Mimi's Morning With Mom & Dad

Mimi's....as in screamin mimi's. That's one of the names we have for the girls, but Emily tends to be more of the screamer so the nickname refers to just her most of the time.

So, today Emily got to hang out with mom & dad while Ellery played at daycare. I'm sure they both were loving the individual attention....except that Emily's was for a Dr appointment. Today was Emily's appointment at Doernbecher to see the pediatric cardiologist about her heart mumur. While the Dr was able to confirm the fact that there is a murmur she wasn't able to tell us very much. So we now are going back in two weeks for an Echo. While I'm happy that the echo should be able to really give a good picture of Emily's heart, they have to sedate her so she will be still. They tried to do an EKG today and Emily wiggled and kicked all over the place. Hello....she's a baby!!!! I feel like she's way too young to be sedated and I'm nervous about a lot of things but I know that really it's the only way we'll get a quality picture of her heart. A lot of my concerns come from when she was in the Nicu...apnea spells, low oxygen levels, the list goes on....but I have to remember - it's been a long time since then and she's a lot bigger and stronger now. The Dr's still say there is nothing else indicating problems, so the fact that there is a murmur may not be that big of a deal. The Dr and nurse both told me not to worry about anything but I actually think because they said that it's caused me to worry MORE. I'm sure it's all going to be fine and hopefully we'll get some answers very soon.

Mimi's Morning With Mom & Dad

Mimi's....as in screamin mimi's. That's one of the names we have for the girls, but Emily tends to be more of the screamer so the nickname refers to just her most of the time.

So, today Emily got to hang out with mom & dad while Ellery played at daycare. I'm sure they both were loving the individual attention....except that Emily's was for a Dr appointment. Today was Emily's appointment at Doernbecher to see the pediatric cardiologist about her heart mumur. While the Dr was able to confirm the fact that there is a murmur she wasn't able to tell us very much. So we now are going back in two weeks for an Echo. While I'm happy that the echo should be able to really give a good picture of Emily's heart, they have to sedate her so she will be still. They tried to do an EKG today and Emily wiggled and kicked all over the place. Hello....she's a baby!!!! I feel like she's way too young to be sedated and I'm nervous about a lot of things but I know that really it's the only way we'll get a quality picture of her heart. A lot of my concerns come from when she was in the Nicu...apnea spells, low oxygen levels, the list goes on....but I have to remember - it's been a long time since then and she's a lot bigger and stronger now. The Dr's still say there is nothing else indicating problems, so the fact that there is a murmur may not be that big of a deal. The Dr and nurse both told me not to worry about anything but I actually think because they said that it's caused me to worry MORE. I'm sure it's all going to be fine and hopefully we'll get some answers very soon.

E & E's First Chucks

Thanks Courtney!

E & E's First Chucks

Thanks Courtney!

My Mommy Is STILL Long Winded

Pictures first, boring long winded text below..........but cute video to wrap it all up.

I think the girls are so big, but looking at Ellery in her highchair for the first time she looks so tiny!

Ellery in her highchair....looks like a smile, but I think it was crying.

Hi Sister!

Emily

Pssst....Emily are you awake?

On Friday I was an absolute genius and scheduled an eye appointment and a Dr. appointment to have blood drawn on the same day. Not a good idea. The girls have to be held down to have their eyes examined and they do not like, not that I can really blame them. Their eye condition still hasn't improved but it's not any worse. Their Dr. says that she's never seen it progress at this stage in the game, so we most likely won't have to come back for another year. That appointment will be more of a traditional eye exam where they will be able to tell if the girls will need glasses.

