Snapshot

It seems like I didn’t have much time to take many pictures in the month of January! Work and life got the best of me. I’ll share a few photos below…

We said goodbye to bottles in January! I had lingered on retiring bottles because part of me wants them to stay babies! But by mid-January, it was clear they were ready. Violet started drinking only an ounce or two and refusing the rest. Layla would drink more, but didn’t seem all that interested. They were eating more at dinnertime and getting fuller bellies, so we figured they were ready. One night we just decided to put them in bed and see what happened. I was afraid they’d wake up starving at midnight, but they slept all night and have ever since. They are seriously the BEST sleepers. They’ve been sleeping through the night for a year now, and I can only remember getting up in the middle of the night once (and that’s because Layla threw up in her crib). We are very, very lucky that they retired bottles so easily.

Here they are lounging on their animal pillows one night just before weaning, while their dad was not home:

 

A few weeks ago, I ordered some nap mats for them to use at daycare. When they arrived, their daddy decided that they needed to try them out to make sure they wouldn’t be swallowed up in the fabric. They LOVED them and stayed bundled up inside for several minutes.

I’m going to try to take more photos this month to share!

Also, I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that they both say “Mama” and “Dada.” Talk about heart melting! Every morning that they’re home with me and my husband is at work, Violet looks around and asks, “Dada?” Layla is also saying “No” a lot. She hears it often enough, it does not surprise me! 🙂

 

New Pictures!

What we’ve been up to in December…

 

Violet practicing standing just before heading out to our favorite local Thai food restaurant!

 

 

 

Layla showing off her new walking skills

Layla giggling while I tickled her.

Violet giving me some giggles before heading out to see Santa Claus.

Layla’s pretty green eyes.

Violet practicing standing in her new chair.

 

The Latest–9 Months

I have been thinking about blogging, but it seemed overwhelming to sit down and try to cover everything that has been going on with us. And honestly, I wasn’t sure anyone was even reading this, so I wasn’t sure I wanted to bother. Thanks to Mini for commenting so I know at least someone is out there. Here goes…

Health

The biggest thing going on health-wise is that Violet has a new diagnosis: craniosynostosis. This is a birth defect in which some bones in her skull have fused too early. Her pediatrician diagnosed her after I broached the subject of her funny-shaped skull, and she referred us to a cranio-facial specialist. We saw the specialist last week, and we have a CT scan scheduled for this Thursday and should receive the results the same day. There are different types of this condition, and depending on what’s going on with her bones and brain, she may either need surgery or a helmet. The surgery sounds terrible (they take out a piece of her skull so that her brain has room to grow), and we’ve read that the first few days afterwards are rough, but babies are resilient and recover well. The helmet doesn’t sound like much fun either, but left untreated, she could have seizures or go blind. Clearly, we have to treat it. She will be sedated for the CT because she has to be completely still in the machine.

We are still fracture-free (knock on wood) since November 5th and 6th! There have been many, many situations lately that could have easily caused a fracture for an OI baby–a leg has become stuck between a crib slat (this happened yesterday, and the breathable bumper immediately went back on the cribs), or we’ve struggled to push the babies’ legs through a jumperoo or exersaucer. And our babies’ bones have stayed strong and unbroken through these incidents, which is excellent.

They received their 5th Pamidronate infusion last Tuesday at the children’s hospital in Omaha. Both babies have opinions now and were not happy about getting an IV. My husband had to work, so I drove there solo and dealt with the IV placements and immediate aftermath by myself. A few hours later, my dad stopped by to visit and ended up just staying the rest of the time. The College World Series was in full-swing in Omaha, and both teams that competed in the finals–University of Arizona and University of South Carolina–stopped by our room to visit. My dad loves baseball and was so thrilled to meet them, and they gave us signed baseballs that my husband was excited about. We didn’t get any pictures with the South Carolina team, but the Arizona starting shortstop and star pitcher each held a baby, and we snapped a few pictures. It made a long day a little more exciting, and I think the babies enjoyed the distraction.

An orthotist measured Violet today for a new clubfoot brace because she has pretty much outgrown the one she received in February. Her current one was custom-made for her and is especially lightweight, but her orthopedist thinks she is strong enough now to go with a standard brace. So we are going with the Ponsetti shoes and bar. We should be getting it in the next few weeks. She only has to wear it at night at this point, so hopefully it won’t be too bothersome for her. The bar is metal and is quite a bit heavier than her current carbonfiber one, but the advantage is that her current brace is experimental while her new one is proven to aid in clubfoot correction. She still has a tendency to pull her feet inward, and I have some fear of relapse. Her orthopedist always tries to reassure me by saying that worst-case scenario, if he thinks her feet are relapsing, he will cast her for two weeks or perform a tendon transfer surgery. He says this in the most nonchalant way possible. Obviously he has never tried to entertain a child in double casts or comfort a baby who has just become awake after surgery. I’m hoping the Ponsetti shoes and bar will continue to straighten out her feet. Currently the little Houdini slips out of her shoes every single morning when she wakes up, so it’s getting more and more difficult to keep them on her feet.

