Eli & Emry are 4 Months Old!

The twins are technically four and a HALF months old now. I waited to post for a couple of reasons. 1) I wanted to post accurate “4-month” weights from the doctor. We went for their 4-month check up this morning. 2) We’ve been really busy lately and I have not had much blogging time. 3) I was in a dark place for a couple of weeks when the babies decided that they were no longer interested in sleeping at night.

For us, the 3 months mark was a big milestone. It had finally started to get easier. Eli was gaining weight and sleeping through the night. We no longer had our weekly weight checks. Feeding times were down to an hour. Emry Jane’s reflux was managed well with meds so she was eating better. She only woke up once at night for a less-than-10-minute feeding so I was actually getting to sleep. Praise the Lord, we were going to survive this twin thing! I was bragging about how much easier it was and I felt like it could only go up from there…then… BAM! While visiting family for fall break, things started to get much more challenging.

Eli is a slow feeder and had a hard time getting enough milk from nursing to gain weight. Eli had been getting bottle supplements after nursing (first breast milk until he was 2 months old then mixed with formula) since birth. We continued to ramp up the ounces he took from a bottle over the first couple months. By 2 and a half month, Eli was getting 4 oz from a bottle each feeding. By 3 months old, he had decided that bottle-feeding was significantly easier so he gave up on nursing all together by the first of October. It worked out okay because I could bottle-feed Eli at the same time I was nursing Emry. Then, I would pump when they were finished.

Emry Jane would nurse every feeding and, at her last one of the night, we would give her a 2 oz bottle of formula. She would also get bottles occasionally when I was not with her during feeding time, though it did not happen often. Over fall break, Emry decided that she wanted bottle feedings too. She refused to nurse. By the time we got home from our trip, both babies were only taking bottles during the day. Emry gets breast milk in her bottles. She does not like the taste of formula. Eli still gets his 2 oz of formula mixed with breast milk in his bottles. For the first week of bottles only, Emry Jane would still nurse when she woke up at night. Then she decided that she did not want to do that either. Now, we are all bottles, all the time. I am sad that my babies no longer want to nurse (Noah nursed for 15 months!) but there is a silver lining. Feedings are MUCH faster now! I pump while I am feeding them their bottles so we can be finished with eating and pumping in under 25 minutes. Remember when it took 1.5 hours per feeding?! I sure do. I am still taking Fenugreek supplements to help boost my milk supply. I can pump about 7 oz every 3-3.5 hours and they take 9-10 oz breast milk every 3-3.5 hours. I pump more in the morning so I am usually able to break even by the end of the day. I am not storing milk like I was before but I do not have to take milk from my freezer supply often.

Like I mentioned before, at the 4 month mark, I was in a dark place. I was sore from constant pumping and, for a good 3 week stretch, the babies were up every couple of hours. I would try to give them their pacifiers, nurse them, bottle-feed them, ANYTHING they could possibly want/need but a baby was awake at 12:30 and 2 and 3 and… It was exhausting. Eli had gone from sleeping through the night for a month and a half to up every 2-3 hours. They were waking each other up at the tiniest little cry. There were  nights when Tommy went upstairs in the middle of the night so that he could get some uninterrupted sleep and be able to function at work the next day. Morning naps were a must for Mama AND babies because everyone was SO TIRED. Thankfully, we are now back “on schedule.” The babies sleep from 8:30 pm until their one middle-of-the-night feeding, usually around 3 am. Then, I wake them up to eat at 7 am before we take Noah to school. I try to go to bed within an hour of putting them down to sleep so that I can get 5 or so consecutive hours of sleep myself.

Eli has really filled out his little arms, legs and cheeks over the past month. He loves to smile and laugh. Bath time is the best time of the day for him! He loves to kick his feet and splash in the tub. He is very ticklish– pretty much anywhere but especially his thighs, chest and feet! He shouts before he sneezes, which is quite possibly the cutest thing ever. He has no interest in rolling over and hates tummy time. Mommy is his favorite person. He is afraid of loud noises/music and pouts when he is scared. We found this out when taking him to Cokesbury’s contemporary service for the first time (Emry loved the loud music and lights!) He is very laid-back unless he is hungry. If you do not feed him when he is ready, he will let you know how he feels about it with VERY LOUD crying. Eli weighs 14 pounds 13.5 ounces and he is finally on the growth chart!! Not only on it, but 25th percentile… WHOOP WHOOP 🙂 He’s also now a pound and a half HEAVIER than his sister. He is 24 3/8 inches long. His hair is getting lighter and his eyes are still very blue!

Emry Jane no longer earns her “Cowbird” nickname, she eats much less than Eli, but she is every bit of a “Princess.” Princess Emry Jane. Daddy is her favorite person– and probably to blame for most of her spoiled-rottenness! She is the stubborn one for sure! She arches her back and throws herself around like a two year old. We have to be very careful when we are holding her or have her propped up in the corner of the couch/chair. She WILL NOT do something if she does not want to, eating included. She has a bit of a temper. She is social smiling more, but still significantly less than Eli. She is stingy with those 🙂 She has a very sweet laugh but she saves that for special occasions too. She likes bath time and splashes as much as her brother now. She can roll both ways– belly to back and back to belly! (She rolled onto her belly for the first time at the check up TODAY! Show off.) She is very vocal, lots of oohs and aahs, especially to the shadows from the lamp at 3 am. Emry Jane weighs 13 pounds 6 ounces (also 25th percentile) and is 23.5 inches long. Her hair is growing in very light and her eyes are also very blue! Her reflux is much better– she has been off meds for the past 2 weeks and has been doing great without the medicine.