Then we went on to the pediatrician's office to have some blood drawn. So two weeks ago the Dr called and left me a message saying something about some high/low levels in the blood tests and that we'd be switching the girls' formula from the preemie kind to regular infant formula. I thought that the original blood test must have shown something that indicated that it was time to change formula. When I mentioned it to the Developmental Ped. on Monday she wasn't sure what I was talking about and said that a blood test wouldn't show anything but went on to talk about poor bone development in preemies. It kind of freaked me out. Luckily I'd be seeing our normal Ped on Friday so I came prepared with lots of questions. It turned out that the follow up blood tests were because of a low level of something in the girls' livers. I guess the original blood test showed that their livers were inflamed, but our Dr who had just completed an exam didn't notice that and knew that the girls were completely healthy. She called the Dr in the NICU who went through our entire chart and she couldn't find anything that would raise any red flags, and then she called a gastro Dr. That person gave our Dr a list of things to test for because while the results were somewhat concerning the fact that there was no other indicators had everyone really confused. I was kind of shocked to know this is what we'd waited two weeks to come in for. After the girls great checkup (Ellery 14 lbs 8 oz with cloths on/Emily 12 lbs 12 oz with clothes and a SUPER wet diaper) we waited to have blood drawn. Because so many tests were to be run they needed a considerable amount of blood. They poked Ellery 5 times and couldn't get a single DROP of blood out, and Emily was poked 4 times and only gave a little. The girls were so MAD I had a hard time watching. Normally this kind of thing doesn't bother me after the things I saw being done to tiny babies in the NICU, but in another genius move had told Andy I could handle this appointment on my own, it sure would have been nice to have both of us. I could also tell that the plebot...?? (blood sucker...that's how she referred to herself) was getting stressed. When the professionals are stressed, that's when I really start to worry. They started talking about drawing blood from the girls veins in their heads and I finally told them to stop until I could talk to the Dr. When our Dr found out how many times they had poked the girls she luckily said that for now she only wanted to retest for the liver levels and we'd figure the rest out later if the results were still odd. So two more pokes for the girls in their heals, but luckily they were able to get a tiny amount of blood. They basically provided the bare minimum for the tests to be run. Our Dr called that night to say that the retest showed normal levels so we were all relived. The normal test should have been around 35 and both girls were 135 the first time around, which is strange that they were both elevated and the same. The retest was back to 35 and 36, so I'm hoping that means we are good for now. I can't believe I thought the follow up blood test was to see how well the formula agreed with the girls. If I had known I'm sure I would have been super stressed and driving myself crazy trying to research. Sometimes I wish there wasn't so much information available out there.

This week we took the girls to their first restaurant and their first chaotic shopping experience at Ikea! I feel like a mom of a newborn getting adjusted to taking the baby(s) out. We've kept the girls trips to a minimum and spent a lot of time at home these last 7 months, I've not really had much experience taking the girls around with me. It's getting a little easier, but I won't be taking on unnecessary trips - that's for sure! I'm already tired of strangers saying "oh you have your hands full". It's not the comment itself, it's the amount of times in one day that I hear it. Or that fact that in my head I'm like "Oh I know"!

Funny Video (Sound Required)

Today Emily sneezed and I said Gesundheit (I would have spelled it Gazoontight!) She laughed so hard, so I kept saying it and she kept laughing. Andy caught it on video. That noise you hear is her sweet but somewhat nerdy laugh. I threw in a "diet coke" and "pizza" to see what reaction I got and she didn't laugh. Gazoontight does it for her.

Side note: A year ago today I found out I was pregnant just as I was about to board a plane to Santa Barbara for 5 glorious days of wine tasting and a wedding. Change of plans!! Little did I know that it was twins or the adventure we were about to begin.

My Mommy Is STILL Long Winded

Pictures first, boring long winded text below..........but cute video to wrap it all up.

I think the girls are so big, but looking at Ellery in her highchair for the first time she looks so tiny!

Ellery in her highchair....looks like a smile, but I think it was crying.

Hi Sister!

Emily

Pssst....Emily are you awake?

On Friday I was an absolute genius and scheduled an eye appointment and a Dr. appointment to have blood drawn on the same day. Not a good idea. The girls have to be held down to have their eyes examined and they do not like, not that I can really blame them. Their eye condition still hasn't improved but it's not any worse. Their Dr. says that she's never seen it progress at this stage in the game, so we most likely won't have to come back for another year. That appointment will be more of a traditional eye exam where they will be able to tell if the girls will need glasses.

