Argh! I write this in hopes that I save somebody a few ounces of milk.
The seams of frozen milk bags sometimes split and you don't know that they've split until the milk has thawed and has spilled all over the place or if you thaw within a container of warm water like I do, water has mixed in with the milk left in the bag.
When thawing milk, put it inside a second ziplock bag so if the frozen milk bag has a hole in it, any leaking milk will leak into the second bag and not be contaminated by anything.
You're welcome. Damnit.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
No more hand holding
Well, we did it. We set up a second crib and had the girls sleep by themselves.
They still fit just fine in one crib, but TTT has decided that bedtime is party time and she's rolling and kicking all over the place. TMB still lies pretty still in her own little corner, just suckin on her wubba, but TTT has been stealing said wubba and is so active that we were afraid TMB would wake up with black eyes if they continued to share space.
TTT whined a little bit as she went to sleep last night. She wasn't up to her usual bedtime gymnastics, probably because she no long had a sister to try to roll onto or a wubba to steal. Without her sister there, she just wasn't as motivated to party.
I'm a little sad about splitting them up. The end of an era. But a lot of eras are destined to end as they grow up. I'll need to get over being sad every time an era ends.
We also packed away all the 3m size clothing because they have finally both grown out of it. Yup, only 8 1/2 months old and already in 3-6m clothing! *headdesk*
TTT's gymnastics aren't limited to bedtime of course. Changing her diaper is now quite the ordeal. She twists and turns and the process can take upwards of 10 or 15 minutes as I try to diaper a moving target. Yesterday she showed off a new trick and as I was holding a leg in the air, she rolled up onto her shoulder into a modified headstand. TMB is the opposite. She just sits there and holds her legs up for me.
We're still waiting to see if this cold that's threatening fully manifests itself. They took a 2 hour nap today, don't feel like eating very much, and TMB is still having some phlegmy inhales. So I have reason to believe they're going to get full blown sick over the next day or two, but I've predicted that before and have been wrong.
On a completely unrelated topic, I've been fighting with the insurance company to reimburse me for my breast pump rental. They told me back in April that it would be fully covered as of August 1st. Once I attempted to actually get reimbursed, they decided that I was eligible for reimbursement after January 1. Guess who keeps notes of the conversations she has when she calls insurance companies!!! I've been requesting that they listen to the recording of that phone call (yes, they can do this) and even though I may have been given the incorrect information, that's the information I was given and they are obligated to honor the promises given.
I found out why my most recent claim appeal was denied and it's the stupidest reason ever. For any of you who may ever need to file a claim appeal with United Healthcare, here's a little secret. If the first paragraph does not contain the sentence "This is an appeal" they will automatically deny the appeal regardless of the validity. So make sure that's your first sentence if you ever need to file an appeal.
Jerks don't know who they be messing with. I don't give up and walk away. If I have a legitimate claim, I will continue hounding until it's paid, or until they have spent that money in hourly wages of their representatives dealing with me as I pile follow up phone call on top of follow up phone call. It's a lot cheaper just to pay the damned claims.
They still fit just fine in one crib, but TTT has decided that bedtime is party time and she's rolling and kicking all over the place. TMB still lies pretty still in her own little corner, just suckin on her wubba, but TTT has been stealing said wubba and is so active that we were afraid TMB would wake up with black eyes if they continued to share space.
TTT whined a little bit as she went to sleep last night. She wasn't up to her usual bedtime gymnastics, probably because she no long had a sister to try to roll onto or a wubba to steal. Without her sister there, she just wasn't as motivated to party.
I'm a little sad about splitting them up. The end of an era. But a lot of eras are destined to end as they grow up. I'll need to get over being sad every time an era ends.
We also packed away all the 3m size clothing because they have finally both grown out of it. Yup, only 8 1/2 months old and already in 3-6m clothing! *headdesk*
TTT's gymnastics aren't limited to bedtime of course. Changing her diaper is now quite the ordeal. She twists and turns and the process can take upwards of 10 or 15 minutes as I try to diaper a moving target. Yesterday she showed off a new trick and as I was holding a leg in the air, she rolled up onto her shoulder into a modified headstand. TMB is the opposite. She just sits there and holds her legs up for me.
We're still waiting to see if this cold that's threatening fully manifests itself. They took a 2 hour nap today, don't feel like eating very much, and TMB is still having some phlegmy inhales. So I have reason to believe they're going to get full blown sick over the next day or two, but I've predicted that before and have been wrong.
On a completely unrelated topic, I've been fighting with the insurance company to reimburse me for my breast pump rental. They told me back in April that it would be fully covered as of August 1st. Once I attempted to actually get reimbursed, they decided that I was eligible for reimbursement after January 1. Guess who keeps notes of the conversations she has when she calls insurance companies!!! I've been requesting that they listen to the recording of that phone call (yes, they can do this) and even though I may have been given the incorrect information, that's the information I was given and they are obligated to honor the promises given.
