Update Finally!!

Hey Everyone!! It has been FOREVER since i've updated. I said that i wasn't gonna slack anymore and time just gets away from me!

Things are going great around here. Drew and Kaylea went 15 months without ever having an ear infection and then got one and couldn't shake it so we ended up having tubes put in their ears. That was in August. It went great and no problems since. But, i wouldn't recommend having two infants coming off of anesthesia at the same time! That was stressful but at least it was over with all in one day.

Drew and Kaylea are doing great. They are EVERYWHERE! Including many places that they shouldn't be. Haha...like climbing on recliners, couches, tables, boxes, whatever they can find.

This is actually the fun part. I'm finally enjoying being home with them!! Sounds bad, but i didn't really enjoy the first year of staying at home and i look back and hate that. It was just such an adjustment for me staying at home and on top of that having two preemies! Now that they are walking and somewhat talking and have a little independance about them, they are just a joy each and every day!

We are probably going to somewhat hibernate again this winter. Not as bad as last winter, but we're going to still be careful. They aren't eligible for the RSV shots this year since they haven't been sick or had any chronic lung problems. That's great that they aren't getting them because they haven't been sick but it'd be nice to be able to get those shots for another winter. But, since the shots are $2500.00 per child per month (yes, you read that right) I think hibernating will be better for us financially! haha...

I sure wish i knew how to add pictures!! They are still skinny and are only about 18 pounds still, but boy have we come a LONG way!!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Frustrated!

We went for Drew and Kaylea's 18 month check up on Friday. It went really well. Their ears look fine and everything went great. Other than they are still underweight. Are these kids ever going to gain any weight? Kaylea weighed 17 pounds 10 oz and Drew was an even 17 pounds. Which makes no sense whatsoever! He eats 2-3 times more than she does and she's always ahead of him in weight. The doctor is fine with it though. They are 30 inches long. They are on the 25th percentile for their height and 2 percentile for their weight.

I'm really frustrated this morning. I have everything that we need to know in order for the neurologist to tell me how to wean Kaylea off of the phenabarb. He is an hour away from us. I finally got the nurse this morning and she tells me that we must come in to see the dr for him to "go over the test and tell me how to decrease her meds" What?? I've got the test results right in front of me. Why can't he just look at the same paper that i am looking at and tell me how? Now i have to round someone up to either go with me with both kids or find someone to stay here with Drew while i take Kaylea. Ughhhh...can't anything be smooth? Of course, it all boils down to $$. These stupid doctors want to be able to charge for an office consult in order to talk to me. Ughhh...it just infuriates me! I told the nurse that i have both the EEG results and the phenabarb blood level and she asked me where i got it and that i didn't need to have that until the dr went over it. Excuse me? These are results of whether or not my child is having a seizure or not and you're telling me i don't need them until the dr can go over them with me. Please! I told her that we pay for those tests and they are our medical records and that i have every right to have them. She said that they could get Kaylea in tomorrow to see the dr. Of course, that's the one day our of dh's schedule that he has a meeting. And the one day that his mother isn't able to come over that morning. Geez. So, i'm not sure what we're gonna do. The next appt that they have isn't until Sept 15th and i definitely don't want to wait that long.

On another note, our Sunday School teacher and great man in our community doesn't seem to be doing very well. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cancer 3 years ago. They only gave him 6 months to live in the beginning. His unbelievable faith in God has gotten him through 3 years of treatments and he's just now beginning to feel the effects of it. His body just isn't holding up like it was. We rec'd an email from him last night stating that he was going on down to the oncologist tomorrow instead of waiting another 3 weeks for his regular followup appt. It's the first email that has really sounded as if he's unsure of what's to come. I'm praying that his bone scans that he gets tomorrow doesn't show what he thinks it will show. His family needs our prayers!

Picky, Picky, Picky!

I took Kaylea to the speech therapist. The ST asked me a lot of questions on background info and then give Kaylea several things to try. Crackers, ice, pudding, etc. She ate all of it with no problem. The ST said that she definitely doesn't have an adversion. She thinks it's just stubborness. haha...she didn't use that word. I think she used strong minded. Anyway, she is going to come one time per week and see if she can work with her. She says that she has ways of "tricking" kids into eating something that they never wanted before. All I can say is GOOD LUCK. But I definitely want her to come! It definitely won't hurt anything.

Drew has been a little whiney the last day or so. Not sure what's up with him. I just hope it's not his ears. And speaking of ears. Kaylea has not slept well for the past week or so. That's usually a sign that it's her ears. We go to the pediatrician for their 18 month check up on Friday. I'll have her check both of their ears out to see what she says. In the meantime, i'm not looking forward to the visit. Although it will be a bitter-sweet one. It's the last round of shots until they are 4!!!!! YAY!!!! I'm so glad of that. I'm sick of shots/vaccinations!

Terrible 2's???

