Getting back into this (for now)

I've let way too much time pass between my last post and now... but here's the gist of our lives since then.

Our girls had the helmets for almost 3 months and their heads are much more round now.

Alexis got RSV around the time of the Super Bowl and spent 3 days in the hospital.

We've taken several trips with the girls (including visits to GA, FL, and NY).

Abby was pregnant in April but miscarried fairly early on in the pregnancy.

My (Jason's) sister is getting married in a couple weeks and our girls will be flower girls in the wedding while Abby and I will be in the wedding party as well (we get to walk together).

That's our life in a few sentences over the last several months.

The latest that is going on with our girls....

Alexis - She is a super fast crawler, and she is able to pull herself up to anything now. She is cruising (walking along objects while leaning onto them) and will be walking soon. She has recently been making funny noises with her tongue and voice together. It's quite cute, but no first words yet. She says da da da da, and ma ma ma ma but it's obvious she isn't calling for mom or dad.

Alana - She is also crawling and able to pull herself up to most things. She is starting to cruise but only using baby steps. Her latest quirk is holding her hands in the air and making all kinds of gestures with them while screaming. It's not a mad or sad scream, just a "listen to me I have something to say" scream. Also very cute.

Both - We had a visit with a developmental pediatrician a couple months ago and he said that if the girls weren't walking within three months (the end of August) that he would like an MRI done on their brains. He is somewhat concerned with the possible shortage of "white matter" which controls motor skills (ie: they may have cerebral palsy). If they do have this it would be a very minor form. Both are EXPECTED to be able to walk and be normal cognitively. We hope for no CP, but if it is ever diagnosed we're not worried as our girls have already come so far. It's amazing to look back at the pictures of when they were first born and then see them now!

It's been a while....

...since my last post so I figured it might be a good idea to write another. A lot has happened since the last time I posted. The biggest development is that the girls' developmental pediatrician has decided that it's time to put the girls in helmets. They look like the one pictured here...



That's a little sad for us, but the alternative is a crooked head because the girls lay on their right side all the time which has created a flat spot on the right side of their heads. They'll have to wear the helmets 23 hours a day until the problem goes away. This is all of course IF our insurance or Medicaid will cover the helmets. They're 1700 bucks each so if not then the girls are just going to have to live with crooked heads :)

We have taken a few vacations since my last post. First we took a weekend trip up to Michigan. May parents joined us up there and we also introduced the girls to many people on my mom's side of the family. After that we took them to Florida for a week. We drove both times because even though flying would be cheaper for us (with my benefits) we didn't want to subject our girls to the germs and varying pressures they'd experience in airplanes. We drove through the night down to Georgia and stayed a day with my parents before driving through the night to get to Florida (where we stayed with Abby's family). It was a great trip and I can't wait until we go back for Christmas. We really miss Florida. Abby has taken TONS of pictures since the last time I've posted. I will give you a few of them here...


Us at my parents' house

The girls with all of their cousins

Alana and Alexis

Alexis (top) and Alana (bottom)


Also, here is a quick video of Alana talking away...

No real issues

So sorry it's taken me so long to get back on here. It's been a busy week. We checked into the hospital for 24 hours of monitoring and the girls didn't really act up at all. They were like a finicky car that acts up until you take it to the shop. :) We ended up getting discharged before the full 24 hours was up and we did go to Michigan. Pictures coming later. The girls still are only eating about 15-20 oz. a day. They used to eat 24 oz. at their peak. We think they're teathing. They show all the symptoms of teathing except fever and swollen gums (we don't think they're swollen anyway). It does seem early for three month (adjusted age) babies to be teething, but it is possible from what we've read. It would explain the loss of appetite. We're also not using Avent bottles as of right now. We spent a lot of money on them, so we're hanging on to them. The girls don't seem to eat as well with them as they did with the hospital provided bottles. We are still on for our trip to FL next week.

Minor setback

Our girls haven't been eating as much as normal for the last few days. We finally called the pediatrician about it yesterday and she set up an appointment for this afternoon. We showed for the appointment and she looked over the girls. Our original plan was to go to the appointment and then head straight from there to Ft. Wayne to stay the night with Abby's great uncle on our way up to Michigan for the weekend. Funny how quickly plans can change. Our doctor watched the girls eat their bottles and said, "I hope you guys aren't in a hurry to go anywhere." Haha, Really? At the end of our time there she said, "I'm going to admit them to Community North (the hospital where they were born) for 24 hours of observation." So, here we are in Indianapolis tonight. We are at home and our girls are in the pediatric unit at Community North.

The first 2 feedings the girls had in the hospital were typical for them for the past few days. They didn't eat much for either one. For the 3rd feeding they hooked up oxygen sensors to see how much oxygen was in their blood while feeding. They gave Alana oxygen with her feeding and she did great. So we though, "Hmmm, maybe they need oxygen while eating." Alexis killed that theory when they decided to see how her saturation would be during feeding WITHOUT oxygen and she ate a bunch and her o2 levels were good. So then the doctor at the hospital says, "Well guys, I honestly don't know what's going on." I don't know if that's good or bad. I think it's good, as I hope that maybe the last few days have just been a fluke. What we know now... in the past week they've each gained 2 oz. (8 oz. would be normal) and they had chest x-rays that showed some minor improvement from the last ones. No one is too concerned and we should have them back with us tomorrow. Keep them in your prayers and hopefully soon this will be just another memory.

Still hanging in there

Things have been great lately. The girls are still sleeping over 8 hours a night. We've been garage saling with them already. We got lots of great stuff for not so much money. I had the girls for several hours by myself today. It went pretty well. They're such good babies. Although, they have both found their fingers and thumb recently. When we go into their room in the morning they're both sucking on either their thumbs or fingers now. Not cool!

We're taking our fist family trip as the four of us out of state this weekend. We're going up to Michigan to see my (Jason's) mom's side of the family. It's exciting. It's also a test run for our long trip down to Florida at the end of the month.

Below is a picture of the girls I took just a few minutes ago when I started writing this post. They're sitting in Bumbo seats that we found at garage sales over the weekend. We're actually going to trade the blue one for another pink one with a person we found on Craigslist. If you have kids and don't know about that site... you're missing out! Also, there is a video below of Alexis sleeping in the swing. I'm assuming she's dreaming because of the sounds she's making. Her facial expression would never give it away, but her voice sure does.

Alana on left and Alexis on right (looking up at mommy).

The 4 of us

We haven't been home alone as a family of four (ever) until today. My sister just left this morning for Georgia. She's been with us since before the girls came home. Also, Abby's mom and then sister and her family have stayed with us since the girls' homecoming. It's been really nice to have all of the family and especially the help that they gave us. It is really nice to be home just the four of us though. It really does feel like we're a family.

Below are a few pictures taken over the past week or so. Also, there is a video of Alana dancing to Michael Jackson as well.


Alexis, Cocoa, and Alana

Alexis and Alana with those dolls from the NICU

Nana, Aunt Sarah, Alexis, and Seth (cousin to the girls)

Anna (cousin), Alexis, Alana, Nana

First Outing

The girls had their first outing last night. We went over to the home of their NICU neighbors (Lucy and Sage). The girls had a blast together and we got to take a few pictures. It's really nice to have friends who have twin girls that are the same age as ours. I hope they'll be friends for a long long time.


Alexis, Alana, Lucy, and Sage (starting in the top right and going clockwise)


Alexis, Sage, Lucy, and Alana