Short Blog Twin Update: Mya discovers her hands, Milani talks CONSTANTLY

Mya noticing her fists

I think the advantage of having a preemie is that you appreciate each milestone and each development more. A couple of weeks ago, Mya discovered her fists and Milani is talking constantly (more than Mya). It is true that at three months, babies vision gets much better. My daughters focus on objects and when they see my face they smile and laugh. It is a beautiful feeling.

Branding your baby with ear piercing

Gold Ball Studs are best for infants

Getting my daughters ears pierced is a no brainer. It is a tradition in my family for the girls to get their ears pierced by 6 months old. Yet, I am hesitant on when I want to get theirs ears pierced. I have to remember that just because they were born premature, does not mean that they are different. I think, I am little more careful with them because they were born two months early, but I am blessed to say that they are developing right on schedule, but I digress.

I read several forums to find the answers to the following questions that I had:

1. What is the earliest age to get a babies ears pierced?
2. How old to get a baby who was born premature ears pierced?
3. What type of earrings is the best?
4. Pediatrician vs. professional piercer vs. Claire's vs. piercing pagoda

For the first question, I read so many different answers that I concluded that the age to get babies ears pierced was based on preference. However, according to my doctor, after three months and when they received their first set of shots was fine. Most mothers on the forum said that they pierced their babies ears when they were as old as seven years old. Some said as young as two months old. There were those who were against ear piercing all together until the baby is old enough to make their own decision. I asked the second question because their is a gestational age for preemies. For example, my daughters were born two weeks early; they are three months now; their gestational age is one month. With that calculation, I thought that their physical development equaled their gestational age; not true.

My friend told me that she went to the mall to get her daughters ears pierced but I was and I still am weary about doing that. I feel more comfortable having it done by their pediatrician because of Mal practice insurance (if she messes up then I have the opportunity to sue) and she knows my daughter. The only issues is that she is pricey, $40.00 per baby. That is $80.00 plus $40.00 copay. At the mall, the ear piercing is free when you purchase their earrings. Yet, I am not sure if I am comfortable having a stranger pierce their ears and I do not know if they are licensed or not. How do I know that they are trained to pierce ears? I can't risk that.

After speaking with the doctor about piercing the girls ears, I asked what type of earring was best for them. A ball stud and 24 carat gold plated is the best for the girls. Gold earrings are typical the best choice.

Some might think that I am over reacting or piercing their ears not a pressing issue. It isn't but we are taking pictures on Saturday and I wanted their ears done. Besides, I am tired of strangers asking if they are boy or girl. Why would I put boys in a pink car seat with a huge pink blanket to cover them?

What is your position on the issue? To pierce or not to pierce? That is the question.

Why doctors say NO WATER for infants under 6 months

At our first doctors visit, my pediatrician specifically said not to give the babies water until they are at  least 6 months old. The same information was presented to me when I went to apply for W.I.C. I was even asked by several family members if I started giving the girls water. Immediately I repeated what the W.I.C. office and the pediatrician said to me. My family stared at me with confusion. I thought it was weird as well since  their formula was mixed with water, they were still having water in their system...kind of. My mother felt it was odd information as well. She called my godmother who is a pediatrician to ask, especially because Milani was constipated. My godmother chuckled at what my doctor had said and her words exactly, "they need to cut it out."

Why doctors say NO WATER for infants under 6 months

Years ago, mothers who were financially unable to afford formula would dilute it with more water than necessary in order to make it last. As a result, babies would start to get sick. Doctors concluded that babies were getting sick due to the excessive amounts of water in the formula. Today, more doctors are urging mothers to not give water until the babies are much older. 

That's one story. 

It takes a lot of energy to feed from a bottle. I learned that from when my girls were in the NICU and were not gaining enough weight because the nurses put them on the bottle too early. Just imagine having a tiny stomach and learning how to suck, swallow and breathe simultaneously all on your own because you were born early. When they reached a certain weight, they were able to feed from the bottle without loosing any ounces. Some mothers tend to give babies a full bottle of water twice a day. Water does not have any nutrients for an infant and so much water digested will cause weight lost. Feeding from a bottle already takes a lot of energy and then the infant is not getting the right amount of nutrients from water to gain back the energy that they are loosing; not a great combination. 

My godmother suggest (and we can agree to disagree) that although she does not agree that babies should not receive water, she thinks that they can have at least 2 ounces per day; the amount can be split up such as one ounce in the morning and one ounce at night. Water helps with constipation, which formula can cause. 

As of today, I have officially started to give my girls water. We will see how it goes. What are your thoughts about water?

What are Sunset Eyes?