Are they coming??? Ughhhhh....Kaylea is getting sooooo rebelious!! I just want to wear her tail out sometimes. Well, and sometimes i do and it just doesn't phase her. I think she's numb to pain. She is in the climbing stage and is climbing on everything! In the recliner (and when she can't quite make it she throws a tantrum), in the glider, if there's a table next to the chair that she has climbed in, well, she climbs on that. The girl has no fear at all! We covered our hearth at our fireplace with fabric and she climbs on it and tries standing up. She tries standing up in the chairs too. Ughhhh....she can't be left alone for 2 seconds or i'm afraid that she will break her neck! The bad thing is, she'll just look at me when she starts to do it. It's like she saying in her head when she looking straight at me and is saying "i'm about to stand up so just watch. i know you don't want me to and maybe you won't even notice if i do it very slowly" Who knows. I guess this too shall pass.

While we were on vacation we saw a lady that had triplets. Since we were on vacation with another couple that had a one year old, her kids thought that they might be triplets. They walked over to our table and asked if they were triplets and we told them no that my set were twins and that was our friends little girl. She proceeded to tell me that she had 8 year old triplets and that it gets much easier. She said that if i can just make it to 3 years old then it's a breeze. COME ON 3!!!! We were talking about "schedules" and she said that anybody that just has a single baby doesn't know the importance of a "schedule" to mom's of multiples. Boy, was she right. People usually think i'm just being over-reactive when i say "what time will it be or what time do you want to go" and when they say a time that's in their nap schedule I just pass. They are like "can't you just work it to where they nap earlier or later." Ummmmm....nope. Sure can't. I was glad that our friends heard her say that. Their little girl had no schedule whatsoever on vacation. By the end of the vacation she was about on Drew and Kaylea's.

I still haven't heard from Kaylea's EEG. This is just ridiculous! I can't believe how long it is taking. I'm on hold now with the doctors office to see if they have the results. I'm really wanting to get them so that i can schedule a visit with the neurologist so that we can get her off of this medicine. With the assumption that the EEG was fine and she doesn't need it.

We go to a speech therapist on Monday to see if she has any techniques and tricks to see if she can get Kaylea to eat more than she does. She just won't even try anything new and it is soooo frustrating!

Ok, just got a phone call back and the EEG was negative. Thank you Lord!! So, the next step is to get her off of this medicine. It's kindof scary to think about. I mean, she's been on it practically all of her life and it's such a strong medicine. But, this is what i want. I don't want to wait for her to "grow out of it." I want to get her off of it asap. I need to go and get an appt scheduled with the neurologist.

New Beginnings!

Last night went much better than expected. I set the alarm for 4:00 a.m. and got up and went in Kaylea's room and turned the light on. I let her wake up and stand up and i got her out of her bed. I turned all of the lights on in her bedroom and the living room and kitchen so that it would be nice and bright. She sat with me in the recliner for a long time playing with a book. We watched Celebrity Poker on Bravo. LOL Around 6:30 a.m. we went and woke DH up and I took a bath. Then he took a shower and before we knew it it was 7:30 and we were on our way. We went to the hospital and waited for a while. They finally called us back around 8:30 or so and we went to another waiting area. We sat in there at least another 30 minutes. DH took Kaylea out in the hospital halls and let her just run around. She did great for having been up since 4:00 a.m.!!! Then the EEG tech (whom I happened to know) came out and said "Dawn, we're going to have to reschedule the EEG" WTH??? I said, "Um, no we're not. I'm not getting her up at 4:00 a.m. and sitting up all night with her." Anyway, there was a little bit of confusion but I got our doctor on the phone and it was a go. We took her in the room, gave her a bottle, and she was out like a light! She slept through the whole thing! She was such a big girl. I guess we won't find out anything until Monday or Tuesday on the results. I just pray everything is ok and we can get her off of this medicine!

In the meantime, I couldn't help but think about Drew all night! This was his first night away from home! Dh and I were in the bed and I couldn't quit talking. I would say "I wonder how Drew is doing", "I wonder if he's gone to sleep yet", "I hope he sleeps ok for my mom", etc. I know dh was like "Shut up and go to sleep!" LOL My mom said Drew did great. He only woke up one time and went right back to sleep. She said that the minute he woke up, he got up and went straight for the piano. LOL He LOVES my mom's and stepdad's piano! That's practically all he does while he's there.

All in all, it was a great and smooth night and day. Very unlike what i had in my mind! I told my mom that since Drew passed the test of staying away from home that they're gonna have to keep him more often. LOL I doubt that will happen, but we shall see!

Good Intentions!

I had such good intentions when I began this site. It was supposed to be a journal for all of our family and friends to keep up with us. I made 3 lousy posts and that was it. That's pretty pathetic. So, here's to another try.

Drew and Kaylea are such joys in our lives. They say after children you don't remember what you did before them. Well, that hasn't hit, but i wouldn't change a thing! Watching them grow and learn something new everyday is so much fun. Watching new steps, new teeth, new attitudes, all this new stuff is what Shane and I made. Amazing!

