Baby Growth by Month - The First Six Months

After seeing a friend do it several years ago, I planned to one day photograph my babies every month next to a stuffed animal in order to watch them grow. Think of it as a softer, more adorable alternative to the standard pen knife. For a long time-- even before Mark and I were married-- I thought that stuffed animal would be our giant ant, or as we called him, Big Bug. But Mark was never fully on board with this idea and in the end cuteness won out and I took the monthly baby pictures with Patrick Pup instead. You can see how much they've grown in the last six months. But first, a brief tribute to Big Bug...

Mark in a 2004 UFC fight against Big Bug

Big Bug in a rare moment of modesty, wearing pants

And now, babies getting bigger:

Julia

Julia at 12 days

Julia at 1 month

Julia at 2 months

Julia at 3 months

Julia at 4 months

Julia at 5 months

Julia at 6 months

James

James at 11 days


James at 1 month


James at 2 months


James at 3 months


James at 4 months

James at 5 months

James at 6 months

Both


James and Julia at 6 months

What's in a Baby Name?

Mark and I didn't really start talking about what to name the babies until after we found out the sexes. So unfortunately I can't entertain you with the names we would have chosen for boy/boy and girl/girl twins. But before we knew the sexes I'd ask Mark what names he'd like, say, when we were driving, and he would name things he saw like he was Keyser Soze. "How about Cutlass Ciera?"


Hopefully our babies will have fewer bullet holes than this Cutlass Ciera.

When I was 8 years old I used to check out baby name books from the library. Over the years my favorite girl names (I wasn't as into boy names) were (don't judge) Vanessa (I think because of The Cosby Show), Valentina, Melissa, and Natasha (I used to like the ridiculous spelling Natassja). I'm not even including when I was 5 and named my goldfish my favorite name, Patty. Patty didn't have a very long life and I went on to have 6 more Pattys before my parents gave up on the fish tank. (Thankfully they took - at least marginally - better care of my brother and me. Some would say anyway. Hi, Mom.)

Given my early obsession with names, to my surprise it wasn't me who picked out the eventual names - it was Mark! He suggested we name one of the babies after our stuffed elephant, Julian. The elephant is named after the place where I bought it, the pretty gold rush mountain town of Julian east of San Diego. Growing up we'd always drive there the day after Thanksgiving for apple pie, and if we were lucky, snow. We weren't fond of the name Julian but really liked Julia. Mark suggested James to go along with Julia. (I also suggested Juliet and Juliana - not that I necessarily liked them more - but Mark nixed those). I was more reluctant about James because I still liked my top male name (which I will get to) and I worried that James would be called Jim (or as my dad suggested, Jimbo). But I agreed that James sounded best with Julia and I've always liked the name James. As it turns out James and Julia are tied for 28th on the 2009 list of boy/girl twin names. (Apparently there were 8 pairs of James/Julia twins born last year in the U.S.) Interestingly there's a sign on the highway near us for Julian and St. James Streets.

We were surprised to run into Julian in the airport in Bangkok.

This is very tangential but we also saw this elephant ATM in Bangkok.

Mark in the town of Julian

We want to take the twins to Julian's Candy Mine as soon as they're old enough.

Is this how Mark subconsciously came up with the names?

While pregnant I told the moms not to worry when it came to names, that we'd pick something classic and not embarrassing for them when it came time to tell their friends. We kept the names secret from our families (though once I did tell my mom our top three girl names), but released a poll to Mark's Google co-workers and to our friends. They could vote on:

James & Julia (received 9 votes)
Alexander & Natasha (5 votes)
Benjamin & Sophia (7 votes)

I've always been really into all things Russian and Mark's last name sounds Russian so I thought it would be nice to have Russian first names. Unfortunately Mark's first cousin (another Pilloff) is named Alexander. Had we gone with Alexander and Natasha, I would have wanted them informally known as Alex and Sasha. (Sasha is technically a shortened form of Alexander but I liked it as a shortened form of Natasha.) If we had two girls I would have been interested in the Russian names Katia or Kira to go along with Natasha.(In fact after the twins were born my parents were surprised because they thought I would go with Natasha, Katia, or something else Russian, even before I revealed our top three girl names to them.)


"We prefer to call the twins, "Moose and Squirrel."

For several years Benjamin was at the top of my list for boys' names. Once I thought it might be nice to combine it with a family surname on my side like Harrison. Then I realized the baby would be named Benjamin Harrison Pilloff, an homage to a mediocre president. It also reminds me of Nicolas Cage's character, Benjamin Franklin Gates, in National Treasure. Sophia I simply thought was a beautiful name. I called the twins Ben and Sophie in my head during the pregnancy, and I thought the names were sweet and timeless. Well, mostly timeless. I didn't like that Sophia was #7 on 2008's list of American girls' names (#4 in 2009). (Incidentally in 2009, Julia was #50 and James was #18. It's a fun website. Try it out!)

