Back from the boys' 2-week appointment

I like how the boys had their 2-week pediatrician appointment on their due date. Anyhow ... the boys are both doing great ... and apparently Will's appetite is (as I suspected), basically unheard-of for a 2-week-old. He eats 2-3.5 ounces most feedings, and the past 3 nights he has had one feeding of either 4.5 or, one night, 5.5 ounces!! Alex has also had a couple of 4-ounce feedings, also usually at night. I was amazed--DH was the feeder of these monster-feedings and I keep suspecting he is overfeeding them. When I asked the nurse about this before the weigh-in, she was surprised and said she'd never heard of that for a 2-week-old. The pediatrician said the same thing. BUT the ped said he shows no signs of over-feeding and wasn't concerned about it. She said it was probably their 10-14-day growth spurt.

Alex now weighs 6 lbs 15 oz (8 oz over birth weight!) and Will now weighs 7 lbs 6 oz (12 oz over birth weight)!. I was shocked ... Though I was thinking about it after I got home and I realized they are still under what the average 40-week newborn weighs. So I just started wondering, do twins tend to gain more in the early weeks cos they're trying to make up for getting less in utero? Just wondering how other twins gained in the first two weeks.

(Also, I assume they'd have gained less if I were EBFing as planned. I'm only able to pump 4 times a day and only average about 8 ounces a day, so the boys are each getting about 4 ounces a day of EBM and the rest--anywhere from 12 to 19 ounces a day, depending on which boy and which day--of Nestle Good Start formula.)

 

Sounds pretty good (and normal) to me, but all my kids gain weight fast. My oldest left the hospital 2 oz heavier than she was born (2 days later ... never lost an oz!). Keep them growing ... in the end they'll be as big (or small) as they're supposed to be, at least that's my theory.

 

I can't remember what they were at 2 weeks, but I know they gained fast and ate a ton. By 4 weeks my 5 lb 14 oz baby was over 10 lbs and my 5 lbs 6 oz baby was over 8 lbs. Sounds like yours are on pace and doing well!

ETA: At 4 weeks old mine would have been full term, since they were 36 weekers. My husband was born just under 10 lbs and 8 lbs sounded like a good size newborn. So I figured maybe these were they weights they were meant to be if they were singletons going full term. Mine were formula fed as well.

 

WOW, Denise! I hadn't expected them to gain quite so fast, and when an experienced pediatrician says she's *never* heard of a 2-week-old eating as much as mine has eaten, it makes me wonder. But it's good to know it might continue at this pace; guess my tiny boys won't be tiny for long!

 

I'm a first time mom and I've been shocked at how fast they gain weight too! My boys were born 10 weeks early and spent 7 weeks in the NICU. We brought Brandon home at 5#11oz and Connor home at 5#8oz. On their due date, Jan. 5th, they weighed 8lbs and 7.5 lbs. On tuesday, Brandon weighed 9#12oz and Connor weighed 9#8oz.

Their adjusted age would be two weeks old now and both are eating 4 oz every three hours and they drain those 4 oz every time... It seems like such a large amount of food for such a small thing. That's an entire can of formula each day...

Pedi was thrilled because they finally got "on" the growth chart for their actual age, Yeah 5th percentile!! =D I'm learning the joys of being a preemie mommy

yusra

 

I think it's great they're gaining so well! My LOs were fed EBM and they also gained weight very rapidly. They were eating more than usual in the hospital, although not 3-4 oz. at that age. I just assumed it was b/c they were smaller than the average baby when they were born (even though they were born at 38w 1d).

 

Great weights!!! I'm glad they had a good appointment :woohoo: Ours had a put on a lb by their 2 week appointment, so it's not uncommon! Way to grow babies!