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!