13 Days

That's how long it's been since I've posted an update.  WOW!!!  How does 13 days just go by and you not realize it's been that long???   Things have been moving right along here and to be totally honest, I haven't had the laptop out since the last time I posted.  Mom and Dad got me an HP touch pad for my birthday and I usually do the Internet thing on either that or my iPhone, but I can't blog on either of those.  Maybe I just don't know how.  But, whatever it is, here we are.  I was going to try and do all the posts I've missed in one, but I think I'll just randomly throw out what has been happening here so that we can move forward.  I have some good posts planned that I need to get to.

So, shall we???

Sid's Uncle, Danny, passed away on October 10th.  He had been sick, but this was a bit unexpected as he was doing ok when he passed.  Visitation was held on the 11th and the funeral on the 12th.  Suzette kept all three girls while we went to visitation, it was in Jackson (Madison), but I stayed home on Wednesday with the babies.  I am saddened by this loss, as he was only 53 years old and left behind a wife, a daughter, and 3 grandchildren, and his mother, which is Sid's grandmother.  He will be missed.

The babies turned 2 months old on the 12th. They had a doctor's appointment for that day but I rescheduled it due to the funeral and not knowing what our plans would be.  Sid's grandmother came to town before the appointment and so she went with me to the doctor's appointment on Friday, October 14th.  It was a good visit to the doctor but I was truly shocked at what the girls weighed.  Ellie weighed 7.9, which was 3.3 pounds up from her birth weight.  Elissa, who has to be the biggest baby I've ever seen, weighed 10.6, which was 5 pounds up from her birth weight.  She currently takes 5.5 ounces every 4 hours with about 4 teaspoons of rice.  Ellie takes about 3.5 ounces every 4 hours with about 3 teaspoons of rice. Ellie never really acts hungry or fusses much but Elissa reminds us about 3 hours that it's about time to eat.  Both girls got 3 shots each and one oral vaccine.  I started giving them tylenol on Thursday before the appointment and continued about 24 hours afterwards.  I don't think either girl really felt bad and neither of them cried much at all.  I was glad of that, but super glad to have Sid's grandmother with us to help me calm them as our doctor's office makes the mom sort of hold them from the arms while they are getting the shots.  I would have hated to to have to put one down right after the shots in order to hold the other.

While I was talking to the doctor, I started to give Elissa a bottle and the doctor noticed the noise that
Elissa was making while eating.  I told her she had made the same noise since the NICU and they told me it was normal.  She didn't think it was too normal.  That, paired with the fact that she still heard the heart murmur on her, lead her to believe we needed some tests done.  She scheduled a heart ECHO for Elissa and an upper GI study on both girls.  I asked about Ellie's foot turning out and she assured me it was way too early to be concerned with it.  I was sort of shocked to hear that but I'll trust her.

Mom and Dad came to town on Friday night and stayed the weekend.  Mom, Dad, and Sid went to the ballgame on Saturday and Bailey stayed with Nene.  The babies and I hung out at home.

Sunday night, Bailey started running a temp. Sid took her to the doctor on Monday morning, but all tests were negative and I'm guessing she just had the seasonal crud.  We did breathing treatments and oral steroids for the week, which equaled not so much fun.  Bailey acts like she feels terrible when we have to do those medications. She doesn't eat or sleep and runs around like a mad woman.  I'm sure with the cold weather moving in, we'll be spending lots of time with the breathing treatment machine.  Speaking of Bailey, she is still doing dance on Tuesday afternoons and loving every minute of it. I believe she has learned more there in the 3 weeks she has been going than she has from us or daycare in all these years combined.  They don't let parents stay so I really don't know what she does while there, but there must be some talented teachers teaching age appropriate skills and I have been very impressed.

