Cold remedy: ZICAM ... Zicam ... I cannot say enough about it ... and get the AirBourne stuff, too!
Airborne helps get fluids into the system as well as herbs and minerals - - giving birth absolutely takes your system and breaks it down to zero resistance, so get the AirBorn stuff to help start building her up!
And, the Zicam stuff - - the gel swabs are the easiest to help clear the airways ... and there are quick dissolve tabs to help with the cough - - there are also minerals and herbs in this cold aid ...
are the babies being breast fed or bottle fed?
Breast fed babies take a lot of time to learn to nurse and nursing eats up a bunch of calories and energy! Drinking tea will help make the milk more substantive ... and to keep the nipples from breaking down, use a boric acid solution ... not the breast creams or anything like that ...
and, if the babies are suffering separation anxiety, don't hesitate to put them into your bed these first few weeks, or put them in the same bed together ...
If the babies are bottle fed, maybe some friends could come in on schedules to help (hard to do when all the young people around are usually working, but maybe there are some neighborhood granmas that could help) ...
I think you have it about right, Teri ... about when the babies get on to a good weight gain, their hunger will subside, but there are growth spurts ... at birth, then at three weeks, six weeks, and then again at around three months ... you will find them demanding more food ... babies need more food to grow ... they may look fat, but no growing thing can get taller if they aren't a bit wider to begin with ...
so, when they hit a growth spurt time, they will be hungry more often ... then level out at the new intake level ... for awhile <g>.
Don't try to feed solids too soon ... (as many older mothers will tell you that if you put cereal in the milk, they will sleep longer - - and, that may be, but at what cost down the road, when all the hunger is signaling that they are getting ready to grow a little taller!)
Babies are designed to digest milk and solids can cause problems down the road if they introduced too soon or given too excessively ... usually, my kids didn't eat off a plate until they were about six months old, though I would let them have finger food, as long as I was sure that they couldn't break off pieces and choke (almost lost one of them with a french fry!)
ah, well ... <g>