12 Month Pediatrician Appointment

Yesterday morning, we took Miles and Vivienne for their 1-year pediatrician appointment.  It was a long morning for all of us.  The appointment was at 9 am, which is just about the time that the babies usually go down for their morning nap.  The pediatrician was running a bit behind, so we had to wait for quite a while in the exam room.  The babies ran out of patience and began to get very tired and fussy.  I felt so bad that we couldn't really do anything to soothe them.  I actually tried nursing them at the same time in those hard plastic chairs (because when I tried feeding one of them, the other one would cry), but it just didn't work.  They also got another set of shots, which is never fun.  But we all made it through and came home to take almost a 3-hour nap (including a 2 hour nap for Mommy - whoohoo!).

Here are the latest stats on Miles:

• Height:  29.75 inches (51st percentile)
• Weight:  21 lb 14.5 oz (37th percentile)
• Head Circumference:  18 5/8 inches (76th percentile)

And Vivienne:

• Height:  27.75 inches (13th percentile)
• Weight:  17 lb 14 oz (7th percentile)
• Head Circumference:  17.75 inches (52nd percentile)

The only thing they said to work on was Vivienne's growth.  The pediatrician said that we should do what we can to get more calories into Vivienne.  We tried giving her some whole milk with dinner in her sippy cup, but she didn't drink much of it.  She is still breastfeeding, so she may not like the taste of cow's milk just yet (nothing compares to Mommy!).  =)

All in all, it was a good report.  Our next appointment will be at 15 months.

9-Month Pediatrician's Appointment

We love eating the paper on the table before the doctor comes in!

We took Miles and Vivienne to the pediatrician last week for their 9-month appointment.  Here are their new stats:

Miles

• Height: 28.25 in (45%)
• Weight: 20 lb 2 oz (39%)
• Head Circumference:  17.78 in (40%)

Vivienne

• Height: 26 in (6%)
• Weight:  17 lb 3 oz (18%)
• Head Circumference:  17 in (23%)

Both babies are developing well.  Miles still has somewhat low tone, but the doctor doesn't seem concerned about it.  Their growth has tapered off slightly, but they are still gaining weight and growing, so all is well.  It was really interesting to see their growth plotted in the electronic medical records.

They didn't have to get shots this time around, but they did take a blood sample to test for anemia.  They both had ever-so-slightly low iron levels (10.9 for Miles and 11.1 for Vivienne), so we're going to try to be more diligent about giving them their iron vitamin drops.  We're also trying to feed them more leafy greens (like kale and spinach) and sweet potatoes.

6 Month Pediatrician Appointment

Today, we took Miles and Vivienne to their six month pediatrician's appointment.  We were really scrambling this morning to take showers, eat breakfast and get there in time, but we made it.

Everything looks really good.  Miles stats are:

• 17 lb 3 oz (41st percentile)
• 27 inches long (67th percentile)
• 17.25 inch head circumference (49th percentile).

Vivienne's stats are:

• 15 lb 2 oz (29th percentile)
• 25.25 inches long (28th percentile)
• 16.75 inch head circumference (50th percentile)

Overall, they are growing very well and are happy, healthy babies.  The doctor did notice that they have "low tone," as she called it.  She didn't seem terribly concerned about this, but she said that they may do some of the bigger motor developments at a slower pace than some other babies.  She seemed to indicate that some babies just have lower tone than others.  Between their daddy's perfect tone from all the swimming and Ironmans and my ridiculously muscular calves (though the rest of me isn't very toned anymore), I'm not terribly worried about their tone in the long run.  =)

The pediatrician also tested their reflexes with a little hammer.  It was cute to see their little baby legs and arms move after she tapped them.

They also got a few vaccinations today.  Neither Miles nor Vivienne enjoyed the shots very much.  They were already starting to get a bit cranky because the appointment is during the time of their usual morning nap.  And when they got those shots, they really started crying.  Miles started crying so hard that he didn't breathe for a few moments.  Both the nurse and I said, "Breathe!!"  Poor little guy.  But they got their cute little band-aids and seemed to recover rather quickly.  We came home and took good, long naps.  Nothing is better than a nap with my sweet baby and her favorite kitty.

Vivienne and Chloe Nap Together

Nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby.

