I know I said my last post was the end of this blog. I just heard some sad news though and wanted to post some of my favorite song lyrics as a special goodbye letter to an amazing woman.
All I can hope for is a light to see
When I search in the dark for my soul
And when my soul comes to rescue me
I rest my resistance
Fall piece by piece into peace
And slip like the water
Back into the sea.
Okay, now for real, TFH is closed.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
One year well child
The babies had their one year visit with the doctor this morning. First of all, as second time parents, we completely downplayed the colds they have. They both have double ear infections. That's four infected ears if you are keeping count. I think the first time around you get so scared about every little cough and fever. After you've had a child and been sent home after being told your kid has a viral infection and to just let it run its course, you kind of start ignoring the middle step of taking your kid to the doctor. I usually assume things are viral and as long as it doesn't seem serious (e.g. Clara's re-hospitalization last February), we just kind of leave the doctor's office out of the loop. We also happen to have exceptionally happy babies and although they've been a little out of sorts and cranky, they haven't been behaving badly enough that we would have thought they were in that much discomfort. Anyway, antibiotics will begin today.
Onto statistics:
Evelyn is 30th in weight, 60th in height, and still >90th in head. She actually lost weight again - this time we're assuming it's because she's been sick. Her head is still large (obviously), but we have now had three data points where we've seen a regular growth curve. So, although it's huge, it's no longer growing outside a regular trajectory. That was the first indication of concern before. The problem wasn't that her head was big (hello, have you met Big Head Greg) but that it had been regular sized and then got big. It went outside the regular growth curve.
Clara is 3rd in weight, 45th in height, and 75th in head. She's still a tiny little girl, but doc denied the need to start fattening her up. We talked a bit about her head. I think she still has a preemie shaped head (long and thin) and doc agreed. He's hoping that as she starts walking it will round itself out. He said even if it were craniosynostosis (premature skull suture closing that leads to a funky shaped head and other issues I'm not in the mood to go into) we wouldn't really do anything about it anyway. Since she is otherwise symptom free, we just watch.
He felt both their head and said their fontanels were nice and soft (compared to bulging and hard as Evelyn's has been in the past). We got approval to move them to cow's milk which is a ridiculously huuuuuuge saving for us every month. We also talked about their sensitive skin (continue and increase hydrocortisone as needed) and night waking. They aren't wanting milk in the middle of the night, but they do usually wake up 1-2 times at night. It may not sound like a big deal, but neither Greg nor I have gotten a full night's sleep in a year - so, you know, it kind of is a big deal. I often have a difficult time getting back to sleep and am anxious for them to knock it off and stay asleep. With a single baby, the solution would be fairly obvious. You would just let them cry it out. With two babies, though, it's trickier because they will eventually wake the other one up with their screaming. Doc suggested placing 10 pacifiers around the crib so they can reach out and find one when they wake up. We'll give that a shot.
They also passed their lead and anemia tests. Who-hoo!
In other developmental news, Clara has now on several occasions taken a step. She's never strung more than one step together to be considered walking, but she's so close. You can see it in her eyes that she wants to walk. She just needs to get past being a little scared. Evelyn isn't quite ready yet and isn't making those same connections. She's also got more trunk weakness than Clara which usually puts her a month or so behind. I'm still hoping they'll both beat Alex's first steps. He waited until he was 14 months. I know Clara will beat him. Evelyn will be around the same time.
We've got Evelyn's first homecoming around the corner (Jan 21st) with Clara's following on February 1st. I'm planning to get them each a little cake and a present so they can celebrate their own day. Before I went on maternity leave I was talking to a women at work who is a twin. She and her brother aren't particularly close and she said having a twin always just meant to her that she had to share her birthday with someone. It was more of an annoyance than anything. Certainly I hope the girls will be close (not creepy twin language close), but the homecoming days give them a chance to be celebrated as individuals as well.
And, with that, take care. Assuming no new medical news, I'm calling Third Floor Home closed. Thanks for following the journey of my sweet little momo twins.
Onto statistics:
Evelyn is 30th in weight, 60th in height, and still >90th in head. She actually lost weight again - this time we're assuming it's because she's been sick. Her head is still large (obviously), but we have now had three data points where we've seen a regular growth curve. So, although it's huge, it's no longer growing outside a regular trajectory. That was the first indication of concern before. The problem wasn't that her head was big (hello, have you met Big Head Greg) but that it had been regular sized and then got big. It went outside the regular growth curve.
Clara is 3rd in weight, 45th in height, and 75th in head. She's still a tiny little girl, but doc denied the need to start fattening her up. We talked a bit about her head. I think she still has a preemie shaped head (long and thin) and doc agreed. He's hoping that as she starts walking it will round itself out. He said even if it were craniosynostosis (premature skull suture closing that leads to a funky shaped head and other issues I'm not in the mood to go into) we wouldn't really do anything about it anyway. Since she is otherwise symptom free, we just watch.
He felt both their head and said their fontanels were nice and soft (compared to bulging and hard as Evelyn's has been in the past). We got approval to move them to cow's milk which is a ridiculously huuuuuuge saving for us every month. We also talked about their sensitive skin (continue and increase hydrocortisone as needed) and night waking. They aren't wanting milk in the middle of the night, but they do usually wake up 1-2 times at night. It may not sound like a big deal, but neither Greg nor I have gotten a full night's sleep in a year - so, you know, it kind of is a big deal. I often have a difficult time getting back to sleep and am anxious for them to knock it off and stay asleep. With a single baby, the solution would be fairly obvious. You would just let them cry it out. With two babies, though, it's trickier because they will eventually wake the other one up with their screaming. Doc suggested placing 10 pacifiers around the crib so they can reach out and find one when they wake up. We'll give that a shot.
They also passed their lead and anemia tests. Who-hoo!
In other developmental news, Clara has now on several occasions taken a step. She's never strung more than one step together to be considered walking, but she's so close. You can see it in her eyes that she wants to walk. She just needs to get past being a little scared. Evelyn isn't quite ready yet and isn't making those same connections. She's also got more trunk weakness than Clara which usually puts her a month or so behind. I'm still hoping they'll both beat Alex's first steps. He waited until he was 14 months. I know Clara will beat him. Evelyn will be around the same time.
We've got Evelyn's first homecoming around the corner (Jan 21st) with Clara's following on February 1st. I'm planning to get them each a little cake and a present so they can celebrate their own day. Before I went on maternity leave I was talking to a women at work who is a twin. She and her brother aren't particularly close and she said having a twin always just meant to her that she had to share her birthday with someone. It was more of an annoyance than anything. Certainly I hope the girls will be close (not creepy twin language close), but the homecoming days give them a chance to be celebrated as individuals as well.
And, with that, take care. Assuming no new medical news, I'm calling Third Floor Home closed. Thanks for following the journey of my sweet little momo twins.
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