Then we went on to the pediatrician's office to have some blood drawn. So two weeks ago the Dr called and left me a message saying something about some high/low levels in the blood tests and that we'd be switching the girls' formula from the preemie kind to regular infant formula. I thought that the original blood test must have shown something that indicated that it was time to change formula. When I mentioned it to the Developmental Ped. on Monday she wasn't sure what I was talking about and said that a blood test wouldn't show anything but went on to talk about poor bone development in preemies. It kind of freaked me out. Luckily I'd be seeing our normal Ped on Friday so I came prepared with lots of questions. It turned out that the follow up blood tests were because of a low level of something in the girls' livers. I guess the original blood test showed that their livers were inflamed, but our Dr who had just completed an exam didn't notice that and knew that the girls were completely healthy. She called the Dr in the NICU who went through our entire chart and she couldn't find anything that would raise any red flags, and then she called a gastro Dr. That person gave our Dr a list of things to test for because while the results were somewhat concerning the fact that there was no other indicators had everyone really confused. I was kind of shocked to know this is what we'd waited two weeks to come in for. After the girls great checkup (Ellery 14 lbs 8 oz with cloths on/Emily 12 lbs 12 oz with clothes and a SUPER wet diaper) we waited to have blood drawn. Because so many tests were to be run they needed a considerable amount of blood. They poked Ellery 5 times and couldn't get a single DROP of blood out, and Emily was poked 4 times and only gave a little. The girls were so MAD I had a hard time watching. Normally this kind of thing doesn't bother me after the things I saw being done to tiny babies in the NICU, but in another genius move had told Andy I could handle this appointment on my own, it sure would have been nice to have both of us. I could also tell that the plebot...?? (blood sucker...that's how she referred to herself) was getting stressed. When the professionals are stressed, that's when I really start to worry. They started talking about drawing blood from the girls veins in their heads and I finally told them to stop until I could talk to the Dr. When our Dr found out how many times they had poked the girls she luckily said that for now she only wanted to retest for the liver levels and we'd figure the rest out later if the results were still odd. So two more pokes for the girls in their heals, but luckily they were able to get a tiny amount of blood. They basically provided the bare minimum for the tests to be run. Our Dr called that night to say that the retest showed normal levels so we were all relived. The normal test should have been around 35 and both girls were 135 the first time around, which is strange that they were both elevated and the same. The retest was back to 35 and 36, so I'm hoping that means we are good for now. I can't believe I thought the follow up blood test was to see how well the formula agreed with the girls. If I had known I'm sure I would have been super stressed and driving myself crazy trying to research. Sometimes I wish there wasn't so much information available out there.

This week we took the girls to their first restaurant and their first chaotic shopping experience at Ikea! I feel like a mom of a newborn getting adjusted to taking the baby(s) out. We've kept the girls trips to a minimum and spent a lot of time at home these last 7 months, I've not really had much experience taking the girls around with me. It's getting a little easier, but I won't be taking on unnecessary trips - that's for sure! I'm already tired of strangers saying "oh you have your hands full". It's not the comment itself, it's the amount of times in one day that I hear it. Or that fact that in my head I'm like "Oh I know"!

Funny Video (Sound Required)

Today Emily sneezed and I said Gesundheit (I would have spelled it Gazoontight!) She laughed so hard, so I kept saying it and she kept laughing. Andy caught it on video. That noise you hear is her sweet but somewhat nerdy laugh. I threw in a "diet coke" and "pizza" to see what reaction I got and she didn't laugh. Gazoontight does it for her.

Side note: A year ago today I found out I was pregnant just as I was about to board a plane to Santa Barbara for 5 glorious days of wine tasting and a wedding. Change of plans!! Little did I know that it was twins or the adventure we were about to begin.

My Mommy Is Long Winded

We like to hold hands now!

Since my last post the girls started daycare. They've only been two times but so far so good. They don't seem to even care that they are in a new place, with new people, and around other babies. I did find out that there is now availability at the Nike daycare, so it's very likely I'll be moving them next month to be at work with me. It will be a lot easier for me in so many ways. We'll also be doing two days of daycare instead of three which I think is even better for the girls. Maybe later in the year we'll add another day or so and eventually work up to full time by next spring/summer or even school year.

On our way to the first day of daycare. Ellery always looks so stunned in pics....she doesn't look like that normally. She' s the smiliest girl I've ever seen...until you bring out the camera.



Today the girls had their 4 month adjusted age developmental/physical therapy follow up. We're only a little over 3 months adjusted so they didn't do some of the standardized milestone testing I thought we'd be doing. But the good news is the girls look like they are developing wonderfully. They said that Emily is exactly what they would expect to see for a preemie born at 26 weeks that is healthy. She still has a preemie look to her and her movements are still a little jerky rather than smooth. Ellery is still the atypical preemie (remember, she was very healthier than her sister in the NICU and just needed to grow and learn to eat even though she was only 2lbs). They said by looking at her you'd never know she was a preemie and she's gaining weight and is stronger than what you'd expect for a preemie. Both girls need to work a little more on tummy time, playing on their sides, and building abdominal strength. Because they both missed out on 3 1/2 months of being in the fetal position they tend to rely on their back muscles more than their abs. This causes them to arch their backs & shoulders. We've been given some exercises to help get the girls stronger and really work those abs (hey... can mom do those too??) . We go back in 4 months for another follow up, by then the girls will be almost 1 years old. YIKES!!!!! All in all, the Dr and physical therapist were very happy with the girls progress considering how early and small they were to begin with. What a relief!

