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@maggierose: Thats great. My first week back was busy too so that definitely helped! And I do love my pump breaks so i can actually read a book again.

@Pumuckl: That's so nice you'll be able to work part-time/from home. That's my dream! Best of both worlds..

Ugh ladies, my supply has totally tanked this week. Last week I was getting 10-11 oz a day, but Monday I got 9 and yesterday only 7! I don't know if it's because I was so busy and stressed with starting work last week I didn't eat enough and my supply is now showing the results? I'm a little worried...I guess I'll have to start eating oatmeal and drinking even more water and see if that helps.

My son never took formula, but it was always a struggle to get in extra pumping sessions in the morning/night so he had enough the next day (what I pumped at work wasn't always enough) but we did it. I'm not anti-formula, but I feel like it's a slippery slope and if I start using it I'll end up just giving up BF altogether. I have a very all or nothing mindset. But with the stressful job I have now AND dealing with a toddler at night, I don't think I'll have the time/energy to battle pumping. I'm going to go as long as I can but I'm started to feeling defeated and it's still so early on.

@gilmoregirl: That's reassuring to hear!

How is everyone's babies sleeping these days? We were doing pretty good for awhile with usually just one 2-3 am wakeup and then an early 5-6 am wakeup where she would usually go back down for another hour or two... but the last two nights have not been great. Last night she was up at 11, 2, 4, and then 5 and wouldn't go back to sleep after that. UGH. Not sure if it is a growth spurt or a reverse cycling thing or what.

@maggierose: I combo fed lo1 due to low supply and it ended up working out so so well-- I ended up nursing her 22 months Just wanted to give you a positive story! Combo feeding took the pressure off me so much. I still pumped at work but I didn't stress about having enough.

Sleep has been really good! I don't want to jinx it lol but she pretty reliably sttn for about a month now which is nuts. Lo1 actually wakes up more often.

Speaking of lo1, The threes are hitting her HARD right now, I don't know how much is jealously related or how much is just this age but omg the whining and screaming when she doesn't get her way is intense. Anyone else having sibling drama?? It isn't usually directed at lo2 but it's often about me, I hear "I want you to help me first!" A lot when I'm nursing. I try to give her one on one attention but it's so hard, esp bc dh has had to travel recently and I've been solo parenting. Lo2 is so so easy by comparison...

@maggierose: sorry your supply is down, no real advice other than to try not to stress about it and to keep at it. When Tyler was in the hospital I was only getting half an ounce TOTAL from both boobs when I pumped but once he was nursing again it went back up. Not at all what you're dealing with but just an example that just bc your supply tanks doesn't mean it won't or can't go back up!!

@maggierose: our sleep still sucks. hasn't ever really been great. Goes to bed around 7-8 and is usually up to nurse around 11, then nurse again around 2-3 and then he gets squirmy around 4-5 so I bring him into bed with me and cuddle til I get up (this is on a good night! some nights he needs to be settled 2-3 times due to gas/pooping). I now get up a 5. It's working. I wish he'd drop that first feeding but maybe in time he will. fingers crossed!!!

@nana87: I am shocked but DD hasn't been jealous at all. I completely envisioned what you describe happening but so far DD hasn't done it at all. She seems to understand that I can't help her until im done nursing... sometimes if it's an emergency i'll try to help her or whatever while nursing (poor tyler). But so far no jealousy or acting out... well nothing that I think is related to LO2, we have our threenager tantrums of course!

@gilmoregirl: lol. J's naps are driving me bonkers. The swing is SO
hit and miss for her. Usually miss. She's stopped taking anything longer than an hour, and we typically just deal with 35-55 minutes. No wonder she's still taking 5 a day! Ah well... she sleeps well at night so I can't complain.

@josina: wow! That's an early roll from back to belly! Exciting!

J consistently rolls belly to back and giggles tons. It doesn't take much to get her to laugh! Her head control is also really great. Not much else to report! Naps are still mostly short and infuriating. Lol!