When I took my girls for their two month old shot, the pediatrician said to me that my daughter Mya has a lot of white space in her eyes. "See, take a look," she said. I got up from the chair and I didn't notice anything odd about my daughters eyes. "She could have sunset eyes," the doctor said. I smiled but I was not sure what that meant. Sometimes, I have a tendency not to ask questions of information that I am unsure of. In this case, I was afraid of what the answer would be. However, after she noticed Milani, she then said, "Oh, that is just the shape of their eyes, she is okay." You might be wondering if I should change doctors, but honestly, she is very good. Yet, the sunset eyes comment kept plaguing me. I never heard about it before, but I am a new mom and their are many things I have not heard or experienced yet. I immediately called the doctor and had her explained to me what it was.

Sunset eyes: the inability to look up. Infant's eyes appear to look only downward.

Does Mya seem to look only down?

Clearly she is looking up at the book.

Does this look like she can't look up? Mya looks up all the time, and after practicing, I realized that there was nothing wrong with her.  Sunset eyes is also a common characteristic of Hydrocephalus.

Buying a Crib, Maybe not the best idea

The top essentials for a nursery, a changing table (although others would disagree), rocking chair or glider, crib and crib accessories. It sounds logical. In my experience as a new mom of twin girls, I must say, the crib could have waited. I would have thought that babies would just naturally sleep in a crib with out a problem, another misconception that I am learning as a new parent. Because premature babies stayed in the NICU they were accustomed to their own small space that reminded them of being in the womb. My girls did not share an incubator and were use to sleeping alone. When I bought Mya home, we did not have a crib yet so she slept in a pack n play. She was fine. We brought the crib and she was okay as well. As soon as we bought Milani home, things began to change. After their feeding, they would go to sleep. We would put them in the crib and close the door. Ten minutes later, they were back up again.

After speaking with the pediatrician, he informed me it was okay for them to sleep in a bouncer or a swing because it was close knit and reminded them of being snuggled. They were too young to self sooth themselves, which is what a crib does. The crib is a lot of space that the girls were not ready for. As they are now three months, I have slowly tried to ween them back to the crib, but they wake each other up, to the point that we had to separate them. We still have to separate them.

My suggestion would be to start with a bassinet; it is more affordable and it beats waking up every 20 minutes to console your baby and put them back to sleep. When they reach 4 to 5 months, a crib is a better deal. At three months, they sleep through out the night but if I put them in the crib, they do not sleep at all.

If you decided to purchase a crib anyway, make sure it is a soft but firm mattress. If you have twins, I would suggest to get two cribs, it is common, in my case anyway, that they will wake each other up. As they slept in their bouncer and swing, they were next to each other, but one cries louder than the other. Eventually, we had one twin sleep in our room and in the middle of the night, bring them back to the nursery. I think we forget that just because they are twins, does not mean they are alike. Even though I do not get 8 hours of sleep like I use to, the hour I do have is much needed and keeping them in a place that will not wake them up, makes that hour feel like a dream.

Some may think that placing them to sleep in a confined area will hinder their growth and development. It will not. My girls love the boppy but PLEASE do not let them sleep in it unless you are fully awake. They will wiggle their little bodies down and possible suffocate underneath the boppy. If you are fully awake, you can monitor them more carefully.

The Bottle Nipple Changes Everything

I recently noticed that my twin girls were feeding very slowly, especially Milani who, in the NICU could finish a meal in a record time of 10 minutes. I figured that because we increased their feeding it would take them longer to complete however, 30 minutes for each baby plus more if Mya or Milani is still not satisfied is too long of a time.

I read somewhere that natural bottle nipples are easier for babies to suck on than silicone nipples. Babies tend to have a better grasp on the naturals than the silicone. Today when I went to pick up the girls vitamins, I saw the natural nipples for the Gerbers First Essential bottles (which I love) for only a $1.00 and immediately purchased them. Of course for any nipple and bottle, I had to boil them in water for two minutes but i couldn't wait to try them. The girls latched on to them instantly; I felt like they were the same girls that I knew from the NICU. Milani finished her bottle in 10 minutes as well as Mya. I think because the nipple is a lot smaller and it is not as slow as the silicone one.

In my previous blog, I wrote about the different types of bottles and which ones I liked the best. I have not tried Dr. Browns but I do not think it is necessary. It isn't about the bottle but what nipple is a perfect fit for the baby. I was using the Playtex bottles for them but they were not latching on as well as I would like. They took too long to feed on them and I hate the fact that I had to dispose the drop ins and purchase more. I don't mind cleaning bottles and for an inexpensive price Gerber's First Essential does the job. It reduces colic and is BPA as well.

Bottle nipple changes everything.

Great Coupon Websites to help Save Money

After delivering my twin girls on July 19th, I have been more aware of my savings and cutting cost. When I use to grocery shop, I would never pay attention to how I can save money on my products. Call it lazy but I was never too keen on cutting coupons or using them in the stores. As a new mother, I have noticed how quickly the main items such as pampers, formula (I supplement with breast feeding) and wipes decrease in quantity. I received a plethora of pampers at my baby shower on August 13th and now I am down to four packs of newborn, one pack of size one, a huge 132 box of size two and two unused packs of pampers preemies, which were a waste of money.

