Welcome Home Sophia and Claire

We brought our beautiful girls home on Sunday, May 31st. We spent most of the day at the hospital but made it home around 7PM. My favorite dinner of roast and potatoes was awaiting our arrival. My Mom, Dad and sisters had the house ready for our arrival and it was nice to know we wouldn't be living off frozen pizza for the next week.

My Mom planned to stay with us the entire week to help Matt and I out. It has been a HUGE help. I don't know how we would have adjusted without her. She has cooked dinner, cleaned, done laundry, changed diapers, and of course has spoiled her grandaughters with attention. I will never get sick of hearing her say how beautiful our girls are.

Our first night at home was interesting. I prepared myself for very little sleep but until you are in the moment it is hard to understand how tiring two girls can be when neither one wants to sleep when the other does. Needless to say we were lucky to get one hour of sleep the first night. Matt looked at me at 3 or 4 AM and said "Welcome to Motherhood". We had a good laugh. Thankfully the following two nights were very different. I actually had to wake the girls up every four hours to eat. They preferred to sleep the night away.

Claire has become our vocal girl who loves to be held. She can be in a perfectly deep sleep but wakes up screaming as soon as you lay her down. Sophia on the other hand can sleep whenever and wherever. The girls personalities are as different as their physical appearances. I love it!! I wanted them to have their own individuality.

The girls are officially a week old. It has gone by so quickly. They are doing so well with breastfeeding. I am so thankful as that was one of my biggest worries. We hope to start working on tandem breastfeeding next week. It will eliminate about 30 minutes each feeding time which will provide more sleep at night and allow me to get more done during the day besides just breastfeeding. I am amazed how quickly the day goes by. I am lucky to find this time to update the blog. I am multi-tasking though (I am feeding Claire).

We have been to the pediatrician twice this week. Our first visit revealed that both Sophia and Claire had lost even more weight since leaving the hospital. Dr. Freeman asked us to supplement after each feeding and that is what we did for three days. Fortunately I was able to mostly supplement with breastmilk. At our second appointment both girls had gained at least 4 oz. which is amazing in three days. We are back on track!!!! They were given a clean bill of health which is wonderful.

We did take Sophia to see the Pediatric Orthopedic surgeon for her club foot. They put her first cast on to begin the process of correcting her foot position. Sophia did not cry once and actually slept through a portion of it. We will go back every week for the next 8 weeks to get a new cast and slowly change the position of her foot. Sophia may have to wear braces after the casting process is complete but we hope that it will only be at nap time and during her nightime sleep. We are going to possibly get a second opinion next week to confirm we are doing the right thing for Sophia. Our pediatrician agreed that was the right thing to do. Her cast is so cute. She can make anything look cute though. She is absolutely adorable.

The girls received their first bath on Monday. I enjoyed it much more than they did. Both Sophia and Claire screamed the entire time. Matt got in on the fun. I am so impressed with Matt. Most men are so nervous to participate in these type of tasks early on but he didn't shy away. He is so good with the girls!!! Claire decided to pea in her bath water and based on the grin on her face she enjoyed it or thought it was funny. Sophia on the other hand waited to mark the event until she was nice and cozy in her towel. She decided to have a blowout while sitting on Nanna's lap that gave us all a good laugh!!! The first bath was an event to remember!

I could go on and on about how amazing, sweet, beautiful and wonderful our girls are. I feel so blessed and lucky to have them. They are truely a gift from God. I believe children are a reflection of his most amazing works. I still find myself crying each night as I thank God for bringing them into our life. It was well worth the wait!!!