Valentines Babies, 2013!

[DragonflyWing]

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been MIA lately. We were out of town for Thanksgiving, and then we all came down with a truly awful stomach bug.

The twins started vomiting within minutes of each other on Sunday afternoon, which escalated to fevers and diarrhea by Monday. Then Monday night, DH and I got it and thank goodness we have two bathrooms (and buckets...because we needed both at the same time ).

We were so weak that we could hardly lift the babies, and we were calling everyone we knew to come help us, but no one was available. I wanted to punch my sister in the face...I asked her if she could skip her ballroom dancing class to come home and help us, and she told me no. She said there were only two meetings left and she didn't want to miss it, plus she had already made plans with her friends for afterward. So there we were puking our guts up while trying to take care of our also-puking babies, and my sister is too busy hanging out with her friends to come help.

My sister in law was able to stop by to bring us some Powerade, chicken soup, Pedialyte, and formula (between that terrible business trip and this illness, my milk supply is ruined. I'm only getting about 18 oz a day), but she couldn't stay because she had to pick her son up from school.

It was a tough couple of days. I feel about 90% better today and I'm back at work, but the kids are still pretty sick. Gunnar was shooting up above 104 degrees every time the ibuprofen wore off yesterday. He was like a rag doll, he was so lethargic. Both of them were still vomiting last night, but today they seem ok so far. Poor little babies.

 

[SierraJourney]

I've been having trouble with the cold, too wamommy! Camden's room is the warmest in the house, so he's usually okay at night, but during the day, my office is freezing (bad windows), and his little hands get cold from playing on the floor. So, I invested in a space heater. . . it's helping. I hope you were able to find some warm pajamas for the girls!

 

[SierraJourney]

Oh Dragon! That sounds awful! I'm so sorry you've all been so sick! I can't imagine taking care of two babies while feeling so poorly yourselves! I hope you are all on the mend!!

 

[Kellen]

Dragon - That sounds horrible! I am so sorry for all of you. I pray that you all start feeling better soon. I can't believe that it is only a few weeks until the twins are a year old. Congrats on being able to pump for this long!

Sierra - Woot! You get to stay home! I am so glad that the review went well. I knew that it would. Camden sounds like he has found an efficient source of mobility for himself at the moment. Pretty much how I got around as a baby too. Never bothered with the whole crawling thing.

Wamommy - We have issues with the cold here in our lovely little RV. Teagen's crib is right by the huge bay window at the back so we have draped a bunch of blankets behind it to stop some of the cold from seeping through. The only problem is if we turn the heat on so her room stays warm at night it is about 90 in the bedroom and we boil. We managed to get two different space heaters and position them around the crib to keep warm air flowing towards her at night. It was a whole 18 degrees this morning.

I am severely sleep deprived right now, but it is okay. DH has the day off. He went in at 6:45 to take a test for the local police department. They have two openings. There were 22 people there to take the test and only 8 were allowed to go on to the second round after the scores had been compiled. DH was the final one selected. So he goes back tonight for some paperwork and then tomorrow at 10am for an interview. Our local PD uses a form of "community policing" as their main form of contact. Oddly enough I took an entire class on it for my masters so DH is reading over some of my old papers I wrote about it.

And Teagen just slipped and whacked her head... She is tired and her coordination isn't all the great. Now I go save the baby and the husband...

 

[wamommy]

Oh, Dragonfly, how awful!! I'm so sorry your family is going through this. I've only been sick like that once before, and thank goodness I didn't have a baby (let alone 2!!) at the time. I don't know how you survived. I hope the babies feel better!

Kellen, good luck to your DH getting the job! I read that there's a big push to hire veterans as police and fire fighters, so I hope that gives him an edge... not that it sounds like he needs it! Fingers crossed.

Sierra, we have a space heater in the bedroom, but even with it running on low all night AND the house heat on, I couldn't keep up. We even sealed the windows will that plastic weatherproofing stuff (oh so attractive) and the cold still blasts in. I think part of the problem is that we live on top of a hill and the second story of our house gets blasted with any wind. That, and our heat pump doesn't work under 35 degrees, so the furnace struggles to heat the whole house. It definitely could be worse! I'm just a big baby when it comes to the cold, lol.