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Benjamin Harrison Pilloff?

The map's on the back of the Declaration of Independence!

Incidentally my first choice for a boy's name would have been William - and I love the shortened form, Will. Unfortunately Will Pilloff is not so good.

Benjamin was an easy choice as a middle name, since it was our runner up boy's first name and it was Mark's grandfather's name. Mark championed Elizabeth (everything Mark life!) for Julia's middle name, and while it, too, was on my short list as a middle name for Julia, I originally preferred Catherine and also liked Victoria (but didn't like that it ended with an "a" like Julia). Mark wasn't a fan of Catherine, partly because it was too close to my own name (a concern of mine as well), so we went with Elizabeth. Choosing Elizabeth was also a way to honor Mark's grandmother (we called her Bube) whose first name was Luba, a derivation of Libba/Libby/Elizabeth. It's interesting to note that my parents really strongly considered naming my brother and me Benjamin and Elizabeth.

The day the twins were born we told everyone but my parents the names. Since my parents were arriving the following day I wanted to tell them in person to surprise them and to gauge their reactions. While on the phone with my mother the day of their birth I accidentally referred to our girl as Julia. I tried to play it off like I meant to do it (oops), but I didn't fool her.

Video Break: Julia Shakes Like a Bug

Here's my favorite video so far of one of the babies. It gets good around minute 25. Taken 5/18/10.

When it comes to Number Two, I Look Like Number One

A few weeks ago I got the following ad in my e-mail and realized the second coming was nigh.

I immediately forwarded it to Mark with the message "I can't decide if they're terrible or awesome." To our delight we stumbled upon the diapers the following weekend while at CVS and couldn't resist buying a box. I still can't decide if jean cut-offs for babies are terrible or awesome, but here are some pictures of the twins sporting their own Daisy Dukes.

But before you see them you have to see the commercial. It's awesome. (Arrested Development fans out there, we're debating whether the voice over is by Will Arnett-- especially the bit at the end.)

I love James' cute little pose. It's like there's an imaginary Coppertone dog tugging at his diaper


Check out the "sewn" pocket detail

Daisy James Duke

Julia and James, baby sumo wrestlers


"James, you're a tiger! Julia, you're a lion!"

James is entranced by Julia's back fat


You can really see the difference in the twins' hair color here

Mark shows off Julia's diaper to our friends. The diapers could be part of her outfit:

Mostly March (a.k.a. the Fourth Month)

The big thing that improves our lives is that by the end of March the twins are often sleeping through most of the night. At first it's 5-6 hours between feedings, then 7 or more hours in between. (Once James sleeps 11 hours-- we get excited when they hibernate between feedings!) Usually they sleep between 7 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. Now (fast forward to the beginning of June) for the last month and a half they go to bed around 7:30 p.m. and wake at 6:30 a.m.

My mom (Grandma) continues to stay with us through March - and Grandpa visits a few times as well - until Mark's mom (Bubby) arrives at the end of the month. I have two days on my own between the time that Bubby leaves and Grandma returns. The first day (4/5) leaves me in tears by the end when James reawakens from his nap bawling and resists falling asleep eight separate times. The next day Mark's boss' wife, Leslie, comes over for the first time to play with the twins. She wants to run her own day care one day and loves to play with little ones. Having her here means I'm also free to do things like eat a meal (a luxury!) and pump. It's a much better day.

James is ready for his tryout with the San Francisco Giants

Nobody rocks a duckie bib like Julia rocks a duckie bib.


James is so surprised his hat flew off!

James becomes an expert at the vibrating activity rainforest chair and the whole time he's in it, he hits the hanging animals triggering music and the waterfall light. He actually waits until right when the music stops to hit the animals again to trigger the show. With all the noise it sounds like a casino (something my card counting parents know well...). In mid-March I start putting the babies on their backs on my propped up legs to play with them, and that's a big hit.

I love the babies' pre-talking sounds. James talks low and soft like he's cooing. Julia gets a big smile and shrieks. The babies now love bath time.


James, the Michelin Man


James gets a toupee to hide his baldness


Julia's excited to be held by Bubby

In diapering news...
When James pees on the changing table, we worry that our laughter might be encouraging him so the next time Grandma tries to solemnly say, "We don't do that, James." Julia has a diaper so bad that I realize it's leaking when I see a brown stain on the back of her clothes. The poop is all over her back and legs. To change her takes two of us, four soiled piddle pads, one new outfit, and a bath.

After diapering, Grandpa always takes James to see the dinosaur poster at the end of the hall. ("Let's see if we can find Grandma," says Grandpa, much to Grandma's dismay.) James anticipates where he's going and starts turning his head when he reaches the end of the hall.

