Lots of good news. The girls had their third therapy appointment yesterday and the therapist was very impressed by the amount of progress they've made in such a short amount of time. Progress is measured more subtly than you'd think - it's not like they are crawling or anything - it's more that they are tolerating tummy time a lot better, they are showing increased range of movement in their heads, pushing up with their arms, etc. I did express some concern because I feel like all I do all day long is therapy exercises and I think the girls' good nature is being affected by all the work. They are, after all, 5 1/2 months old. It seems like a lot of work for little wee ones. The therapist said they are fine. She said they need this and if they are overstimulated or tired they will simply fall asleep. It still seems a little cruel to work your baby so hard to the point of exhaustion and I think I will still be careful about giving them breaks so they can just lay back and smile and coo, but I see her point. She said all this tummy time should shave off 3 months of delay and all the additional exercises will make that go faster. She also said that we're clearly doing a good job - that you don't see this kind of progress unless the parents are really following the homework assignments. So...gold star to Greg and me!
Clara had a pulmonology appointment today and all looks well on that front. She's still on target to have another pulse ox test to get her off oxygen completely. We're looking at mid to late June to schedule the test. We weighed Clara (and while no one was looking, I threw Evelyn on the scale for good measure). Clara is 12 lbs 5 oz and 24 inches (age adjusted 50th percentile for height and weight....her head is 95th). Evelyn, our chunk, is 15lbs 3 oz. No stats on her since I was weighing her on the sly.
The girls and I swung by Perinatal and the NICU while we were there and got to see some of our nurses. One of the nurses said Perinatal actually closed for a few days because there weren't enough sick pregnant ladies (or, rather, they were so sick they were bypassing Perinatal and going straight to L&D). We laughed about the need for sick pregnant ladies and job security. You certainly don't want people to have unhealthy, high risk pregnancies, but if it's your job....you kinda do.
We also had some out of town guests this week. My sister and family came into town and we had a great visit. The kids were very cute together and Alex is really sad now and misses his cousins. Everyone had a good time and Greg and Paul got to get their full dose of the power of my sister and me being in the same room together. If you don't like snarky, sassy, judgmental ladies...we're probably not for you.
Oh...and I figured out how to go to the store with both babies. One in the car seat on the shopping cart and one in the front carrier. Yay me! It's funny though because I usually do like to figure this stuff out by myself. I was reading Freezerbun's comments about her newly discovered Baby A and Baby B and someone posted about needing to get in touch with the multiples societies for support. I've gotten that advice a million times and, as anyone who knows me well can attest, the best way to keep me from doing something is to push me too hard. As soon as you say, "You
have to do X" or "You
need to do X" I've stopped listening. I'd love to come up with some positive sounding euphemism for this trait of mine, but the reality is that it is nothing but stubborn. I'm self-aware enough to know this and too old to care or try to change it. So...I will not be contacting multiples groups. I will figure this out of my own! Believe me, I've made life decisions (big and small) to go against what I've been told I
have to do. Not that it keeps me from giving too much unsolicited advice to other people....I'm not perfect. I'm contradictory. And I don't really care :) Besides, the thought of going to a Multiples Picnic kind of freaks me out.
Take care,
Kris
