Lately things have been going really well with the twins. They're starting to smile and laugh. They'll follow sounds and noises (sometimes) and even look at toys (sometimes). I almost forgot that they were preemies. They're acting more like 7 week babies, like they should have been.
But of course, reality had to set in eventually.
This week we had our assessment with Early Intervention. We met with an occupational therapist and social worker to evaluate the twins on their development. This will help us stay on top of their development so we can pick up on any delays early and hopefully, work through them to keep them on track with their age group. They also screen for more serious developmental issues and cerebral palsy so I was a little anxious about the appointment.
We had a great social worker and occupational therapist who walked us through our benefits, concerns, issues I had seen so far, and where we would go in the future with their development. The evaluation went really well, but the results were a big slap in the face of reality that I have preemies who will require a lot more attention and help, not just for medical needs, but for their development as well.
At the end, the therapist gave them an age at where their development was in certain categories. Each category the twins scored as low as 16 days old to 2 months and 20 days old. So in some areas they were behind, in other areas they were well ahead of their adjusted age. She didn't expect them to preform any greater than a 7 week old, because that's where they should be. All of their development the first 3 months of their lives should have taken place in my belly.
It was no surprise their best scores came from Jack's social skills, he was smiling and laughing and having a good old time during the whole eval, and Mia's motor skills since she's sitting up almost unassisted already and picking herself up off of her belly. As far as toys though, they ranked low. We obviously need to play with more toys. They would follow faces and people and look for faces, but you put a toy in their face, they suddenly became completely uninterested.
The therapist did say, she was only watching them at that chunk of time. They might react differently to the toys at a different point in the day and score higher. She also said it could be personality and what they're interested in. So she didn't see any really serious concerns, just some possible things to keep an eye on for the future.
Overall, they're going to need more evals and therapy, especially for Jackson to help him with his motor skills, which are far far far less developed than Mia's. As hard as it is to think your child needs some therapy, it didn't really surprise me. As I've seen Mia develop, Jack just hasn't been keeping up. That doesn't mean he won't catch up. He caught up and surpassed her in weight gain really quickly, so one day he could just figure it out and catch back up. But still, you want your child to be healthy and where they're supposed to be, so there is a bit of disappointment in hearing otherwise.
The good news was that their muscle development and tone don't show any signs of cerebral palsy and there were no serious concerns developmentally.
The biggest thing for me though was just that for all this time, I'd be treating my babies like normal babies. What they can't do, I just assumed they'd start to do sooner or later. But in reality, they're preemies. They have big concerns. They need a lot of work and attention. I'm so lucky I get to stay home with them and I can work with them one-on-one every day to help them catch up. I don't mean to sound like I'm upset that my kids aren't advanced and in the smart babies group, I'm proud of them every day for just making it to where they are. A few months ago, I wasn't even sure we'd make it this far. I know they'll get to where they need to be. As long as they're happy and healthy, I'll be happy too. If they have delays, we'll work hard to catch up and keep up with their age group. They're strong kids so I know they'll be able to get to where they need to be.
So that's our early intervention story. I know a lot of you have asked about how the appointment went, so here's more details than the "fine" or "they're alright" I probably texted you ;)
They got healthy report cards at their doctors appointment and eye appointment, so they're heading in the right direction overall, we just have a few kinks to work out along the way.
Our next challenge, figuring out their reflux issues! One step at a time though...
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
4 month olds!
The twins are 19 weeks! Can you believe it! I know I
sure can't! We're going to make a video one day when I can get them
both to be awake and cooperative ;) so I can show you how well they're
holding their heads up, sitting up (well Mia is) and looking around like
big kids :)
But here are some 4 month stats!
