Eye Dr, Nutritionist, & Neurologist

Yesterday we went to the eye doctor for both the boys, and it was awful! They were not wanting to be there, and having to get their eyes dilated didn't help. We were there for over two and a half hours and it cut into their nap time. But the good news is that Cyrus does not need glasses and his problems with steps and changes in floor texture is not related to his eyes. Collin looks good too, but he is a little more near sighted than before and needs new glasses. Poor guy had trouble with the exam and they ended up reopening a cut next to his eye trying to pry them open for the exam. They gave me some eye safe antibiotic cream to take home. A rough appointment...

We saw the nutritionist this morning so we have their current weight/heights. She has recommended that we go down to two bottles of Pediasure a day to help encourage them to eat more food at mealtimes. But Collin has gone through a big growth spurt, so that could be part of the poor height to weight ratio he has right now (12 %).

Collin
24 lbs. 13 oz.
34 1/8 inches

Cyrus
26 lbs 15 oz.
34 1/2 inches

Earlier this morning we saw the Neurologist for the first time and he was very nice. He says that Collin is doing very well and with his progress it is just too soon to diagnose him with Cerebral Palsy. We are going back in six months and see how well he is doing then, and if necessary do an MRI. But for now Collin is good! Hurray it was great news from our doctor appointments for the past two days! Tomorrow is our follow-up gastro appointment. No rest for the preemie...

When he isn't paying attention he can stand all by himself for a few seconds...


Here Collin, Gaia, and Cyrus are all sharing her pillow on
the big pallet she made in front of the TV.
They were all a little sleepy....


Just a nice photo of big sister Gaia in her new blouse!

We're Feeling Much Better Now

Thank goodness we are on the other side of that sickness! Let us hope that the rest of this winter season is far more healthy. We are getting back into the swing of things, therapy sessions, DR appointments and playdates. :)

Today we went to a great multiples playgroup that had ten little rugrats (all two and under) plus two older siblings (who luckily were the same age and therefore had someone to play with). It was chaos of course but lots of fun. Cyrus was the most chatty kid there! I was so proud that he was just conversing with whoever would listen to him; he has come so far. Collin spent most of his time turning the TV on and off and trying to get into other electronic equipment. I needed the social interaction as much as the boys did, and really had fun talking to the other moms. Although sometimes I forget that preemies aren't a "multiples" thing and get caught off guard by the looks of shock of telling my story to the new moms I meet (I REALLY summarize) and I bet those who I see us regularly are getting tired of hearing me babble on about it. What you mean your kids do not have to go to therapy every week and have seven different doctors and take RSV shots that cost more than your car?

Tuesday Collin sees the Neurologist for the first time. The gastro Dr is very concerned that Collin has Cerebral Palsy, and I do not know what is entailed in being diagnosed. Nor do I know what this would really mean for Collin and I have received conflicting reports from therapists. On one hand there is the insurance coverage increase by the diagnosis and so more therapy sessions a week to help him out. On the other hand, he may be labeled for limitations that he can overcome if not stereotyped by future teachers/doctors/therapists. I am not putting too much into this yet, but honestly it would not surprise me.

Hey Cyrus, this milk is excellent! You should try it without the lid!


Flashback to the eighties, baby!


*elbows his brother* Cyrus! Check out that thing over there!
Uh huh, sure. Whatever, Collin.

We All Got It

As of today, it is official, everyone who lives in this house is sick. Craig came home from work today saying he has been feeling bad at work all day, and luckily for him he has only one more day left before his three day "weekend." Of course he will be spending his free time being sick but its better than calling in when you are on hourly wages. We were supposed to have big sister Gaia over this weekend, but with all the sickness around here we arranged it for another weekend. Which is good, since she has three more little brothers at her other house and one is less than three months old. I would feel awful if this icky bug got sent home with her and everyone got sick there too.

Collin and Cyrus are feeling a little better, but are absolutely refusing to eat. It has been a flashback to the good old days of trying to get them to eat baby food, only now they are smarter and know the tricks, like spitting it out, flailing their arms in protest, and using sign language for "all done" after only two bites. As being sick goes, Cyrus is worse off than Collin, but at the moment I think I am the sickest. My parents offered to come over for the afternoon today and babysit so I could get some rest, BLESS THEM!! I got like five hours sleep in a row, which is really good and I needed badly. Let us hope that we are all feeling better by Monday so we do not have to cancel anymore Dr/therapy appointments, because holy cow people, this is getting ridiculous!

