This is the blog for Gavin and Carrie Jones and family. We live in Papua New Guinea and are working to see lives transformed by the living Word of God through Bible translation. Gavin is a helicopter pilot. Carrie, who has her degree in Public Health, works in the lab at our busy rural clinic. Our son, Isaac, was born in 2004 and our quintuplets, Will, David, Marcie, Seth, and Grace, were born in 2012.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. The you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. -Proverbs 3:3-6

Monday, July 1, 2013

Grocery shopping for quintuplets

We got a lot of sniggering due to the contents of this cart. Obviously they didn't realize we were buying for five! And this was only about a third of the formula needed for the month. We bought the store out! Also in the cart are jars of baby food, baby cereal and arrowroot cookies. 

As an aside: Several people have assumed I am still nursing/pumping. Alas, no. All the babies are on formula because they all developed reflux severe enough that they refused to nurse. They would just pull off and cry and spit-up. At first I was really sad and struggled to find a way around it, but there's no safe way to thicken breast milk for former preemies - the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis is too great, and human breast milk breaks down all the "safe" thickening agents. I have to admit that in the end my enforced weaning was quite a weight off my chest (ha ha, pun intended!). The freedom and extra time to spend with all the babies, not just the nursing ones, has been a blessing. I still feel very bonded to them when bottle feeding formula. There's just a twinge of sadness left . . . 



7 comments:

  1. How could anyone suspect you had 5 babies when you look so amazing!!! Good on ya for not letting the inability to breastfeed weigh you down with guilt. I was unable to nurse my girls and they're all healthy and I think Corrie is a little "too bonded"! Or maybe she's just spoiled since she's the "baby" :-)

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    1. Yeah, I'm really not worried about your girls' bondedness. :) I know women in PNG who couldn't breast feed, sometimes with catastrophic results (of course, given the lack of access to clean water and formula), so I'm just grateful we have the options we DO here in the US and that our babies are all so healthy, thank God!

      Love and miss you guys,
      Carrie

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  2. This post made me chuckle! I remember when I would make monthly trips to the store to buy all the formula, snacks, and baby food/cereal for my triplets and people would just stare when we emptied the shelves or were in line to pay....and of course start asking questions. I'm glad those days are over, but now we go through a loaf of bread (at least) in one day, a gallon of milk every two days, countless gallons of yogurt, applesauce, fresh fruit and veggies...I can barely keep up with the ones who eat "real food" and they are only 2.5 years old (triplets), a 1.5 year old and then we have a newborn, so five girl in total...that are going to eat me out of house and home! :)

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    1. Oh my goodness, you are SO busy!! :) Thanks for commenting and reading.
      Love,
      Carrie

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  3. Some of mine were breastfed, some were not, and I am really glad you are getting past stressing over it. I think overall, people make too much of a big deal of it. You are certainly doing your best for your babies. Such wonderful memories come from the everyday things, like grocery shopping for all those little angels! And breastfeeding does tend to overwhelm the schedule; I can't even imagine trying to nurse five. You literally would do nothing but breastfeed 24/7!

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    1. THanks for the sweet encouraging words. :) Gavin was really happy when I was no longer attached to either a baby or a pump; he couldn't believe how time-consuming it was!! Really interferes with sleep, too, of course.

      Love,
      Carrie

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  4. Costco formula (kirkland) is enfamil - half the price for twice the amount. We were using nestle good start for our preemie and wasted a lot because he has reflux too...

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Gavin, Carrie, Isaac, Will, David, Marcie, Seth, & Grace Jones

Gavin, Carrie, Isaac, Will, David, Marcie, Seth, & Grace Jones

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