Nevermind...

7:30-11pm -- Elias inconsolably screaming in pain

11pm -- E finally calms down nursing in bed

1:30am -- Gabe wakes up and wakes E up (E is still latched onto the breast, but can cry with it in his mouth) Full feed & diaper change

3am -- E wakes up screaming -- full feed

It was nice while it lasted...

Our Night

After weeks of no sleep at all and seeing no difference on the zero allergen diet, we started the boys on a MUCH larger dose their medicine at the advice of the pediatric GI.

Last night the boys got up at:

8:30pm -- quick cry while asleep, Chris was able to 'pat back down'

11:30pm -- full feeding with diaper change

3:00 am -- full feeding

6:30 am -- one baby in bed to feed

7:00 am -- 2nd baby in bed to feed

We didn't get up until after 7:30am!!!!! This is the most sleep we have had in MONTHS. Kathy is still on the no-allergen diet, so we don't really know what is responsible -- but either way we are sooo ssooo grateful!

I hope I am not jinxing it by sharing with others! Send us good vibes for some repeat performances!

Who needs to eat anyway?

So a couple of posts ago, we wrote about the boys struggles with Acid Reflux. I wish I could say that after our trip to the doctor things got better. Unfortunately, this was not the case. After three different medication changes, we were still up every 2-3 hours with each of the boys. They would wake up crying in pain, despite the fact that they were still sleeping upright in their swings. Our pediatrician referred us to a pediatric gastroenterologist. We finally saw her yesterday.

The good news is that she is a very nice woman who has 17 month old twins so she seemed to really understand where we were coming from. She was also interested in doing the least invasive interventions possible. This means first ruling out allergy-related reflux. The bad news is that this means a REALLY restrictive diet for Kathy. Specifically, she can't eat anything containing milk, soy, wheat, nuts, eggs, or citrus. At the same time, she needs to eat enough food to maintain her calorie intake and milk supply. This means a LOT of meat, rice, and potatoes with some fruit and veggies thrown in. SSSOOOOO if anyone has high calorie recipe and/or snack ideas that meet these specifications, please e-mail us! And wish us luck that soon our babies will be this happy all the time!

Gabe and Elias giggle for joy!

In our efforts to help the boys be more comfortable, we briefly started them on rice cereal mixed with breastmilk. The boys really seemed to enjoy playing with spoons and semi-solid foods.

Elias tries some solids for the first time

What a champ with the spoon!

Gabe after a particularly productive meal with Daddy

Holy Stinky Spit-Up, Batman!

So, avid readers of the Goddard Twin Blog may have noticed that we haven't been posting too much lately. The reality is that our posting seems to be directly proportional to the number of hours we have slept in the preceeding days. Lately, there hasn't been much sleep at all around the homestead. Until about 3 weeks ago, we thought we had the perfect sleepy babies. They went down each evening as though by magic -- After a big meal, they would fuss for 30 seconds while Chris swaddled them, but as soon as their heads hit the crib and we turned on their "Ocean Sounds" white noise, they were asleep -- before Chris had finished tucking them in together. We were in this pattern for months... then a few weeks ago, the boys seemed crankier at bedtime -- even though they were clearly tired. We did more rocking and cuddle time before bed...eventually, we started putting them to bed in their bouncer seats, then in their bouncer seats with the vibrating mechanism on...things just kept escalating. The last week things have been really tough.

The boys just couldn't seem to settle at night -- no matter what we did. They were clearly exhausted -- even overtired. We would feed them, walk them, wear them, sing to them, bring them to bed with us. It didn't matter what we did, neither of the boys could settle. We might be able to put them down, but 20 minutes later, they were up and screaming in a way we had never heard before. Eventually, the only way we could get any sleep at all was to swaddle the boys in their swings on high each night. They still woke up every few minutes, but were able to fall back asleep without crying as long as they were in constant motion. During the day, the boys would only sleep for a few minutes at a time. Where they used to each take 2 hour naps, we were lucky to get 20 minute catnaps out of them -- and these would only happen when they were laying on their tummies. Pretty soon we were all asleep on our feet all the time... Images like this became the norm:

Chris & E in a rare moment of common slumber

Kathy kept thinking this was pre-teething pain and talked with the pediatrician's office about potential remedies... We tried them all with no success. Finally, Chris pushed for a pediatrician's appointment. We agreed that the boys seemed like they were in pain and not getting any better. So today we both went to the pediatrician. He immediately told us this was unlikely to be teething, but instead he thought it might be something else in their tummies. I guess we shouldn't have been surprised based on the boys' recent diet:

Gabe and E sit down for Thanksgiving

The pediatrician started asking us questions -- Have we noticed any more spit-up lately? Actually, Gabe seems to spit up after every meal...sometimes out of his nose. Does their breath and/or spit-up smell funny? Yes -- we have been bathing the boys twice as often because we can't seem to get rid of the spoiled-milk-spit-up smell. Do the boys seem to prefer any positions? Yup -- sitting up, standing or tummy-time only. The verdict?!? ACID REFLUX! Usually peaks around 4 months; common symptoms include discomfort laying back, spoiled milk smell, more frequent regergitation (occasionally), lack of weight gain, increased parental concern and a strong feeling that the babies are in pain.

We were SSSSSOOOOO glad we went to the doctor. We now have some samples of baby Previcid and are hopeful that sleep will once again return to the Goddard home...just in time for the Christmas Holiday! We sure are looking forward to it: Gabriel and Elias model their super-cute Christmas attire (Thanks Anna & Aunt Rachel!)

This year we wish for peace on earth...and hopefully it will begin in our house! :-)

Merry Christmas!