Collin has maneuvered himself behind the cat tower
and the coffee table to get at the window. Apparently
our curtains have a little static cling going on...



Cyrus is playing with kitty, being very gentle.
With reminders of course.



Collin is holding on to the industrial size baby gate that
Craig made to go around the computer/kitchen table.
I think he has his eyes on my computer...


Cyrus likes to hide under blankets and so I
thought he might like a tunnel. He did.

Snowed In

Okay, maybe not snow, but ice and sleet. We were supposed to have a playgroup for multiples today at my house and a Dr. appointment for Collin to see the neurologist. Both cancelled, and I was not upset about it in the least. There is something about being tucked inside the warm house when the outside is cold and white that makes you want to sit on the couch and do nothing. I almost did nothing had I not been preparing for company the night before. Aside from Cyrus and Collin being needy today from not feeling well, it was a lazy day. I think they might be teething but they have had the high fevers and now a cough, so maybe the teething is a separate thing and they are getting sick to boot. *throws hands up in the air* I just do not know anymore. They are sick all the time in winter, that is what I have decided.

Of course we have two ECI appointments tomorrow, so no lazing about but today we could. And then Friday, after another ECI appointment, we drive the 45 minutes to pick up their big sister for the weekend. It feels like forever since I saw her now that we don't get to see her every Wednesday like we used to. I hope she is enjoying her new home and new school.

Preemie Magazine

I was curious whether the NICU at Cook Children's Hosptial, where Collin and Cyrus were taken care of in carried Preemie Magazine. I know that a NICU nurse or two checks in on this blog every now and then, so I wanted to leave this link they could fill out to have Preemie Magazine sent to their NICU. I wish that Preemie Magazine had been available when we were in the NICU, so if any other mom's of preemies please pass this information on to your local NICU. We all would have benefit from having it whether we just had our little ones, or are even getting ready for school. I know I have mentioned Preemie Magazine before, but it is such a great magazine... Every NICU and preemie parent should get it!

Houston, We Have a Problem

Collin has a fever. It has gotten up to 101.5, it started last night and has lasted through to this afternoon. I called the hospital to find out if we will need to reschedule his EGD (or Upper GI) and is supposed to go home with a pH probe in the morning and am waiting to hear back from the on-call doctor. It is likely that we will not be going tomorrow. *sigh* I would really like to get this over with and depending on how soon Collin is rescheduled, will determine if he will stay off his reflux meds. I think he is likely teething because he has not other symptoms and has been chewing on everything he can gets his hands on lately. But I do not want to take any chances if he is sick. I will update this when I hear back from the doctor...

UPDATE: Well we are canceling his procedure under the recommendation of the on-call gastro Dr., and the weather. In Texas it doesn't snow, it ices, and right now we are in the middle of a cold (aka 30 degrees, feels like 19), rainy, icy mess that will likely be one of the few real cold spells of our winter. So I am slowly putting Collin back on his reflux meds, since he is sick he doesn't need that to contend with as well. I am also going to try to talk to our Gastro NP and find out if fever can be a side effect to being off the reflux meds. I will let everyone know how it all goes and what I find out. Until then, everyone, stay warm and dry! :P

BTW, Cyrus is doing fine. He had his first bath since surgery last night and I could take off the outer bandage from his incision. He whined and I kept telling him I was sorry and he would cry back "sorry!" but we got it off and then he was fine.

Collin just cruising along the furniture as he does so often now.


Cyrus was chillin' and telling me all about his favorite TV show.

Cyrus checks out his new PJs, they are a little too big for his legs....

