9:06 pm ~ 
Filed Under:
Emma & Ava, Family, Life (Or Something Like It)
Emma and Ava are 8 weeks old today! Seriously, I don’t even know where the time has gone. It seems like I had them just last week! They are so amazing. Emma smiles all the time, she’s the happiest baby! Ava is more serious, she always has a serious look on her face, but she’s a happy baby too. She is just starting to really smile. Tonight she did something for the first time… I went to check on her in the swing expecting her to be asleep still and she was wide awake and as soon as she saw me she got a big smile on her face and let out the cutest little “awwww” noise. It was ADORABLE!
They are sleeping 5-6 hours at night now, it’s awesome. We both get decent sleep at night because Preston takes the middle of the night feeding and I take the 7am feeding so we both get in a good stretch of sleep. That’ll change though when he starts flight school. It shouldn’t be bad though. Their last feeding is at 10pm so if I get to bed by midnight I can get 3-4 hours until they eat again and then 3-4 hours again before they eat at 7am. They do really well at night, I wouldn’t be surprised if they started sleeping longer very soon.
I’m thinking about switching them over to soy formula. Since I quit pumping breast milk for them (thanks to all the postpartum issues resulting in going on regular birth control… no more milk! 
) they have been spitting up and really gassy. I switched them to Enfamil’s gentle formula but it hasn’t made that much of a difference. Poor babies. The only time they really fuss is when their tummy’s hurt. I feel bad because when I give them the breast milk that I have stored in the freezer, they do great so I know it’s the formula. I still have a good 2 months worth but I’m trying to stretch it out so they get at least some breast milk for a longer period of time rather than all breast milk at once.
Anyway, time for me to go get on the elliptical.
July 25th, 2007 09:12 pm
I can’t believe it’s already been eight weeks. Actually, it doesn’t feel like it’s been 9+ months since the two of you found out you were expecting! Time goes by SO fast!!
July 25th, 2007 10:08 pm
a friend of mine has been using formula for her baby (she is breastfeeding, but her baby wasn’t gaining enough weight so the dr. suggested topping her up with formula too) and her little girl had the same problems with regular formula that you wrote about. she ended up switching to organic formula which she says is working much better.
and yay! eight weeks! it’s so cute that they are smiling now
July 25th, 2007 10:54 pm
Time really has gone so quick!! Emma’s smiling in the pictures always puts a smile on my face and gives me a little giggle! They are just too cute for words!!
July 25th, 2007 11:30 pm
omg, i can’t believe it’s been 8 weeks!!
have you looked into fenugreek (http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/fenugreek.html) for helping in produce milk? poor little babies trying to get fed & getting sick
. i’m terrified of having to pay for formula. hahah. so i really hope nursing works out for me. plus, i really want to nurse. but, what happens, happens =/.
i am so sorry i have lacked reading as often as i was!! now that i’m off work till 6 weeks after addison is born.. i have much more time to read my dailies. seems like they turned into weekly reads, rather than daily. hehe.
July 25th, 2007 11:36 pm
Wow, I still can’t believe your a Mommy now! Feels like it was only yesterday Kyle was 8 months old (or younger) when I was telling you what it’s like to be a Mommy! Now he just turned 2 on the 19th… I am so so so proud of you though! Your girls are absolutely beautiful. You’re a lucky one! Not all babies are so cute when they are little!
July 26th, 2007 12:37 pm
hey
when my daughter was born, i didnt produce milk at all so i had her on regular formula, and that made her spit up and get real fussy, then i started her on soy and it worked wonders! my friends baby spit up ALOT and they switched her to organic, and it works very well for her too….
and about the gassiness…Grace was a really really really (im not even exagurating) really gassy baby, and i felt horrible, but my family has been doing this for years and it seems to work for everyone, did for gracie: you go out and buy the fennel seed, you can get it at the grocery store and boil a teaspoon or 2 in about a mug full of water, just let it boil for a minute or two, then drain the seeds, and put the water in a bottle (it will be yellow from the seeds) and put some ice in it to cool down, or put it in the refridge, and once its cool, feed it to them, just give them what they want throughout the day, all i did was just switch the nipples on the bottle everytime it was used so its new for the next time….man, i dont know what i would have done without fennel…it worked instantly!
July 26th, 2007 12:47 pm
We switched Ava to soy yesterday. We have a TON of free Enfamil Gentlease that we got for having twins, so we’re going to finish using that with Emma. She doesn’t have problems as much but if the soy works for Ava, we’ll just put them both on it to make things easier. The Gentlease didn’t seem to make much of a difference for either of them for some reason. Maybe it’s the lactose? Not sure…
Thanks for the tip Nicole! I’ll have to look into that!
July 26th, 2007 09:21 pm
i want to nurse so i hope it works out for me as well in the future.. even if it’s not easy, for the baby’s benefit. alot of research i’ve put in for school solidified that.
the human brain is only 25% developed at birth. 90% of its further development happens in the first 5 years of life, over 70% of that occuring during the FIRST year. breastmilk contains hormones, certain fats and nutrients that allow for brain tissue and CNS deveopment and growth. these cannot be duplicated in any way. so if only to provide my baby with the best form of “brain food” and solidify their intelligence and increased brain function, i’ll do it.
July 27th, 2007 12:55 am
I’m sure you’re super well-informed and have read all about soy formula and the concern surrounding them, nevertheless here is some info. Also, I wanted to mention, you are in a special circumstance that may allow you to get a prescription for human milk from a milk bank. All the milk is thoroughly screened and treated and your insurance may cover the cost of having it shipped to you. Something to look into maybe. I know as an intelligent person you can imagine the possible negative outcome of feeding a human infant born to drink animal milk with a heavily processed liquid made from plant sources…
Possible Soy Danger:
High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.
Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body’s requirement for B12.
Soy foods increase the body’s requirement for vitamin D.
Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.
Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.
July 27th, 2007 01:11 am
I can’t believe it’s been 8 weeks already! The girls sound absolutely adorable Sarah. How are you feeling now?
July 27th, 2007 11:16 pm
I have read a lot of info on soy formula and regular formula… it seems like you can’t win for losing anywhere. There is something “bad” to be found about everything… except breast milk. I think I pumped for the last time on Wednesday.
It’s slightly depressing but there’s not much I can do. I tried every other option to avoid having to go on regular birth control pills but nothing stopped the bleeding and it was to the point of being very dangerous for me.
I hadn’t thought about milk banks. I have heard of them but sort of forgot about them until you mentioned it.
As far as wanting to nurse, Heather, all I have to say is don’t beat yourself up if for some reason you can’t. I was determined to nurse and it was really hard for me when I realized I wasn’t going to be able to nurse or pump anymore. I cried. I beat myself up about it but then I realized I couldn’t do that. I do the best I can and sometimes (especially with twins) things don’t work out how you planned them to at all. I’m sure the chances of you running into issues though are pretty low, so that’s great. I look forward to nursing our future babies.
July 27th, 2007 11:17 pm
Oh and I’m feeling great Kenna.
The exercising is making me feel sooooo much better overall.