I found out why my most recent claim appeal was denied and it's the stupidest reason ever. For any of you who may ever need to file a claim appeal with United Healthcare, here's a little secret. If the first paragraph does not contain the sentence "This is an appeal" they will automatically deny the appeal regardless of the validity. So make sure that's your first sentence if you ever need to file an appeal.
Jerks don't know who they be messing with. I don't give up and walk away. If I have a legitimate claim, I will continue hounding until it's paid, or until they have spent that money in hourly wages of their representatives dealing with me as I pile follow up phone call on top of follow up phone call. It's a lot cheaper just to pay the damned claims.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Moments
When are they going to invent the brain camera? Where you can say "archive the previous ten seconds" and have what you've just seen and heard captured forever?
Pictures and videos never seem to really capture what we remember in life because by the time we realize we're having a moment we want to capture, it's already gone. And the camera never really sees what you're seeing anyway.
I make an effort to record some of the mundane in life. Just let the camera roll and see what happens. If I wait for special things to capture, I'll always be chasing them and never quite getting them. By capturing the random mundane, I actually get a lot of really good stuff. I captured my dads hands fiddling with a pencil doing those little magic tricks that appeal to kids. I won't remember the big moments about my dad, years from now, when he's gone, I'll remember how he was always fidgeting, doing those little magic tricks. I was recording The Teeny Tiny doing some random babbling and the camera was rolling when her babbling stumbled upon "Da Da" for the first time.
I wasn't recording but I had one of those moments where I wish that brain camera existed. The girls are going through a development leap. Their movements are becoming more subtle and intentional. They were in their high chairs and I looked down for a second to stir their oatmeal and I looked back at them and they both had their heads cocked to the left with an identical coy grin on their faces. It was the cutest twin thing ever!
Other randomness - the girls might be getting sick. They haven't really been sick before. They've shown signs of potentially getting sick, but it's never really manifested. But my mom is out with a bad virus and she babysat during the contagious period before she knew she was sick. And the girls have been a little out of sorts the last 2 days, last night waking up at 5:30am needing some daddy snuggles which they haven't done for a long time. Only time will tell if they're actually getting sick or not.
Yesterday, TTT made sure that the zipper on my shirt was thoroughly explored and contemplated. They currently find clapping hands hilarious.
The biggest change to my day is that I'm now only pumping 3 times a day. As a result, my supply has tanked. I'm getting just under 30oz a day now which for a singleton would be a great supply, but it's not what I'm used to and not enough for 2. I keep trying to remind myself that just because ounces are something you can count, they do not measure the quality of parenting I'm doing. I'm now spending much more time with the girls, getting them on the (now clean) floor so they can attempt to crawl instead of spending almost every moment of their waking day in their exersaucers. Spending less time at the pump is making me a better mommy even if it means sneaking in a few ounces of formula a day instead of a diet of pure breast milk.
Pictures and videos never seem to really capture what we remember in life because by the time we realize we're having a moment we want to capture, it's already gone. And the camera never really sees what you're seeing anyway.
I make an effort to record some of the mundane in life. Just let the camera roll and see what happens. If I wait for special things to capture, I'll always be chasing them and never quite getting them. By capturing the random mundane, I actually get a lot of really good stuff. I captured my dads hands fiddling with a pencil doing those little magic tricks that appeal to kids. I won't remember the big moments about my dad, years from now, when he's gone, I'll remember how he was always fidgeting, doing those little magic tricks. I was recording The Teeny Tiny doing some random babbling and the camera was rolling when her babbling stumbled upon "Da Da" for the first time.
I wasn't recording but I had one of those moments where I wish that brain camera existed. The girls are going through a development leap. Their movements are becoming more subtle and intentional. They were in their high chairs and I looked down for a second to stir their oatmeal and I looked back at them and they both had their heads cocked to the left with an identical coy grin on their faces. It was the cutest twin thing ever!
Other randomness - the girls might be getting sick. They haven't really been sick before. They've shown signs of potentially getting sick, but it's never really manifested. But my mom is out with a bad virus and she babysat during the contagious period before she knew she was sick. And the girls have been a little out of sorts the last 2 days, last night waking up at 5:30am needing some daddy snuggles which they haven't done for a long time. Only time will tell if they're actually getting sick or not.
Yesterday, TTT made sure that the zipper on my shirt was thoroughly explored and contemplated. They currently find clapping hands hilarious.
