Paige now has alert periods with almost every feed and is just beginning to smile! It isn't consistent yet and you really do have to work for it, but its SO adorable and makes everything so worth it. She thoroughly enjoys our activity mat and is just starting to really look at her toys. She continues to be our easy baby and really is a joy to be around.
Andrew continues to be our curious, wide-eyed, fiesty one! He is awake all the time and is so curious about EVERYTHING! He hasn't smiled yet (well, besides with occasional gas), but we are working hard to encourage it hopefully one day soon! He really responds to music - whether its you singing to him or to his Pearl Jam nursery rhymes (yes, this exists!) that Daddy plays for him all the time. He is just so much fun to be around.
We have had some sleepless nights more recently - mostly due to Andrew's reflux. The poor guy will grunt and groan constantly and then scream out in pain. It is so awful to watch and you just want to sit and cry with him when it gets bad. We did increase his reflux meds though and are trying a couple new things with his breastmilk and formula. One thing that exacerbates the problem is gas and constipation, which they both continue to have problems with. They each earned suppositories this week, which resulted in explosive stools. And yes, I literally mean explosive. Holy poop! I never realized poop could be projectile, but it can and it was on our walls and even in my hair. Lovely. And probably too much information for many of you:) Daddy now ducks with diaper changes and tries to strategically plan which diapers are his and which are mine!
We had a pediatrician appointment today with weight checks and catching up with our pediatrician -- she was just in Australia for almost 4 weeks for her daughter's wedding. She couldn't believe how big they were and seemed pretty happy with their progress. Paige weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces! And Andrew weighed 8 pounds, 1.6 ounces!! Can you believe how much he's catching up?!?! It's amazing. He does continue to be a lot shorter than her though and still has the "preemie look," as all the doctors call it. I'm wondering when they will all think he looks like a newborn...
As I'm sure you can imagine, I am going a little stir crazy with being stuck home all the time with limited visitors. I realized the other day that I hadn't been out of the house in almost 2 weeks! I am desperate for a break from our house, so we decided that we'd check with the pediatrician about the possibility of heading to my parent's house in North Carolina for a week. I mean, what's the difference between being home bound there or here, right? Well, Dr. Arnold thought it was a great idea! She thought the new environment would do us all good. And the best part is that it's warm enough there that we can go for walks and get some fresh air. We will leave after all of our doctor's appointments next week and stay for about a week. And Jack will get to join us for about half the time, which is great!
Next week we have our opthamologist follow-up on Wednesday, which I am dreading. And our NICU f/u clinic appointment on Thursday. I have a long list of questions for them and am very hopeful that we just may get rid of Paige's monitor. It has barely alarmed at all and I'm not sure if she's even had one real event since our last visit. If she's not ready, that's fine, but it sure would be nice to travel to the beach without it...
I promise I will be better about blogging in the coming weeks and I will certainly be posting lots of pictures of our first family vacation! Stay tuned...
I can't even believe how big they're getting!! Thinking good thoughts that Andrew's reflux gets better soon!! And, have a great mini-vacation with your parents :) PS Where in NC are they?? ~Danielle
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