Julia and James laugh at Mark's Bill Cosby impression. (Mark's impression consists of him saying, "Theo! Rud-eee! Eat your Jelly pudding POPS!") Then again, they laugh when I do it, too. Once when I happen to be holding a pacifier near Julia's face, she hits my hand until I put it in her mouth.


Mark amuses Julia with his Bill Cosby impression


James' GQ pose. (For some reason this reminds me of Burt Reynolds' 1972 Cosmo centerfold pose on the bearskin rug.)

On St. Patrick's Day the babies wear their matching outfits and Mark goes on an overnight ski trip with Google. This happens to coincide with the babies' first colds which equals no sleep for Grandma and me. Julia enjoys slugging us for a week in mid-March. When I stick my tongue out at Julia on 3/22 she tries to stick hers out, too. On 3/26 Grandpa brings Julia her first bouquet of flowers.


Grandpa brings Julia her first bouquet of flowers


"This doesn't feel like Daddy's beard..."

On 3/28 James closes his eyes while eating and smiles. He seems to smile bigger when I say the word "smile," so I test him by saying different things to him with the same inflection. "James do you like milk?" (No response.) "James do you like to kick?" (No response.) "James do you like to smile?" (James smiles.) The following day I can't get him to repeat this so I'm not sure if he knows the word "smile" or not.

Julia starts laughing and squealing the last weeks of March. She'll wake up in the morning and entertain herself in her crib with her squeals.

On the first of April, not only do the babies visit Google for the first time, James pushes his chest up during tummy time like he's doing a push up. Julia does the same on 4/4. On 4/6 Julia says "okay" plain as day. It's so startling to me I think there must be another person in the room! Julia also often says what sounds like "hi."

Matching outfits break!


Wonder which one is going to mess up a lot of school portraits in a few years?


Julia and James: 3 month old gangbangers


Mommy and her babies

In the last week and a half of March, James discovers his fist and it's always in his mouth after that. Both hands in his mouth make it look like he's playing an invisible saxophone. He starts putting everything in his mouth and drooling, which makes us wonder if teething is imminent. Julia follows suit a few weeks later, spawning the nickname "Droolia."

My knee is suddenly in a lot of pain the day of the twins' 4 month check-up so I limp as I take them around Kaiser. I suspect it's caused from the way I hold the babies while feeding them. (Is there workers comp for having twins?) Thankfully my meniscus slips back into place a few days later. Their check-up also brings more booster shots. The babies are really good about it - all things considered. In fact I think James cried for less than a minute which pleases Grandpa (I think because James "took it like a man").




Weights and Lengths:

12/07/09 (birth)
James - weight: 5 lbs., 9 oz.; length: 17.8" <5th percentile; weight for length: ~75th percentile
Julia - weight: 4 lbs., 9 oz.; length: 18.1" <5th percentile; weight for length: ~10th percentile

1/07/10 (1 month)
James - weight: 7 lbs., 2.9 oz.; length: ~21"
Julia - weight: 6 lbs., 4.4 oz.; length: ~18 1/2"

2/08/10 (2 months)
James - weight: 9 lbs., 0.0 oz <5th percentile; length: 21 1/4" <5th percentile; head: 14 3/4" ~8th percentile; weight for length: ~25th percentile
Julia - weight: 7 lbs., 11.5 oz. <5th percentile; length: 20 1/2" <5th percentile; head: 14 1/4" <5th percentile; weight for length: ~17th percentile

3/06/10 (3 months)
James - weight: 11 lbs., 2.6 oz.
Julia - weight: 9 lbs., 8 oz.

4/08/10 (4 months)
James - weight: 13 lbs., 14.5 oz. ~30th percentile; length: 24" ~18th percentile; head: 16 1/2" ~44th percentile; weight for length: ~60th percentile
Julia - weight: 12 lbs., 4 oz. ~21st percentile; length: 23" ~10th percentile; head: 16" ~42nd percentile; weight for length: ~58th percentile

Look how much they've grown since their two month check-up! Especially their heads!

Breastfeeding: Meet the "Twins"...

When you have infants it seems everyone asks (sometimes when you barely know them!) whether or not you're breastfeeding. I think I probably get that question more since I'm a twin mom. I think it's part of the carnival freakshow they envision of a mother nursing two babies at the same time. Using my special twin nursing super powers pillow I have fed them both at the same time - and there's nothing that makes me feel more like I birthed a litter - but it's also really tricky. It might have been easier if they were better at latching (I never got to that part) but whenever I did it, it was a two person operation with someone helping me get the twins on and off the pillow, burping them, and me trying to get them latched back on since they'd continually slide off.