The biggest change to my day is that I'm now only pumping 3 times a day. As a result, my supply has tanked. I'm getting just under 30oz a day now which for a singleton would be a great supply, but it's not what I'm used to and not enough for 2. I keep trying to remind myself that just because ounces are something you can count, they do not measure the quality of parenting I'm doing. I'm now spending much more time with the girls, getting them on the (now clean) floor so they can attempt to crawl instead of spending almost every moment of their waking day in their exersaucers. Spending less time at the pump is making me a better mommy even if it means sneaking in a few ounces of formula a day instead of a diet of pure breast milk.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Grocery shopping
I attempted grocery shopping with the girls today. The big problem, we're still using the snap and go stroller which has zero storage space because the car seats block it all. I used my Mommy Hook to attach two shopping bags to the handle and it kind of worked, but life certainly would have been easier if I had a stroller with accessible storage.
I tried to time things properly. The girls got up from a nap and I got them fed much faster than usual. By the time I got them in their car seats, they had only been awake for a half hour. I thought that would work great, we should be back home and back in the crib for their next nap by the time they had been awake for 2 hours. And yet I'm sitting here listening to them pitch a fit in their crib even though I put them in there almost a half hour ago. Either the shopping trip was too stimulating, or not stimulating enough because while they are tired, they don't seem to be going to sleep any time soon.
I'm looking forward to the girls being big enough for a different double stroller. The snap and go has the advantage of not needing to remove the girls from the car seats in order to get them in there and it fits in the trunk of my itty bitty car, but the disadvantages are starting to outweigh the advantages. The no storage thing is a problem if I want to do anything other than walk with the girls. And it's sooooooo long! If there's not a handicap button to automatically open doors in public places, it's a wrestling match trying to get the door open and get the long stroller through it myself. Most often someone will hold it open for me, but I don't like having to rely on the kindness of strangers.
But before I can get a more robust stroller, I have to get a new car that a stroller can fit in. Before I can get a new car, I need to get some money matters taken care of. Before I can get those money matters taken care of, I need to hear from a bank representative who was supposed to get in touch with me 2 weeks ago. It seems like everything I do in life now has 5 steps that need to be completed before I can do the thing I actually want to do.
The store seemed to be filled with women who wanted to flirt with the babies. I'm not sure if I'm obligated to stop and smile and chat with everyone who wants to tell me they're twins. Really? I hadn't noticed! And then the checkout lady commented on how there are so many sets of twins nowadays, like the twin population has exploded! Isn't that weird? Uhhhhh, what is the proper response to that?
All in all, we made it through the store fairly unscathed, but my bag of Doritos paid the price. One of the shopping bags little handle it was hanging from broke and when it landed, it burst open the bag of Doritos. I bought them anyway and just had them put in a separate bag, but when I got home, wresting a car seat and a bag of groceries, the Doritos got it again as the car seat completely smushed them. Ugh. Oh well. The girls don't seem to be settling down for their nap any time soon so I think I'm going to get them up, feed them again while I snack on my newly purchased Dorito dust and then attempt this nap thing again.
I tried to time things properly. The girls got up from a nap and I got them fed much faster than usual. By the time I got them in their car seats, they had only been awake for a half hour. I thought that would work great, we should be back home and back in the crib for their next nap by the time they had been awake for 2 hours. And yet I'm sitting here listening to them pitch a fit in their crib even though I put them in there almost a half hour ago. Either the shopping trip was too stimulating, or not stimulating enough because while they are tired, they don't seem to be going to sleep any time soon.
I'm looking forward to the girls being big enough for a different double stroller. The snap and go has the advantage of not needing to remove the girls from the car seats in order to get them in there and it fits in the trunk of my itty bitty car, but the disadvantages are starting to outweigh the advantages. The no storage thing is a problem if I want to do anything other than walk with the girls. And it's sooooooo long! If there's not a handicap button to automatically open doors in public places, it's a wrestling match trying to get the door open and get the long stroller through it myself. Most often someone will hold it open for me, but I don't like having to rely on the kindness of strangers.
But before I can get a more robust stroller, I have to get a new car that a stroller can fit in. Before I can get a new car, I need to get some money matters taken care of. Before I can get those money matters taken care of, I need to hear from a bank representative who was supposed to get in touch with me 2 weeks ago. It seems like everything I do in life now has 5 steps that need to be completed before I can do the thing I actually want to do.
The store seemed to be filled with women who wanted to flirt with the babies. I'm not sure if I'm obligated to stop and smile and chat with everyone who wants to tell me they're twins. Really? I hadn't noticed! And then the checkout lady commented on how there are so many sets of twins nowadays, like the twin population has exploded! Isn't that weird? Uhhhhh, what is the proper response to that?
All in all, we made it through the store fairly unscathed, but my bag of Doritos paid the price. One of the shopping bags little handle it was hanging from broke and when it landed, it burst open the bag of Doritos. I bought them anyway and just had them put in a separate bag, but when I got home, wresting a car seat and a bag of groceries, the Doritos got it again as the car seat completely smushed them. Ugh. Oh well. The girls don't seem to be settling down for their nap any time soon so I think I'm going to get them up, feed them again while I snack on my newly purchased Dorito dust and then attempt this nap thing again.
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