Layla is teething and recently had a miserable cold, but she is doing really well otherwise. I’ll post more about her below.

In my last post, I mentioned that we sent off Violet’s blood for DNA testing to receive an official OI diagnosis. There are many different types of OI, and while our symptoms are characterized as Type I, we wanted confirmation. Plus, if anyone ever becomes suspicious that our babies are suffering abuse or something like that, we can present the results as evidence. Anyway, the results are in, and we have a gene mutation that has never been described before. Similar mutations do cause OI, so the conclusive results are that she does have OI, but they cannot match her to a type because she doesn’t fit any of the existing categories. Very interesting. This doesn’t really mean anything, except that any geneticist would probably be fascinated by our DNA. We have a long family history of this condition (dating back to at least the Civil War era), and Violet was the first to have her DNA tested, so this is significant for our family.

Are you exhausted yet? Sometimes I am amazed at all of the medical appointments on our calendar, but we remind ourselves that at least none of these issues hinges on their survival. Everything is cosmetic or maintenance, and not life-or-death. In that sense, we are very lucky.

Milestones

V&L turned 9 months old on June 13, and developmentally they are doing great! A physical therapist works with them bi-weekly to improve their strength and meet milestones.

Violet is sitting up (as well as sitting herself up) with ease. She rocks on her hands and knees, but hasn’t connected the dots yet. She rolls and gets around pretty easily. She is discovering her voice and lately has been screeching at the top of her lungs randomly. It’s an assault to our ears, but we love it. She went through several weeks of repeatedly saying “ma-ma-ma-ma,” but lately we can’t get her to say it. We must have worn out our welcome by constantly requesting that she say it. She has some stranger anxiety and separation anxiety, which is new over the past week or so. She calms down instantly when I pick her up, which makes me feel like such a mom. And reminds me of how lucky I am! She weighs 18 lbs 5 oz and has plenty of rolls, and she’s 26.5″ long. She still has her same two bottom teeth, with no signs yet of the top two front teeth. She loves jumping in the Jumperoo, loves sitting in front of a basket of toys and exploring every angle of every toy. She loves tags on things. She loves splashing in the bathtub. She makes the funniest “mean” face where she scrunches her face up like an old lady and rapidly inhales/exhales. My husband’s family says he used to do the same thing. And speaking of my husband, she looks exactly like him. Everyone remarks on it when they see her.

Layla looks exactly like me, except she has my husband’s long eyelashes. There is no question that CCRM grabbed the correct tube of embryos! Layla army crawls across the floor and gets better at it daily. She also gets on her hands and knees and rocks, and maybe seems a little closer to figuring this out than Violet. She is suddenly sitting up with ease, finally! She says “da-da-da” (music to my husband’s ears). She is clapping, which is new as of last Friday. She also likes clicking her tongue to mimic us and also shaking her head back and forth. She is not as loud as Violet, but she cries a lot more forcefully. She doesn’t really have the stranger/separation anxiety yet and is pretty gung-ho about everyone who pays attention to her. She also loves splashing in the bathtub and breaks into a huge smile while we set her in the water. She has her two bottom front teeth, and now the top left front tooth is very nearly breaking through. She has been impossible the last two days because of it. I stay patient by reminding myself that it’s just a phase. : ) Layla is more dramatic and more demanding than Violet. She definitely lets us know when she needs something and when she’s not happy with something. She weighs 18 lbs 8.9 oz, so she is now 3 ounces heavier than Violet! She was almost two pounds smaller at birth, so she has really caught up. She’s a quarter inch shorter–26.25″ long.

Both babies are eating lots of fruits and veggies now, along with puffs and Cheerios. I think they’ve tried 18 foods now. Their favorite food seems to be bananas. They still sleep all night in their own crib–I don’t remember the last time either of them woke up in the middle of the night. We did the cry it out method, and it worked so quickly. It was the right decision for us.

