Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Nurse Visit

We are still getting our at home nurse visit once a month.  This is a free service provided by the county for families that may need an extra little bit of help.  Since I had premature twins, we were recommended for the program.  It's not really necessary at this point, as we are doing very well, but I am not about to turn down the extra opportunity to have my babies weighed and measured, plus she checks on their developmental milestones.  It also gives me another opportunity to have someone to bounce questions off of and she was a tremendous amount of help when Rylee was going through so much at the beginning of her little life.  Nurse J was here to witness how Rylee struggled eating and saw how much pain she was in from the little ulcers on her bottom, so she was able to pass that info on to our pediatrician and got us the referral to occupational therapy.

Nurse J brings us coupons for formula, gives me baby magazines to read, and sends me info in the mail as needed.  She actually went out of her way to drop off extra coupons one day when we didn't even have an appointment scheduled!  As a result of yesterday's meeting, she is going to send me info on baby sign language.  Tony REALLY wants to teach them baby sign language, so he will be very happy for the info.

As of yesterday, Rylee now weighs 16 lbs even and is 26.5 inches tall.  Ayden weighs 20 lbs, 7 oz and is 27.5 inches tall.

Last week we met with a GI specialist up in Portland, and Rylee was only 15.2 lbs.  She definitely was not getting enough food because she had barely gained any weight in the last month.  We knew she wasn't getting enough, but didn't know what to do since she spits up so much.  Well, the doctor told us that we had to give her more.  She will spit up more, but she will also retain more.  I guess she was right!  In just one weeks time, Rylee has gained almost a full pound!  And yes, the spit up has also increased.  Our living room is now entirely covered in blankets.  Literally.  The doctor said that most babies, 98%, will outgrow their reflux by the age of one.  1-2% will outgrow it by the age of two, and a very, very small number will have to deal with it beyond that.  I really hope we are in the 98%.  As I've mentioned before, we are so over this spit up already.

Patchwork of blankets and a mess of baby stuff!

Nurse J was very impressed with how active both Ayden and Rylee are.  I literally am chasing them around with a burp cloth, cleaning up spit up, trying to keep them corralled to the blankets.  They don't understand the invisible line and love to wander and see how far they can get away with venturing about.  I love their curiosity and absolutely love watching them move about, but it's also a bit of a little pain in the butt too.  Hah!

In other news, yesterday I also managed to slice off the tip of my finger.  Yep, making dinner is a dangerous activity.  Sigh.  I was cutting up veggies for dinner and oops!  Got my finger!  I called my MIL to come watch the babies while I drove myself to urgent care.  I wasn't sure if I would need stitches or not, but I thought I might, and my MIL thought that it was deep enough that I might also.

I was a little terrified at the idea of needing stitches.  I don't handle stuff like that well.  I absolutely hate getting shots, and the idea of someone giving me stitches makes me want to vomit.  I seriously don't know how I ever made it through the IVF process, pregnancy, or giving birth.  I willingly admit to being a big, gigantic baby.

As it turned out, I did not need stitches.  The doctor said that the little (sorry, this is gross) flap of skin would likely die off, whether he stitched it up or not, because it wasn't quite deep enough.  He applied glue and steri-strips, put a band-aide over it, and off I went.  If that little flap of skin does die off, I will just have a slightly funny looking tip of my index finger.  Maybe it will just heal up nicely.  And quickly!  One can hope.

Now, the challenge is not banging my finger on things, which I've already done a few times when going to pick things up.  It hurt like he** and made me want to cry.  The other challenge is trying to keep it dry and clean while changing diapers, washing bottles, giving baths.....

I've learned my lesson.  I shouldn't cook dinner anymore!

26 comments:

  1. I love the idea of you having that extra information etc. from the nurse visits. I am sure that especially being a mom of twins, you can use any additional help.

    I love the blankets all over! Whatever it takes, right?

