How we do it: Daily Schedule

Our daily schedule is very important to our family and our parenting.  It sets up the girls for success as well as gives me a much needed sense of accomplishment.  Tinks behavior is drastically better when I follow the schedule and she knows exactly what is next in our day.  It's pretty much the same every day.  The main thing that changes is that on weekends or days in which we have to get out of the house for whatever reason, we go during Tinks learning time which is usually a time in which both girls are awake.  I try my very best to preserve both girls' sleep needs and be respectful to their needs for a successful sleep environment.  Below is our general daily schedule:

Time	Me	Tinker Bell	Lulu
	Up, laundry, empty dishwasher
6	Pump, have all learning time materials ready, “swoosh and swipe” bathrooms, etc.
	Shower, get ready, heat Lulu's bottle
7	Get Lulu while Hubby gets Tink	Hubby gets her out of bed; dressed; hair, etc.	Out of bed; bottle
	Make breakfast; meds for Lulu	Play, help with breakfast	Play; take meds
8	Feed girls (solids for Lulu) and eat; clean up	Eat	Eat
	Walk	Walk	Walk
9	Put Tink in ip and Lulu to nap; offer Lulu another bottle before nap	IP	Nap
	Run around and clean like a crazy lady; pump	IP	Nap
10	Get Tink from ip	Clean up IP; diaper	Nap
	Tink learning time	Learning time	Nap
11	Lulu up and feed bottle; Start lunch	Learning activity	Bottle
	Feed girls (solids for Lulu) and eat; clean up	Eat	Eat
12	Play with girls	Play	Play
	Nap time for Tink	Nap	Hang out and do stuff with mommy
1	Nap time for Lulu; offer her another bottle	Nap	Hang out and do stuff with mommy; nap
	Organize stuff; go on computer; whatever needs to be done	Nap	Nap
2	Pump	Nap	Nap
		Nap	Nap
3	Get Tink up; diaper; hair	Get up and ready	Nap
	Make snack and juice for Tink	Snack and drink	Up and bottle
4	Stories	Stories	Stories/Play
	Stories	Stories	Stories/Play
5	Hubby home	Play with Daddy	Play with Daddy
	Start dinner	Free play or family walk	Free play or family walk
6	Eat; Pump	Eat	Hang out while we eat- eventually she’ll also eat dinner
	Clean up; start bedtime routine	Play with Daddy	Play with Daddy
7	Bedtime routine	Bath and bedtime	Bath and bedtime
8:45	Pump

We also have a hanging poster thing that has our daily schedule on it that I go over every morning with the girls.  I change it so that it meets our day and Tink can have a visual of where we are in the day and what she will be doing that day.  She does best when she's informed and has time to process.  This greatly decreases tantrum behavior as well as makes our day flow more smoothly.  Here is a picture of the daily schedule that we have hanging on the wall.

 I also have a calendar hanging next to the daily schedule.

We go over the days of the week and months of the year as well as take about our plans.  She has a semi-structured learning time after independent play every day.  I will go over learning time in another post.

How we do it: Organizing clothes

Baby clothes takes so much work to constantly organize!  Once you get all the adorable little outfits that are the baby's size washed and organized into the drawers only a few short months later you have to switch them all out and start over.  Since the girls grow so fast, I feel like I'm constantly rotating out clothes for bigger sizes.  Plus, storing baby clothes isn't easy.  It's small and difficult to keep folded nicely.  So, we use labeled bins to store the clothes that we are not currently using making it easier to rotate through.  I literally take all the clothes out of the drawers and pile them on the floor.  Then I put them in piles according to size, fold them, and then put them into the appropriate box.  I have been working on only keeping things that we love and use so I got rid of a lot of things.  I now need to do this with Tinks clothes and then re-do it all in a few months.

