Atrovent, my new best friend

Colin is still miserable with his cold, poor little guy. He’s all stuffed up, so breathing is hard, and his lungs are a little wheezy, so breathing is even harder. On Sunday night, I broke out the emergency inhaler the pulmonologist prescribed at our last visit to help Colin breathe easier. And like that, Atrovent became my new best friend. 

Okay, I’m exaggerating quite a bit there (what, me?), but it really did make a difference. Colin screams like you’re torturing him (which I guess in his eyes we are) when you give him  a treatment, and you have to pin him to the bed to do it. But within 10 minutes each time, he was breathing easier and back asleep.

Ironically, and fortunately, Colin’s regularly scheduled follow up appointment with the pulmonologist was yesterday. John took him this time, so he could meet the new doctor and ask his questions. Colin’s lungs are doing pretty good, just a little wheezy on the right side. No sign of the bronchiolitis at least. The doctor said to just keep doing what we’ve been doing for treatment.

He was worried, however, because Colin has fallen back further from the growth curve. We’ve been trying to get him extra calories since his last appointment, but I wouldn’t call it an all-out effort. (It’s too hard to make all-out efforts with two babies.) But now we’re going to have to step it up more. The pulmonologist also wants Colin to get started in speech therapy now (we were going to wait a bit until he started walking) to address some of his eating issues. 

So … I’ll be calling Early Intervention this week to schedule another assessment with the speech therapist and we’ll see when we can shoe-horn another session into our week. I do feel blessed, though, that we live in Illinois. I have heard horror stories from other parents on some of the online boards I visit about their EI experiences in other states. It makes me appreciate everything our program provides even more. 

Prayers for Colin to heal quickly, and that Veronica and Ethan continue to stay healthy. (And that Mommy and Daddy survive the chaos.)

Wall flower and social butterfly

It’s interesting to see how your kids, who all share the same genetic material and have been raised together in the same environment, all develop their own personalities. It’s even more interesting with the twins, because there isn’t even a time gap with their upbringing. 

Veronica is very much a Mommy’s girl (or Daddy’s if Mommy isn’t around). She still is very reluctant to go to anyone who isn’t Mommy or Daddy — even people she sees every day — and likes to bury her head in our legs if someone comes over to say “hi” to her when we’re out. In social situations right now, Veronica is very much the wall flower: she likes to watch from the sidelines and assess the situation. And she is very happy doing her own thing.

Colin, on the other hand, seems to make friends wherever we go. The last three or four times we’ve been to the park, Colin has found another baby/little kid to play with. Yesterday afternoon, when John took the kids to the park so I could make dinner, he apparently had three friends — twin boys and a little girl, all between 15 and 18 months — that he was playing happily with while Veronica explored. 

It’s funny to watch, because Colin also basks in adult attention. Remember, this is the boy who stopped crying after his first surgery to smile at the nurse when she called him cute. He is very aware of people’s comments, and often gives people a big grin when they say something nice about him and Veronica. 

It’s also fun to see how Colin and Veronica already are inventing little games to play together, even though they can’t talk yet. Sometimes can keep themselves in giggles for a good 20 minutes at a stretch. Veronica loves to run away from Colin, squealing, as he “chases” her around the room. (I use quotes on “chases” because it’s clear sometimes that he has no idea they’re playing a game, although other times he is a full participant in the fun.) They also have been known to play peekaboo with each other, which is funny to watch. 

Of course, we’re not immune to the sibling rivalry, especially when it comes to nabbing space on my lap after I get home from work. Veronica especially is prone to throw punches, slap and push to get her way. Colin is more of a head butt guy — although he also does that as a sign of affection. (A painful sign, sometimes, because he hasn’t developed a good sense of when to stop his forward motion.)

This age (almost 16 months actual/13 adjusted) is a lot of fun in many ways. (It’s exhausting still in others.) I just wish I had more time and fewer chores so I could just play all day.

(I jinxed us, by the way, with my last post. Colin now has a cold and is VERY congested. I broke out his inhaler last night, along with the saline spray and the nasal aspirator — really ticked him off, but at least it cleared him up enough to fall asleep.)

On the mend

After what seems like an endless period of round after round of sickness (it was really only three weeks and two rounds), we’re finally all more or less healthy again. Veronica’s croup cleared up fairly quickly after the steroid dose, and the virus that lingered for another several days seems to have departed. Colin never got the croup, and whatever caused his fever seemed to pass quickly too. 

We’ve been taking advantage of the unseasonably nice weather, and spending a lot of time outside. Veronica would like it even better if we spent all of our time outside. Whenever she comes downstairs, she immediately goes to her shoes and points to them, then points to the door. Or she’ll bring her shoes to me wherever I happen to be, and point to outside. The girl loves her dogs, and they’re all outside the house. So that’s where she wants to be too.

Colin also likes being outside, and it helps with the exercises he’s supposed to be doing for occupational therapy because he crawls on all fours when he’s outside (as opposed to his indoor army crawling style). That helps build his core strength, which he needs to be able to stand on his own. (Hmm … maybe I should try crawling too if it builds core strength.)

