Rollercoaster

The roller coaster of high order multiples and premature babies continues. After the babies left the NICU and were cleared by all of the specialists (pediatric ophthalmologist, pediatric gastroenterologist, and a cardiologist not to mention hernia surgery) I knew there would be occasional bumps but some weeks are rougher than others.

Let’s start with Mr. Beckett.

He has been so compliant with his helmet that we were told that it is ready to come off- only when he is able to sit up by himself. He can sit up by himself but is still pretty wobbly. He really needs to be spending more time sitting up than horizontal because otherwise his head is just going to get flat again. He is really such a sweetheart about this stinky helmet. He doesn’t fuss too much about it even when he has a heat rash and wakes up soaking wet. Don’t forget the little boy is also teething so the fact that he is so good natured has really been my savior.

Now on to Ms. Addycakes (who by the way will probably be crawling in the next few days).

For several months she has had some abnormal leg movements when you stand her up. Mostly she scissors her legs and stands on her toes and will kick her left leg out like she is a ballerina. When she was evaluated in December by developmental specialists, they were a little concerned about these movements. I know that leg scissoring can be a sign of a brain injury so I’ve been secretly watching it and it was not resolving so I finally called to have another evaluation before I had a total nervous breakdown. She had a full gross motor and neurological evaluation yesterday with a developmental pediatrician to assess for injury or damage and they decided she just has very high tone in one leg and that it should resolve on its own. If they were concerned about major complications they warned me that she would have a brain MRI to find the area of injury. But it turned out that she just likes to kick her legs and walk on her toes. Phew!!!! Of course they can’t tell me 100% but everything else looked great and her development is ahead of expectations.

It also appears that the hemangioma on this beautiful animated little girl is growing.

As you may remember, it is expected to grow for up to 6 months and then slowly involutes and eventually go away after several years but further growth was not expected. The color is also becoming slightly purpler. So she went back to the plastic surgeon today. After comparing the pictures from December it appears that it is growing but proportionally to her head growth. The darker color is a sign that it is ever so slowly going to start to disappear. I guess it will get darker purple then gray and then go away. But if not, she will need some laser treatment or surgery but not until she is 4 or 5. I’ve heard people say that is looks painful but it is not. It bothers me way more than her and we have to be thankful it is not hindering her eyesight.

And on to my little dolly, Eloise.

I have been noticing that she looks a little cross-eyed in all of her pictures lately. At first I thought it was just a coincidence and then on Friday I carefully watched her eye movement and figured out that she certainly does have one eye that lags a little from the other. So she is going to the pediatric ophthalmologist on Tuesday to get checked out. I’m guessing she has something called strabismus which is when the eyes are not lined up.

One more look at it...

Our life is not all medical talk and worry. Most of our life is like these pictures my mom took while she was here. This is a more accurate reflection of our daily life with this beautiful little creatures.

I LOVE this picture. I'm not really sure why Rich is showing Eloise something on his blackberry but you can see how little she is. I think she looks too cute in little tee shirts and jeans.

I'm trying to teach them to drink from a regular glass. It is supposed to help with speech development. Eloise is nuts about drinking from a glass. The girl likes to talk.

No I didn't get another wig for the girls. This is my hair on Eloise. We were just trying to see what she would look like with hair. Hard to tell with bangs like that.

"Let me see that dress. I have one just like that. You better not be wearing mine." -Addy

"Hey, what is that? I'm thirsty too." -Addy
"I'm bigger and stronger." -Addy (but apparently not smarter)

"I don't even know what just happened."- Eloise

My helpful little guy staying out of the fights.

Now this is how we got pee all over the blankets...

(I love that you can see me in the background trying to entertain them in order to get a picture)

"Mom!!!!! They said they are giving me girl germs and cooties." -Beckett

The best for last.

All the worry, all the work, all the stress.

Think it's worth every second?

You look at this picture and tell me.