Age: 134 days, 19 weeks, or a little over 4 months
Weight: 9lbs 7oz...it read 9lbs 7oz and the tech read off 9lbs even...odd? I can't imagine he's only 9lbs so I'm going with what I saw. We go back next week so we'll get a weight check then too (Jack)
7lbs 14oz...bounced from 7-14 to 8-1 and the tech took the lowest weight...lame (Mia)
Length: 22in (Jack)
20in (Mia)
Favorite entertainment: Jack loves country music and his swing and Mia's thing is lights. When it's dark and there are lights on, she is in absolute awe. It's adorable. She's going to love Christmas and the Christmas tree :)
Fun tricks of the month: Jack sits up if you support him pretty well, but he's still a bit wobbly. He has these eyes though that attract any female from about 1 year old up. He gets all the ladies with his big pretty eyes. And my favorite part...he smiles a lot more! So stinkin cute!
Mia will still roll when she feels like it, will sit up (when she feels like it) almost completely unsupported and will lift the top half of her body way up when she does tummy time...again, when she feels like it. Baby girl is a little umm...moody ;) She's not quite as smiley as Jack, but she'll shoot you a grin or 2 when she feels like it ;)
Health concerns: Both were given great health reports at their appointments yesterday! The doctor was super impressed with how well they're doing. He really loved how well they hold their heads up! They took their 4 month shots like champs and we had several nurses and techs in the office comment on how we have some of the most well-behaved babies they've seen :) I told you they were perfect ;) The eye appointment today went just as well, no baby glasses for either of them! Mia's ROP is totally resolved, Jack's eyes are great, and they should be right on track with their vision! We do have an early intervention eval next week to look at any possible developmental concerns (as well as checking for early signs up cerebral palsy or developmental delays). Jack is seeing a pulmonologist at the end of November and Mia is seeing a gastroenterologist soon because of her digestive issues and awful reflux. So a few little quirks left to work out but they're heading in the right direction!
Best moments: Realizing Jack might be smiling on purpose when he grins when he hears my voice :) And having the xray tech say Jack was calling for his mommy when he was saying "Ma" during his chest xray. Gosh that boy melts my heart! Every time Mia will be upset and flailing all her limbs around but as soon as I pick her up she just curls up on my chest and the world is ok again :) Can these kids get any cuter?
So overall, things are going really great :)
But here are some 4 month stats!
Age: 134 days, 19 weeks, or a little over 4 months
Weight: 9lbs 7oz...it read 9lbs 7oz and the tech read off 9lbs even...odd? I can't imagine he's only 9lbs so I'm going with what I saw. We go back next week so we'll get a weight check then too (Jack)
7lbs 14oz...bounced from 7-14 to 8-1 and the tech took the lowest weight...lame (Mia)
Length: 22in (Jack)
20in (Mia)
Favorite entertainment: Jack loves country music and his swing and Mia's thing is lights. When it's dark and there are lights on, she is in absolute awe. It's adorable. She's going to love Christmas and the Christmas tree :)
Fun tricks of the month: Jack sits up if you support him pretty well, but he's still a bit wobbly. He has these eyes though that attract any female from about 1 year old up. He gets all the ladies with his big pretty eyes. And my favorite part...he smiles a lot more! So stinkin cute!
Mia will still roll when she feels like it, will sit up (when she feels like it) almost completely unsupported and will lift the top half of her body way up when she does tummy time...again, when she feels like it. Baby girl is a little umm...moody ;) She's not quite as smiley as Jack, but she'll shoot you a grin or 2 when she feels like it ;)
Health concerns: Both were given great health reports at their appointments yesterday! The doctor was super impressed with how well they're doing. He really loved how well they hold their heads up! They took their 4 month shots like champs and we had several nurses and techs in the office comment on how we have some of the most well-behaved babies they've seen :) I told you they were perfect ;) The eye appointment today went just as well, no baby glasses for either of them! Mia's ROP is totally resolved, Jack's eyes are great, and they should be right on track with their vision! We do have an early intervention eval next week to look at any possible developmental concerns (as well as checking for early signs up cerebral palsy or developmental delays). Jack is seeing a pulmonologist at the end of November and Mia is seeing a gastroenterologist soon because of her digestive issues and awful reflux. So a few little quirks left to work out but they're heading in the right direction!
