6 Months...

The boys turned SIX months on Sunday. It's hard to imagine that a year ago we found out we were having TWINS and in Six More months they'll be a year. I remember the moment we saw TWO on the ultrasound and then leaving the office wondering when it would sink in and we'd get used to the fact that there were really TWO. Well at six months I'm very aware that yes there are TWO-- there are times when even I have to do a double take and ask is this really MY life.... I was giving serious thought to whether or not life at six months with twins was an easier than it was when they were newborns and my honest answer is no...The boys still don't sleep through the night, we've added eating solid foods to the chaos of our daily lives and they're not independent in sitting. While they do nap and can take great naps b/c they're not sleeping through the night they wake at different times each morning, making a scheduled nap time nearly impossible. We've also added in PT 1-3 times a week for Justin--in addition to his helmet fittings. However now we not only who's crying but I can usually tell what the crying means and that makes things easier. And while the daily routine may not be any easier and in fact harder some days, the boys now have personalities, smile, coo, and laugh and this does make getting through the day easier and definitely more rewarding.

The boys both enjoy their exersaucers and Justin uses one and Ryan the other b/c "his" can "bounce". Ryan gives raspberries all the time. Ryan loves playing/eating his feet and his toes. Justin really likes learning how toys work and using his hands to figure things out including playing with his rings and taggies. "Glowie" is also still a favorite toy.

Ryan is definitely my mover and grover...he loves to log roll and will be the reason I REALLY need to baby proof this house. He is also tripod sitting fairly well, but still needs close supervision. Justin does roll and he occasionally sits...but we're going for PT for him and he's getting stronger everyday. Justin continues to do well with his helmet and he goes for another fitting this Friday.

We have started solid foods this month and the boys have liked everything they're eating with the exception of apples. They get each food for 4 days before we start something new, so far they've had avocados, sweet potatoes, apples and bananas in addition to their rice and oatmeal cereal. They typically eat two times a day, each meal includes rice or oatmeal and something else..whatever is new in the morning and then 1 or 2 ice cubes of something else in the evening with more cereal.

Sleeping....hmmmm I guess it's getting better but I'm still up usually 2 times a night. Solid foods have helped, but have not allowed us to sleep through the night with the exception of a few nights. We no longer get both boys up when one wakes up. Usually they both wake up once a night, sometimes only one wakes up.

Nursing..yeah we're still nursing but we're nursing less, the boys eat every 3-4 hours, this is very nice. But like I said we're still up nursing at night, more nights than not.

Ryan is still the big boy and they even had him being longer this month, not sure if it was an error in measurement or if he just looks shorter cause he's my chunky monkey but his stats were weight: 18.11 oz(75%), height: 27 3/4 inches (90%) and his head was 17 inches

Justin weighed : 17.3 oz (50%), height :27 1/2 inches (80%) and his head was also 17 inches

So my hopes for this month are pretty much the same as last month...sleeping through the night, independent sitting and getting out more because of nicer weather!!

Meal Times...

The boys are eating "real food" twice daily and while for some it may be something we do everyday and could do in our sleep- today after their morning meal... Justin literally fell asleep after his last bite. Meanwhile Ryan was not so tired, but he too went down for his morning nap after eating!! Today's morning menu was rice cereal and apples, of which Ryan is not liking so much and Justin deals with it. This evening's meal went much better they had lots of cereal and sweet potatoes. While we were feeding the boys, Abigail was playing with her sticker book upstairs. When I went to check on her, this is what I found and she told me she "dressed up" her animals.

Abigail and her letters

Abigail has been learning his letters with Nana, which until a few days ago, I was unaware of. So Abigail said this is for Ryan and this is for Justin and she showed me the block with an R and J. I was so shocked and I asked her if she was doing this with Nana and she said yes. Nana was here yesterday while I was working and they again worked on her letters and this is what she showed me today!!!! She may not know what the letters themselves are or even that the J was upside down, but the fact that she did this all on her own while playing today was really cool!! Good Job big girl and happy half birthday. You're mommy's smart little cookie for 2.5 years old!!

And we're sleeping....for now...

I can happily say that RYAN has slept THROUGH the night THREE nights in a row...now I realize that by writing this I'm probably jinxing myself, but we'll see. Justin has also had three really good night..830:-4:00am, 8:00- 6:30am (and this was his first night with the helmet on all night!!), and 8:15- 4:50am... I thought these days would NEVER come. As of about two weeks ago, I was ready to throw the towel in, it was so rough. Then even when we first started cereal for the first few days it made NO difference. I hope that they will continue with this sleeping pattern, because it has been SO nice. It has really helped that they are eating cereal and "something else" --right now it's avocados. The one night that we didn't give them food twice, it was another rough night. So I'm really hoping that this is a sign of good things to come. Abigail was sleeping through the night much earlier than these two boys. I also think that since I've stopped waking them both up when one is up, it has helped them learn to sleep longer. Whatever the case may be, I'll take it as long as we're sleeping!!

Justin's Helmet arrives!!

