Developmental Appointment

Yesterday was our appointment with the developmentalist.  Things went pretty much as expected.

Andrew was in a great mood and was very cooperative.  This is key to getting a good evaluation since you really want to see what they can do.  He tracked beautifully, cooed and laughed, had good tone, started showing an interest in reaching for objects, and lifted his hips off the mat.  Tummy time and head control are a little behind, which we knew, but he is starting to weight-bear on his arms to push up and lift his chest.  Considering his growth restriction and lengthy hospital stay with readmission, they were very pleased with how he looked overall.  But he has specific exercises to work on his strength and head control.  His biggest issue is that his head is SO big and hard to move.  This will improve as he grows and with lots of work at home!

Paige was not as cooperative but did participate some.  We knew her head control was lacking more than his and that definitely showed.  She will not push up with her arms at all on her tummy and only has strength enough to lift her chin for a few seconds.  They thought this was about at a one month level.  She did track and hold attention better though, and brought her hands to midline and grasped objects for longer.  Her biggest issue is that she is slightly hypotonic (a little floppy) and just doesn't have the overall strength yet to support herself.  We have different exercises to work on with her and despite her hatred of tummy time, we will continue to push it all the time!

None of these findings were surprising. We have been told since the beginning that development would be our obstacle.  And I was aware of most things she pointed out just by playing with them each day.  We talked about getting services (physical therapy and occupational therapy) but she thinks that exercises at home at this point will work.  The problems they are having are common preemie issues that usually resolve over several months.  She reminded us that they are just two months old adjusted (which is hard to remember since it seems like they've been around forever!) and that they really are doing amazingly well.  She explained to us that babies born at their gestational age often develop cognitive skills closer to their chronologic age and are more behind in motor skills. This is definitely true for them.

We have LOTS of homework to do (much of which we were already doing) and I am just so grateful that they will be at home with personal attention for the rest of the year.  Jack will be home starting in three weeks (when I go back to work) for a month and then my mom will be with them for the remainder of the year.  We couldn't be luckier to have this gift and the developmentalist was thrilled that this was our plan.  I know that the three of us will be diligent in working with them and ensuring that we get on the right developmental track quickly.

So the next step - We will have an earlier follow-up appointment with the developmentalist to ensure we are making progress in two months.  We are also seeing the Georgetown clinic in a little over two weeks, so we will see what their opinion is.  If we aren't taking steps in the right direction, we will ask for an evaluation from Fairfax County for Early Intervention....or we'll look at private services.

Some pics for the week (those on facebook have already seen two of them):

Andrew working on reaching on the jungle mat!

Trying to find ways for Paige to happily lay on her belly!

Relaxing with a little Sesame Street:)

Enjoying playtime and all smiles!

Four Month Check-Up

Here is the report from our appointment this morning:

Paige weighed in at 10 pounds, 10.4 ounces and her length is 23 inches.  She is just appearing on the bottom of the 4 month growth chart!  This is amazing considering their adjusted age (age according to my due date) is just 2 months now.  Dr. Arnold was very impressed with her alertness and smiles but was a little concerned with her motor development.

Andrew continues to be a bit heavier than his sister and weighed 11 pounds, 8.8 ounces.  His length is 22 inches.  Although he usually has way more head support and strength than his sister, he decided to be lazy in front of the doctor. Of course they never show off when you want them to, right?!?  He was wide-eyed and interactive though and continually reminds everyone about how noisy he is:)

We have our developmental appointment next Monday which will help determine if they need services and what they may need.  Early Intervention has definitely been on the forefront of all of our minds, but we'll see what the recommendations are next week. If they qualify and are lagging already (from their adjusted age), I want to get them in as early as possible so we can catch up quickly.  Dr. Arnold did notice that their interactions, smiles, and personality are closer to their actual age (four months) but that their motor skills are probably even a bit behind a 2 month old.  We have been focusing greatly on tummy time and some strengthening exercises, but I am anxious to get some more tips from the developmentalist.

We did get our shots today, too, and have had a hard day.  Luckily, my mom came over to help out this afternoon since they both are a little needier than normal.  Poor Paige even has a bit of a fever but hopefully her tylenol will kick in soon.  I'm just hoping this doesn't translate into a horrible night....we shall see!

Happy 4 Month Birthday!

We had a great long weekend with family. My sister, Cristy, was in town from Chicago and finally got to meet Paige and Andrew!  The weather even cooperated and we all spent the day in Old Town on Friday.  The babies were wonderful! So wonderful that we had lunch out and walked around for several hours.  They did start to lose their patience by the end of our lunch though and we ended up with a hurried exit and feedings on the sidewalk by the river.  It's amazing how crazy things become with two babies in tow!

Aunt Cookie and Paige ready for Old Town!

Andrew excited for 70 degree weather!

Saturday and Sunday we again left the house (can you believe it?!?) and went to both grandparents' places.  And Monday was a holiday for Jack and we spent the day doing errands, laundry and getting everything ready for the week. I cannot tell you what a HUGE difference a three day weekend makes!  That extra day gives me the freedom to get so much done that I can't do when I'm alone with them during the week.  If only every weekend could be that long!

Hanging out at Nana and Papa's

Daddy watching the Caps with Andrew

And today marks their 4 MONTH BIRTHDAY!  We have our 4 month pediatrician appointment with measurements, assessment and calorie adjustment tomorrow.  I'll be sure to post all the stats after that:)

We're getting SO big!

And the biggest news to report -- Paige is sleeping through the night!!! And I mean the ENTIRE night! Last night was her fourth night of sleeping for 10 hours straight! It suddenly seemed to just click.  Now if she could only teach this to her brother....