Best moments: Realizing Jack might be smiling on purpose when he grins when he hears my voice :) And having the xray tech say Jack was calling for his mommy when he was saying "Ma" during his chest xray. Gosh that boy melts my heart! Every time Mia will be upset and flailing all her limbs around but as soon as I pick her up she just curls up on my chest and the world is ok again :) Can these kids get any cuter?
So overall, things are going really great :)
Most of the time ;)
Saturday, October 15, 2011
The most important thing...
in the whole wide world...
is family<3
So very blessed to have such a beautiful little family<3
Especially a family that will tolerate gallivanting around Southern California because I have an obsession with fall and pumpkins. The twins have now gone to 2 pumpkin patches, have a halloween party tomorrow and I feel like we still have lots of fall left for activities :)
I'm going to go eat a piece of pumpkin bread and cuddle up with my wonderful family now. Have a good Saturday :)
Especially a family that will tolerate gallivanting around Southern California because I have an obsession with fall and pumpkins. The twins have now gone to 2 pumpkin patches, have a halloween party tomorrow and I feel like we still have lots of fall left for activities :)
I'm going to go eat a piece of pumpkin bread and cuddle up with my wonderful family now. Have a good Saturday :)
Friday, October 14, 2011
Do twins run in your family?
After being asked if we used fertility meds to get our twins (we did not), the next question we get a lot of is if twins run in our family...
my twins above and my grandmother and great uncle in 1924.
Out of everyone in the picture below, I'm the only non-twin.
my twins above and my grandmother and great uncle in 1924.
Out of everyone in the picture below, I'm the only non-twin.
On a sadder note, my mom's twin brother only survived a day or so after he was born. My grandmother,the twin, also had twin brothers who didn't survive much past birth.
And that's just my mom's side of the family.
My great-grandmother on my father's side had triplets. And I have a niece and nephew who are twins.
So yes, twins run in my family. Can't say I was too surprised when I saw the 2 fluttering hearts. Still doesn't make it any less special though :)
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Feed Me!
How do you know when a baby is ready to eat?
This is a pretty good hint ;)
Who can name that baby? Bonus points for who can figure out which twin this is :)
Who can name that baby? Bonus points for who can figure out which twin this is :)
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Go The F* To Sleep
Ok I'd probably never say that to my children, but boy, do I feel where the author of that book is coming from.
So after a few days of some VERY fussy babies, some on-and-off sleeping through the night, some extreme clinginess, and a very tired momma...I decided it was time to do some sleep training! They're still a little young, but considering they have never slept in their cribs before, I thought we should probably get things started.
The twins have a great bedtime routine and I think that's because we established it from the very beginning. Between 7:30-8pm we take them upstairs. We bath them, do mini-baby massages with lotion, feed them, and put them to bed by 9. They USUALLY go to sleep pretty quickly. Then things get messy. If they ate well that day, they'll sleep for 5 or 6 hours. If they didn't, they'll be up in 2 or 3 hours. If they slept well and had a good active day, they sleep 5 or 6 hours. If they have a bad day, they'll be up every 2-3 hours. So I figured setting up a schedule during the day might get them into a schedule at night (preferably sleeping for 5 or 6 hours through the night).
Well day 1 was terrible. Jack cried for the ENTIRE time. I'd put him down, he'd cry for 15 minutes. I capped the cryfest there and would go in to cuddle. He'd quiet down, I'd put him back to bed and we'd repeat the cryfest. For an entire hour this went on. And then he went down into his swing where he quieted down. Boy loves his swing. Mia slept for almost 2 hours, then woke up in hysterics. So I got her up and fed her and called it a mini-success.
We're on day 2 now, I'm far from being an expert.
Nap time started out like this...
That's (by some miracle) 1 sleeping boy and 1 wide awake baby girl. After some intermittent screaming though, we had 2 sleeping babies for about 45 minutes! woohoo!
