Babies Having Babies

Here we are with some of my best high school girlfriends, Donna, Lisa, and Jessie (and Aidan). In less than 7 months two more will join the crowd! That's a lot of babies:)

Sitting Like a Big Girl

Look at Holly sitting up playing like a big girl! The girls had their one-year check up with the pediatrician on Friday. Holland weighs 15 pounds 3.5 ounces and is 27 inches long. Eden weighs 13 pounds 7.5 ounces, and is 26 inches long. Their head circumferences are the same at 42cm (if I remember correctly). The pediatrician charts the girls growth on a normal curve based on their actual age of 12 months. Their head circumferences are actually on the chart now, around the 3rd percentile. Their lengths are approaching the curve. We still have quite a ways to go on weight, but they are still showing an accelerated growth pattern which is good. I remember one of the neonatologists at St. Joe's saying that we should give them one year for each month that they were premature before expecting them to "catch up" with their same age peers. This means that around age 4 they should be about the same size as other full term 4-year-olds. Of, course, genetics also plays a huge roll in how big they will be and with John and I as their parents, I doubt they will be very big girls, even if they had been born full term:)

Eden had her MRI today and it went pretty well. She had to be poked 3 times before they got the IV in, which of course I hated. I held up pretty well for the first attempt, but had to sit down to keep from passing out during the next two tries. It's so hard for me to see her in any pain. No matter how much I think I have it together, I always end up in tears. The rest of the procedure wasn't bad. She did better with the sedation and didn't choke on the medicine. Also, she woke up a lot easier and stayed awake playing through the evening. She even finished a couple of bottles before going to sleep.

The MRI was pretty much the last thing we had to finish before getting a surgery date scheduled for Eden's cochlear implant. All that is left now is to get approval from the insurance company and find out how much they are going to pay. We recently learned that our insurance usually pays 80% of the costs, which could leave us responsible for about 20K. If that is the case, we will apply for Children's Special Health Care Services, which will cost just over 7K for the year and will cover whatever the insurance doesn't. The BEST case scenario would be that MY insurance, which will go into effect when I go back to work, will pick up whatever John's insurance doesn't cover and we won't have to pay anything out of pocket. It's all very confusing. Luckily the people at the Cochlear Implant Program have been very helpful in navigating the whole insurace issue with us. Frankly, the whole thing gives me a headache. We're still working on straightening out the 10K worth of hospital/doctor bills that we've accumulated over the past year! Oh well, it's just money, right? And look at what I have to show for it...two beautiful healthy babies!

Happy 1st Birthday Holland and Eden!

We officially survived the first year! Yay! Yesterday we threw a big bash in honor of Holland and Eden, complete with a tent, moonwalk, kiddie pool, sprinkler, a whole lotta food, and about 175 of our nearest and dearest. Some might think we went a little overboard for a first birthday, but I say WE EARNED IT! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who came, to those who brought gifts, and for the donations people made to the Saint Joseph Mercy NICU and the March of Dimes. Also thank you to our friends online who have sent messages wishing Holland and Eden a happy birthday. We appreciate the love and support so much more than we could ever say.

Splish Splash!

Post Eye Surgery

Take a look at the new and improved Holland. Doesn't she look great? Just when we thought she couldn't possibly get any cuter! And just for fun, here is a picture of Eden getting her first drum lesson from Daddy.

CT Scan and Eye Surgery

Holland had her eye surgery this morning. Everything went as well as could be expected and she is now home recuperating. In technical terms she had a "bilateral medial rectus recession." This basically means that the eye doctor moved the muscles on the inside of both eyes to straighten them. Hopefully this will prevent her from starting to favor one eye over the other and developing amblyopia, or loss of vision in the other eye. With a little work, it should also help her to start using her eyes better together. Holland was under general anesthesia for the surgery. They gave her gas through a mask to put her to sleep before putting in an IV. I was glad about that because I had spent a lot of time worrying about the IV. Holland loves Dr. Tisch and was all smiles when she carried her back to surgery. She even had some smiles for her after waking up from the anesthesia. All in all it wasn't too bad of an experience. Holly was a little crabby waking up, her eyes are really bloodshot on the insides, and are swollen and really watery. When she gets tired she tries to rub her eyes and I can tell that they are sore. I feel really terrible when she cries because I can't stand the thought of her being in pain. One thing we all know is that Holland is one tough little gal.