On Friday we went to get Justin's helmet. All five of us were there about an hour getting him fitted properly and left with his helmet on. He has done well since he has gotten it. There has been a wear schedule that we have tried to follow as closely as possible, however we've been nervous nellies and have not had him sleep an entire night yet with it on. All of a sudden you look very closely and feel every little abnormality on his head, which just tends to make you more nervous and paranoid as to whether or not we're doing the right thing. Justin truly doesn't seem to mind it when it's on. It does make it even more difficult for him to lift his head when he's on his belly. It comes down to just above his eyebrows which means he has to lift it even higher to see. The helmet also seems to make his torticollis more noticeable because he doesn't have the strength that it takes to keep his head in the middle. Although Justin does not mind the helmet and has taken naps and slept in it for a six hour period of time, when it comes off, he LOVES when we rub his head and he' s very smiley!! We're all still getting used to it but Justin is doing much better with it than we originally imagined!!

More Food

Since the boys had their first "solid" food last week, they have had two more foods. On Wed they had organic oatmeal cereal. Today they started with organic avocados--I would not say that they were a favorite. However both boys finished them by the end of the evening. Last night Guy and I started mass producing food for the boys. We made acorn squash, butternut squash, sweet potatoes and have apples just waiting to be cored, peeled and steamed!! Next weekend we'll be back at it, making carrots and perhaps peas and beans. What we really need is more ice cube trays with lids so that we can freeze everything that we're making!!

The Boys 1st "Solid" Foods

We started "solids" on Saturday--although it's really like slightly thickened milk. They had organic rice cereal. Justin seemed to do a bit better than Ryan, but neither boys fussed and both did very well. I think that Justin is probably getting about 75% of what we're feeding him and Ryan maybe 25-50% of what actually goes in stays in. Ryan does do better with repetition though. His facial expressions really showed that he didn't care too much for it--he would have rather continued trying to eat his hands, bib and feet. I can't believe that they're old enough to be starting solids. Although I've chosen to start them earlier than Abigail in hopes of increased sleeping periods at night--we all really need more sleep!!!

Justin 1st Helmet Fitting

Justin went last Wednesday for his first fitting for his new helmet. Guy met Ryan, Justin and I in Blue Bell where we'll be making several visits to over the next few months. We were very happy with the orthotist and the whole process. He was a really good boy and it didn't take long at all. A bunch of pictures were taken of his head and face from a number of different directions. He then put on a stockingette, that made him look like a little baby thug...pretty cute actually. Then he laid down in the STAR scanner, as if he were on a changing table. Guy helped hold him still and so that he didn't wiggle and we could get an accurate scan. The scan showed that his asymmetries are great enough that the helmet should be completely covered, which is very good news. It also showed very clearly his torticollis. We picked a light blue color that can have stickers put all over it if we so choose, or if we decide Abigail can do so. We are hoping that he should get the helmet this Friday or Saturday so he can start wearing it. We got a copy of his scans which were taken at various levels of his head from his ears up. As a PT I found them very interesting and they would have been even more so if they weren't of Justin. When Justin is done wearing his helmet we'll get another set of scan that are shaded in a different color so that we can see how far we've come and the changes that were made.

How did I get so lucky?!?!

Just a quick post to remind myself that sometimes it does happen, ok so seriously as soon as I started typing Abigial starts saying..."DADDY" why it's always daddy who knows, b/c he's here to get her how often compared to me, but anyway. What I WAS going to say was that I had three sleeping kids, Abigail is just NOW waking up for the day... and the boys are napping. I was able to eat, shower and play wii fit, and almost blog...wow somedays things go wrong and somedays they just go right!!

Justin's Journey

I had mentioned before in several different posts that Justin is being treated for torticollis and plagiocephaly. On Friday we had his appointment with a fantastic doctor, the head of neurosurgery, from Dupont. Justin who has been great at PT and the doctors in general got such a pout and a whimper when the doctor was looking at his neck and head. Perhaps he knew what was coming. Dr. Campbell took a look at Justin's head and neck, all while I was holding him. Then we talked about the different options for him and decided he would indeed benefit from a cranial molding helmet. This sounds like a lot more than it is, but it is something that will take some getting used to for everyone, hopefully Justin will adjust quickly. We will go back for a follow up visit with the doctor in 4 months.
The helmet will be worn 23 out of 24 hours a day, for at least 6 months. But it will really depend on how Justin's head does with the helmet to see how long he really will be in it. It will provide pressure, opposite of where his head is asymmetrical at this point, in hopes of getting his head and face more symmetrical. We are just now starting the journey of looking for an orthotist to fit him for the helmet. The helmet will need to be refitted approximately every 2-3 weeks, so we will be in this for the long hull. Hopefully we'll find an orthotist who accepts our insurance and then hopefully the insurance will cover the helmet, but most likely that will be a battle as well. Medically speaking the doctor has said that Justin's asymmetries are great enough that it should be covered, yet insurances are typically very reluctant to pay.
It will be strange at first to see Justin in a helmet so often and in all of our pictures. Guy was even a little surprised that he really needed one. It didn't come as quite a shock to me, but I'm glad that I pursued the issue and hope that in a relatively short time the helmet will help Justin. I hope that the insurance issue doesn't burn me or Guy out and that all works out for the best. PT wise Justin is doing very well, both in the office and at home. We're still waiting to have him evaluated for early intervention, he should qualify based on his diagnosis, which will just help him even more. Even though I know how to and treat other children with the same diagnosis, I can't be doing everything that I may like to be doing as often as I would like for Justin. For me it is differnent being on the parent end of the spectrum, but thankfully I have the backgroud of a PT as well, and I believe that will serve us and more importantly Justin, very well. So we have officially started a new journey with Justin, his PT--torticollis, plagiocephally and hopefully a helmet.

