Changes, and more changes

We have reached a point of rapid development with Colin and Veronica. Every day I swear they are figuring new things out and putting more pieces together. I remember this from with Ethan and know other moms have commented on the same thing — it’s almost like you can see their brains working as you watch them some times. 

Veronica rolled over by herself on Christmas Day for the first time. She hadn’t really shown any signs of rolling (at least that I’ve noticed) until the Early Intervention occupational therapist was playing with her last week. One of the things she (the therapist) did was put Veronica on her side to see if she could get the rest of the way over. Veronica tried very hard, but needed a little help to finish the roll. 

Apparently that exercise piqued her interest, because she started working at it — on the changing table later that day, on the bed the next day. And finally, on her new foam puzzle mat on Christmas she had success. 

Colin can get from his stomach to his back, but his technique is more of a “I’m so mad that you’re making me be on my stomach that I’m going to fling my body weight around until I get out of here” approach. It works, but it sure isn’t pretty. And I’m not sure he could do it if he wasn’t angry.

Colin seems to be getting a little more tolerant of being held more upright. He spends a lot of time arching backward (in part, I’ve been told, because of his reflux) and prefers (strongly) to be held “just so” — in your left arm, snuggled against your body, with his head at a particular angle so he can see the ceiling fans (or the lights). The past two days, however, he has let me hold him upright for a good half an hour. He also is willing to spend a little more time on his stomach if he is up against my chest. I’m happy about that.

Both Colin and Veronica will begin having weekly occupational therapy sessions through Early Intervention — probably starting in January. (We just have to wait for the insurance company to say whether they’ll pay for it or not.) With Colin, they will be working on helping him deal with stimulus so he doesn’t get overwhelmed as easily, and on developing more stamina so he can develop strength. For Veronica, they will be making sure she continues to balance out both sides of her body (she prefers the left) and helping her develop a little more muscle tone in her shoulders.

The physical therapist wasn’t able to make it for our initial assessment, so she is coming this morning to evaluate the babies. (Occupational therapy focuses more on the fine motor skills, physical therapy on the gross motor skills.) So we will see whether they — Colin in particular — will get physical therapy too.

I am extremely grateful that Illinois has an Early Intervention program so that we can do everything possible to help Colin and Veronica overcome the disadvantages of prematurity before they enter the school system. But I am even more grateful that we are able to have John as a stay at home parent. I don’t know how parents who both work outside the house could possibly manage to take advantage of the programs. Even though the therapists are coming to our house at this point, it’s quite a lot to manage.

The gift of laughter

Colin laughed for the first time today — a real, out loud, body-shaking laugh. And he did it several times while John was playing with him on the changing table. It was a beautiful sound. 

Veronica had her first laugh on Saturday last week. She too has a whole-body beautiful laugh, and enjoys using it too. 

I can’t think of a nicer way to celebrate Christmas than by listening to our little babies, who have been through so much already in their little lives, both laughing out loud. (We got to listen to Ethan rolling on the floor with laughter this evening too.) It’s the happiest sound in the world. 

Merry Christmas everyone. Enjoy the little miracles this season, just like we are.

A very busy day

Okay, it is the holiday season and everyone expects the days to be busy. The only difference is what fills our days now. Although we’re still trying to do some of our traditional holiday season things, it certainly is much harder with a baby (or two) in the house. Add to that the babies’ schedule of appointments for various needs, and we have a crazy season.

Today, Colin and Veronica meet with their Early Intervention team for the first time. Early Intervention is a program run by the state (I think I read somewhere that about 30 states have an Early Intervention program) to provide therapy to children (birth through age 3 in Illinois) who have or are at risk for a disability or developmental delay.

Colin automatically qualifies for Early Intervention because he was born weighing less than two pounds. Veronica will qualify for therapy services in any area where she is 30% or more behind where she should be. The idea is to provide therapy early to give kids a chance to catch up before they enter the school system, rather than waiting until they are in school and are behind their peers.

Today the babies have their assessment, so a team of four therapists (development, speech, occupational and physical, I believe) will be coming to the house to play with Colin and Veronica and see how they do. Based on this assessment, they will put together a recommended plan for therapy, which we can choose to follow or not. 