After a nice long afternoon nap, Holland woke up in a good mood and was ready to play. She kept staring at Eden and smiling at every move she made. It was so funny watching them because Holland kept wanting whatever toy Eden had. She would drop her toy over the edge of the table and try to grab Eden's toy. Eden has quite a strong will though and can definitely hold her own!

Last week Eden had her first appointments with the cochlear implant team at U of M, and with the surgeon who will perform the surgery. Yesterday she went in for a CT scan of her temporal lobes to check the structure of her inner ear and to rule out any physical abnormalities. She had to be put under sedation for the procedure (just like when she went for the sedated hearing test in April). She was given this nasty tasting medication called chloral hydrate. The nurse told us it would take about 15-30 minutes to work, but after gagging and choking the medication down Eden was snoring in less than 5 minutes! She slept for about four hours straight when we got home. We don't have results back yet, but the surgeon said that based on how Eden looks it would be really rare for there to be any major problems. We have heard some incredible stories about the implant and are really excited about it. At this website, www.laneyjane.com, you can read about a little girl who got the implant around 18 months and is now around 8 years old. They have auditory clips that show how her language has developed over the years and it is really amazing.

Keeping Busy

We've really been keeping busy and have experienced a lot of "firsts" with the babies over the past couple of weeks. Let's see, there were the first fireworks, first time staying at a hotel, first time swimming, first time seeing a live band, first time spending the night at Nana and Papa's, first friend's birthday party, and Eden's first time sleeping through the night! We took a mini family vacation to stay at the Quaker Square hotel in Akron, Ohio over the 4th of July weekend. The hotel is an old quaker oats silo that has been converted and all the rooms are round. There is some really cool art in the lobby, as well as a couple of nice restaurants, little shops, and a pool in the hotel. I remember staying there as a kid and thinking it was really cool. I have wanted to take John there for a long time, so we thought it would be fun as a relaxing getaway before a really busy week.

John took a vacation from work last week to help me out with doctor appointments because we had 3 important ones in a row. I use the term "vacation" very loosely because he actually ended up having to do some work from home and was probably more busy with that and appointments than he usually is! We had our developmental appointment at U of M on Wednesday. Holland now weighs 14 pounds 12 ounces, and Eden weighs 12 pounds 13 ounces. Holland has jumped up to almost the 50th percentile for very low birthweight girls, and Eden has dropped to a little below the 25th percentile. Holland is 26 inches long, and Eden is 25 3/4. Their head circumferences are exactly the same. Holland is pretty close to target with her motor skills, except for slightly decreased central tone. Eden has more of a developmental delay with motor skills in the 3-4 month range. She has more significant low tone in her trunk and mild tightness in her legs. The doctor, who is a pediatric neurologist, said that at this point Eden's tonal issues are too mild for her to feel comfortable making a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy, but we are fairly sure that the diagnosis will be made sometime in the future. For now, we are doing all that we can to help make sure that Eden continues to make progress by getting physical therapy and working with her stretching and exercising at home. All of the therapists and teachers working with her now are very pleased with the progress she has made in a very short time. She has a great attention span, and seems really motivated to move and play with her toys. It's a lot of fun to watch how excited she gets when she sees something that she wants!

This is a picture of Holland and Eden with their buddy Giovanni. Gino and his family spent time with us in the NICU. He was born at 27 weeks on July 11th weighing 2 pounds 2 ounces. Look how big and adorable he is now! It was a lot of fun celebrating with his parents and seeing how far we've all come over the past year. It's just unbelievable.

Holly Dolly and Sweetie Edie