On Tuesday, Lucy headed back to school and we had our developmental follow up appointment for the boys. Charlie weighed in at 15 lbs, 12 oz (He had been 15lbs, 9 oz the Friday before at our doctor's appointment.) and he was 27 inches long. Alex weighed in at 15 lbs, 11 oz (He was also 15 lbs, 9 oz at the doctor's appointment.) and was also 27 inches long. They met with an OT, a PT and an RN who played with them for a while to test their abilities. They were so pleased with how well both boys were doing - they tested at the average abilities of an 8 1/2 month old. Both boys had started crawling the week before so that definitely boosted their score. This is right in between their chronological age and their adjusted age. We shared our concern with them about their eating and weight gain (or lack there of!). All of them agreed that the boys are just fine - what they are doing now is typical of their adjusted age and they will get it in time. While their weight is on the small end, they in no way are malnourished - they definitely have some chunk on their cute little thighs! They said they will get it with time and to just go with the suggestions from their pediatrician but they didn't need any kind of other intervention. That had been my thought, but it was nice to hear it from professionals who worked with preemies everyday! After that appointment, we (quickly!) ran to Kohls so I could return a dress and get some new running shoes. That was about it for the boys that day.
Wednesdays are always a little hectic because those are the days that Michael is gone the most. Not a lot happened on Wednesday, but I was worn out at the end of the day after chasing these crawling boys! I ended up getting an awful sinus headache around dinner time and ended up going to bed very early. Of course, for some reason unknown to us, (Teething? Growth spurt? Over tired from crawling? Just trying to throw Mom and Dad off their game?), the boys have decided to go back to their sleeping from 7-11, tossing and turning and fussing from 11-3, eating at 3 and getting up for good at 6. So sleep has been at a premium for the grownups in this house. . .
I knew that Thursday would be a crazy day because Michael was going to be gone to Gastonia all day for a meeting. Thursdays are also my days to do my Kindermusik practicum. (Yes, that's right - I'm working on getting my license right now to teach in my "spare time.") We had a sitter lined up for the boys during my afternoon class since Lucy would be coming with me. I knew that my day would be hectic, but things didn't work out like I thought they would. My morning had about done me in. . . .these wild little men just couldn't stay in one place. They wanted to go in opposite directions towards everything that they weren't supposed to play with. It was impossible to get them to focus on any one activity for any amount of time! Then we finally made it to lunch and I decided that I would try feeding Charlie some banana yogurt. At our appointment at the pediatricians' last week, he felt like the boys weren't actually allergic to dairy, especially since Alex's eczema hasn't gone away completely. He told me to try to reintroduce dairy with them over the weekend. I had a milkshake (MMM) which caused Alex to break out again but didn't seem to affect Charlie. Our pediatrician also recommended yogurt to help boost their calorie intake. I thought it would be ok with Charlie since he didn't react to the milkshake. I fed him a couple of bites and then turned to give Alex a little bit of squash. By the time I turned back to Charlie, his face was red with tiny white spots and he was rubbing away at his eyes. His right eye was looking a little swollen but it was hard to tell whether that was from rubbing or a reaction. He was breathing fine, but you could tell he was upset and uncomfortable. I called the pediatrician and they of course, wanted to see him just to be on the safe side. That meant that I had to call my practicum class participants and cancel class while I drove to South Asheville with the boys. I was stressed and worried and even though I knew that Charlie was doing ok because his breathing wasn't hindered at all, I was a bit of a mess. All I kept thinking was, "What if it was an actual emergency? How in the world could I do what I needed to and still take care of the other boy and Lucy (who was at school)?" It made me so thankful that a month from now we'll be moving close to family. I like to think I can handle everything by myself, but on Thursday, it really would have been nice to have my mom nearby as I stressed out. (She helped calm me down though over the phone - thanks, Mom!) After all that excitement, I was glad to see Thursday come to a close. The boys didn't get an afternoon nap in the midst of all that excitement so they were both falling asleep before they even got their final bottle at 6:00!
We made sure to keep our Friday pretty laid back. Lucy went to school and then we went out to eat (very early!) that night. Today was another easy day . . . or we planned for it to be. Both boys were extremely needy and clingy today and neither one would take a good morning or afternoon nap. I had to
Tomorrow starts a new week. I'm hoping with nothing on our calendar, it should be an easier week for us all. I've got to catch up on cleaning and packing and basically everything around here next week. I feel like I got NOTHING done this week . . . and I've got to try and get some more things packed or we will be in trouble come the end of June!!
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