Kellen, can you take a nap when DH gets home?

 

[SierraJourney]

oh wamommy---your situation sounds much colder than mine---yikes! On that note, though, my heating bill came in the mail today. .. $400! That's horrible! Anyone else have to pay that much for heat?! I only keep the house at 69F too! I feel that once it gets even colder in the next month or two, I'll be paying around $500 a month!

Kellen---did you order the same brand of cloth diapers or did you try another brand? I'm absolutely in love with ours---and Camden is really happy with them too it seems. DH loves the money savings, so I think it's a win all around!

 

[wamommy]

We had a power bill that was $1400 the year before last!! It was for 2 months during winter, but STILL. We replaced our furnace and got a heat pump after that, and started keeping the house at 67 or 68 instead of 70. Even with all of that we can easily pay $800 for 2 months during the winter. I supposed it's better, but yikes! Luckily our summer bills are practically nothing, so it evens out. DH turns the heat DOWN at night, too... and we use space heaters in the bedroom to heat just the rooms we're in, instead of all 3500 sq ft. I just hate having to sleep in a sweat shirt... lol.

 

[SierraJourney]

Well at least I'm not alone! Do you put a heater in Max's room? I'd love to turn the heat really far down at night but I'm paranoid of having a space heater in Camden's room (my mother drilled it into my head that they are a fire hazard and shouldn't be used unattended. . .so I'm a bit wary!

 

[Kellen]

Teagen is napping with me now. Once she wakes up DH is on duty while I nap.

 

[wamommy]

Oh, good! I'm glad you'll get a chance to sleep.

 

[Kellen]

We use an infrared heater for Teagen. It has a built in temperature control panel. https://www.amazon.com/Duraflame-Li...d=1386279187&sr=8-15&keywords=infrared+heater

 

[Kellen]

I can't nap while nursing due to her top teeth. She will start lazy latching and it HURTS! Made that mistake once...

 

[wamommy]

Sierra, the type of space heater matters a lot when it comes to safety. Oil filled are pretty safe, as long as they have an auto-turn off if they tip over. We have a big new one in my room (where Max sleeps too) and it looks like a big box. I think it's called a forced air quartz heater, which has a million safety features. I still feel weird leaving it on at night, but I've been assured by my brother (who is a firefighter) that as long as I keep clothes/curtains/towels etc away from it, it's fine. I think you just want to avoid the ones with heated coils, and keep cats locked out of the room so they can't knoxk it over or things onto it.

 

[wamommy]

Here's ours: It's pretty similar to yours, Kellen.

 

[Kellen]

When ours is turned off Teagen uses it as a table. Perfect height for standing and munching on snacks or cruising around the room.

Just saw (while she is sleeping and I'm playing with her lips) that her second front tooth is coming down along with an eye-tooth. I think we have multiple reasons for not sleeping at night.

 

[wamommy]

At least there's a reason! That means and end may be in sight. Come on, tooth!

Max still has only the two front bottom teeth. He crunches things up quite well with them, though! He's like a little rat. I here this little "crunch, crunch, crunch."

 

[SierraJourney]

Kellen I can't believe Teagen will let you play with her lips while she's sleeping! If I even touch Camden, he'll wake up and be instant tears. He's such a picky sleeper!

 

[Kellen]

Well, during naps she pretty much sleeps on me. She is very physically affectionate. lol. And I decided to try the Sun Baby diapers this time. They should be here next week.

 

[SierraJourney]

Aww I wish Camden was physically affectionate. . . nowadays whenever I pick him up, it's just because he wants me to move him to a different toy---never just to cuddle.

The sunbaby's are nice---maybe a bit flimsier than the naughty baby, but the pocket is bigger, which is a huge plus for me! And they are skinnier between the legs which seems to fit Camden better. You'll have to let me know what you think of them!

 

[Kellen]

I will do that.

Teagen is super affectionate. If I sit on the floor and play with her she will (at random times) come over and give me hugs and lay her head on my shoulder. But at other times she wants nothing to do with people and will violently twist in order to escape being hugged or kissed.

I have handed her off to DH for the moment. I shall now proceed to try to take a nap. How this will work with DH walking her around the house humming "Nana-na batman!" I don't know.