2 month check in

The babies reached the 2 month milestone on Saturday.  I remember thinking my actual due date seemed so far away when they were born and now it's only a week away!  Last week Andrew went to the pediatrician for his 2 month check up and everything looked great, he even handled the shots well.  He and Benjamin currently weigh 6.5 lbs and Caroline is close behind at 6 lbs.  Benjamin is the shortest of the 3 big kids and Andrew is the tallest.  Allison weighs 4.5 lbs, Leah weighs 4 lbs, and Levi is just under 4 lbs.  He's so tiny he hasn't grown into his head yet.  Levi and Leah finally moved into cribs yesterday!  Levi is actually scheduled to be discharged this Friday- yes, he's passed up Allison.  Although she is bigger and has been in a crib longer, she is stubborn as stubborn can be and will NOT take a bottle.  I think she'll be giving us some trouble in the future!  Andrew is still the noisiest, constantly making his little goat sounds.  I like to think Ben and Caroline would tell him to shut up if they could.  Leah is also proving to be a feisty little thing, she definitely lets you know when she's unhappy.

Little Leah

Leah's surgery to reconnect her intestines is scheduled for this Wednesday.  Her MRI results aren't what we were hoping for.  We knew she had some brain damage from her previous ultrasounds, but actually seeing the images was disheartening.  From what I saw it looks like the back and sides of her brain- parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes and cerebellum are damaged and definitely more cyst than brain matter.  Her frontal lobe looks ok but without the other areas she's going to have a hard time.  Her motor skills are most at risk as well as her vision, hearing and speech are likely to be affected too.  The neurologists were quite negative, but the neonatologist was optimistic based on her current behavior and knowing Dave and I and our support system.  So, we're disappointed, but trusting God like we have been and focusing on what we can do to help her and encourage her development.


Dave and I have been adjusting to life with 3 and so far it's been fine.  I can handle them by myself all day, of course it helps that they sleep a lot.  But when I'm making bottles every night and they take up half the counter I think "this is only half of them..."  When feeding by myself I usually do 2 then the 3rd while I'm pumping, but I have been able to do all 3 at once when they're all screaming (thank you Kelly for the tips!).  I've actually been able to balance a bottle with my belly pooch so I can adjust another bottle with my hand- figure the pooch should be good for something besides strangers asking me when I'm due.  Dave's been great with the 3 of them and watches them while I take Maggie for walks everyday.  We're up to 3 miles!  Maggie got out of shape right along with me, so I drag her along in hopes of retraining her :)

Andrew getting a sink bath

This past week TCH PR team came to our house to film a "tour" and interview us about preparing for the babies and what life is like with 3 at home.  I believe it's for some TCH publication, but I haven't gotten the final copy to approve yet.  They were really nice, but we had definitely gotten out of practice with the interviewing.  I thought the house looked pretty good until they started filming and I'd say "oh don't film that pile of blankets or that drawer that won't close because it's too full and messy."  They didn't listen, oh well.

To end it on a high note, my parents came this weekend and will be staying to help for the month of July!  I'm so so excited!  And here's a pic just for fun...

This is an A and B conversation...  so C your way out of it!