Doctor, Doctor, Doctor

On Monday I took Addy back to Children's for the plastic surgeon to look at her hemangioma. He said that they grow for the first 6 months and slowly, slowly fade away after that. He thought it would take several years. The good news is that it is totally benign and the type that she has, with a wide base rather than a narrow base, means that it should heal very well with minimal extra skin. It could be treated with steroids but we both thought that was not necessary. We don't need to go back for another 6 months. For the hemangioma anyway.

She was really tired the rest of the day.


Shockingly, she took two long naps. I just had to document that unusual event.
The next day we headed back to Children's with Beckett and Addy to be evaluated for their asymmetrical head shape, also known as plagiocephaly but let me mention a little something about the rice cereal first.We are now eating rice cereal in the bottles 4 times a day. So before they were eating 6 oz 4 times a day, probably 4.5 was formula and the other 1.5 was the non-caloric thickener. I replaced the thickener with the rice but I don't think they have figured out yet that they are getting so many more calories because they still seem to want 6 oz but 6 oz with rice is like 1.5 times more calories. I'll give it to them but I was forecasting an incident like this morning.



Eloise woke up at 7:15, about 45 minutes earlier than normal and was screaming for her bottle. So I her a little 2 oz bottle to hold her over. Then she gulped down another 6 oz with rice in about 10 minutes. About 30 minutes later as I was getting ready to leave for Children's with Addy and Beckett she projectile vomited all over herself, her hair, the play yard and the floor. I thought it was too much food for the little pig.

Part of this was my fault because I'm still trying to work out the correct proportions of formula to rice so it may have been a little too thin. But GEEZ. Talk about throwing off my morning schedule.

So off to Children's with the other two. I was a little out of sorts to start with because Beckett only ate 1 of the normal 6 oz he eats at 8 so I was ready for a meltdown when we got there but I had bottles packed in a little cooler. His head looks much better and I think the mittens at night are helping because he doesn't have scratches on his head anymore.

Children's is a great hospital but of course I'm terrified of germs while we are there. While I was there with Addy, a sweet little girl (with piles of snot coming out of her nose) ran up and tried to look in the infant seat by hanging off the side. I almost died yelling "Don't touch, Don't touch." All she wanted to do was see the baby but it is terrifying to bring them to all of these appointments with so many germs.

Anyway I was out of sorts, on the look out for germs, worried about Beckett not eating. While they were examining his head he startled and scratched his cheek so bad it started to bleed and run down his cheek. I put a band-aid on it because I just wanted it covered, protected from germs.
He refused to eat again while we were there and it finally dawned on me what was going on. Constipation from the rice?(I've since added oatmeal to their diet to combat the constipation)

Turns out that Beckett has something called tortacolis meaning that the neck muscles are tighter/shorter on one side causing him to favor his right. His head is slightly turned to the right most of the time. This is causing flattening on the back right side of his head and is pushing his skull forward only on one side. He has something called moderate plagiocephaly where there is a difference of 8 mm between the right and left side of his skull. They also took x-rays of his head and neck to be sure his skull has not prematurely closed. They called and said the xrays were fuzzy but they "don't think" they have closed but come back in 3 months just to be sure. 3 months? I'm not waiting 3 months.

He is going to need a cranial band, or helmet, as I have been calling it.

Addy has something called

Hers is mild and they don't think she will need a cranial band. The big question is if it is covered by insurance. I've heard that many times it is not and these pieces of plastic are very expensive.

The last visit of the week was back to the pediatric pulmonologist for their 3rd round of Synagis shots. Poor babies had 4 shots in 6 days. Surprisingly, Beckett was the bravest. He only cried for about 30 seconds and was done with it. Poor little Eloise cried and cried and turned red and cried. My nanny's daughter, Jenny, was with me and the more Eloise cried, the more clothes Jenny put on her. By the time we got home, Eloise had about 5 layers on, was red faced, crying and sweating. I forgot that Eloise is a little hot tamale and gets even hotter when she is mad. She stopped crying when I took her clothes off.

Now what you have been waiting for. Pictures from the week.

This is what happens whenever I put any of the babies within striking distance of one another. They are really into biting.




Who do you think has the longer reach?

Looks like Beckett won this round.


Eloise- your brother's arm isn't even near you- close your mouth!


A shot of Beckett's scratched cheek. He kind of looks like an old man in flannel pjs watching tv. He's not watching tv but looking in a propped up mirror.


My strong little ox Addy has figured out how to throw a temper tantrum. Bummer. This is what she looks like the moments before the straightens herself like a board and then throws her head back and screams. Impressive for such a little thing. I'm pretty sure if I don't stop her she can tip herself over.


Action shot of Beckett with his mittens before bed. Not very manly to wear mittens with a rough and tough cowboy sleeper.


Bathtime for Eloise. She has slept through her bath before but this time she woke up. The ECI people asked me if they splash and play in the tub- another developmental milestone. I hope they don't get deducted points because they are groggy or sleep through it.

Next week we have 3 more appointments and Beckett starts his physical therapy.

Also, SHE'S BAAAAACK. My mom came back into town tonight so get ready for the onslaught of pictures. We have big plans (as big as they can be with the RSV restrictions) for the babies such as starting solid food which is really going to give my OCD a run for it's money.