Sick Foxes

About a month ago, Vivienne started having a lot of nasal congestion and coughing.  I took her temperature (NOT my favorite thing to do - can't wait until she can take an oral or armpit thermometer), and confirmed that she did not have a fever.  I called our pediatrician and took her in for a check-up even though they suspected it was only a cold.  The pediatrician looked her over and checked her ears to be sure she didn't have an ear infection.  He said that this could linger for a few more weeks, but that it would slowly go away.

Her cold slowly started to go away, but she had a cough.  Miles started to also get congested in the past couple weeks.  Last week, Jason was very congested and had a sore throat.  This past week, it hit me with fatigue, congestion and a sore throat.  Needless to say, it's not fun when all of our family is sick.  Luckily, though, it's just a cold and nothing major.

However, the babies' colds have been affecting their sleep.  Little Miles was waking up every 3 hours again.  Now, he's usually asleep by 6:30, wakes up at 9:30 (sometimes coughing and crying very loudly, poor little guy), then wakes up around 2-ish and then sleeps until morning.  So he's really only waking us up one time in the middle of the night.  I feed him every time, because I figure it soothes him and should make his little throat feel better.

We all seem to be on the mend now, so hopefully the babies will start sleeping through again.  We were so spoiled by those few weeks of sleeping bliss!

Two Month Pediatrician's Appointment

Miles and Vivienne had their two month pediatrician's visit today, and it went very well:

We first saw the lactation consultant (our pediatrician has an in-house lactation consultant that we can see for only a co-pay... wonderful), and then we moved into the exam room for the doctor's appointment.  Vivienne weighs 8 lb 13 oz and Miles weighs 10 lb 9 oz.  Vivienne is still just under the 10th percentile and Miles is around the 30th percentile (not adjusted for being born premature or being a twin).  Miles has had some congestion over the past week, but he doesn't have a fever and the doctor said that it's nothing to worry about. 

The babies had to get their first set of vaccinations.  They did not enjoy it, to say the least.  Vivienne cried a lot with real tears.  Both babies started crying with tears over the past week.  It looks so sad.  =(  Miles actually handled the shots better, which surprised us.

But the vaccinations had us all tuckered out...

You can see the bandage on his leg from the shot.  They each got shots in both thighs.

My Shirt is on Backwards...

This morning, we had to take Vivienne back to the pediatrician again because there is no record of her newborn screen, a blood test that they give all babies.  Apparently, this is required by the state, and Miles' results came back but Vivienne's did not.  The nurse at the pediatrician said that it was on V's discharge papers, so she thinks that maybe the state threw it out, thinking that it was a duplicate (apparently this can happen with twins fairly easily).  Anyway, it was annoying to have to haul the four of us back to the pediatrician, and I hate it that she had to get yet another heel stick (seriously, it seems like they had their heels poked about 100 times at the hospital for various tests).

At the doctor's office, I stayed in the waiting room with Miles while Jason went back with Vivienne.  I'm grateful that he will take on those kinds of parental duties, because I think it would bring me to tears to see her crying in pain, even though I'm sure it doesn't hurt that much and doesn't last long.  I could hear her crying from the waiting room and I almost cried.

While I was in the waiting room, I nursed Miles (because he started crying and rooting, which seems to be a constant state for him these days) with the new nursing cover that Mary (my sister-in-law) got for me.  It was great to be able to feed him without worrying about modesty.  It makes me feel much more prepared to do it next time.  Too bad I can't ever feed them both at the same time in public.  That's an advanced maneuver that I'm sure I will never master.

After the pediatrician, the babies were sleeping, so I ventured out to Holly Springs to return the breast pump that we rented for the first month out of the hospital.  We made it all the way to Holly Springs and back without either baby melting down.  Success!

However, I realized when I was talking to the lady who rented us the pump... that my shirt felt strange around my neck.  When I got back in the car, I realized my shirt was on backwards.  Oh, well.  At least all the people at the peds office are either parents or pediatric nurses or doctors.  I'm sure they have seen worse.

So even though my shirt was on backwards, at least I successfully accomplished something outside our house (returning the pump).  These small victories really do give me more confidence as a new mom of twins.

Speaking of which, they are still asleep in their car seats so I should probably try to close my eyes for 5 minutes here...

But At Least He Won't Have Rickets

On Saturday, we had a little minor emergency here.  Our pediatrician recommended that we give the babies vitamin D drops, because apparently some breastfed babies can get Rickets.  We consider it highly unlikely that our babies are going to get Rickets, considering that I have a good diet and we don't live in extreme northern latitude like Canada or Alaska.  Nevertheless, we decided to try to give them the vitamins.

