Warning: First-time mom insanity clearly outlined below.
One can imagine, that after having a baby, not to mention twins, that we face numerous challenges as parents. There might even be one that trumps all others. What might that be? Lack of sleep? Dealing with temper tantrums? How about tantrums in public? Maybe the realization that you will never ever not worry again? What about diapers, germs, baby-proofing and development?
While these are all indeed challenges, the one thing that has remained my constant challenge is FOOD.
Let me elaborate:
Pregnancy:
Eat a fully balanced diet, take my vitamins, steer clear of tuna, smoked fish, soft cheese, anything under-cooked (no sushi, eggs over easy, or anything less than medium-well) along with a host of other things. "Don't eat too much sugar"; "don't eat too much salt"; "don't eat too much"... but "eat enough, after all, there are two in there!"
Birthday- 6 months:
Latching on- what's that? What do you mean most babies 'catch on' right away?? Pumping, bottle feeding, waking up in the middle of the night every 90 minutes to feed expressed milk and then setting my alarm every 4 hours to pump; 90 minutes bottle, another 90 minutes bottle, another 60 minutes pump, another 30 minutes bottle etc. etc. After five long weeks they finally figured it out.
My thoughts: Are they getting enough? Am I eating enough? Do I have to supplement? What about vitamin D? Remember to take my vitamins. Remember to give the girls their vitamins! And, will I ever get to have a glass of wine??
Should I try formula? Soy-based or milk-based? Powder or Liquid? Was that brand recalled?
Ultimately it never mattered much; we tried it, but the girls wouldn't drink it, and then they stopped taking a bottle all together. This made my social life even more challenging to say the least.
6 months- attempt the solid food; deal with the cute (at-first) cringing and spitting everything out
7 months- attempt the solid food... slight progress- still a lot of cringing
8 months- will eat sweet potatoes and peas... and start moving into other foods slowly.
Truly solid food (as in chunks not pureed): Are the pieces too big? Will they choke on that? Is that a rash? Are they allergic to strawberries? What about peanuts, how do I introduce them to that? Should I even introduce them to that? Are there steroids in eggs? Are those peaches organic? Is there added sugar in that applesauce?
Am I feeding them a balanced enough diet? What if they will only eat cheerios and applesauce?? Why don't they like milk? Are they lactose intolerant?
Oh, no, diaper explosion... it's everywhere. What did they eat? Why do they have diarrhea? Why has it lasted more than a week? What's a pro-biotic? Is that yogurt too sweet? Should I buy soy yogurt? Are they getting enough liquids? Please don't dehydrate!
Oh no, now Stella is not able to keep food down, what happened? Does she have E. Coli? Let's look it up on WebMD (haha, not a good idea by the way).
Now we are dealing with each of the girls eating different things. I made a butternut squash soup with apples, carrots, and celery along with a "green pudding" with spinach, avocado, and applesauce (might sound gross to some, but it was pretty tasty). Lucy eats only the green stuff and Stella the orange. On the other hand when they are eating mixed veggies, Stella picks out the green stuff (peas and green beans) and Lucy picks out the orange (ish) (corn and carrots).
And, what happens if you can't tell how much your child is eating? How does this happen? Well, if you have a pet, you know. It's become quite the game to throw morsels on the floor and see how fast Teddy or Penny can gobble it up. My problem then becomes... how much ended up on the floor and ultimately in a canine's mouth?
Needless to say, I am most likely over-thinking all of this, but that doesn't mean I still don't stress out about it:) I am getting better as time goes on and slightly more sane.
I still find it quite comical that out of all the challenges a child can bring into their parents' lives, that my largest challenge has been the simple necessity of chow.
One can imagine, that after having a baby, not to mention twins, that we face numerous challenges as parents. There might even be one that trumps all others. What might that be? Lack of sleep? Dealing with temper tantrums? How about tantrums in public? Maybe the realization that you will never ever not worry again? What about diapers, germs, baby-proofing and development?
While these are all indeed challenges, the one thing that has remained my constant challenge is FOOD.
Let me elaborate:
Pregnancy:
Eat a fully balanced diet, take my vitamins, steer clear of tuna, smoked fish, soft cheese, anything under-cooked (no sushi, eggs over easy, or anything less than medium-well) along with a host of other things. "Don't eat too much sugar"; "don't eat too much salt"; "don't eat too much"... but "eat enough, after all, there are two in there!"
Birthday- 6 months:
Latching on- what's that? What do you mean most babies 'catch on' right away?? Pumping, bottle feeding, waking up in the middle of the night every 90 minutes to feed expressed milk and then setting my alarm every 4 hours to pump; 90 minutes bottle, another 90 minutes bottle, another 60 minutes pump, another 30 minutes bottle etc. etc. After five long weeks they finally figured it out.
My thoughts: Are they getting enough? Am I eating enough? Do I have to supplement? What about vitamin D? Remember to take my vitamins. Remember to give the girls their vitamins! And, will I ever get to have a glass of wine??
Should I try formula? Soy-based or milk-based? Powder or Liquid? Was that brand recalled?
Ultimately it never mattered much; we tried it, but the girls wouldn't drink it, and then they stopped taking a bottle all together. This made my social life even more challenging to say the least.
6 months- attempt the solid food; deal with the cute (at-first) cringing and spitting everything out
7 months- attempt the solid food... slight progress- still a lot of cringing
8 months- will eat sweet potatoes and peas... and start moving into other foods slowly.
Truly solid food (as in chunks not pureed): Are the pieces too big? Will they choke on that? Is that a rash? Are they allergic to strawberries? What about peanuts, how do I introduce them to that? Should I even introduce them to that? Are there steroids in eggs? Are those peaches organic? Is there added sugar in that applesauce?
Am I feeding them a balanced enough diet? What if they will only eat cheerios and applesauce?? Why don't they like milk? Are they lactose intolerant?
Oh, no, diaper explosion... it's everywhere. What did they eat? Why do they have diarrhea? Why has it lasted more than a week? What's a pro-biotic? Is that yogurt too sweet? Should I buy soy yogurt? Are they getting enough liquids? Please don't dehydrate!
Oh no, now Stella is not able to keep food down, what happened? Does she have E. Coli? Let's look it up on WebMD (haha, not a good idea by the way).
Now we are dealing with each of the girls eating different things. I made a butternut squash soup with apples, carrots, and celery along with a "green pudding" with spinach, avocado, and applesauce (might sound gross to some, but it was pretty tasty). Lucy eats only the green stuff and Stella the orange. On the other hand when they are eating mixed veggies, Stella picks out the green stuff (peas and green beans) and Lucy picks out the orange (ish) (corn and carrots).
And, what happens if you can't tell how much your child is eating? How does this happen? Well, if you have a pet, you know. It's become quite the game to throw morsels on the floor and see how fast Teddy or Penny can gobble it up. My problem then becomes... how much ended up on the floor and ultimately in a canine's mouth?
Needless to say, I am most likely over-thinking all of this, but that doesn't mean I still don't stress out about it:) I am getting better as time goes on and slightly more sane.
I still find it quite comical that out of all the challenges a child can bring into their parents' lives, that my largest challenge has been the simple necessity of chow.
Sometimes knowing too much is a curse! The baby food in a jar worked for us most of the time. Too bad everything has negative press today. I can remember trying to blend human meals into jars. I agree.......the worrying doesn't stop....it just changes!
ReplyDeleteGive the girls a hug from us! Sandi