Now that the leaves have fallen from our ash tree (the first in the neighborhood to lose its leaves), we have the added bonus of big piles of leaves to sit in, throw in the air, crawl through and generally enjoy thoroughly. Colin especially likes to sit in the leaves and pile them on top of his legs. 

Veronica also enjoys a small measure of freedom when we’re outside, because I end up spending more time making sure Colin is keeping up with us. She will range quite a ways down the sidewalk while I’m trying to help Colin practice his walking. And the farther she gets from us, the faster she starts moving. Fortunately, she’s still much slower than me, and has shed her habit of dashing toward the curb to play in the street. (Darn block party fun.)


Colin isn’t really any closer to walking on his own, although he continues to practice and has gotten very good at cruising. He also is much smoother at getting up and down from standing (although this week he has starting letting go while apparently trying to do a twisting back flip, and has been whacking his head on the ground a lot). His physical therapist started the paper work today to get him orthotics to help with his walking/standing. Apparently it takes about three weeks to get the paperwork through, then we’ll have to take him in for a fitting and wait for them to make the orthotics. But they should help stabilize his ankles in the proper position, and make it easier for him to balance and walk. 


We’re also in the midst of another long run of appointments with all of Colin’s doctors. He had the urologist appointment two weeks ago (we need to schedule his next surgery for either December or January), he sees the pulmonologist next week, the neurologist the week after, then both babies have their (rescheduled) 15 month appointment and will get their second flu shot (and some others). Then Colin will see the dentist (his teeth look like they may have thin enamel, which is common with preemies) to make sure he doesn’t need calcium supplements or sealants to protect his baby teeth. 


It makes me tired just thinking about all those appointments, and Colin’s load is far less than many babies born his weight/gestation. It just makes me very glad we live in a big city because at least all of his doctors are close by. In fact, we can walk or take the train to all of them, which makes life much easier.

Crap. Croup.

Both babies got sick over the weekend — Colin had a fever and Veronica was just “off” on Sunday morning. By Monday, she started coughing. We canceled the babies’ 15-month check-up appointment, which was supposed to be on Tuesday. They were supposed to get shots, and with Colin’s fever we knew that wasn’t going to happy. 

On Monday night, Colin’s fever broke and he started to feel better. But by Tuesday morning it was clear that a trip to the doctor for a sick baby visit with Veronica was in order. 

So I canceled my morning conference calls and Colin and I hung out while John took Veronica to the doctor. He was the third person in line when the doors opened, and the waiting room was full in no time, which is why I kept Colin at home with me. Our doctor is on vacation, but substitute doctor was actually the one we had seen before (the doctor who was surprised when we said that Colin and Veronica were preemies). 


Turns out Veronica has croup, which, of course, is contagious. So Veronica got a prescription for dexamethasone — a strong oral steroid, and ironically, the same steroid I was given before the twins were born to help develop their lungs. Unfortunately, the strength the doctor prescribed didn’t come in a liquid. So John had to crush up the three little pills and feed them to Veronica in some yogurt.  


Her cough is sounding better now, but little girl clearly is not feeling well. And, consequently, she is not sleeping well either. This afternoon, she napped for a whopping 15 minutes. I walked with her in the stroller for more than an hour, hoping she would nod off. She was definitely in a zone, but no sleep. 


The doctor also wanted us to keep Colin and Veronica separated, so Colin wouldn’t get sick. Well, aside from the fact that they’d been sharing toys before we found out what Veronica had, we discovered that even with both of us home it’s nearly impossible to keep two 15 month old babies apart. They want to be with each other, and they always want what the other one is playing with. 

So now we’re watching Colin closely to see if he’s going to end up with croup too. Fingers crossed that he doesn’t, since it potentially could be much worse for him. And here’s hoping Veronica feels better tomorrow and is a little happier.

The amazing Mr. (and Ms.) Fiegel

Despite my occasional worries, Colin continues to amaze me with his leaps forward and his determination to get what he wants. He is one determined little dude! And right now, every fiber of his being is focused on figuring out this walking thing. 

On Saturday, I was playing with the babies in the living room while John and Ethan were at a birthday party. Veronica was showing off her newly minted walking skills (more on that in a minute), and Colin was working on his cruising. He just started really cruising around the room on the furniture about a week ago, and now he uses that skill a lot. 

While I was watching and thinking how much more confident Colin was getting with his cruising, he suddenly let go of the coffee table and reached across the gap to the couch — successfully — and continued his cruising from there. I was very impressed.

He also is trying very hard to find his balance point while standing. When I walk with him holding my hands, he will regularly stop, lean against my legs and let go of my hands. Tonight he even started trying to push away from my legs and balance on his own. (He’s not quite there yet.)

Of course, after a block of doing the walking and trying to balance thing, he got tired of the challenge and raced Veronica by crawling (he won) back home.

And, as you may have guessed, Veronica has fully embraced the walking life. She is now walking every where, including half way to Trader Joe's yesterday, and all the way down the block today. She also is capable of getting pretty close to a run, especially if she sees a dog. 

