Discharged

Today we had an appointment at the High Risk Clinic at Illinois Masonic (the NICU follow-up clinic). In a weird way, it’s always kind of fun going back to the hospital. We still know many, many people there and it’s a bit of a homecoming whenever we bring one of the babies back. 

It’s been a while since we were last at the hospital (or, more accurately, at this hospital) — six months I think, for Colin’s last visit and eight or nine for Roni. Some things have changed (you need a picture on your visitor badge now), but most of “our” people are still there — at the information desk, the clinic … we even ran into some of the NICU nurses in the hall. It was very confusing to Veronica to have all these people who she didn’t know making such a fuss over her. (Colin, the little social butterfly that he is, enjoyed the attention.)

Colin’s occupational therapist also works at the hospital doing the developmental assessments at the clinic, so it’s like getting an extra play session with her for the twins. When she walked into the waiting room this morning, they both got very excited and started saying hi. 

I sometimes wonder what the other parents waiting think when everyone clearly knows us and immediately starts talking to us and commenting on how big the twins are, and what new tricks they’ve learned. But really, it’s a notoriety that has come at a cost you wouldn’t want to pay, so be glad they don’t know you as well. It means your baby wasn’t as sick as mine and didn’t live at the hospital for a quarter of his first year.

Colin has gained a little weight the last two months — he’s up to 21 pounds 7 ounces (although I think the scale at the clinic weighs lighter than the one at our pediatrician’s office). Veronica is up to nearly 25 pounds (my big girl). They are both testing ahead of their actual age in fine motor skills (at about 23-24 months). Veronica is at about 18 months in gross motor skills (one month ahead of her adjusted age) — although I think it’s more a function of timidness when it comes to trying new things than any kind of a delay. Colin is at about 14 months in gross motor skills.

The upshot of this morning’s appointment is: Because the twins are doing so well (Veronica) and making such good progress (Colin) and are well-followed by their very extensive team of doctors and therapists, we have been officially discharged from the high risk clinic. Yeah!

Unfortunately, Colin also started coughing last night, and the doctor said his lungs sounded very wheezy. So we’re back doing the albuterol treatments every four hours, and may need to go to either the pediatrician or the pulmonologist if this doesn’t clear up over the weekend. It also means his lungs haven’t healed as much as we had hoped, and we probably will have to be back on the QVar again next fall. *Sigh* I was really hoping he would have outgrown the need for the inhaler.