor a few days later and he said that since we didn't have typical worry markers in the household for SIDS and I was a smart observant parent that I should trust my common sense. Both her and us would be better off with a good nights sleep and it was safer for her to sleep on her tummy than to fuss, cry, get upset and choke on saliva etc. So I had his blessing. Its amazing how well they slept. My third slept so well, and was able to roll over from his tummy to his back by week. 2.5 so I had no worries with him(aside from normal parent paranoia just in case!!)

Happy Holidays to you and yours.

K said...

AWWWW that pic is tooooo cute!

When I was little my mom said the common sage advice is to sleep kids on their tummies. The baby talk book I'm reading says that you should have them on the back but its okay to do it on their tummies as long as its supervised.

Happy holidays!!!!

Reba said...

i see nothing wrong with what you're doing! by 3 months old naomi was rolling herself over onto her tummy to sleep. she hasn't slept on her back even once since then. the babies know best. i agree with the "common sense" way you're doing it.

thank you for looking at a&m's virtual memorial! i love updating it every month and i always wonder if anyone ever sees it.

can i ask, did you need to widen the holes at the top of b&m's bottle nipples when you added the rice cereal? naomi's gi specialist has suggested several times that adding cereal to her bottles would help her gain weight and keep food down. but it seemed to be clogging the hole whenever i tried. so i tried widening it and i ended up ruining 5 bottle nipples!

Michelle said...

I'll confess to that too. Honestly mine sleeps on his belly heaps of times darling. It's the same way my husband sleeps which he still does to this day (with his head buried in the pillow like self suffocating himself). My boy's got his face clear of pillows but otherwise the spitting image of his dad. They sleep so much better like that!! Again at first I was really careful with it like you, then I started getting lazier and lazier with checking and now I'm back to full time work so my parents raise him. He rolls a good few metres in his sleep (we sleep on a futon on the floor and he does too). He's now 7 months and very solidly growing. I know I shouldn't be taking things for granted, but I think there's so much much more to SIDS than just belly sleeping.
..
It's Christmas morning 8am. Hope your family have a safe, merry Christmas from this side of the globe!

Anonymous said...

AJ hated being on his belly, believe me I tried! Until he started trying to sit up, I used a boppy pillow that had a velcro strap that kept him secured to it. He loved it. So I certainly don't think any less of you at all!
As far as thickening their bottle, yep, I had to do that too. With AJ's reflux, we ended up doing it for every bottle (dr. suggested) and (adding my confession here) when he was 5 months old (3 months adjusted) I switched from the rice to the oatmeal cereal and also added baby bananas to his night time bottle--making it a little thicker before bedtime and he slept like a champ! Thickening the bottle (along with a daily dose of prevacid) virtually stopped the burping up. He's 3now and outgrew his reflux by the time he was 1!
Merry Christmas to you and your family! Every one of your sweet babies are beautiful! *I especially love the little picture of Sophia where she is smiling! An absolute angel! Blessings! Rachell

Lisa said...

To make you feel better, I actually had permission from my pediatrician to put my son on his belly. He was rolling over anyway and it somewhat helped with his reflux. So an expert (my kids dr) says its okay :)

Kandi Ann said...

Merry Christmas! All my nephews were tummy sleepers. All in their twenties now except the youngest at 18. That was the norm. All fine. And also, my next door neighbor in Tampa had a new born (and 2 yr old) and he slept through the night from day one on the rice bottles. Her babies were beautiful. (I have pictures) and she is a nurse and said that was fine and to look at her older son. Even their skin was amazingly beautiful. Anyways, Merry Christmas! Going to read rest of post now. lol. xoxo, Kandi Ann

Anonymous said...

I say if the babies are doing ok, do what you gotta do...I believe a momma instinct kicks in.

*hugs* Merry Christmas to you and your sweet babies.