Some 7 Month Stats

Well I already told you what they're up to at 7 months old but here at some numbers for you!

Jack, as of about a week ago was 12lbs 13oz and 26 1/2 inches long. This was about 3 weeks from our last weight check, so he's gained about a pound and an inch since then! He's not getting too chunky but he is going to be tall! He's in the 28 percentile for a 7 month old baby in height. Not too shabby kid ;) He's barely on the 4 month old growth chart for weight though, and not even close to the 7 month old weights.

Amelia is 12lbs 1oz and 25 1/2 inches long! She's going to be tall I think too! She gained 22oz last month! So she's finally starting to catch up with Jack! She's about 5th percentile for height for a 7 month old. And just like Jack, doesn't get close to any charts for her weight. They're skinny babies.

We have an appointment with the GI doctor next week to go over their eating and weight gain. That will be the only weight check that we have scheduled until well into February so I guess we'll have to go weigh them at the super market to get an idea of how they're growing ;)

They're not chubby kids but they're long and healthy so I guess I can be ok without them being skinny little things :)

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 :)

 

Most of the time ;)

3 Months

I can't believe it's been 3 months since this crazy journey has begun. And the twins have been home with me for almost 6 weeks and I haven't given much of an update since then!

So when they left the hospital Jack was a little over 4lbs and Mia was 4 1/2lbs. I'm happy to report that Jack is now just a smidge above 7lbs and little miss Mia is over the 6lb mark! What a difference 5 1/2 weeks and a few pounds can make! They look like newborns now, instead of itty bitty babies. Jack is about 21 inches and wearing 0-3 month clothes. Mia is still staying a bit smaller. She's only about 19 1/2 inches and still in newborn but she's a cute little thing :)

As far as health goes, the doctor says nothing but great things about them. They've both gotten their red blood cell count to a normal range and out of the anemic range.Mia is taking zantac for reflux but other than that doing great! Jack is slowly growing out of the diuretic and sodium. We aren't upping his dose as he puts on pounds so eventually he just won't need it anymore. We've decreased hi sodium from 4x to only 2x a day. So he's heading in the right direction! He needs O2 less and less when he eats and not at all in the car so we're hoping we'll be O2 and monitor free in another month or 2.

Now for some fun things. Certainly, the twins aren't doing what a normal 3 month old might do like rolling over, following objects with their eyes (sometimes), or even seeing really well. Their vision is like a newborn, not like a 3 month old. Their strength is a weird combo of a newborn and 3 month old. They can sit up by themselves with support on their lower back...

Oh hey big girl!

They can weeble wabble on their sides, especially during belly time, but they can't quite get over their arm to roll over.

And when they're laying down or on your chest, they can lift their heads up and move them around to look around.

So they're definitely getting there!

They oo and awww and coo and make all kinds of funny noises...their favorite of course though, still being the scream. They've also become much more alert! Before, they used to sleep ALL the time. Now they are up for good chunks of the day. They are looking around more and starting to become aware of their surroundings, although they obviously still can't quite see more than a few inches away from them.

They are big enough now they don't have to eat every 4 hours to keep their blood sugar up so we've become more flexible with eating schedules. At night, if they're asleep, I let them sleep. They were on such a strict schedule before though, they're usually up and let me know when they're ready to eat ;) During the day they eat mostly every 3-4 hours, depending on the day. So I'm adjusting to being more flexible for what and how much they want to eat. They both nurse fairly well and I try to nurse them before giving them the option of a bottle. They eat anywhere from 3-5oz though, so sometimes, they just can't get enough food from me in a timely fashion and they start freaking out. Every day is an improvement though so I'm just trying to be flexible.

They're excited for their first football season and to watch the games with daddy.

And overall, they're just getting bigger, stronger, more active and more fun every day!

We're heading to California this week so there will be some MAJOR adjustments to be made. I'll keep you posted on how well things go...and how (un)calm I handle it all ;)

Week 4

I'm happy to report this week flew by! Thank goodness! Week 3 was rough. Really rough. Week 4 was dealing with a lot of repercussions of week 3...like the possible lung issues Jack might have and the possible medical attention he might need when he's discharged. The big change for the week was pretty much Jack's lungs.

When week 3 ended he had to go back on the CPAP and they were trying to ween him off again. It was incredibly unsuccessful. Like to the point that all of the weening might have done more harm than good. He went back on the CPAP 24/7 and was needing more oxygen than before the first time they weened him off. Not a good sign. He was down to 21% before and now he was needing 30%. They did a chest xray and found fluid in the lungs. They've been treating it with diuretics and so far have had good results. He's back down to 21-23%. But the long end of the deal is that these issues can keep coming up. He might not be off of oxygen completely for a very long time. He might be going home with it. He might have chronic lung issues. Everything is a might for right now, but things aren't looking good. For right now, no plans to take him off of the CPAP again. He finished his lasix treatment and is switching to aldactazide. No plans on when he'll be off of that. We just have to wait and see how baby boy does. Poor baby boy.

Between the diuretics and all of the blood work done, Jack also needed a blood transfusion.  This didn't exactly make me happy, but he pinked up afterwards, got his energy back and was doing much better afterwards. So I'll quit my whining.

Mia and Jack are both doing great. They're eating well, gaining weight, breathing relatively well (Mia atleast), and doing what they're supposed to. We just have to wait and see what happens next. I've learned that every day is a new adventure.

In really exciting news...Mia ended the week at 2lbs 15.8oz...what a tease! And Jack was 2lbs 14oz. I think she's waiting for him so they can have a 3lb party together. What a nice sister :)

I think they are really starting to look like twins. :) What big babies you are! (Obviously my idea of "big" has gotten a bit skewed in the past few weeks.)