But after that 45 minutes, nap time went down the drain with 2 hysterical hungry babies (keep in mind, at this point they had just eaten 2 hours ago...they act like I starve them or something). I decided to hold them off from eating for another hour (seriously, how starving can you possibly be? you JUST ate kids!) and nap time ended with this...
Brother Sister tummy time!
Of course, about 10 minutes in, that ended too. And here we are...with 2 babies who sort of napped and ate like pigs all afternoon.
Still an exhausted mommy. When do things start working out in my favor? And when does daddy get home from work?? :)
I ordered The Happiest Baby on the Block and a few other books on Amazon about sleep training and baby wrangling. We'll see if they have any good tips. Out of all the pregnancy, newborn, and baby books I've seen so far though, the most I've learned has simply been from experience. So we'll see where we end up in another week or 2....
To be continued....
So after a few days of some VERY fussy babies, some on-and-off sleeping through the night, some extreme clinginess, and a very tired momma...I decided it was time to do some sleep training! They're still a little young, but considering they have never slept in their cribs before, I thought we should probably get things started.
The twins have a great bedtime routine and I think that's because we established it from the very beginning. Between 7:30-8pm we take them upstairs. We bath them, do mini-baby massages with lotion, feed them, and put them to bed by 9. They USUALLY go to sleep pretty quickly. Then things get messy. If they ate well that day, they'll sleep for 5 or 6 hours. If they didn't, they'll be up in 2 or 3 hours. If they slept well and had a good active day, they sleep 5 or 6 hours. If they have a bad day, they'll be up every 2-3 hours. So I figured setting up a schedule during the day might get them into a schedule at night (preferably sleeping for 5 or 6 hours through the night).
Well day 1 was terrible. Jack cried for the ENTIRE time. I'd put him down, he'd cry for 15 minutes. I capped the cryfest there and would go in to cuddle. He'd quiet down, I'd put him back to bed and we'd repeat the cryfest. For an entire hour this went on. And then he went down into his swing where he quieted down. Boy loves his swing. Mia slept for almost 2 hours, then woke up in hysterics. So I got her up and fed her and called it a mini-success.
We're on day 2 now, I'm far from being an expert.
Nap time started out like this...
But after that 45 minutes, nap time went down the drain with 2 hysterical hungry babies (keep in mind, at this point they had just eaten 2 hours ago...they act like I starve them or something). I decided to hold them off from eating for another hour (seriously, how starving can you possibly be? you JUST ate kids!) and nap time ended with this...
Of course, about 10 minutes in, that ended too. And here we are...with 2 babies who sort of napped and ate like pigs all afternoon.
Still an exhausted mommy. When do things start working out in my favor? And when does daddy get home from work?? :)
I ordered The Happiest Baby on the Block and a few other books on Amazon about sleep training and baby wrangling. We'll see if they have any good tips. Out of all the pregnancy, newborn, and baby books I've seen so far though, the most I've learned has simply been from experience. So we'll see where we end up in another week or 2....
To be continued....
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Really people?
Funny and ridiculous things strangers said to us this weekend...
"Oh twins? 2 boys?" -with mia dressed in pink, a big flower on her head and wrapped in a pink blanket.
"That's a real baby!" -What did you think it is?
"Oh there's 2!" -as my husband and I push around a double stroller. No, we got the double stroller for fun?
"Are they identical?" Ok we get this one alot. Usually from people who know there's a boy and a girl. There's one big difference that makes them not identical. Can you guess what it is?
"Is that your doll?" -As Mia moves violently and screams. I know some dolls can be life like but come on!
"I've always wanted twins"- another one we get a lot that just cracks me up. Apparently everyone in the world wants twins? haha Fine by me, I love having twins. But can't say it was my life long dream haha
"They don't look alike" -they're not identical, they're essentially the same as siblings born years apart, they just happened to be conceived at the same time. Do you look the same as your sister or brother? It's just kind of a weird thing to say to a stranger.
We also had several women come up to us and move the shade of our stroller to see the babies inside. Awkward. Who does that?
I guess weird things happen when you have twins?