Ellie seemed to have developed something like colic on Saturday night and it continued on through the weekend and early week.  She was totally fine all day long and then right after her night bottle, around 7 pm or so, she'd just freak out and scream and scream and scream.  I thought at first she was constipated, then I thought maybe it was gas, but by Monday night of her doing the same thing, I had come to terms with the fact that it was probably colic.  Kylie said it was a little late for colic, as she had just turned 9 weeks old, but adjusted age would only put her 2 weeks.  So we really weren't sure.  Monday night was the worst. It didn't matter what I did, she just screamed and screamed.  So loud, in fact, that her cry would vibrate my ear drum.  It took me close to two hours to get her calmed down and asleep on Monday night.

Tuesday was our day for the tests so Sid's grandmother came and stayed Monday night and when with us.  Mammaw has had a lot on her the past few months and with Sid's uncle just passing, I know she was worn out.  But I could not have made the trip to have the tests done without her.  The babies couldn't eat 4-5 hours before the GI study.  So I knew we'd have to feed them, plus only Elissa had to have the ECHO and someone needed to stay with Ellie during that.  We didn't find out much, well I guess we did find stuff out, but nothing that really answered any questions we might have.  Elissa does still have a PDA and PFO, both of which are valves in her heart that should be closed and aren't.  Both Elissa and Ellie have the correct anatomy as far as eating and all that goes, like they swallow their formula and it goes down their esophagus and into the stomach and large intestine (maybe small, I'm really not sure) correctly.  The radiologist doing the test didn't want to really expose them to any more radiation than she had to, she we don't know about the degree of reflux on either.  Ellie showed none in the 1 minute she watched her, but Elissa did.  Still, we don't know the degree, which was one thing I thought we were doing the test for.  Anyway, due to the noises that Elissa exhibits, which is strider when she inhales, and the fact that still has the heart murmur with what I describe as severe reflux, the doctor has referred us on to the cardiologist and the ENT for an upper airway scope.  I'm going to write more on this later, but I'll just say the mere thought is going me some major internal anxiety.  She stated she wants to rule out subglotic stynosis (which is what Bailey had) and something called tracheomalchia.  I know I have all those misspelled, but that later one is what Bailey's pediatrician thought she had before she went in to respiratory distress.  We don't have appointments yet, but I plan to call the doctor's office tomorrow to see what the problem is.

Ellie's colic like symptoms continued on through the week and on Thursday, she screamed all day long and would not take a bottle.  I tried to change her formula to the one's for colic and she wouldn't take those either.  Finally, that afternoon, after she hadn't slept all day and done nothing but scream, I took her to the doctor.  She ran a few tests, which were all negative and really didn't have any answers for me either, other than it could be reflux, and agreed with Kylie that the stage for colic had already passed us by.  That afternoon, I doubled up on her reflux medicine, which I may or may not have been really good about giving all the time, and gave her gas drops.  She didn't make one noise on Thursday night.  But in the middle of the night, she did some things that made me realize that reflux was our problem.  So I made sure to give her both reflux medicines (and gas drops at every bottle just in case) everyday since then and she has been back to her sweet little cuddly self and going right on to sleep. I also upped the amount of rice I was putting in her bottles and sat her more up-right to take her bottles. I'm very thankful that he got over it and for those that have babies with true colic that last for weeks and months, I am so very sorry.  I was almost in tears some nights before I could get her to bed.

The weekend this weekend has been laid back.  Sid and Bailey carved a pumpkin yesterday and we went to Nene and Jerry's tonight for vegetable soup.

I plan to post some pictures of the girls and their Halloween attire this week and some pictures from the camera that I have.  I have a fun give away coming up, too, so you don't want to miss that.  Time is just flying by and we are nearing the holiday season.  I can't believe that this year we have 3 little miracles to celebrate with.  Life is getting back to some what normal, I guess our new normal.  Looking for job opportunities now that babies are settled into somewhat of a schedule and I know the right thing will come along soon.  But for now, that's what is happening at our house and where we've been.  I'll be much better at posting now so don't give up on me.  And believe me, you don't want to miss a great give away coming up just in time for you to do a little of that holiday shopping!!!!