Life in General

We have been tested so much this year, and as rewarding as it has been, it has also been exhausting and hard. I think it has taken a huge toll on me, but I just keep going and put one foot in front of the other. That’s all I can do. It has probably taken a toll on our marriage, but we are still going strong. Because I don’t work (although I am looking for a job now that the babies appear strong enough for daycare!), I shoulder the brunt of these medical appointments. I take them for shots, take them for clubfoot stuff, take them for their infusions, take them to the cranio-facial specialist, help with physical therapy, etc. Not to mention just the day-to-day care that goes along with 9-month-old twins. It can be a very lonely job. I am doing the best I can, but know that I could do better. When I return to work, my husband and I will share the medical stuff so that neither of us is taking too much time off from work, so I think that will help us to be more on the same page. I feel that I am my own very last priority, and it really shows in my appearance and my energy level. I need to work on that. My husband is wonderful and encourages me to do things for myself, but I just don’t have the energy most of the time. I am going to do better.

Pictures

#1–Playing on the floor together.
#2–Studying a Puff the first time we gave them one.
#3–Layla hanging out on the deck on a nice, breezy evening.
#4–Violet wearing her daddy’s baseball cap.
#5–Layla meeting University of Arizona’s starting shortstop Alex Mejia at Omaha Children’s during a Pamidronate infusion.
#6–Violet meeting Arizona’s star pitcher Konner Wade at Omaha Children’s the same day.

Sickness and Six Months!

On Tuesday, Violet and Layla turned six months old! I can hardly believe it. I remember when they were just born, wondering what their personalities would be like at six months. And here we are!

Today we visited the pediatrician for their six month well visit. Violet weighed in officially at 14 lbs 12.3 oz, which is in the 25th percentile. She seems so chunky to me–I thought for sure she would be higher up on the scale! Her approximate length was 24.75″, which is in the 15th percentile. The nurse didn’t write down her head circumference this time, so I’m not sure of the exact number, but her doctor remarked that she is very proportionate. So that is good!

Layla weighed in officially at 14 lbs 3 oz, which is in the 16th percentile. She’s only about 9 oz lighter than her sister now! At birth there was nearly 2 lbs difference between them. And over the last few appointments, she has consistently weighed about 1 lb less. She’s definitely catching up now. Her approximate length was 23.25″, which is the 1st percentile. We don’t pull much to straighten out her leg, so she’s likely a little longer than that. But her mom and dad (and our families) were not blessed with height, so we expect her to follow suit. Again, no head circumference recorded, but her growth was nice and steady on the chart.

Unfortunately, Layla spent her six-month birthday in the hospital! She started to get an upper respiratory infection about a week ago. By this past Saturday morning, she sounded pretty awful, so I took her to the pediatrician’s office. A nurse practitioner listened to her lungs, looked in her ears, and looked down her throat. She felt like it was just a normal cold and that it would clear up. By Monday evening, she sounded SO much worse. She was wheezing terribly and looked awful. We had scheduled their six-month well visit for Tuesday afternoon, so we debated about whether to wait until the next day’s appointment or take her immediately to urgent care. If you have read my writing for long, you know we’re “better safe than sorry” type of people. So I packed her up and headed to a pediatric urgent care facility.

Initially, the urgent care facility wanted to send us straight to the hospital. I was very surprised by this, as I thought I was overreacting by even taking her to urgent care. The nursing staff came into the lobby and checked Layla’s oxygen level and pulse, and then they decided to treat her. A doctor came in and showed me how Layla was breathing rapidly and having retractions. She then diagnosed her with bronchiolitis caused by RSV. We decided to stick a catheter tube down her nostrils and suction out some of the mucus. Layla really hated that, and screamed. (I didn’t blame her!) Afterwards they did an eight-minute breathing treatment. Then the doctor came back in and re-examined her. She decided that not enough progress had been made, and she thought Layla should be within arm’s reach of a respiratory therapist “just in case.” That is scary to hear!

We are lucky to have a great children’s hospital in our city, so we left urgent care and I drove her straight there. The respiratory therapist came in minutes after we were admitted to stick the catheter tube down her nose again and suction out more mucus. The gunk was so thick, it kept plugging up the tube! She screamed some more, and I felt so badly for her. What an awful night! She was totally exhausted and fell asleep very quickly after that. It was after midnight, so I was happy she was able to get some rest. They had told me that she may need an oxygen mask while she slept if her oxygen level dipped below 90, but I peeked at it off and on all night and saw levels of 91 or higher. The oxygen was never needed.

On Tuesday, she slept until about 9:30. The suctioning of her nose continued and the wheezing persisted, but I could see that we had started to turn a corner. The on-call pediatrician arrived to say that she was dehydrated and would need a feeding tube if she did not show immediate improvement! I was very shocked to hear that. She had not been demanding bottles, but I was offering them to her, and she was eating at least 2/3 or more of each one. Apparently her body was working overtime and using her fluids. Thankfully, rehydration by tube was never necessary. Throughout the day, she was very hyper–kicking her legs like crazy and squawking, so although the nurses kept telling me that she may need to stay one more night, I figured they would probably let her come home. And around 4pm, we got our get-out-of-jail card.

