Camdyn and Cade had their 8 month check-up last week. Camdyn now weighs 12 lbs. 11 oz., and Cade now weighs 18 lbs. 4 oz! He might be the biggest former micro-preemie ever. He is in the 25th percentile on the regular 8 month old charts! That is incredible. On the adjusted age 4 month charts, he is in the 95th percentile. Camdyn is in the 25th percentile on the adjusted 4 month charts, but no where near being on the 8 month charts. She just wants to be petite. While the pediatrician would like to see her gain more weight, he is not worried because she is still gaining. Our pediatrician said that both babies are doing great.
Cade had his GI appointment. The GI said that we could wait on getting the g-tube but Jim and I both feel that Cade is not going to learn to eat and drink totally by mouth in the next few months, so we have opted to go ahead with getting the g-tube. We just want Cade to be more comfortable. I do think he is going to learn to eat soon, but I think learning to drink is going to take a lot longer. We take him in to get a pH probe this week, and then we schedule a consultation with the surgeon before scheduling the surgery.
We started with rice cereal this week for both of the babies, and I have been surprised at how "good" they are doing. They both spit/drool a lot of it out, but they are eating! Cade actually takes the cereal in his mouth, rolls it around, and swallows it! He gets very, very tiny bites, and a lot does roll out, but he is swallowing food! He is now accepting the bottle in his mouth and taking a few swallows of milk, but he often still coughs a lot with it. We are scheduling the OT to come out again this week. We were kind of on a therapy hiatus for two weeks. The first week was because I was just too tired of therapy and appointments and needed a break, and then last week our schedule was so full of doctor's appointments there was no time left for therapy.
In November, we had 27 doctor's or therapy appointments. Last week, we had 6 appointments. I have no idea how people with full time jobs and preemies do this. Taking the babies' to appointments is a full-time job. When we eat breakfast, Brenna asks me, "What doctor are we going to today, mommy?" She doesn't mind going; she just likes to know the plan. I think our number of appointments is going to start decreasing. We don't have to go back to the pediatrician for 6 weeks now, and we don't have to go back to the cardiologist for a year. (Camdyn has a small valve that is open in her heart which we were told several people have; they just don't know it. It is not a problem at all. Overall, it just means that she can not be in the military or go scuba diving, and after all we have been through, those two things do not worry me very much.) We will still go to the pulmonologist monthly through March for their Synagis shots. Cade only has one more week to wear his helmet too. He only has to go back to take final pictures. I know he will be happy to be done wearing his helmet, and I am happy that he has a normal looking head now. I really don't mind taking the babies all over the place for appointments because I know that it is helping them. I think of myself as a "doctor mom" instead of a "soccer mom".
Our blog tells the miraculous story of our 24 week twins, Camdyn and Cade, and their big sister Brenna - the struggles, the challenges, and the many joys!
2 comments:
Isn't that the truth! We don't have as many appointments but it definitely feels like a full time job. :) Thankful that we can do it though.
Olivia does the same thing as Brenna, Mommy, what doctor are we seeing today? The therapist appointments are good accountability though, helps me to keep my house somewhat picked up because I know someone's coming over every morning. :)
You guys sound like you're doing great, that's just incredible that Cade is 25th percentile in his actual age category!!! I love reading about how you're doing.
I've read your blog for quite sometime. It was shared with me by another NICU mom. I have boy/girl twins born at 29 weeks on June 7th. Their corrected age is almost 4 months so it sounds like we were due around the same time! My daughter stayed in the NICU about 1 1/2 months longer than my son due to feeding issues and currently has a g-tube (about 2 months now). Our daily life is very similar to yours and I found comfort reading your blog when you describe your efforts in feeding, doctor appointments, etc. Presley (my daughter) would not eat until about 2 weeks ago. She ate off and on for a few weeks at a time but this is the longest she's ever taken a bottle. Putting in the g-tube was one of the hardest decisions we've ever made but it has turned out to be such a blessing. You can check out our story at www.oliveourfamily.com. Thank you for sharing and being so honest!
Brittani
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