Claire’s 2 week Checkup and other news

Claire had her 2 week checkup on Monday. She is still doing well. She is up to 8lbs 2ozs. She had a goopy right eye which the doctor thought was either an infection or a blocked tear duct. He gave me a prescription but by Tuesday when I got it filled her eye was dry so we haven’t used it. Her yellow tinge has also gone away.

She is still a pretty content baby. I think with my parents here she is getting into the habit of being held but I decided while I was pregnant that I was not going to sress about holding her. I spent half my time when the girls were young not letting them be held because I couldn’t hold them both at the same time. There is no reason why Claire can’t be held all the time if that’s what she wants. That being said she does spend a fair bit of time each day napping in the playpen bassinet or the bouncer chair. Her holding issues come up at night - especially near bedtime.

She is doing extremely well at night. On Sunday night she fed at 9pm, 3am and then 9am. I was pretty well rested that day! That appears to have been a one off but she is good for at least one 4-5 hour stretch every night. The other thing we have relaxed about with her is letting her sleep in bed with us. We got a co-sleeper which works for a bit but she seems to prefer sleeping close to me. Again this is something I am more than happy to indulge since it wasn’t something we could have done with the girls. There is plenty of time to break her of all these “bad” habits and to be honest at this point I think it is in everyone’s best interest if I am as well rested as possible.

The girls are a lot more interested in Claire now. They want to hold her and kiss her. Emma is very motherly and is contantly asking “where’s my Claire” and calling her sweetie and sweetheart.

I am doing pretty good 2 weeks into section recovery. The incision still aches sometimes but only when I overdo it. I find being in the car the most uncomfortable. Last week Claire and I stayed home while my parents took the girls out but this week we are tagging along. Yesterday we took them all to Square One and they were all excellent. I ended up feeding Claire in the food court - and here I thought I’d be all weird about feeding her in public. Today we all went to Costco and then Claire and I joined Susan and Maddy at a New Parents workshop about infants and illness. I was trying to be all sly about being a “new” parent when Susan piped up and blew my cover by telling the group I had twin two year olds. It was nice to go out and do something with just Claire although I did start to get a bit jealous of the mothers with just one baby to think about.

Leah is still battling her poop issue. She started refusing her medicine but I have been mixing it in chocolate pudding and doctoring juice boxes. I talked to the public health nurse a bit about it today and she suggested we just leave Leah to poop on her own. We’ve been finding that when she needs to go she starts laying on the floor and screaming for her bum to be changed. At that point we put her on the potty and she’ll go but not without a ton of screaming. Once it is out she is instantly feeling better but the nurse said we shouldn’t be “forcing” her to go but letting her go on her own. Tonight she asked to go to the potty but still screamed. She’s a stubborn little thing and I just know she’ll hold it til it’s painful coming out and I just don’t see it being as easy as us letting it go.

In other news John got his new tv on the weekend. Him and my dad were so excited to bring it home. In the store I was skeptical that it might be too big (my dad called me the funsucker) but it’s actually quite nice. It came with a DVD recorder which I am excited about. I can’t wait to transfer all the digital tapes we have to DVD.

 

Baby C’s 22 week OB appt

Yesterday I had my 22 week appt with Dr Shuen. John’s parents were in town for a wedding so they were able to watch the girls while John and I headed out for my 8:30am appt in North York. He got to experience the drive to work without traffic…he didn’t cry although I think it might have been tempting. We all need to start crossing our fingers that I don’t go into labour in rush hour.

The appt was non eventful which is just how we like them. We were in the examining room where at 26 weeks with the girls I was told to go to the hospital immediately for a steroid shot for their lungs because he was sure they were going to be premature. I don’t miss the stress of a twin pregnancy!

My blood pressure was good, all the screening tests came back fine, Baby C’s heartrate was 155, I am measuring 24 weeks, Baby C is still measuring big but the doctor isn’t worried. According the their scales I gained 8lbs in 5 weeks but surprisingly Dr Shuen didn’t call me fat which was nice because I really only like discussing Emma’s constipation issues in public ;). According to our bathroom scale I have gained 10lbs so far.

After the appt John and I picked up some twin mattresses for the beds John’s parents brought up for the girls. We are going to be doing the switch sometime soon…I don’t think it is going to go well. I don’t know how it’s possible to keep two toddlers in bed when it’s more fun to jump around and play with each other. We’ll see…they have until January to work it out.

Last but definitely not least I am sick. My throat started hurting on Friday night and now I have a full blown head cold. I can’t stand being sick during pregnancy because you just have to ride it out. I remember getting a bad cold the week before I stopped working with the girls. I had to call in sick and I just sat in John’s recliner for 2 days straight feeling sorry for myself. No such luxuries now. They need a service you can call for someone to come play with your kids while you lay on the couch! I’m just hoping I’m the only one that gets this.

 

2 year checkup

Today was our last appointment with Dr Govan unless something pressing comes up. I am fed up with driving them to North York for 10 min appts and since they are healthy there really is no point. I will miss seeing Dr Govan - he's a very nice man and there's something to be said when your doctor actually knows your name and remembers the day your girls were born. 

