Today is Shaylie and Tycen's original due date. It's crazy to think that if they were born on their due date, they'd be turning 1 year old now, especially since their birthday seems so long ago.
I have been saying for several weeks now that I thought Shaylie would be walking by her due date. I think Tycen will probably start walking closer to the New Year. As a physical therapist, I'd like to think that I'm a pretty good judge of this as I've worked with children before and can get a good sense of when they will reach certain milestones. Anyhow, I know that Shaylie has been really close for the last few weeks and I try to work on it with her daily without being too much of a PT and more just a mommy :) Both she and Tycen have taken about 2 1/2 steps on their own up until today. Shaylie's issue is mostly confidence. She will walk easily with barely any support, but she likes to know she has her hand touching something or someone. Well, I wouldn't exactly say that she is now walking...but, today of all days when I was trying to get her to walk without holding on to anything, she surprised me and took NINE steps in a row!! Scott was so bummed he missed it, but Grandpa Haij had stopped over for a quick visit and got to see her big accomplishment :) We're all so proud of her!
I have some more big news I wanted to put on their blog that is mainly a record for myself, Tycen and Shaylie, as I'm sure the vast majority of our friends and family don't really care to know the details on nursing/pumping ;)
Anyhow, today is the last day that I will be setting my alarm in the middle of the night (4:30 am) to pump (I usually pump for 20-25 mins)! I've been doing this for 15 months now, which also means that I haven't slept through the night in that long!! Lord knows how I love (and desperately need) my sleep. It's been a positive sacrifice, though, because I've been able to pump enough milk (with pumping right before bed and in the middle of the night) for them to get a supplemented bottle of breast milk, which I feel is especially important during cold/flu season.
I will continue to pump before bed for about another month, so they will still get some breast milk in a bottle. And at this point, I'm still nursing them 4 times per day, too. It was my goal to continue the middle of the night pumping session until their due date, December 10. And I'm so happy to know that I made it!! I can't even say how many times when my alarm went off and woke me up from a dead sleep that I was tempted to keep on sleeping. Again, it was such a positive sacrifice to make for my babies and I just praise the Lord over and over for blessing me with a good milk supply! ...And now I can praise the Lord for a good night's sleep (...that is if Tycen and Shaylie cooperate! :)
17 years ago