Me and my litter. (When Julia would breastfeed she liked it so much she looked like she was going to tear her eyes out.)

The aforementioned twin nursing pillow. (That's not me.)


Mark can feed two people at once-- as long as he is one of them

Most mothers with twins stop breastfeeding early. There are a lot of reasons - while nursing you can't take care of the non-feeding baby (who invariably needs attention). There's the lack of time to pump (something about caring for two babies). There's also the higher rate of prematurity among twins. That means a higher likelihood to bottle feed and use formula to increase birth weights the first weeks or months. Knowing the odds were against me from the start, I was determined to breastfeed for as long as possible.


Feeding formula to Julia by syringe while in the hospital

The first month I would try to nurse the babies but they would cry and wouldn't try to nurse. They already preferred the bottles they received when born at 35 1/2 weeks. Luckily I was able to pump enough so that all their bottles were 100% milk. (Currently their bottles are 50% milk, 50% formula but more on that later.) Then near the end of the month, my mom had the bright idea to give them a pacifier to calm them down until they were ready to nurse. That actually worked!

I continued to go to Kaiser's Newborn Club over the next several months to meet with Sue the lactation consultant in order to set feeding allotments. (Most babies there are in their first week. We needed more help. After going there throughout the first month, the director told me they had been worried about the babies and their weight gain at our first visit, but they weren't anymore. In Eastern European accented English she exclaimed, "James is a horse!") The nurses would weigh the babies before and after breastfeeding to measure how much they were taking in.


Turns out Boppy nursing pillows are also great for sleeping (despite the tag on them that says "Not for Sleeping!")

Unfortunately the babies were always lazy at sucking because they were premature, so even when they were at their breastfeeding best, my schedule was to nurse James 20 minutes (he would not take in significantly more after that) and give the other 2/3 of his feeding via bottle. Julia was my little "Margaret Latcher" by comparison and I would nurse her for 30 minutes and give her the other 1/3 of her feeding via bottle. That's a lot of time invested in feeding! That doesn't even touch the surface of burping either. Burping took forever with their immature systems - sometimes it would take 10 minutes for a burp and we'd burp them 3 times. Once, after I fed, burped, and changed each baby it was literally time to start all over again. I wished they could nurse for a whole feeding - it would have been much more efficient than dealing with pumping, making bottles, etc. (In fact I currently have an infection on my hand and dermatitis in three other spots due to all the hot water and soap).

What the inside of our refrigerator looks like. Bottles go in the middle, formula on the left, milk goes on the right. Chinese takeout and pickles apparently go on the far left.

Julia started rejecting the breast at the end of February (at 2 1/2 months). I tried and tried to reintroduce it to her but she was pretty set (read: she screamed) on having a bottle since that was easier for her. (The Newborn Club liked to tell us how breastfeeding for babies is so much work for them it's like running a marathon.) I cried. Even though I continued to pump I knew that meant less milk would now be produced by me and consumed by her. Studies have shown the benefits of breastfeeding including everything from lower rates of obesity to fewer allergies. Breastfed infants apparently have a gain of five IQ points, so I'm always thinking the babies are losing IQ points thanks to me. Plus, breastfeeding strengthens the mother-baby bond. Society had also brainwashed me into thinking formula was equivalent to poison so I was heartbroken when I had to start giving the babies formula.

Mark feeds formula (horrors!) to James the first week at home.

Something worse than formula: Mark introduces James to Coke. Don't worry-- he didn't actually drink any. (But true story: The other day Mark asked if there was any reason he shouldn't let James eat a piece of a strawberry. I said, "I can think of several!")

James started rejecting the breast at the beginning of April (4 months). Right now it's been a month since he nursed for an entire 20 minutes. Several weeks ago I could get him to nurse for up to about 3 minutes if I was lucky. Lately he won't accept it at all and I don't think I'll ever get him to nurse again. I feel like I did my best and that's all I can do. The Newborn Club has been really supportive, and they just say to concentrate on pumping.

The Newborn Club told me many times that I had a good milk supply. To maintain/increase my milk supply I've started "power pumping," where I pump for 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off over the course of an hour. I aim to pump 7 times a day (ideally once every 2 1/2 hours). Each session is 20 minutes long (the power pumping one is 30 minutes) but comes to 30 once bottle washing and bottle making is figured in. That means 220 minutes of my day (nearly 4 hours!) is spent pumping. Plus, during the day that's a significant chunk of time away from the babies, so there's the trade off of making them milk but being with them less. You can see why I might not have been able to get this far without a mom here during the day.

I have sampled my own milk by the way. It wasn't like I took a swig or anything, I just got a couple drops on my hand and took a lick. For the record, it tasted sweeter than cow's milk.


Who hasn't wondered what it tastes like?