I got Poly-Vi-Sol at Walmart.  We gave it to Vivienne and she didn't seem to love it, but she didn't spit it back out or throw it up.  However, when we gave it to Miles (even though we were only giving him 1/4 mils at a time), he basically started choking and stopped breathing for a few seconds.  He cried so hard that he got tears in his eyes.  I think the tears were mostly from the choking.  He just didn't know quite what to do with this new texture and flavor, even in a tiny dose.  Over the course of the next hour of so, he threw up twice (threw up, not spit up).  When he threw up, it literally shot out of his mouth and he started screaming and his eyes started watering.  It also came out his nose a little bit.  =(  This was not a fun day for us.  Of course, this also made me cry because I felt so bad for giving him something that caused this reaction.


We went and bought some D-Vi-Sol (like Poly-Vi-Sol, but just with Vitamin D), and they don't like that, either.  Vivienne threw it back up.  So now we've tried putting it in a bottle of expressed breast milk, and they will at least take that.

However, we're not very convinced that they need to take these vitamins at all, so we may decide not to give it to them.  I'm not sure whether I should be more concerned that they'll get Rickets or that we'll kill them by trying to give them these stupid vitamins.

Two Weeks Old!

Mile and Vivienne are two weeks old today.  We can't believe that they have been with us for two weeks now.  Vivienne is over her birth weight now.  She was at her birth weight this past Friday at her doctor's appointment.  Miles is just now reaching his birth weight.  The lactation consultant at our pediatrician's office was delighted that the babies have grown so quickly (especially for premature twins).  She has made me feel very good about breastfeeding the babies and proud of what we have accomplished so far.  I still need to write and entirely separate post just on breastfeeding. 

The babies are doing well - mostly just eating and sleeping all the time.  They do spend some time awake during the day.  At night, they sleep in their crib in our room.  We are lucky that we can generally put them in the crib with their eyes open, and they will fall asleep on their own.  I'm going to hope that they continue to do that.  It's a blessing and buys us just a bit more sleep.

Vivienne is a very happy baby.  She looks like she's smiling or just generally happy all the time.  She is very patient - she usually has to wait for Miles to get started breastfeeding before she's allowed to eat (we feed them simultaneously at the breast).  And she usually waits very patiently for her turn to join in.  She has huge, beautiful eyes. 

Miles is very inquisitive.  He looks around all the time and seems to be soaking so much in.  He is less patient about being fed quickly.  When he's hungry, he's hungry now!  He loves to sleep in Daddy's arms in the recliner (where he is right now, as a matter of fact).  He makes lots of funny faces, and we enjoy watching him grow every day.

Happy Two Week Birthday, Miles and Vivienne!

Frenu-what?

So I (Jason) am not as good at this blogging thing as Leslie, but I am just trying to post a few pics/updates every day or so to keep everyone informed.  The goal is also to provide a rough outline for Leslie to come back later and fill in more details.

We had both of our babies get their frenulums clipped because they had tongue tie (not a surpise since Leslie and I were tongue tied as infants).  It wasn't fun seeing our babies go through the process, but the doctors were wonderful and the babies recovered quickly.  Leslie immediately noticed a better latch by Miles and Vivienne.  The hardest part will the be the "tongue massage" that we must give each of them after each of their feedings for the next 7 days.  Miles doesn't seem to mind it so much, but it really upsets Vivienne ... and that makes it hard on Leslie.

Friday is our second pediatrician appointment, and hopefully they'll see some progress with Miles and his jaundice.  Up until now he has not received any formal treatment, but if they detect it is getting worse, then he'll have to undergo some light therapy.  We've tried our own low-tech approach with natural sunlight through the window, so we are hoping for good results tomorrow.

We are also meeting with the leading lactation consultant in the area tomorrow.  We took her class last week and really got a lot out of it.  It is very encouraging to hear that nursing twins is possible since Ann (the LC) had twin boys herself and can relate with our situation.  Also, Leslie is progressing very well with her pumping sessions.  I find it very cool to see her volumes continue to rise from session-to-session.  I am in charge of storage and preservation so I'm going to have my hands full soon.  I really admire her determination and commitment to breast feeding our babies.

Here's a pic from today of big brother and little sister sleeping next to one another.  They are growing up so fast already.