Products we love: Gelmix

   I have found that thickening breast milk is very, very difficult and there is only one product that works for us- Gelmix.  When we discovered that Lulu was aspirating and needed thickened bottles, I was determined to continue feeding her breast milk.  We had to find a way to make it so she could drink my milk.  We started by trying powdered rice cereal as was suggested my the doctor.  This was not a good option because when rice powder is added to breast milk, it turns into a goop-like substance and Lulu could not get it out of the bottle.  She actually had trouble gaining weight when we first started thickening because she could not get enough milk.  The bottle nipple continually clogged and we had to find a better option.  I became a mommy on a mission!  I did a lot of research and talking with other moms on-line and I found Gelmix.  It is marketed to thicken breast milk and formula.  This is the only thing that is made for breast milk, so I ordered it.  It was our last chance at continuing to give her breast milk.  If this did not work, I was planning to switch her to pre-thickened formula.
     I was immediately impressed from the very first try.  I added it to the heated bottle (must be heated to dissolve) and waited the 5 minutes that it needs to thicken appropriately.  After allowing it to thicken, I tested it to make sure it could come through the nipple of the bottle and it flowed right out.  Then came the real test- feeding it to Lulu.  She drank it wonderfully. I was so relieved and excited to continue feeding her breast milk.
     I can honestly say that I love this product.  It works great, flows well, does not alter the nutrition of the milk, does not alter taste, is very easy to use, produces a consistent thickness, and keeps Lulu happy and healthy!  The only negative about this thickener is that it has to sit for 5 minutes to achieve desired thickness.  This can be very difficult to accomplish when there is an upset hungry baby waiting!  Since she's on a feeding schedule, this is much easier to do and I know when to heat the bottles so that they are ready at the correct time.   This wonderful product has saved my ability to feed Lulu breast milk and I am so grateful!

How we do it: Formula

I have gone to great lengths to make sure that Lulu does not have to drink formula and can continue to get breast milk.  Since the breast milk must be thickened (aspiration and reflux), it takes twice as long to make her a bottle.  I must heat the milk for about 5 min and then I add an amazing thickener (GelMix) to the milk.  It then has to sit for 5 min to thicken.  The whole process takes over 10 min and in the middle of the night, I do not have any extra time!  Just heating a bottle for a hungry baby seems like an eternity and I definitely do not want to sit around waiting for the bottle to thicken at 3am!  So, if she wakes to eat during the night she gets formula.  It works best for our family and I'm ok with it.  We give her formula that is pre-thickened with rice starch so that I don't have to add thickener.  I make it 3/4 thickened formula mixed with 1/4 plain formula to lessen constipation that she can get from the rice starch.

I use an awesome product by Dr. Brown's called a formula pitcher.  I start by adding the water to the pitcher (usually I make 16 oz just in case she's extra hungry- I like to be prepared). 

I then add the formula (usually 6 scoops thickened and 2 scoops regular).

And finally I put the lid on and mix.

I keep the pitcher in the fridge and then I can just pour out how much I need right into the bottle and it's ready to go- well, it has to be warmed but no mixing formula!  Also, the mixing pitcher keeps air out of the formula which reduces gas.

Update:  We are no longer giving any formula!  If Lulu wakes in the night, I just make her a bottle of breast milk and add the Gelmix.  Since she's starting to feel better, she doesn't need it as thick so I can feed it to her right away and it thickens as she drinks it.  It's working for us!

How we do it: Pumping

Since Lulu was 12 weeks old, I have been pumping all her bottles.  Since she aspirates, she must have thickened bottles and that means that I have to add thickener to her milk therefore she has to drink from a bottle.  I am determined to not have her on formula and plan on pumping until she is weaned to whole milk after she turns one.  There are a few items that I must have in order to make exclusively pumping successful:
1.  A high-grade double pump.  I have a Medela Pump In Style double breast pump and it is wonderful.  I could never do this without this amazing pump.  I can pump fast and efficiently.
2.  A hands-free bra.  I put on the bra over my clothes and viola, I can get things done while pumping!  I have the pump set up in the kitchen (weird, I know!) and it works great because I can clean, unload the dishwasher, eat, or just mess around on my iphone.
3.  Several bottles to pump into.  I have an abundant milk supply and often fill a bottle and have to switch to an empty one before my pumping session is over.
4.  Milk freezer bags.  Again, I have way too much milk so about 25 ounces a day go into the freezer.

The picture below shows my pumping set up in the kitchen:

This picture shows the pumping bra, pump (in the backpack), and two sets of shields with bottles attached.  It has been important to have at least two sets of pumping equipment (shields) so that I only have to wash them every other time.
After I pump, I fill the bottle/bottles that we need for the day and any additional milk goes into the freezer.  I fill Lulu's bottles to 8 oz and store them all lined up in the fridge.  I only store 3-4 bottles at once.  I like to have fresh milk continually rotating in the fridge.
Any milk that goes into the freezer gets put into a storage bag and is laid flat to freeze.

Once it's frozen, I move it into a tupperwear container for storage.

Or into the wall of the freezer.

We have a lot of milk in our freezer!  I pump far more than Lulu can eat so I ship all the extra frozen milk to a friend in California for her baby.  It works out really well and I enjoy helping another baby.  I will go through the shipping of milk in another post.