The girls are doing well. They are both 22lbs. Their weight is levelling off a bit but he said that is to be expected given their constant activity. He didn't seem overly concerned - they are just small. They are both around 33 inches with Leah being a tiny bit taller.

He was really impressed with their language and understanding. He asked them all sorts of questions and once they got over being shy they were good. Emma started yelling "no touch doctor" when he was checking her out. It was pretty funny.

My parents arrived this morning and went to the appt with me. This afternoon I took the chance to do some census work. I am still convinced I am not cut out for part time work. By the end of the day I'm exhausted and the morning comes way too quickly. The girls have another little cold and they are getting up early. Makes for long days. I'm glad my parents are here. John's parents arrive tomorrow night for the girls party on Saturday. All we have to do this weekend is enjoy the girls. I'm looking forward to it.

 

A speech appointment, a switch, and a basement update.

Wednesday the girls had their follow up appointment for the workshop I went to last month. It was supposed to be another videotape and review session but our regular therapist is on mat leave and her replacement didn't mention the video (and I wasn't about to say a thing!). The appointment was well over an hour of the therapist asking me questions and trying to get the girls to speak. Emma was on her game but Leah was stubborn. She was all smiles but was more interested in all the toys than in having a conversation with the therapist.

Emma is saying 2 words all the time and has moved on to 3 and 4 word phrases. Leah still tries to get away with 1 word but if you can outlast the stubborness she will give you 2 consistently or 3 (an example of 3 being "cookie please mama" with a big cheesy smile). The therapist thinks Emma is speaking at around a 2 1/2 year old level  and Leah is doing everything a 2 year old should be doing. She was quite pleased with both of them…but we still are going to be monitored.

I always go into these appointments thinking we are wasting their time but I come out learning something new every time. It just amazes me how much we have to do with their speech progression. Of course every kid learns at their own pace but there are definitely things that I am doing that are both helping them and limiting them. The whole repeating back what they say but adding a word has really worked with both of them. They say cookie, I say more cookie. Once they get more cookie down I add mama, then please.

The therapist thinks Emma is ready for more complex grammar. Right now if I ask her where Leah is (and Leah is in bed), she'll say Leah sleeping. I'm supposed to get her to say Leah is sleeping. This is something I probably would not have clued in to for awhile. Leah sleeping sounds perfectly fine to me but in then mind of a speech therapist it (like most things) can be built upon.

Leah still has quite a bit of Leah speak which only Emma seems to understand. She definitely thinks she's saying something because she'll repeat it over and over again. In these situations rather than asking her what she's saying I'm supposed to take my best guess at what she wants and state it from her perspective. So when shes says blahblahblah mama I repeat back I love you mama and then she says no love mama, blah blah blah mama and I try again. It's supposed to give her confidence that I'm listening…we'll see if it works.

Other than that it's just the same old stuff. If they aren't pronouncing something I don't correct them I just repeat it back properly. We are doing lots of singing which they love. Their new favourite is Where is Thumbkin. You really just have to sing these songs and not think about it because some of them really are quite weird.

They are both doing well. We seemed to have had another switch. Leah has been an absolute pleasure while Emma has taken to constant crying and whining. Yet again Emma is having constipation issues. They are insisting they eat everything on their own and she's not eating enough veggies. She cleared herself out pretty good this morning so hopefully she's feeling better and maybe (PLEASE DON'T LET ME JINX MYSELF) I can have two little happy girls for a few days.

Our construction team left today. I can't believe how hard they've been working. They've been at it from 8am to at the very least 10pm since last Friday. I tried several times to get them to stop but the end is in sight and they want to get it done. The progress is pretty impressive. All the drywall is up and there is only a little more mudding to do before they sand it down. After that all that is left is painting (you have no idea how excited I was when they told us we had to paint asap), hooking up the electrical and lighting and then carpet and baseboards.

Here is a pic of the rec room. I put more pics up on Flickr (click on the pic below to get to Flickr).

 

One Year Update

My mom and dad and I took the girls to their 1 year pediatrician appointment today. The drive isn’t so bad from Oakville and I’m still not annoyed enough to get a local pediatrician. Dr Govan was the second person the girls ever met (before us even!!) and it’s very nice to walk into his office and have him call us by name without checking his file.

He is very pleased with the girls progress. He really had no concerns at all with them which was great. I’m very thankful we get to go to the NICU follow up clinic but I find they get caught up comparing the girls rather than evaluating their progress. Enough said - our appointment with them in July 13.

Some of you may know that I was a bit concerned with their weight. At their last appointment at the beginning of March Emma was 15lbs 12ozs and Leah was 14lbs 12ozs. Today Leah weighed in at 16lbs 8ozs and Emma is now only 1/2 a pound heavier at 17lbs. They are definitely small for even their corrected age but they are still following the all important growth curve so no need to worry. Dr Govan’s only suggestion was that I hold off switching them to milk until they were 1 year corrected and that I continue to give them their 2 bottles a day for the extra calories. They are doing very well lately with the straw cups and I might give them formula in them rather than a bottle but we’ll see. I have to get at least 16ozs in them daily - now is not the time to start aggressively trying to wean them off bottles.

