Dropping to One Nap with Twins | Day 1

Today these sweet girls didn't wake up until 8:30. This Mama had a chance to shower and eat before her little loves got up for the day. It was marvelous! Why haven't I gotten up before them before? Getting up before the Zabies is one of my goals for the year. 

I NEED to. It would be so much easier to do things such as showering, exercising and

 blogging before the littles wake up especially since we are smack dab in the middle {or beginning} of "Operation Drop to One Nap a Day". 

They woke up in a GREAT mood this morning. 

Sharing plenty of snuggles and kisses with each other and occasionally Mommy, too. 

 My heart swoons for these two!

They played and we stayed very busy doing every activity under the moon, frequently changing rooms in the house to keep things exciting for them and snacking when necessary. 

They did great and never rubbed an eye!

After their ONE nap that was less than what I preferred it to be they were ready for another yummy snack. Lunch was before the only one hour, forty minute nap the took today leaving them extra hungry after nap time. 

Grapes were on the menu today. In their very own bowl!

They both politely sat together eating the juicy, yummy goodness in their bowls with lots of funny faces to share and many signs of "please" and "more." 

Of course you can have more asking so nicely!! 

This picture, seriously, steals my heart. Those faces!!

I just adore them. 

All done! I'm out, Mama! More, Please!

Then a good 'ole switcharoo of seats. 

Just to confuse those who have a hard time telling them a part. 

So far so good. 

They are happy, loving life and playing

 with what toys aren't in time-out {we are knee deep in not sharing}.

Here's to hoping the rest of the day goes as well. 

Today's {New} Schedule

8:30-Wake

8:45-Breakfast {Whole Milk, Nutty Oatmeal, Scrambled eggs and Bananas}

10:45-Snack {Rice Cake}

11:15-Lunch {Fish Sticks, Mac and Cheese and Blueberries}

12:00-Nap

2:00-Snack {Grapes}

4:00- Optional Snack to "Survive" {Celery & Peanut Butter}

5:00-Dinner {Sneak In Veggie Meatballs, mixed veggies & sliced avocado}

6:30-Bath

7:00-Bed

Winner, Winner Spaghetti Dinner

This week has been operation Zabies Eat What We Do.  My guy usually gets home a half hour after the Zabies finish their supper so eating as a family has been no existent except on the weekends. I have been working with getting the Zabies to eat a 5:30 supper instead of 5:00 and also only offering them what I have cooked for Josh and myself each night. 

Monday night we had Pot Roast with carrots and potatoes. It wasn't a huge success but they did eat it. They just didn't over indulge like they so often do. I'm okay with that... baby steps!

Last night, however, was a winner in the supper department. I cooked spaghetti and meat sauce for the first time since I stopped breastfeeding. We have been cutting carbs as of late but I quickly realized that our high protein diet isn't working with eating as a family and not being a short order cook. Everyone needs to eat the SAME meal each night. Mama and Daddy just have to figure out portion control... I digress. 

The girls LOVED this meal! I did cook penne pasta for them since we are fork training. They did GREAT! I mean even I have problems getting pasta on my fork and they completed the task like champs! I was so proud! Then I was shocked by them wanting to try my salad. I didn't offer them salad with their meal thinking they wouldn't like it. WRONG! They loved it and I got all of maybe five bites of my side salad, maybe. I guess nothing is off limits with these two little ladies!

First Quinn practiced poking her food

The she practiced taking bites 

Then she "double fisted" Sometimes using your hands just works better

Kensington practicing poking her food

Practicing taking bites

Then she agreed with Quinn that her hands were faster!

They seriously did such a great job and I had to refill both of their plates twice!!  They are definitely growing. I can't wait to see their stats on Friday at their 15 month appointment!

On our heads...

I'm sitting here, blogging, while the Zabies eat their mid morning snack, 

with a sippy-cup of milk, in lieu of the usual mid-morning bottle. 

Their contagious laughing cued me to glance up to see what all the giggling was about. 

Sippy cups on our heads, of course!

Earlier today, we played with nesting boxes; I placed them on their heads and mine.

 Each time I said, "Where did the box go?"

The girls thought it was hysterical!

Their memories are getting much better; they napped and are now putting everything on their heads!

Smooth move Momma.

Moving on...

Pumping has been a way of life since the Zabies came along. I pumped for days before I could ever put Kensington or Quinn to breast. Even then I was only allowed to nurse them once or twice a day in the very beginning; it was too exhausting for them, as preemies, to do so at every feeding. When I did nurse them it was imperative that I pump off the excess milk to establish and maintain my milk supply. I started out pumping every three hours around the clock.

