Babies' First Pediatrician Appointment

Alex and Josie had their first pediatrician appointment today with Dr. Rosen's nurse practitioner, Anna.

Josie, one hour old

Alex, one hour old

I have to back up a few days though - our HMO has a wonderful system where we get an automated phone call 2 days before the appointment to remind us of the time and date. On our way home from the hospital, I got such a call "...for Alexandra, to remind you of your appointment with Dr. Rosen, on..." WOW and I lost it. A little reminder that these babies aren't just a thought but are actual people now receiving phone calls. Josephine got a call a few minutes later :)

I'm not sure what I was expecting to happen at this appointment, I figured we would go in, they would get weighed or something, then we would be on our way home. It was not only much more than that, but probably the most helpful and efficient 2 hours we've spent talking about caring for our babies with someone who wasn't afraid to give us some answers.

Specific topics: pacifiers, gas drops, how long the babies should be eating, poop and spit up colors, and textures (lol) among many other issues.

The nurse weighed Alex who was now 4lbs 6 oz, so she had lost 9 oz since birth (not great, since it is 10% loss, which is bad). Josie weighed in at 4lbs 10 oz from 5 lbs 2 oz, in normal range.

Wide eyed Josie (with her little birth mark on her nose, which is now going away)

Sleepy Alex

The babies were super relaxed and practically in a coma, and the nurse commented that people always bring the new babies in in "milk comas."  When we told her it was actually way past their feeding time, she couldn't believe how relaxed they were. She actually even offered to let us feed them right then and there, which they did like champions, making me look like a liar 10 minutes after explaining my breast feeding issues with Josie. The best thing about feeding them during the appointment was being able to weigh Alex after she ate for about 10 minutes, and finding out that she had gained an ounce and a half (!!!) and was up to 4 lbs, 7.5 oz, which brought her in to the normal weight loss range. Yay Alex! It also made me feel better knowing she is actually eating a lot when I feed her!

Snuggle Buddies!

We were sent on our way with a pile of free formula (sweet, that stuff is expensive!) and another appointment for Friday to weigh these little ladies and make sure that all is well, and their first appointment with Dr. Rosen in two weeks.

My favorite part of the appointment was filling out two sets of paperwork for each child, and getting confused over and over about whose was whose. A sign of things to come for the future.  I also totally screwed up their Emergency Contact - I put my sister Becky, and then where it asks "relationship to patient" I put sister....then realized my mistake and had to change it to "Aunt"!! awww x 1000! I need to get used to this!

p.s. I am SO IN LOVE with these little ladies!! They are the best!

DADS, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO READ THE FOLLOWING, 

IT IS ABOUT BREAST PUMPS... YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

In mommy news: my breast pump accessories arrived today. I had no idea what to expect with this contraption, but it is now my new best friend - this thing is AMAZING!!!! Within (less than?) 10 minutes I had TWO bottles ready to go with more liquid than these ladies usually eat in a feeding. Two hours later I got about the same amount as that again. I had no idea how efficient and awesome these machines are. I'd just assumed it would take HOURS to express a few drops of milk and it would hurt and leak all over. Nope. Totally the opposite. Thank you Medela. THANK YOU.