Pulmonologist Update

The verdict from our pulmonologist appt today: Anthony gets to join Aryanna in not needing oxygen while he's awake (just barely hung onto 95 with no O2 for that to happen), we'll wait on a sleep study for both of them until March and they've gained some more weight (key for their lung development-pray their reflux gets better), and we don't have to use the apnea monitors anymore-yay for less chords and equipment! We're making progress!

Look How Far We've Come! 6 months old!

The twins are a little over 6 months old now (almost 4 months adjusted) and look how much they've grown!  Here is a flashback to the NICU.  Can you believe how tiny they were?  I mean, I knew they were tiny at the time, but that was all we knew so I don't think we fully grasped just how small they were.  When I compare these pictures to how big they are now, it really puts things in perspective!  We're so grateful for how far they've come.

Here's proof of how much they've grown!  Wow! (And this was when they were 5 months old, so they've grown even more!)

What are they up to now that they're six months old?

• Their hands are the most interesting things ever!  They spend lots of time looking at their hands and figuring out what they can do with them.
• Holding toys with both hands and bringing toys to their mouths
• Talk, talk, talk!!!  Aryanna just loves to make noise and you'd swear Anthony is telling you a story every time he opens his mouth.
• Giggle - Aryanna, especially, gets to laughing so hard when Daddy is being silly.  Anthony is just starting to chuckle every once in a while, too.
• Smile - from the moment they open their eyes in the morning and all day long!  So blessed to have such happy babies.
• Kicking - both love to kick in their bouncy seats, when they're laying on the floor and each other (see the last picture!)  
• Pulling their cannulas out of their noses - ALL.THE.TIME - they think it's pretty funny, but mommy and daddy don't think so - especially at 3 a.m. 

• Rocking tummy time - they're getting great at holding their heads up.  We were getting a little worried about Anthony's head control and added Physical Therapy to the mix, but then he just started holding his head up.  That boy just does things when he's ready to.  It's just hard not to worry sometimes when we still don't know the ramifications of his brain bleed.

• They're getting so close to rolling over!  They've just about got it and just need a little push getting their leg over.
• Eating cereal - we got the OK from the pediatrician to start cereal at their six month appointment. Anthony LOVES his cereal and will eat a whole serving.  Aryanna is not so crazy about it.  We've tried rice and oatmeal and we've tried mixing it with formula and with juice and she is just not a fan.  We keep trying a little bit every day - I'm sure one of these days she'll decide she likes it.
• Receiving monthly Synagis shots - these help lessen the effects of RSV should they contract it.  So far they haven't gotten sick this cold and flu season - Thank you Jesus!  Thankfully our visiting nurse can give this to them so we don't have to take them to the germ-filled doctor's office.  
• Their reflux has improved some.  After a couple of weeks on Zantac (which didn't work) we tried Prilosec and that has helped some.  We've still had good days and bad days.  Anthony only gained three ounces the last 2 weeks and Aryanna gained 7 ounces (they used to gain about a pound every 2 weeks).  Please keep praying that they would be free from pain, that they wouldn't refuse to eat or throw up and that they would continue to gain weight.  They did both have record-setting eating yesterday!  Hallelujah - Thank you Jesus!  Pray for more of that!
• Other prayer requests:  Anthony has another head ultrasound tomorrow (Monday).  Things have been stable  for the last several head ultrasounds, but it hasn't resolved yet (it could still be a long time before that happens).  Our pediatrician gave us the choice of doing another head ultrasound now while his soft spot is still open or waiting until later which would mean having an MRI or CT scan.  There really aren't any concerns with his head circumference or development at this point so she left it up to us.  We decided to go ahead and have another head ultrasound while we still can for peace of mind.  We also take them back to the pulmonologist on December 19th so prayers for healthy lungs are appreciated!  We are very much looking forward to the day that we will be oxygen-free, but are grateful that they have the equipment they need.

 Her favorite place for her hands these days! 

(Until she gags herself!)

Proof that she wants to roll so badly!

 Love those smiles!

Talking to the camera!

Head control - much improved!

"She did it!"

Anthony loves sucking on those hands, too.

Happiest.Babies.Ever. (In our opinion:))

Huh?

"I love you!" (Not even posed - this was all them!)

And this one, just for fun!

Hi-ya!

5 Months

So technically we're at about 5 1/2 months (adjusted age almost 3 months) now, sigh.  Such is life with twins - so hard to keep up with everything!  But they're oh so worth it.  Anthony and Aryanna are at such a fun stage right now!  They're so interactive, smiley, and love talking to us.  Anthony always looks like he's concentrating so intently on your mouth and tries to mimic the shape with his mouth.  He's making lots of different sounds these days (this seems to be a developmental area where he's ahead of Aryanna).  Aryanna does her fair share of "talking" too and she is just so darn happy!

On the flip side of all this fun stuff is some not-so-fun stuff:  REFLUX.  We've read/heard so many stories of other preemie families and feeding issues can be one of the biggest stressors post NICU.  Anthony and Aryanna have always done quite a bit of spitting up, but things have gotten much worse over the past month or so.  For several weeks Aryanna would throw up almost an entire feeding about once a day or once every other day.  It would come through her nose and choke her up and totally freak her (and us) out.  That has finally stopped, but both of them have gotten to the point where they don't want to eat after about the first half of the bottle.  After that they scream, cry, arch their backs, and bat the battle away because they're in so much pain from the reflux.  Many times we end up waiting and feeding them the second half of the bottle a while later, but that way almost the whole day is spent feeding babies.  Needless to say, it's exhausting for us and them and we feel so bad that they're in so much pain.  We took them back to the doctor about a week ago and she put them on Zantac for the reflux.  She said it can take about 2 weeks for it to work and we're not seeing much improvement yet.  Please join us in praying for healing for their little bellies - that they wouldn't be in pain and that they would be able to eat and continue to grow.  Thankfully, through all of this they have continued to grow and they are BOTH ON THE GROWTH CHART FOR WEIGHT!!!  Anthony also made it on there for length!  Praise God!  We're so grateful that they're continuing to thrive through all of this.

Here are some of their pics from month 5 (Aryanna needed her tender grips changed and can be off of oxygen while she's awake so we took the opportunity to snap some pictures of her without anything on her face):

This is our silly girl!  Always pulling at something

on her face!

What on earth will they grab on to once those

cannulas are gone?!

Shhhh...Aryanna is sleeping!