 I remember having to wake up in the middle of the night, lonely and no baby in my home, to pump in a great effort to establish my supply.

 Every time I cried and thought it would be so much more rewarding if my babies were with me. 

Fast forward to when they came home. Suddenly I was thrown into the routine in it's entirety, alone. Josh had to go back to work and neither of our families where here to visit yet since we expected the Zabies to spend a little while longer in the NICU. Nursing the girls took 45 minutes per baby, not including burping and diapering. It was exhausting to say the least. I did some research and reached out to my local Multiple Moms Mingle Group for support. I quickly found that many mothers of twins exclusively pump, bottling feeding their babies breast milk. I was determined to give my babies breast milk so exclusively pumping seemed like just the thing for me. 

I exclusively pumped through four consecutive months of, excruciatingly painful, mastitis, thrush, a second emergency surgery, the worst case of thrush my doctors had ever seen, colds and Coxsackie virus. Like I said, I was determined! 

I started weening from the pump around 10 ½ months. I gave the Zabies 75/25 (breastmilk/organic whole milk) for three weeks. At 11 months and 1 week, we gave them 50/50 for a week and I dropped the 3:30 pump. Two weeks before their birthday I dropped the mid-morning pump and started shortening the morning and evening pumps. My supply decreased drastically and the Zabies got 25/75 of breast milk and organic whole milk. The week of their birthday, I started going 12 hours and then 24 hours between pumps; the Zabies were getting breast milk in their morning and bedtime bottles but not the mid-day bottles. 

On August 21, 2014, my sweet girls turned one year old and also got their last bottle of  breast milk. It was bittersweet. I had a love/hate relationship with the pump. Today, August 28th, I still can't bring myself to remove the pump from it's usual spot. I sat on the couch for five or more hours per day pumping with that thing! So it will sit there a while longer. 

We are moving on in so many ways today that I can only handle one thing at a time. I am putting away all of the pumping parts. They will no longer sit on my counter waiting to be used. 

It might take a while longer, however, to remove them from my cabinet. 

I also removed the bottle drying rack and bottles today. No more bottles for the Zabies. We are going cold turkey. 

Yes, I am mourning all of the things we are moving on from. My babies are growing up. 

I'm positive this all is much harder for me than it is for them. 

My Pumping Schedule:

At birth:
 Every three hours, around the clock, for a minimum of 30 minutes each time, sometimes 45 minutes.

2 months:
Every time the girls ate (every three hours), I pumped for 30 minutes minimum. We fed on demand at this point so we were going longer stretches at night.

4 months:
The Zabies slept from 10 pm to 5 am. I pumped every time the girls ate (every three hours) for 30 minutes each time. I, too, went from 10-5 without pumping.

6 months:
The Zabies went to bed at 7pm but ate every three hours during the day. I pumped every time they ate for 30 minutes and also pumped one last time before I went to bed at 9 or 10 pm. My next pump was at 7 am when the Zabies woke.

8 months:
The Zabies ate every four hours thru the day and went to bed at 7pm. I first transitioned to pumping every four hours and then by 9 months I also stopped pumping before I went to bed; I was then going 12 hours between pumping.

10 Months:
 I pumped at 7 am, 11 am, 3pm & 7 pm

11 months:
I pumped at 7 am, 11am & 7pm

11 ¾ months:
7 am & 7 pm

12 months:
7am

If you have any questions about exclusively pumping or weening from the pump feel free to contact me! Support is key!

What to expect...

Do you have any idea how much pressure there is when making your "first" blog post? The pressure is INSANE!!! You have to make it count and have a lasting impression. 

When I decided to create a blog I had a pretty good idea what direction 

I wanted to go in with my blogging. 

Here is my inspiration. The Zabies. 

Photography by: Nicole James Photography

What you can expect to see here on Zabie Love.

Life with twins will be my main focus. 

From breastfeeding, pumping, solid-food feeding, caring for, 

scheduling, traveling, bathing & family activities with twins
to keeping an organized home
& maintaining me time in the midst of being a mother of twins!

We had our kids to live life with them right?

Infertility, pregnancy, bed rest and birthing will also be topics that I cover
that are near and dear to my heart. 

I hope to offer support and a fresh perspective to new moms,
moms who have growing families

 & seasoned moms who could 

probably certainly teach me a thing or two. 

I hope to be posting a lot in the coming days to get the ball rollin'. 

One of my all time favorite pictures.

 There is something about a twin bond that I'll never understand!

Sweet sisters holding hands.