Collin's Turn Monday

Well Monday Collin will be taking his turn to the hospital, getting a nose spray to calm him down before they put him out, and then they will easily put in his IV, hopefully. I am so worried about the IV, I know he will be out but the last time he had an IV done it took 11 sticks to get a vein!!! And we will be going home with a tube down his nose to monitor his reflux for 24 hours. Luckily my parents are going to take care of Cyrus during this time so I only have to worry about one child pulling on the tube. Cyrus will be going over to Nana & Grandpa's Sunday night since we have to be at the hospital at 6:00 AM Monday morning. And I thought we had to be there uber early for Cyrus' surgery! In the old days (pre-children days) I would just stay up if I had somewhere to be that caused me to leave the house at 5:30 AM. Wow it really was two lifetimes ago, amazing how so much can change in so little time. Now I am a mother of two little miracle children! And there was a time when I thought I was never going to have children... :P

Bathtub Fun

It was the night before Cyrus' surgery so I thought we would try something fun, no bathtub seats. Collin is not stable enough for bathing without the seat yet, so it was a one time thing for now, but they had a blast while it lasted!

Because everyone likes to see baby butts!


Collin is trying to reach across the tub and drag his
tub seat back into the bath. Cyrus is splashing in
the water, just the beginning of what would be
the Bathtub Splashing Fiasco of 2007. :P


Oh the water is getting deep now! Note that Cyrus is now on
the left side and Collin on the right. They never sat still.


The water got all the way across the room to the
bathroom door by the time they were done with this bath
and Mommy had to change her clothes lest she
catch a cold in her own bathroom! LOL

Surgery Smurgery!

Well Cyrus must have known that he was having surgery early in the morning because he woke up ten minutes before my alarm was set to go off at 5:00 AM. So he watched his favorite TV show The Upside Down Show while I got ready to go and off we went in the wee hours of the morning to the hospital. Craig stayed home with Collin while my mother met me up at the hospital.

All went well... we got in on time, we were the first on our doctor's schedule, right in and right out. His hernia repair surgery was just over 20 minutes long. He had a pretty decent sized hernia and hydrosil, but it was easily stitched up and he was ready to go after about an hour and a half in the recovery room. We spent most of our time trying to get Cyrus to drink something so we could prove he was not nauseous and go home. But after trying all the things that normal kids like (juice, sprite, popsicles) we finally got him to drink from a sports water bottle from the vending machine.

And if you had seem him this afternoon you would have never known this boy had surgery just a few hours ago. He is doing great and the surgeon says that by tomorrow he will be feeling little to no pain (as long as he doesn't pull the incision) and the stitches will dissolve so all we need to do is set up a follow-up in three weeks to make sure every thing still looks good. I am happy, Cyrus is happy, hurray!

Oh and one other thing... I got the Medicaid thing settled yesterday afternoon while at Collin's food/speech rehabilitation evaluation. We got "emergency" Medicaid cards enabled and so that is cleared up! :) NO need to reschedule Collin's gastro appointment on Monday and our prescriptions for Cyrus' pain meds were covered today. Whew! I even got a direct line phone number to a woman I from children's Medicaid! How awesome is that!?!

oh yeah, a second thing... the evaluation for Collin was to replace the therapy from the college in Denton. It looks like we will start in the next 6-8 weeks depending on insurance blah blah blah. Collin will have Speech therapy twice a week! The NP who evaluated Collin gave him great reviews and said with intensive therapy she thinks he will be just fine. He rated 15 months old on the receptive scale, and 8 months old on the expressive scale in language which is right about where I expected. He understands far more than he can express but he tries really hard. *Deep Sigh* So after a whirl wind of emotion and drama things may be calming down for a little while and we can all take a rest. Excellent. :)

Cyrus was so excited about playing the toy area
before surgery, he must have been the happiest child there!


More toy playing in his gown and duck feet socks.


My brave little man still waking up from surgery in
the recovery room snuggling up with Nana.


Cyrus was all set to go and excited to be taking a
wagon to the car... To my carseat, driver!

Knocking on Wood

Cyrus is getting better and has been fever free for 24 hours! Whew! Let's hope that he makes it through until Wednesday... knock, knock. :P In fact he and Collin have been very playful this weekend while their big sister has been here. We might need to reschedule Collin's Gastro procedure because of the Medicaid mix up. Technically we do have Medicaid right now but because of a computer glitch involving the new year that stated we didn't qualify, we are not receiving any of the Medicaid benefits. I have tried contacting the children's Medicaid office (and getting like nine different phone numbers of people who could not help and give me another number to call, etc. until I got to the official office who puts me on hold and I have yet to get a person) everyday last week that they were open and wasted hours of minutes on my phone without ever getting to talk to anyone who could help me. I AM SO FRUSTRATED!!!!