We also took our first road trip down to Eugene to visit grandma and grandpa, it seemed like it was really quick with lots of stuff to accomplish. The girls weren't too happy about the longer car rides and definitely let us know on our way down there and back up to Portland. We were all grumpy by the time we got out of the car! My parents are in the middle of a kitchen/dinning room remodel so it was a little interesting to be down there during that too. We used the bathtub and bathroom sinks to wash dishes. Fun! But, the good news is the cabinets were installed yesterday and counter tops will be in about 2 weeks from now so they will finally have a kitchen after about a month without. Andy and my dad went to the Oregon Duck game and stuck it out until halftime before coming home. The ducks were so far ahead it wasn't even fun to watch anymore.

While at my parents the girls slept in a crib together for the first time in a long time. We've never really had them together after the first month home from the hospital because they move around too much, but this was our only option. I placed them each at the end of the crib and when I went to check on them 10 minutes later they had both rolled over and met in the middle. They cuddled all night long and I think slept better than they usually do. That doesn't mean I am going to start letting them sleep together through. I don't worry when they are in their own cribs (well just a little) but I definitely worry when they are together. I am afraid they'd either roll on each other or bury their faces in each others sleep sack or just wake each other up. So, I'm not going there.


Well this week is definitely a week full of appointments. We have the dreaded eye appointment on Friday followed by another appointment that afternoon where the girls will have blood drawn. They will not be happy girls on Friday and I am sure lots of tears will be shed by us all.

My Mommy Is Long Winded

We like to hold hands now!

Since my last post the girls started daycare. They've only been two times but so far so good. They don't seem to even care that they are in a new place, with new people, and around other babies. I did find out that there is now availability at the Nike daycare, so it's very likely I'll be moving them next month to be at work with me. It will be a lot easier for me in so many ways. We'll also be doing two days of daycare instead of three which I think is even better for the girls. Maybe later in the year we'll add another day or so and eventually work up to full time by next spring/summer or even school year.

On our way to the first day of daycare. Ellery always looks so stunned in pics....she doesn't look like that normally. She' s the smiliest girl I've ever seen...until you bring out the camera.



Today the girls had their 4 month adjusted age developmental/physical therapy follow up. We're only a little over 3 months adjusted so they didn't do some of the standardized milestone testing I thought we'd be doing. But the good news is the girls look like they are developing wonderfully. They said that Emily is exactly what they would expect to see for a preemie born at 26 weeks that is healthy. She still has a preemie look to her and her movements are still a little jerky rather than smooth. Ellery is still the atypical preemie (remember, she was very healthier than her sister in the NICU and just needed to grow and learn to eat even though she was only 2lbs). They said by looking at her you'd never know she was a preemie and she's gaining weight and is stronger than what you'd expect for a preemie. Both girls need to work a little more on tummy time, playing on their sides, and building abdominal strength. Because they both missed out on 3 1/2 months of being in the fetal position they tend to rely on their back muscles more than their abs. This causes them to arch their backs & shoulders. We've been given some exercises to help get the girls stronger and really work those abs (hey... can mom do those too??) . We go back in 4 months for another follow up, by then the girls will be almost 1 years old. YIKES!!!!! All in all, the Dr and physical therapist were very happy with the girls progress considering how early and small they were to begin with. What a relief!

We also took our first road trip down to Eugene to visit grandma and grandpa, it seemed like it was really quick with lots of stuff to accomplish. The girls weren't too happy about the longer car rides and definitely let us know on our way down there and back up to Portland. We were all grumpy by the time we got out of the car! My parents are in the middle of a kitchen/dinning room remodel so it was a little interesting to be down there during that too. We used the bathtub and bathroom sinks to wash dishes. Fun! But, the good news is the cabinets were installed yesterday and counter tops will be in about 2 weeks from now so they will finally have a kitchen after about a month without. Andy and my dad went to the Oregon Duck game and stuck it out until halftime before coming home. The ducks were so far ahead it wasn't even fun to watch anymore.

While at my parents the girls slept in a crib together for the first time in a long time. We've never really had them together after the first month home from the hospital because they move around too much, but this was our only option. I placed them each at the end of the crib and when I went to check on them 10 minutes later they had both rolled over and met in the middle. They cuddled all night long and I think slept better than they usually do. That doesn't mean I am going to start letting them sleep together through. I don't worry when they are in their own cribs (well just a little) but I definitely worry when they are together. I am afraid they'd either roll on each other or bury their faces in each others sleep sack or just wake each other up. So, I'm not going there.


Well this week is definitely a week full of appointments. We have the dreaded eye appointment on Friday followed by another appointment that afternoon where the girls will have blood drawn. They will not be happy girls on Friday and I am sure lots of tears will be shed by us all.