"Oh twins? 2 boys?" -with mia dressed in pink, a big flower on her head and wrapped in a pink blanket.
"That's a real baby!" -What did you think it is?
"Oh there's 2!" -as my husband and I push around a double stroller. No, we got the double stroller for fun?
"Are they identical?" Ok we get this one alot. Usually from people who know there's a boy and a girl. There's one big difference that makes them not identical. Can you guess what it is?
"Is that your doll?" -As Mia moves violently and screams. I know some dolls can be life like but come on!
"I've always wanted twins"- another one we get a lot that just cracks me up. Apparently everyone in the world wants twins? haha Fine by me, I love having twins. But can't say it was my life long dream haha
"They don't look alike" -they're not identical, they're essentially the same as siblings born years apart, they just happened to be conceived at the same time. Do you look the same as your sister or brother? It's just kind of a weird thing to say to a stranger.
We also had several women come up to us and move the shade of our stroller to see the babies inside. Awkward. Who does that?
I guess weird things happen when you have twins?
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Life After the NICU
The twins will be 4 months tomorrow. We haven't had a doctor's appointment in over a month so I'm going to wait until our next appointment to do an update on them so I can get updated weights and heights since I know some of you (and me!) are curious as to how they're growing.
I was looking at the blog yesterday at some of my early posts and I can't believe how much has changed in the past 4 weeks! Not just with the twins, but with my life as well. I went from a happy-go-lucky (most of the time) preggo, to a new mom terrified if my twins were going to be ok, to a stressed out mom covered in baby puke 99.9% of my days. There are good days and bad days with the babies lately, but even the worst day is 100 times better than any NICU day. I don't think I've ever been so stressed out in my life as I was those 2 months. I'm amazed I have any hair left.
Looking back on the old pictures, they hardly look like the same babies, yet they're exactly the same. Some of the mannerisms that they had that you can really see in the video clips are exactly the same now. Jack plays with his hands the same way, Mia makes the same goofy facial expressions. I'm amazed I once had babies so tiny though. They are so big now. Jack is heavy to lift around. Mia is still light (compared to Jack) but she's such a big girl rolling over and sitting up with some help. I see other 3-4 month old babies around and obviously, they don't come close to comparing. They are much more similar to a baby the same age as their adjusted age, than their actual age. But even that is an amazing feet considering where they came from.
So happy 4 months to my sweet, wonderful, big, beautiful babies :)
Mommy and daddy love you more and more every day!
I was looking at the blog yesterday at some of my early posts and I can't believe how much has changed in the past 4 weeks! Not just with the twins, but with my life as well. I went from a happy-go-lucky (most of the time) preggo, to a new mom terrified if my twins were going to be ok, to a stressed out mom covered in baby puke 99.9% of my days. There are good days and bad days with the babies lately, but even the worst day is 100 times better than any NICU day. I don't think I've ever been so stressed out in my life as I was those 2 months. I'm amazed I have any hair left.
Looking back on the old pictures, they hardly look like the same babies, yet they're exactly the same. Some of the mannerisms that they had that you can really see in the video clips are exactly the same now. Jack plays with his hands the same way, Mia makes the same goofy facial expressions. I'm amazed I once had babies so tiny though. They are so big now. Jack is heavy to lift around. Mia is still light (compared to Jack) but she's such a big girl rolling over and sitting up with some help. I see other 3-4 month old babies around and obviously, they don't come close to comparing. They are much more similar to a baby the same age as their adjusted age, than their actual age. But even that is an amazing feet considering where they came from.
So happy 4 months to my sweet, wonderful, big, beautiful babies :)
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Disneyland Adventure
Ok, so I think I made a lot of people nervous saying I was taking the twins to Disneyland. With as little as they are, what was I thinking?
Honestly, best decision ever. So they might not have enjoyed it, but they were tiny enough, slept enough, were comfortable enough that we could enjoy the park and the decorations for Halloween and they could cuddle up with us and enjoy a little outing with mom and dad.