Since she came home, per the doctor’s instructions, we’ve been shooting saline spray up her nose before each feeding, waiting one full minute, then using the bulb suction to get more mucus out. This approach has been working pretty well, and she has improved each day. Still congested, still coughing up junk, but much better. RSV is some nasty stuff!

Lovely Layla

Some of you have commented that I haven’t mentioned Layla much lately. This is a good thing, because it means she has been healthy! My posts have been very medical-focused because we have had SO many medical appointments to attend. And luckily, our little Baby B has been doing very well and has been able to relax much of the time while her sister is poked and prodded by doctors.

Over the last month, Layla has been spending more time in her Bumbo seat. She didn’t like it much at the beginning of February, but she is slowly but surely beginning to enjoy it a little bit.

She really notices her sister now, smiles at her and wants to hold hands. Here they are lounging on our bed in February.

She takes tummy time very seriously and is finally pushing up a bit.

She has started to enjoy her exersaucer a lot, although it wears her out to sit up and play!

She looks exactly like I did as a baby, but she has her daddy’s eyelashes!

This picture was taken in November, but someone was holding a picture of me as a baby next to Layla to show our similarities.

She hung out on the couch with her sister while snow fell outside last week.

At the infusion center last Tuesday, she weighed in at almost 14.5 lbs. I’ll post her official stats after we visit the pediatrician next week for their 6-month well visit.

She has learned how to shake her head back and forth. Last weekend, our beloved Kansas Jayhawks played their rivals, the Missouri Tigers, in basketball. My mom was visiting and asked Layla, “Will Missouri win this game?” and Layla shook her head no! The timing was a complete coincidence because she doesn’t do this on command yet, but we all laughed. My mom said, “That’s what it takes to get a bottle around here!” And thankfully, Layla was correct!

She is much more social than Violet. We’re sure that she will talk first. Violet saves her energy and lets Layla cry for the both of them in the mornings when they wake up. Layla has a temper and can be a bit of a drama queen. However, then she’ll go through something like getting an IV without even flinching. She surprises me sometimes.

Layla took very quickly to eating oatmeal from a spoon. She eats 8 oz bottles of formula, probably 6-7 of them per day. She sleeps while lying on her side. She is ticklish and giggles hysterically when we tickle her. Sometimes she has giggle fits when we just look at her, which is hilarious. She flashes huge smiles at our two doggies when they come close to her, although she has yet to reach out for them. She LOVES music and immediately stops crying and smiles when we sing to her. She especially likes “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “You Are My Sunshine.” She also likes it when I say “ma-ma-ma-ma” to her. We nicknamed her “Juniebug,” I guess because her middle name is June. I’m sure she will hate this nickname as a pre-teen. : )

Nothing in life has ever and could ever make me happier than becoming the mama of these two precious girls. They + their daddy have my entire heart, and I am so excited to continue watching them grow up.

5 Months!

Today my babies turned five months old! I can’t believe it. Time is really starting to fly.

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I’m on the right in this photo with Violet. My hubby is in the middle with Layla. See how much the babies look alike? Their similarities are pretty amazing at this age. My hubby’s sister is to the far left with her baby, B–my SIL tested positive the day after we announced our news to my hubby’s family last February! Seemed like the end of the world at the time, but a year later all is forgotten. The baby between us adults is our 1-year-old niece… the one that made me feel so devastated when our BIL and SIL announced their pregnancy at Father’s Day 2010… Ugh! What an awful day, but in hindsight, I’m glad they came first. It allowed us to adjust to the idea of having kids, because we have a niece who came seven months before. Everything happens for a reason–at least for us.

The babies are changing each and every day. A few days ago, Violet started extending her legs up (despite her casts!) and touching her feet a bit. Still not a regular occurrence, but good news nonetheless. Tonight we put both babies on their bellies, and they each (to some extent) pushed up on their elbows. They are behind on this skill, but at least progress is being made. As recently as a week ago, they were not capable of pushing up at all. My eyes filled with tears when I saw Layla push up! I’m hoping the progress continues. They are becoming more alert–enjoying my singing, playing with toys and reaching to scratch on things like my shiny shirt, our couch pillows, glittery cards. They both love scratching the side of their pack and play when we’re changing their diapers. Tonight they were both turning onto their sides, which was amazing because they were synchronized–both were turning onto their own right side. I think twins have a special vibe! They recognize bottles and follow me with their eyes when I have to go up to the second floor. My hubby keeps remarking on how they are developing features they will probably possess in adulthood. Incredible.

Today I scheduled their next Pamidronate infusion (on the 28th), and we return on Wednesday for Violet’s post-tenotomy check-up. We meet with the specialist who will make her feet braces and not 100% sure where we go from there.