Drew has been trying to walk now for several weeks now. He can walk across the house now but still isn't very confident about it. And he's still wobbly. He's only stood up in the middle of the floor a time or two and started walking, otherwise, he starts by holding on to something. Boy, we never thought this day would come and it has! He's such a happy boy. And the telephone is his new best friend. He is so darn funny. He'll put it up to his ear and it sounds like he's saying "Hello" and he just babbles off a conversation. It's hilarious.

Kaylea is her same ole self. Just as independant as ever. Ever since vacation she (and Drew) has been a little monkey. Climbing in the glider rocker, on the couch, standing up on the bed. Whew! It's enough to give you a heart attack.

They've started really loving to play on their bean bags. They'll just walk up to them and fall on them and just laugh. They'll go back and forth. Drew will be on one and Kaylea on the other and then they'll switch.

I sent a picture to the NNICU where they were for so long. It was a picture of them in their beach chairs on the beach on their first vacation. I haven't heard from anyone to see if they got it. Hopefully they did. We are still so thankful for everything that they did for us. I just hope they don't think i'm a freak for sending them a picture! I mean, we've been gone over a year now. I know their primary nurses were happy to see it. The rest of the nurses probably just think i'm nutso!

Tomorrow is Kaylea's EEG. We've got to keep her up from 4 a.m. until 8 a.m. because the EEG has to be a sleep deprived one. Boy is this going to be a fun night! A little recap as to why she's having this done. While in the NNICU when Drew and Kaylea were having trouble eating they wanted to make sure that it wasn't something neurological so they did an EEG on them. Drew's was fine and Kaylea's had 10 seconds on there that was questionable. So, they put her on phenobarbital just in case there was something going on. Ends up that they were allergic to their formula. Anyway, she's been on this medicine ever since and I want her to come off of it if she doesn't need it. Primarily because it's a narcotic. To grow out of the dosage she would have to be 30 pounds and that seems as if it'll never get here. So, in order to wean her off, the dr has ordered another EEG. Never would i have imagined that it would be a sleep deprived EEG. Ughhh...so, that's where we are. Hopefully the night won't be that bad and we'll have it done and we'll be able to get her off of that medicine. That's the only medicine that she's on and Drew isn't on any. They've both had one additional EEG and both of their's were fine.

Boy, are we lucky! And boy have we come a LONG way from when we came home with them. I can't even begin to remember how many meds they were one. It was several on each baby. I've got it written down somewhere.

I'll update tomorrow on how the night went. Sending prayers above that it's not as bad as i think it's going to be!

Busy Busy Busy

My dad, Bev and Dalas came this weekend and we had, yet, another Christmas! haha....it was great. I really enjoyed having them here and spending time with them. They bought the babies the cutest stuff! And they also got all 4 of us matching Tommy Hilfiger outfits. I smell a picture coming with those outfits! LOL...

Drew has learned to do patty cake and it's now his new favorite game. It is the cutest thing ever watching him! Kaylea has been ill as a hornet all weekend. She's cutting two bottom teeth and she has a little bit of congestion to go with it. Not a good thing. She seems to be doing better today. Hopefully those little teefees will cut on through and she'll be her old happy, on the go, independant self instead of needing me 24/7.

I've got some great pictures but I've got to figure out how to get them posted!

Another Great Day

I thought that after the holidays that it would take me a little while to get back in the swing of things and on another good schedule. But, it's totally opposite. Things just seem to fall into place. The only anxious time is around 11:00 a.m. and they are both wanting to eat and take a nap. But, I've learned to not get uptight and that one just has to wait his/her turn. I just have to decide which one I feel is the hungriest or sleepiest and let the other one learn some patience. Boy, is that hard. Not only because it drives me nuts to listen to one cry, but also because they are still babies and they don't understand "it's not your turn yet" just yet. All in all, it seems to be getting somewhat easier but much better when I'm here alone.

These babies tickle the stew out of me. I swear Drew is gonna have whiplash if Kaylea keeps going up behind him and ramming him with her walker while he's in his. haha....i'm like "WATCH OUT DREW...HERE SHE COMES" and his little feet will go 90 to nothing trying to run from her. LOL...such a sight! That's one way to get that little booger (Drew) to step with one foot at a time rather than being lazy and pushing with both feet. He's doing so much better with that. He seems to have broken that habit thank goodness.

The First Post

So, this is the first post of many....I HOPE!! I have very good intensions of keeping a journal of Drew and Kaylea. I have had one on another site but wanted to start a site where everyone could check out periodically to see how they are advancing instead of me having to send out group email updates. That way, for the people who don't want to get the emails anymore, or just plain thinks we are way too obsessed with these little rascals, well, they don't have to visit the site and don't have to roll their eyes when they receive the emails just to instantly hit the delete key. haha....i'm hoping that no one actually does this...but, you never know.

So.......i will TRY MY BEST to update this daily or every other day and continue to add updated pictures.

Everyone who wishes to, please add any comments! I'm gonna try to get a guestbook set up to where you all can sign and post something for Drew and Kaylea to have and cherish forever! In the meantime, just click on add comment to do it for now.