We kept them mostly in their stroller. We put the back down, and they both could lay in the back seat and cuddle up.
They really enjoyed that later as it got cooler, they just cuddled up next to each other and slept away.
We even took them on the Haunted Mansion ride, which was all done up Nightmare Before Christmas themed for the holiday, and Peter Pan.
Amelia was WIDE awake for the haunted mansion and LOVED it. She had the biggest eyes and would follow all the lights and look around for the noises. I had fun just watching her enjoy the ride!
Overall, it was a really nice evening, great weather, happy babies and we had a really great time.
The best part about Disney? They are SUPER kid and new mom friendly! There was a baby center for nursing, changing, they had space for me to pump, a kitchen sink area for me to clean up everything and clean up Jack's bottle. The nursing area was quiet and private and the other mom's there were so nice. We definitely didn't have the youngest babies there. It made it very comfortable for me to get everything done to feed and change them. LOVED it. Thank you Disney!
We might have to go back soon, for a whole day's trip.
Honestly, best decision ever. So they might not have enjoyed it, but they were tiny enough, slept enough, were comfortable enough that we could enjoy the park and the decorations for Halloween and they could cuddle up with us and enjoy a little outing with mom and dad.
We kept them mostly in their stroller. We put the back down, and they both could lay in the back seat and cuddle up.
The best part about Disney? They are SUPER kid and new mom friendly! There was a baby center for nursing, changing, they had space for me to pump, a kitchen sink area for me to clean up everything and clean up Jack's bottle. The nursing area was quiet and private and the other mom's there were so nice. We definitely didn't have the youngest babies there. It made it very comfortable for me to get everything done to feed and change them. LOVED it. Thank you Disney!
We might have to go back soon, for a whole day's trip.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Happy Anniversary
Everybody keeps telling me I'm such a lucky man,
Looking at you standing there I know I am.
Barefooted beauty with eyes that blue, sunshine sure looks good on you, I swear.
Oh I can't believe I finally found ya baby,
Happy ever after after all this time.
Oh there's gonna be some ups and downs,
But with you to wrap my arms around, I'm fine.
So baby hold on tight, and don't let go.
Hold on to the love we're making,
Cause baby when the ground starts shaking you gotta know,
When you got a good thing.
You know you keep on bringing out the best in me,
And I need you now even more than the air I breathe.
You can make me laugh when I wanna cry,
This will last forever I just know. I know.
So baby hold on tight, and don't let go.
Hold on to the love we're making,
Cause baby when the ground starts shaking you gotta know,
When you got a good thing.
We got a good thing baby, woah.
So hold on tight, baby don't let go.
Hold on to the love we're making,
Cause baby when the ground starts shaking you gotta know,
Oh you gotta know, oh you gotta know, you gotta know,
When you got a good thing.
We got a good thing, baby.
Thank you to my amazing husband for an amazing year together. We definitely have a good thing ;)
Looking at you standing there I know I am.
Barefooted beauty with eyes that blue, sunshine sure looks good on you, I swear.
Oh I can't believe I finally found ya baby,
Happy ever after after all this time.
Oh there's gonna be some ups and downs,
But with you to wrap my arms around, I'm fine.
So baby hold on tight, and don't let go.
Hold on to the love we're making,
Cause baby when the ground starts shaking you gotta know,
When you got a good thing.
You know you keep on bringing out the best in me,
And I need you now even more than the air I breathe.
You can make me laugh when I wanna cry,
This will last forever I just know. I know.
So baby hold on tight, and don't let go.
Hold on to the love we're making,
Cause baby when the ground starts shaking you gotta know,
When you got a good thing.
We got a good thing baby, woah.
So hold on tight, baby don't let go.
Hold on to the love we're making,
Cause baby when the ground starts shaking you gotta know,
Oh you gotta know, oh you gotta know, you gotta know,
When you got a good thing.
We got a good thing, baby.
Thank you to my amazing husband for an amazing year together. We definitely have a good thing ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)