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    1. It is so nice to have the nurse visits, especially since she comes to us! And yes, whatever it takes! :)

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    1. I'm not sure why you deleted your comment, but it did come through on my email. I just wanted to say thank you for your words and answer your question on if we have an exersaucer. We do have one, along with a walker that we have in our kitchen. It does help to keep the spit up contained, but boy those things are also a pain in the rear to clean! lol

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  3. Ouch I'm sorry about your finger! That definitely makes things extra complicated!

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  4. So sorry to hear about your finger, that does not sound like fun AT ALL! Hope you get to feeling better soon :)

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    1. Nope, it's not fun having a bum finger, but it's also not really that bad I guess. Thanks Amie!

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  5. Baby sign language is awesome! We read "Sign with your baby". We were told to start with two useful signs (like "more" and "all done" and one fun sign like "dog" or "cat"). then you add more signs as they learn those. Our daughter didn't start signing back until around 12 or 13 months. Some babies will start much earlier. But if you want to start earlier, don't give up if they don't respond right away. Have fun!

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    1. I don't really know that much about it so thank you for the tips!

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  6. LOL FUNNY!!!! I am still chuckling!! No more cooking dinner for you!!! I do hope your finger heals soon as that is a pain as you realize how much you bump your finger at times like this! ABSOLUTELY love the blanket carpet!!!! Maybe that will catch on and be a new decorating technique! I am so chuckling over this blog!!! Bless Nurse J and so glad that she has been such a great help and resource for you! Baby sign language is a cool thing! I've never learned it but have seen it used and LOVE IT!!! Good luck with it. Wish I was closer so that I could learn with them!! Plus just get my share of squeezes and loving in!! But soon and I will cook for you and poor Tony!!
    He's going to starve! Okay, I have to go work on laundry and chuckle some more over this!! I don't know why but this blog has hit my funny bone! Love and hugs, Auntie

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    1. As always, I'm glad I can tickle your funny bone, but I'm not sure chopping my finger off is all that funny! lol I did manage to have dinner ready that night for Tony when he got home. MIL was nice enough to finish chopping the veggies while I was at urgent care :)

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  7. Oh man I hope that finger heals quick! So great about her fast weight gain!!!

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    1. The finger is doing better, but definitely not healing fast enough for my liking! lol

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  8. How cool that the nurse comes to visit! It's even better that she is so helpful to you guys!

    Ouch about your finger. :( Every time I try to cook something, I end up hurting myself. I'm sure you're more adept at cooking than I am, but I feel your pain!

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    1. It really is awesome to have the home visits from the nurse!

      We just shouldn't be allowed to cook anymore!

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  9. Oh no!!! Your poor finger! Our living room looks the same as yours :)

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    1. It's a new decorating style. We should get credit for inventing it.

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  10. I'm glad the nurse visits are so helpful! That picture is hilarious :) I sliced my finger a few years ago cutting a mango and, ew, had that same issue. I definitely feel for you!

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    1. The doctor said the number one reason for hand injuries is cooking in the kitchen. Sigh.

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  11. Glad that your injury wasn't too serious, seems like you need all the hands you can get around there!

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    1. Yes! And it's no fun when one of those hands loses a finger! haha!

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  12. Looks about how my living room used to look. Then we quarantined them to only part of the living room. Maybe once we do some better baby proofing, they can have free reign again. They are too fast and go immediately to the thing they shouldn't be playing with. How do they know????
    I used to laugh when Riley started crawling because she would end up cleaning up her own spit up by crawling through it. Very helpful, Riley. Thanks!
    Good luck with the sign language. We wanted to do it and started to do it and just haven't been consistent so it hasn't really worked. I'm not sure if it's too late for us or not. I really love the idea of it, though.

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    1. They definitely are fast little boogers! Keeps us on our toes, that is for sure. Ayden has started playing in the spit up. I have to be fast to wipe it up, or else he's got his little fingers wiping it everywhere!

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  13. It's awesome that you get a nurse visit every month; it's always nice to be able to check up and make sure your babies are doing well. Let me know how you like baby sign language, it's something that I'm really interested in but haven't done too much research.

    Maybe while your finger is healing, you can wear a latex glove so you're still able to wash bottles two handed? Hope it heals fast!

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    1. I've been using a glove and it has been working so far! Thank you!

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