As the economy tries to pick itself back up, I found these websites and offers to help parents save some money:

Zavers.com

Cutting out coupons is the past. Zavers.com, a leading Internet company that provides paperless coupons  has partnered with participating grocery stores Pathmark, A&P, Waldbaum's, Superfresh, The Food Emporium, Cooke's, Harris Teeter, Price Chopper Northeast (Coming Soon) and BI-LO to make coupons available on the Internet and use in the stores. The best part about Zavers is that you can add the coupons to your advantage card from your local grocery store, therefore you do not have to print out the coupons all you have to do is scan your items and then scan your advantage card and the coupons will show up on your receipt. The website has Brand Coupons, which you can add any participating brand coupon onto your account as well Store Coupons, the coupons that your store has advertise. Zavers also gives you the option to print out a list of the items on sale to bring with you while you shop.
To Join: You can sign up for online coupons either on your retailers website or on Zavers.com following these instructions:

Look for an email from your retailer with instructions on how to activate your account.

Click the one-time use link in the email and register your loyalty card number to start saving.

To ensure delivery of your activation email, add zavers@zavers.com to your trusted or safe senders list before you press send.

Zavers also allows its customers to set up their account on their mobile device. You are able to find coupons and instantly add them to your rewards card in seconds all from your phone.

Live Better Baby Club (livebabybetter.net) 

Live Better Baby Club is the resource for everything baby. They have partnered with Pathmark, A&P, Walbaums, The Food Emporium and Super Fresh groceries in order for customers to sign up for free and  receive perks such as 10% off baby products, free prenatal and prescriptions vitamins and with the help of coupon source, you are also able to download coupons directly to your reward card from one of the participating grocery stores. On the website, they feature America's Choice products so I am unclear if the 10% is exclusively for their products or for any brand.

CouponNetwork.com

Once you add your zip code, a list of stores appear

Shows your Savings and Available Coupons

The Coupon Network might be one of my favorite online resources to use. Unlike Live Baby Better Club and Zavers, you have to print out the coupons. You do not have to register your awards card to get deals. Once you register, you are asked to put in your zip code to find a list of participating stores such as Target or Shoprite. Once your zip code is added, a list of stores appear with google maps to pin point where the stores are located in your area or surrounding areas. By clicking on the blue icon, you can add as many stores into your favorite stores list, which will then compile a group of coupons for those stores. What I love the most about this site is that on the right hand side, it tells you how much you will save if you use all the coupons! CouponNetwork.com has another great feature called Your bucks, which are dollar off rewards that you can use like cash at your favorite store. However, these are used when you buy items in big bulks.

CouponMom.com

Similar to Coupon Network, Coupon Mom is a free sign up but has a plethora of deals and coupons. You can search for participating stores by clicking on your state and a list of the coupons are available for you to print. The website also has online coupons that you can use at any store, which actually takes you to another site called mycoupons.com, drugstore deals and free samples. The site even includes a section to teach you how to coupon.

Baby Product Sites 

When you first became pregnant, you might have (or a family member) subscribed to various magazines such as Parenting Magazine or Baby Magazine. If you did, your in luck. For the first time you would be happy that these magazines sold your information to baby products because those companies will now send you free offers of formula, coupons to different stores and other great samples. If you have not subscribe it is not too late. If you go to Motherhood Maternity and purchase an item, the cashier will offer you a free magazine. Accept the offer but don't forget to call the magazine and cancel your subscription because they will bill you. Also when you purchase an item from Motherhood, they fill your bag with lots of coupon goodies.

Similac.com: Sign up for free for strong moms on their web site and in a week you will receive exclusive  coupons and a couple of checks to use on any Similac

pampers.com: Sign up for the reward and grow program and like Similac, you will receive coupons off diapers, wipes and exclusive offers.

Carters.com: Carters will send magazines to your address with coupons attached to the back for at least 20% savings.

Diapers.com: I have never used diapers.com but they will also send coupons to use only on their websites.

Inside magazines: Don't forget to look for advertisements and deals in your favorite magazines or specifically parent magazines. You never know what goodies you may find.

Don't Forget Magazines

The good ol' fashion clipping of coupons from Sunday's newspaper, it never gets old.

How to Organize Your Coupons 

There are many ways to organize your coupons. It is hard to organize by date but I find using a binder with clear holders and organizing by category such as diapers, wipes, formula/food, clothes and accessories might work. However, whatever way you would like organize is up to you. Find a set up that you are comfortable with and will be able to control. If you keep the coupons in one big pile, you will miss deadlines and therefore miss a chance to save.

Share your resources!

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