Nice rolling, guys! We don't have any rolling yet, though I think she's close to rolling onto her back. She's doing really well - very sweet, usually not super fussy, eating well and sleeping well. Her naps have lengthened a lot - she'll take two long naps for her first two naps of the day. Overnight sleep is good too, she's not eating overnight anymore, and will usually need a pacifier any time between 4:30 and 6am. Up for the day between 7 and 7:30. She's extremely smiley and will giggle sometimes too, mostly for her dad!

Quiet here, how is everyone doing?

Em will be 4 months next week... I need to move her from the R&P to her crib and I'm seriously dreading it... any tips for making the switch easily? She doesn't seem to settle when she's laying flat vs. cocooned in the r&p.
She's also got a mommy/daycare mom preference - anyone else and she will cry after about 30 seconds, so if someone wants to hold her, thats all they get. Hopefully that is short lived so we can get a sitter!

@josina: it has been super quiet! Good luck with the transition to the crib. I don't have any advice! J has been in her crib for awhile but her slee is getting worse with each passing day, so not like that's helping us at all! Haha.

We're doing okay. I'm tired. We've gone from one wake up a night to 3 (usually). She's mastered rolling from back to belly and so she basically does that all.day.long and in the night too, which is the cause of the wake ups. If she would just sleep on her belly, it wouldn't be a problem, but so far that's a no-go! Life with two Little's is chaotic but also pretty manageable now that the weather is better.

@Ajsmommy: Thanks! We're going to Rome for 10 days. DH's parents and sister's family are meeting us from London for the second weekend, so they will all get a chance to meet DD and spend some time with DS - they haven't seen us since the summer.

Work sounds exhausting, I hope it gets easier soon. I'm going back to work in a month, and while I enjoy my work and it will be nice to be in the adult world again, I also want DD to start sleeping well (and in her crib in her big brother's room) before I go back. Wishful thinking, I'm sure!

@Beehive: oh Rome sounds like fun! Enjoy your break! We'll go to Vienna the last week of June and I am really looking forward to it.

@josina: no advice on the R&P mine have been in the crib since we're home from the hospital. They still share a crib though and I really hope mommy intuition will let me know when to move them to two cribs.

@Ajsmommy: so sorry to hear things are still rough! Hope T's sleep will improve and he'll let you STTN soon.

For us things are going fine. Hard to believe they'll be 5 months old next week. Sleep has continued to be a non issue (knock on wood). They take two major naps, one in the morning which is usually around 2.5-3h and then eat and then sleep for another 2-3h. They'll sometimes take a cat nap in the car when we pick their siblings up from daycare. At night they now go down pretty much without a fuss at 6:30-7:30pm, sleep until we wake them to eat at 11:30pm-midnight and then go down until 6am. Although J has been waking up at 5:30am a lot lately. J will often go back down for another hour or so after that feed though. F sleeps longer and then is usually up for the day after the morning feed. Both have roled belly to back now and are able to get to their sides but haven't fully rolled yet. They have grown so much they have gained around 8-9lbs each (they are around 13.5-14lbs) and J especially has grown around 7 inches since birth.
One thing I have discovered though is that F seems sensitive to diary. I noticed she would spit up a ton at the afternoon feed and not as much when I didn't have cereal for lunch. So now I have pretty much eliminated diary from my diet and she is a lot happier and doesn't nearly spit up as much. Luckily a little diary seems fine so I can still have some ice cream or baked goods.

Ugh so, just need to vent a bit. For bedtime we've fallen into either splitting the kids or I do both. So much of the time my husband puts B to bed. It's been cool to see their relationship develop so much BUT ALSO the shenanigans are getting out of control and my husband is just letting it happen. I've suggested a few things that have worked temporarily but he's not consistent. So he's lying with B till he falls asleep and it's taking longer and longer every night and it's driving me crazy. He's been in there for at least an hour tonight. I feel like I can't do anything about it because it's not my "job" right now but I'm so irritated by how iy keeps getting worse and DH still won't do anything. It's only a few nights a week that it's my problem but it's still a problem.

Ok. Just needed to complain I think.

ETA: its two hours now. Wtf? I'm so annoyed at this. There's no reason for it to take this long! B doesn't nap!!

