8 Weeks.

The days are long, but the weeks are short. This statement is resounding truth for me since January 29, 2011! Last Friday, one day before the twins were 8 weeks old, was (by far) the most stressful day we've encountered. We've had bouts of problems with their tummies since they were born and thought we'd found the solution to our problems, but NO! The Similac Sensitive formula was causing all sorts of gas and we were still having to give the girls Karo syrup EVERYDAY and at least an ounce of prune juice. I gave it several weeks to see if things would get better, but they didn't. The gas was causing them anguish. They would wail every time they'd need to pass it and it was happened at least 10 times every hour....that's 20 farts an hour......that's hours upon hours of screaming, whimpering, crying, snubbing. They wouldn't stay asleep very well, either. Guess what woke them up....a rumbling tummy. Brent and I learned how to do the "I Love You" tummy massage, which did calm them and help them, but I was having to do that ALL day long. This is not what I bargained for. Some would say that with children, you never get what you bargain for, but I beg to differ. I've been asking God for children for 3+ years now. I asked specifically for happy babies. God does know the desires of my heart and I believe that He grants us those desires when we ask. As of Tuesday, March 22, I was tired of it. Tired of thinking, "If they're awake, they're crying." Tired of dreading the girls to wake up. I prayed, again, telling God that I wasn't happy with how things were going. Amy Grant sings a song, Better than a Hallelujah. The initial lyric is this: "God loves a lullaby
In a mother's tears in the dead of night
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes."I took comfort in those lyrics, knowing that my tears are like a melody to God's ears. That same day, both Brenlee and Cadence smiled several times. Grant it, it may be followed by wailing cries, but I celebrate the small stuff! Thursday, when both girls were inconsolable, I researched some more formulas. This would be the 5th different thing to try. I had been avoiding trying the Similac Alimentum because it's priced as liquid gold. $25 a can. At the rate they are eating this week, that's $75 a week. Again, this caused me to be upset that I couldn't breastfeed. Anyhow, our last ditch effort, Brent went after work Thursday and picked some up. I had read that it smelled worse and some babies didn't prefer the taste, so we were prepared. To our surprise, both girls gulped it down and wanted more! Well, Friday, however, I guess with the adjustment to the new formula and many other factors, the girls both screamed bloody murder for a grand total of 3 hours and 20 minutes. Cadence threw up everywhere from her state of hysteria and Brenlee was sweating head to toe. I was helpless and so were they. My mom came over during her lunch hour. I had both girls on me in the recliner asleep. I hadn't eaten or taken a drink of anything since before 8am, it was now 3:30pm. She gave Cadence another bottle, since the last one didn't stay down and laid her down to nap. I kept wearing Brenlee in my Moby to comfort her. The day was so long. I'm not even going to take the time to explain all the techniques I tried that day to console them, that'd be a blog in itself. Well, I reminded myself that it could take a few days-up to a week-to notice a change in the girls on the new formula. It happened. Saturday, the girls would sit in their swings and just look around for 1/2 an hour to an hour at a time. They were awake, not crying! We still had crying during pooping, but I can handle that. I'm just glad they are! (We haven't given prune juice or Karo since Thursday, either.) Saturday evening we decided that we'd lay the girls in the nursery to sleep that night. They'd been sleeping in a crib in our room. We set them up a laptop and attached some speakers to it. I purchased several white noise cd's off of Amazon and downloaded them. We set the mood in the room and things looked/sounded so great.  Low and behold, they did excellent. Brenlee sleep consistently for 4 hour stretches. She'd *almost* get  worked up, but we were able to keep her calm and she'd go right back to sleep. Cadence did the same thing! They didn't wake at the same time, either. This is something that I have been wanting to happen--since I've found that with them, it's mere impossible to keep them both happy and fed coincidingly. Sunday morning, we all woke up at 9:00am. Brenlee cooed and smiled at me for 30 minutes as I sat and chatted with her. She ate and then I put her in her swing and she fell asleep! I am so thankful and know that God has sent angels to be here with me and girls. They are comforting all of us! Praise the Lord! Thanks to all of you take time to read my lengthy blogs...partly they are for me to remember all of this---so I'm always able to celebrate even the tiniest of moments--and partly to keep family and friends involved in Brenlee's and Cadence's lives. Love you all, and keep up the prayers, we appreciate them SOOOO very much!