Happy Valentine's Day!

We celebrated with Valentine's Day outfits over the last couple days:)  Its hard to do much else when you can't even have chocolate!

Someone loves Valentine's Day!

And someone does not.

But we celebrate together anyway...

And eventually we are ALL having a good time!

Hope you all had a great day!

16 Weeks

Dr. Arnold thought both Paige and Andrew looked great yesterday!  They are still BOTH gaining quite a bit of weight (23 ounces in 19 days), but we aren't going to worry about it.  I told her that I was sometimes having to give an additional bottle after Andrew's feed because he's still starving after his 4+ ounces!  She told me to give them as much as they want for the next two weeks and we'll come back for their 4 month check-up with weight check on the 23rd.  If they continue to pack on the pounds, we'll call the Georgetown clinic and get their advice on stopping the preemie, higher-calorie formula.  So today, Paige weighed 10 pounds, 4 ounces and Andrew is 10 pounds, 15 ounces!  Hard to believe.

We did talk to her about some strategies for getting them to sleep longer at night.  We have had some really rough nights recently and are struggling with how to handle things.  The problem is that one of them will have a good stretch, but is often woken up by the other.  If they aren't woken up, we can feed the one that's hungry and go back to bed, but then we're up in an hour feeding the other child, who inevitably will wake up the first again.  We played this game for a quite a while last night and I think Jack and I got a total of maybe 4 hours of sleep.  We thought the sleep thing was supposed to get easier!  I guess its different with twins...

I did join the Northern Virginia Parents of Multiples (NVPOM) group a couple weeks ago and they are providing some great resources, advice, and often times just sympathy!  We are actually going to a talk on "Training your Twins to Sleep through the Night" this Saturday.  I cannot tell you how excited I am to learn a technique that just might work.  I have to get them in a better routine before I go back to work!

Speaking of work, I am counting down now. 5 1/2 weeks!  I am super nervous about how I'm going to balance everything and about being away from them so much and missing a huge part of their lives.  I keep telling myself that many great moms have similar schedules and that things will be okay. I can only imagine how busy we are going to be though.  One thing that may help a little, although I am sad about how soon it ended, is my pumping.  My milk supply has been falling off for several weeks and is now officially gone.  I really wanted to make it until at least 6 months, but since they've never been able to latch and all I've ever done is pump, I guess I should be grateful I got this far.  I feel a little bad about not being able to sustain my supply, but I cannot tell you how happy I will be to not have to pump after their feeds!  This will save a HUGE amount of time and will make going back to work a whole lot easier.  I think I need to have a party for the return of our rented hospital-grade pump!

Time to make bottles and prep things for the day.  I did want to share that I found a project to help with my craziness being stuck inside -- I'm stripping the wallpaper in our powder room during naptimes and will hopefully paint next week!  Only thing, is that this project is turning out to be a little bigger than I originally planned:)

Stir Crazy

Nothing new or exciting to report from last week.  We continue to be stuck in the house and I'm not going to lie, it can get pretty boring.  With just the kids and I, there is no mental stimulation for me, no socializing, no sunlight! I don't think I realized how hard being housebound was going to be. I was SO looking forward to getting out of the house with the kids for their doctor's appointment on Friday....and then I totally screwed it up!  We always go at 2pm (the newborn slot so that there are no sick kids coming in) and I had in my head that that was when our appointment was.  We got up at 6 am, did our morning feed, played and they both went back to sleep. I was feeling so fortunate that they were both actually napping at the same time that I decided to lay down for another hour or two.  When I woke up, I had missed an alarm on my Blackberry.  What was it for?  My appointment that was at 9am!!!  I called and rescheduled, but our pediatrician was leaving for the day at lunchtime and wasn't going to be back in the office until this Wednesday.  I was so mad at myself for missing it - one, because I really wanted to talk to her, get them weighed and adjust their feeds.  But two, because it was our ONE outing of the week!  And they haven't gotten to leave the house since our last appointment, which was over two weeks ago!  I cannot tell you how ready I am for warm weather and the end of Flu season!  Only problem is that when that time comes, I will be headed back to work and Jack will be starting his paternity leave with the kids... Can you tell I'm bitter???:)

I cannot wait to see what they weight and how we are progressing.  I was so upset about missing that opportunity on Friday, that I weighed them on my own scale...by getting on with and without them and subtracting the weight:)  The kids probably think I'm crazy.  And I won't report those weights since they are "unofficial."  You'll just have to wait for the news on Wednesday!

We did bend the rules a little on Sunday to head to a friend's Superbowl party. It was only 7 people, including us, and we felt they needed a little change of scenery.  This was their first social outing and they finally got to wear their snow suits - totally made my week!

Paige - so excited to be going somewhere!

Andrew with Aunt Alisa (She's the only Steeler's fan - Papa would kill him!)

Crazy Daddy enjoying football with his babies

And a couple from our playtime last week...

Superman! We need to work on his superhero face though:)

Taking a break from her toys for a picture!

Looking forward to our "outing" on Wednesday and some weights to report!

Quite the Pair

We had a great weekend just hanging out with family.  Both sets of grandparents and their cousin, Katie, came over and played!  They are getting so big, it's hard to believe.  And they finally seem to be noticing each other!  We are having longer and more frequent alert periods that are overlapping with each other, so they've been able to play together quite a bit...

Playing nicely together on Friday...

Already yelling at his sister on Saturday...

And beating up her brother on Sunday...

But too cute to get in trouble:)

I think we are going to have our hands full... They are quite the pair!
(Check out the Picasa Album for more pics!)