Not content with just being an official toddler now, she also keeps upping the ante by doing things like working on turning corners, or walking while carrying ever-bigger objects. She also is very proud of her ability to climb the stairs (a trick Colin actually mastered first), which means we have to keep a gate up at both ends of the staircase. 

There is never a dull moment in our house, and it’s getting more exciting every week. 

The other shoe

After having a month without doctor appointments, we’re back in the throws of juggling schedules to make all of our appointments fit. (We’re not doing so well with it — poor Colin has two appointments in one day on the 27th.) This week, Colin finally had his six-month follow-up appointment with the pediatric ophthalmologist (only 2.5 months late) and an appointment at the high-risk clinic at the hospital.

The ophthalmologist appointment went well. John took Colin, who was very quiet and snuggly throughout the visit. His vision is fine, and he does not need glass nor does he need to see an eye doctor again until he’s five, unless we suspect he’s having trouble seeing. 

The appointment today at the hospital was a mixed bag. I always enjoy going back to the hospital with one of the babies. People there still remember us, and it’s nice to be able to chat again with so many of the people who helped keep us sane while we were practically living there last year. 

The appointments at the high risk clinic (at least at our hospital) are always the same routine: Colin gets weighed (he’s up to 17 pounds, but I think their scale tends to weigh a bit light), measured (he's 27.5 inches now) and has his blood pressure taken. Then we see an occupational therapist, and finally one of the neonatologists from the hospital. They assess the babies as preemies (whereas their pediatrician assesses them as babies), and make recommendations about specialists or extra services we may want to pursue. 

Occupational therapy assessment has gone quite quickly for us the last two visits, because Colin’s therapist is also the therapist at the clinic right now. When she walked into the room, Colin’s eyes lit up and he reached out to her. He had fun “playing” the games she presented him with, and was very proud of himself. Since she already knows him well, this ends up almost being like an extra session.

Colin is very advanced in his fine motor skills — testing between 14 and 15 months (at and above his actual age). However, he is still only at a six- to seven-month equivalent in his gross motor skills. He also remains high tone (especially in his shoulders and ankles) and has slight torticollis (his head favors one side/doesn’t rotate fully to the other side). 

As a result, he presents a mixed bag, from a developmental standpoint. His coordination and fine motor skills are very good, and he’s making progress (very slowly) on his gross motor skills. But at the same time, his tone is not improving much (or at all) in two of the key areas. So Colin is now adding another specialist to his collection: a neurologist.

This is that proverbial “other shoe” dropping that people always talk about waiting for, and in a way I have been waiting for it. While no one said it, what they’re having Colin evaluated for is cerebral palsy. And honestly, part of me is surprised it hadn’t come up sooner. He is at very high risk for cerebral palsy, and has several of the classic “symptoms” or signs. 

Now, in reality, a diagnosis of CP doesn’t really affect anything — it’s not a degenerative or progressive disease. It is what it is. And if Colin really has CP, he isn’t going to be any different after labeling it as such. He’s still going to be our gung ho, into everything, working on learning how to walk and ignoring sitting little guy. It just means it isn’t likely to get any easier for him as he gets older. He’s not going to just grow out of the need to work twice as hard to accomplish these milestones.

Of course, Colin doesn’t present a classic case, because of the strong coordination and fine motor skills. So the neurologist may say it’s nothing to worry about, or that we should wait until he’s older to do an assessment. We won’t know for sure until next month. But in the mean time, that tender shoot of normalcy has again been squashed under foot. We’ve been reminded that our babies aren’t normal — they’re preemies.

12 Steps

No, not a recovery program. That’s Roni’s current record for steps taken in a row. She did that today — walking across the living room to get to John and Colin. (Ethan and I were at Ikea, so we missed it.) Tonight before dinner, she took another 10 steps in the kitchen. And she has been doing shorter “walks” all day long. I have a feeling it won’t be long now … her confidence is growing. 

Colin too is making leaps forward again. He is rapidly mastering the art of standing up (and more slowly mastering the art of getting back down again). He doesn’t do it “right,” which only poses a problem because his style for standing could stretch out the ligaments in his feet, which would make running and jumping (later) harder. 

As a result, we have switched gears in PT, and are helping Colin learn how to stand properly rather than focusing so much on sitting. We’re still trying to help him learn how to get into a sitting position, and spending a little time on getting out of sitting with a bit more grace (and fewer bumps to the head). But with Colin, you’ve really got to go where his interest lies, and right now that’s with standing.

Both babies are making progress in the communication department. Colin now signs “please” and “more” in addition to waving and doing high fives. He isn’t really speaking any words consistently, but he does make the full range of sounds so we’re not concerned about his speech (yet anyway). Veronica now says “uh oh” and “bye-bye” and has many signs (fan, please, banana, more, up, out, down … I really should make a list at some point). 

Colin’s insatiable curiosity and dogged persistence are running us ragged. When he’s awake, Colin is invariably trying to do something he’s not supposed to. I feel like every five minutes we’re having to pull him down from the shelves, or off the ledge under the table, or off the treadmill, or out of the kitchen cabinets. 

And two minutes later, he’s right back at it again. And again. And again. We’ve run out of gates to block things off. Maybe we’ll just buy a big cage … just kidding.