This means our medications are no longer covered, we will owe an additional $500 for Cyrus' surgery on Wednesday, and all our Dr. appointments/ procedures will cost us more upfront. Not an ideal time for a mix up, right after Christmas, but Cyrus needs the surgery more than Collin needs his procedure, so if we do not get this fixed by the end of next week we will have to reschedule Collin. I was going to reschedule Collin's rehab food evaluation but we would not get in until March... Decisions decisions and I want to do what is best for my children and hopefully what is financially viable for us. So if Collin has to wait until March, maybe that is what we have to do.

On a more positive note, Collin has been very vocal lately saying slowly and deliberately "ma-ma" and trying to make consonant sounds! He has also been wanting to walk assisted more too ( hold his hands); normally he resists and would lift his feet. But today he even took a few steps while holding only one hand! It was very exciting, and I am so proud of my big boy Collin! The therapists said that speech is related to walking and I am seeing improvement in both. And speaking of speech, Cyrus is talking constantly, although I have to translate it to others most of the time, but that is okay, I don't mind. :) He makes great associations, like calling a watch a clock. We just need to get some of the technical/business stuff settled so I can go back to focusing my energy on the boys. I feel like I have not been giving them my best lately and now that we are all relatively well we need to get back on schedule.

I apologize, I feel like all I do these days is complain, and sometimes I start to post and stop because I start just venting. My internal dialog isn't very positive, and I need to work on that. And but the way... the PostSecret guy is going to be in town (Grapevine, but its close to Fort Worth) the day after Cyrus' surgery. I am SO bummed out that I will not be able to go and get his latest books (and autograph them!) and listen to his lecture. But I cannot abandon my son the day after his surgery, and besides, Craig is still going to be at work when it starts anyway. :( But I will stop being so selfish and focus on the positive... It is a new year, and this stress too shall pass... all will be well again... ohmm.... :)

Cyrus is helping out Collin by pushing him on the tricycle,
and having a great time doing it too. Isn't that adorable?


Uh oh, Collin, you better steer that thing! You are about
to be pushed right into the box of diapers and wipes!!


Collin cuddles with Daddy on the couch after Daddy's long day at work.


Cyrus takes his turn with Daddy and Collin uses this as
an opportunity to try to steal Cyrus' blankie. Silly Collin...

Think Happy Thoughts

Cyrus has had a fever for almost 24 hours now, as high as 102. I took him into the DR today under the recommendation of the phone nurse, and of course they found out he does not have strep and so they did nothing. I just do not need Cyrus getting sick and having to postpone his surgery on Wednesday. So everyone think happy thoughts that he does not get sick. We were going to a playdate with the multiples group tomorrow too. :( So much for that. Collin and Craig are fine and I am feeling better, so lets just keep Cyrus healthy!!!

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2007! We are looking forward to this year, may each year get better than the last. Collin and Cyrus stayed up until 11:30 PM almost staying up until the ball dropped (again) Central Standard Time. I have high hopes for this year and I am optimistic that changes for the better will be coming.

I am feeling better, but my energy levels are still low. So to make up for my lack of conversation, here are bunches of fun pictures of the holiday season to enjoy!

Bringing in 2007 with a SNAP!
Cyrus hurt himself with the elastic on his hat moments later...


Collin was more interested in examining
the hat rather than wearing it.


Collin was obsessed with playing the piano
on Christmas. No really, he cried and cried
when we tore him away from it.


Cyrus was the Sit n Spin Master,
figuring out how to do it almost immediately.


Big sister Gaia opens her loot- tons of cool clothes!


Cyrus pops out of his gift from Santa, a puppet theater.


Collin and Cyrus watch the show Daddy puts on for them.
They both love playing with the puppets.


I just had to share how happy Collin was
to be inside the kitchen cabinet.


Collin and Cyrus express their artistic side with crayons.
Cyrus was bogarting the crayons and Collin kept eating them. :P