Here come the viruses!

Renna

Reagan

Since the girls have been home from the hospital we have been very very careful about not taking them in to public places. We really have only been out for doctor appointments. We have been very strict about visitors, hand washing, no children have come over, etc.... This was all under direction of the doctors at the hospital and our pediatrician. All of these efforts have not been easy but we assumed would keep our girls from getting sick. I mean I knew nothing is 100% but I thought at least they wouldn't get sick until winter time. So you guessed it...I was totally wrong...they have their first of many upper respiratory viruses. It started with Reagan being really fussy and having an occasional cough with a lot of nasal congestion. Now it has progressed into full blown coughing and stuffy nose...poor little lady. So far she has not run a fever so we are very thankful of that. She was feeling bad enough on Friday that she started not wanting to eat very much so we took her back to the doctor (second time in a week) and they took a chest x-ray and said her chest is still clear. So that was really good news. Then they of course gave us the dreaded warning that if she didn't start eating by Saturday (at least 10-12 ounces) then she would need to be hospitalized again. You can imagine our reaction to that after what the have already been through, and so we were determined to prevent another hospital stay. All day Friday we did feedings of pedialyte and milk every two hours. Of course it took us almost an hour to get a bottle and her antibiotic down her and then we would start again. Thank goodness my mom was here to help while Adam was at work. Meanwhile Renna started coughing and not feeling well. Welcome to the world of twins, when one gets sick the other is sure to follow! Anyways long story short Reagan finally started eating better on Friday night and is feeling better now. She is still coughing and miserable but is eating better. Our Renna now has a more stuffy nose than Reagan and has started coughing even more today! To top it all off Adam and I both now have sore throats. Great! Maybe everyone should just steer clear of us for awhile! The girls being sick has made us realize how easy we had it when we just were feeding two healthy babies. I need to also rejoice that my mother in law came and stayed last night and helped Adam with the girls so I could get seven hours of sleep in a row!! It was so wonderful. I have the best husband and family. For all those who are on the edge of their seats wondering what I decided to do about the pumping...I have decided to quit gradually. So I went from pumping every three hours at feeding times to pumping at every other feeding. It is quite a relief and I am hoping this will gradually allow my milk to start decreasing so it won't be so painful to just stop. We decided since Reagan can no longer have breast milk and Renna only gets it for half of her bottles we can sustain her with what I have in the freezer for a long time. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to never seeing that stupid pump again. The hardest part is that I feel like a quitter since I worked so hard to make enough milk for two babies. Oh well, I guess at least I know I could have done it under different circumstances. My congratulations to all moms who strictly breast feed! It is not an easy task.