I'm starting to think that we're going to need to sleep train J. She is so reliant on me to fall back asleep... nursing, specifically. And naps are in the wrap all the time, still. We slee trained her big sister at 4.5 months (sleep sense) so I think we'll probably do the same once we see where things land in the next few weeks. It would be nice if I could put her down for a nap or two!! I think she'd go back to sleeping longer stretches at night, too, if she was putting herself to sleep vs. nursing to sleep.

It's amazing the changes I'm seeing. J basically spends all her waking hours on her belly because she won't stop rolling. She's starting to remember how to get on her back again, and has done a few series of rolls across the room. She is pretty mesmerized by her hands, and watches them with complete amazement. She's close to finding her feet, too. And she is so chatty! She basically just coos and "chats" at us all day. It's pretty adorable. I think she'll be a thumb sucker like her big sister, as she seems to be biting her thumb/fingers a lot lately! As much as I don't love the sleeplessness, I LOVE this age!

@josina: honestly it seems pretty cozy in that thing so I wouldn't be sorry to try one out myself. I am stalling on making any changes because things are good for us too. I'm a lot stricter so B doesn't play me the same way he plays dad. It's mostly out of my control which is probably why I'm so irked by it. Hopefully tonight is better.

@gentlelunette: I'm actually really enjoying it. I was miserable during my leave with B but having a great time this time around. We def are doing more tv. It takes me about 15 minutes to put T down for a nap and B let himself outside a week or two ago. He went around back to get some toys from the sandbox and then got stuck on the front porch bc he can't reach the handle from outside. I think we both were a little traumatized so now he gets the iPad while I put T down.

@maggierose: Yes to hands always in her mouth, Em is great at this, drool everywhere. And she also rolled tummy to back 3x but hasn't done in it almost a month!
Sorry your sleep is bad, I did the same with DS, he didn't get better until I quit nursing at 14 months. It was survival mode for awhile, just get him back to bed as fast as possible, which was always bf'ing.
I know how you feel about daycare too! I cried before Em started since she was only 6 weeks and DS was 3 months when he started. So tough.

How's everyone doing?
We are cutting some teeth here... J was inconsolable yesterday and I wasn’t sure why so I finally figured that he might be teething and low and behold that bottom tooth is making an entrance. I’ll miss that gummy smile so much!
On another note: I finally got around to writing up my birthstory if you feel like reading that novel, here’s your link http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/a-med-free-birth-story-twin-edition

We are doing pretty good. W's sleep was horrible over the weekend, but we were out of town, so I think that it was due to the pack n play. It could also have been because he was nursing all day and my body just isn't used to that (vs pumping twice at work). I have a feeling that he was still hungry, hence waking up twice per night. But, the past two nights, he is back to 1x per night!

He has been rolling so much more and has decided effective yesterday, that he is a belly sleeper It's freaking out our care provider and I noticed him at 3am this morning sleeping on his belly. Of course, I had to go in there twice to be sure he was breathing Do you remember any of your first kids sleeping on their bellies this early?

@josina: I don't blame you! We put him to sleep on his back and so does his care provider. But, he always ends up on his belly! He was getting pissed at her yesterday because she kept moving him to his back and he wanted his belly. lol I feel like this is SO early

@Pumuckl: Such a wonderful story! Eeek, I can't believe it's time for teeth! J was a really late teether, so I'm hoping A will be as well.

We're doing well, a couple weeks before I return to work, so I'm trying to get a few things settled, like swaddle weaning and moving her to her crib in big brother's room. Both are going fine now that we are using the Merlin puffy suit, but I expect we're just postponing the weaning difficulty until a later date! Oh well, maybe she'll get comfortable with her arms somewhat free, and it will be an easier transition later. She still needs the paci at least once during the night (around 5am, sometimes earlier and sometimes later).

She was a good traveler on our recent vacation - she did very well on two long flights, and seemed to enjoy the change of scenery when we were in Rome. She's not as easygoing in restaurants as our son was (and is) - if she's not asleep, she only wants to stay in one place for a little while, so we would sometimes have to take turns taking her outside for a little walk. She enjoyed the attention from all the lovely Romans, and it was great to introduce her to my husband's London-based family, who joined us for our second weekend.