They also got 2 shots each today. Leah went first. She screamed pretty good but calmed down pretty quickly. Emma started screaming the minute Dr Govan started measuring her and it intensified with the shots. She would not let me put her down. I can only imagine the scene it would have been if I hadn’t had my mom. I booked our 15 month appt for the Monday after we come back from Vegas so my mom and dad will be here again. I know I could do a shot appointment by myself - there would just be a lot more crying.

On to the update….

Teeth:
They still have 8 each. They both took a break from teething this month.

Hair:
A bit more. Emma’s is showing signs of being very curly like her dad’s. Leah has more hair and it’s got a wispy curl to it.

Sleep:
Leah is our little sleeper. I honestly don’t remember the last time she woke up in the night. Emma got much better this month. At the beginning of the month she was very hard to get to bed. As soon as you tried to put her in she would cling to you and then start to scream. We let her cry a couple of nights and it seems to have cured her of not wanting to go to bed. She’ll still fuss but she’ll go to bed on her own. No more rocking her to sleep! She only got up in the night a few times. We only go in and get her when it’s real crying. There are so many stages before real crying but it’s amazing how quickly they realize that it’s just easier to go to sleep when crying doesn’t automatically get mom or dad running in to soothe them. They are still napping twice a day.

Getting around:
This month Emma figured out how to climb stairs (yikes!). She now crawls properly all the time and is very, very quick at getting around. She cruises along the couch no problem and she has no problems balancing. Leah continues to get stronger. It’s hard to describe but she is just so much more agile than she was a month ago. She started crawling properly a few days ago and I don’t think it will be long before she completely gives up the commando.

Food:
We let them try pretty much everything these days. Whether or not they eat it is a whole different story. Their current favourites are cheese, cheerios, NutraGrain bars and of course yogurt. We still give them mushy veggies with tofu mixed in because of their weight. We pretty much try and get them to eat as much as possible at all meals. Meals can be very long! They get an afternoon bottle and a bedtime bottle of formula. They’re not big sippy cup fans. The whole having to tilt it up to drink is too much work for them when they have things to do (like climb stairs or chase the cat). We have had much better luck with the straw cups.

Talking:
They both babble all day long. I’m sure they have “words” for things that we haven’t even picked up on yet. They both love Jackson and as you all know Emma’s first word was cat. She can also say eeeeaaaaah (Leah) and mmmmmaaaa (Emma). I’ve also heard her say hi, dad, and mama but she’s not as consistent with that. Leah talks alot but we’re not too sure what she’s saying most of the time! If you ask her where Jackson is she’ll make the same noice everytime. She can say bye, mum mum and dad. When Leah gets really excited she makes this face and goes oh oh oh like a monkey. It’s so funny.

Cute stuff:
Leah can clap, give you five, play peekaboo, kiss, make funny noises with her mouth and repeat sounds. Emma won’t kiss but she does all the rest. They both will put their hands up when you ask them to and if you say up they’ll put their arms in the air. They are much more interactive and fun these days. If you show them a book they’ll climb into your lap and flip the pages while pointing at the pictures. They love to chase the cat and pet her. Emma tries to grab her whiskers and Leah always wants to kiss her. We are very lucky to have a patient, loving cat. They also like to race each other down the hall and they are never far apart. Both girls also love to look out the window when they’re in the crib.

Personalities:
Emma can be very clingy. She’ll wrap her arms around your neck and hold on tight. She is always on the go and she is still very determined. She’s starting to listen more - if she’s going for the buttons at the bottom of the tv and I say her name she’ll sit back down for 5 seconds then try again. If I keep on sternly saying Emma she won’t touch the buttons. She was much better with people this month. We have recently discovered that Emma likes to hoard toys. If you give them both a toy Emma will take Leah’s and sit on it to guard it while she plays with her own. She’s lucky Leah could care less. If you take away something Emma likes she’ll cry. We have no problem letting her cry til she gets over it and it never lasts more than 10 seconds.

Leah is extremely laid back. She will lie in her crib for a hour playing quietly and not complain. She eat much more than Emma and she is usually the one that lets you know it’s feeding time. Leah rarely cries but the odd time you’ll take away something she was really enjoying and she’ll pout out her bottom lip and start to cry the saddest tears. Again we don’t respond but the sad cry is definitely harder to take than Emma’s tears of rage. Leah still loves people and it’s very obvious she loves getting attention when we’re out and about.

They really are unique little girls. Although they both wave and play peekaboo they do it totally different. They are starting to interact more and more. We got some really great video on Saturday night of the two of them screaming with laughter at each other through the crib rails. It went on for 15 minutes and it was the sweetest sound. For the most part they still play side by side but everyonce in awhile you’ll catch them both sitting in front of a board book flipping the pages together. They are very lucky to have each other.