5 months

Well we're not really sure when the boys celebrated their 5 month birthday, just ask their Grandma, she knows all about a real birthday on the 29th of Feb. Anyway the boys are doing well and I'm writing today, because I didn't get to yesterday--so it works for me!!

What's new this month...The common cold seems to be going through the house, for what feels like the past month but probably more realistically for the past two weeks. Today, Ryan and Abigail are STILL coughing and have been for a while and Justin has just started the coughing yesterday. We just purchased a cold mist humidifier, so I'm hoping that will help the congestion and the runny nose and some of the coughing. Both boys also seem to be teething, but Justin's two bottom teeth are starting to show, but have yet to actually cut through. Justin has also started his PT for torticollis and plagiocephaly and is doing very well with that. He's such a big boy when he goes and is SO tired when he comes home.

Both boys are grabbing at their feet, Ryan started doing so about a week after Justin. They both roll both directions, although Ryan will almost immediately roll to his belly when placed on his back and instead of rolling back he usually just cries. They are working on tripod sitting and when placed in the bouncy chairs, if Ryan's not trying to roll out of it, he's trying to sit upright in it. Justin LOVES kicking his feet--whether it's in the bouncy, at his new toy on the floor, on the playmat kicking at the things above him or even in the bath. In the exersaucer Ryan loves to bounce up and down. "Glowie" and their rings tend to be their favorite toys these days.

We don't have height and weight stuff for the boys this month because they don't have a scheduled dr's appointments until next month. Hopefully we won't be there beforehand with all the colds we've experienced. But the boys are now both in size three diapers, but we've moved on to Luv's instead of pampers with hopes of less blowouts..boys really do have so many more than Abigail ever did. They are now primarily wearing 6 month Carters clothes although I'm still trying to fit them into as many 3-6 month onesies as I can, before they completely outgrow them.

Nursing/Feeding-- I'm still exclusively nursing and I'm really proud of that, but it is taking it's toll on me and we're discussing all of our options, although truthfully I hate to give it up, even though it's very taxing. The boys are doing well with nursing during the day and usually can go 3 hours between sessions, unless I feed them sooner, because of getting them up and into to bed. At night they are all over the board. They can make it 5-6 hours, but generally they are going 4 hours at a stretch, but then again last night was only 3--making life very difficult for me because I just can't seem to catch up on sleep or get on any real schedule.

Bedtime/Sleeping--The boys are sleeping in their own cribs and made that transition very easily. I was hoping that by separating them, they may not wake up as often, needless to say this has not been the case. The boys are going to bed anywhere from 7:30 to 8:30 depending on if I work or not and when Abigail gets to bed. Justin sleeps on his right side, or on his back and Ryan sleeps on his belly. I honestly thought that the boys would be sleeping through the night, and they're not. I'm hoping that once we start cereal in the next week or so, that this will help. I also try and let them cry it out for awhile, although I have not done so whole heartily up to this point and won't until they're six months. But I also feel that in their defense it's hard to learn to sleep through the night when I'm usually waking at least one of them up to eat, because the others up and I don't want to be up again in 30 min. So my hope is that the cereal will help and if not, they will start getting some tough love and I may stop waking both up once I know that they really can make it. It's so difficult because there always seems to be an excuse, one is sick or one is teething, etc. One aspect of sleeping that has gotten a lot better in the past month has been naps. The boys seem to want to nap after being awake for a period of about 1.5 hours. Their naps vary in length and don't always make it down at the same time, but for the most part the are always in their cribs and doing well. They seem to do best when I put them down, but everyone pitches in and tries to help because I can't always be the one to put them in for nap time. Justin also seems to be a lighter sleeper and so if Abigail is yelling from her crib, the phone rings or any other various noises occur than he usually wakes up, which throws off the whole schedule in general and that of the boys sticking to the Same schedule.

We have gotten out of the house a little bit more this month, we've gone to a family "winter party" on Valentine's day hosted by the mother's of multiples club that I'm a part of, and we also went to a playgroup with a bunch of the same kiddos. We have also gone out a lot thanks to Justin's PT and various appts.

I've decided that life will get a little easier when the boys are sleeping through the night, are sitting and when we can get out of the house a little more and enjoy some nicer weather. I hope that most if not all of these things will happen in the next month, although as I'm writing this we're "supposed" to get the most snow that we've had in three years--we'll see!!