We’ll follow their recommendations because, with John being home with the babies, we can handle the extra appointments. I imagine some families with two working parents may find it challenging to squeeze anything else into their days. (I honestly don’t know how someone with a high-needs child who can’t afford to have one parent home manages to fit everything in. I can see that being a real problem for many people.)

Then, later this afternoon, Colin has an appointment with the urologist. He has developed an inguinal hernia (where the intestine drops into the scrotum), which will probably require surgery. (Inguinal hernias are fairly common in preemies because the opening between the abdominal cavity and the scrotum often doesn’t close completely.) 

(As a side note, Veronica's umbilical hernia has already resolved itself and she once again has a “normal” belly button.)

Cutie Elves

Here a glimpse of our babies in one of the very happy moments. They are both laughing now — especially Veronica, who at dinner tonight spent a good five minutes just cracking up. 

Celebrating Christmas and looking like twins (at last), here are two of our three little elves:

Veronica and Colin getting ready for Christmas, snuggling together.

Laughing Colin enjoying a kicky Veronica ride.

Thumper and Cry Guy

Colin and Veronica have developed very different sleep habits (as they have with all their habits, really). And while I’m sure they’ll very soon migrate into yet another pattern, as they always do, right now I’m dubbing them Thumper and Cry Guy.

Veronica is Thumper. She actually is a very good sleeper (right, now I’ve jinxed it) and is able to soothe herself to sleep in a way that neither of her brothers are/were able to. She has a very funny way of doing it: When I lay her down after nursing (if she wakes up at all), she lifts both legs and thumps them down on the mattress in her crib until she falls asleep. 

She can sometimes thump her way all the way across the crib, and occasionally even will work herself sideways. Unfortunately, her thumping is very loud, which typically will wake up Colin, who turns into:

Cry Guy

Colin seems convinced that sleep is something designed to keep him from participating in something fun. Or seeing something interesting. Or … he doesn’t know what might be happening when his eyes are closed, but he is determined not to let anything go by without him being aware of it.

This leads to some very LONG nights for John and I. Colin doesn’t soothe easily, and he cries loudly enough to wake the dead (or Ethan, in this case). For this reason, we don’t like to let him go too long. 

We’re both hoping this is a phase that will pass soon (and believe me, it can’t pass quickly enough). Otherwise we may soon find out first hand just how devastating sleep deprivation can be as a form of torture.

Joy and delight

We had a little scare with Colin last week that ended up with him in the hospital overnight. (And who knew we could fit so many firemen in our little living room?) 

He was struggling to breathe and foaming at the mouth, so we called 911. In the couple of minutes it took for the first crew to arrive, Colin had mostly gotten through it, but we took him to the hospital anyway, to find out what happened. After keeping him in for observation for a day, he got a clean bill of health. As best we can tell, he was choking on some phlegm or saliva and just couldn’t clear it out himself. 

Other than that little scare, things are generally going very well with the babies.They are both growing like weeds (Colin is up to 7 pounds 6 ounces and Veronica weights 12 pounds 3 ounces), and are becoming very fun little creatures. They have discovered joy.

Of course, their absolute favorite thing (like most babies I know) are the ceiling fans. They can watch the fan and giggle for a long time. 

Veronica and Colin chilling out watching the ceiling fan.

They also both have started to commune with “the light.” We have a small LED light next to the changing table, and the one day I started turning it up toward the ceiling because it lit the room better. Both babies got so excited at the circle it made on the ceiling. They'll sit on the changing table and “chat” with the light for as much as half an hour. It’s very funny.

They both have beautiful smiles, and are starting to use them more often. They are also more or less laughing now. Colin, in particular, seems to crack himself up when he does something mischievous. 

Like the night when I was putting him to bed and he was all swaddled with his pacifier in his mouth. He looked up at me, made eye contact and spit his pacifier up into the air. Then he just smirked and started laughing. Of course, I have to admit, I started laughing too. He was so funny. Not really conducive to getting him to sleep, but funny none the less.

We’re crazy busy here, between the holidays, my busy work schedule, Ethan’s school activities and trying to meet the babies’ needs. But I will try to keep posting on a somewhat regular schedule. Really, I will.