We Can Do Two

It's been a week since we brought Benjamin and Caroline home and we've survived- including 2 outings and introducing Maggie.  Tuesday we had their follow up eye exams at Texas Children's.  As a birthday present to me, the hospital gave us early appointments so we had to travel during rush hour- thanks a lot.  Dave was really sweet and took the 1 am feeding so I could sleep more for my birthday, but I was so worried about forgetting something and leaving on time, that it didn't help.  Since I had to miss it, I did learn that my nap between the 5am and 9am feeding really makes a difference for the rest of the day.  Anyway, we did remember everything and got to the appointment on time despite Ben having a huge pee right when we were walking out the door- I'm sure this is only the beginning of this fun.  They both passed their eye exam and afterwards we all got to visit the 4 NICU babies!  B and C were so good the whole outing.  Ben is definitely a boy- he chugs his bottle, passes out, and farts all the time.  Caroline is much more dainty in every way, and Dave calls her Allison like half the time.   Here's a conversation from today...
D- "Did Allison poop today?"
L- "How would I know, I've been at home"
D- "Dang it!  I keep doing that, I meant Caroline."

That afternoon Dave got Maggie from the Kritter Sitters (thanks Cindy and Linda!) so we could test her with the babies.  I had planned to video her when she came through the door, but I forgot.  It would've been a boring video anyway because she went right by me and the babies and straight for her favorite toy.  We did actually introduce the babies to her by holding them on her level.  She sniffed them and licked them a little then walked off.  She really hasn't paid much attention to them at all; she usually checks them out when we're messing with them.  I know many people are worried about her barking.  Well, she still barks when someone's at the door, and the babies don't bat an eye.  They also don't wake up when the other is screaming.

Wednesday we headed for the pediatrician for their discharge follow up appointment.  They did great!  Ben's a big 5 lbs now!  We're going back next week for their 2 month and first set of vaccines.  ECI came by that afternoon too to do their intake paperwork, they'll be evaluated this week.  ECI has started to give the same developmental test I gave incoming 3-4 yr olds to the schools, so it'll be interesting to be on the other side.  I really liked the case workers and they stayed longer than they had to because Megan and I were just so entertaining. lol  Thanks Meg for taking off work to help the whole day!

Fun things from this week... Vaniesa offered to babysit on my birthday so Dave and I could go out to eat!  AND he took me out to get ice cream- this is a big deal because Dave hates going out for ice cream (I know, he's weird).  Then today Christy came to babysit so I could take a looong nap this afternoon!  I really do have some awesome friends.  I also got ambitious and took the 2 babies and Maggie for a walk the other day all by myself and it was a success!    

          

The other babies are doing good, Andrew should be coming home very soon.  Alli continues to be a toot (the nurses call her my mini me) and will be able to come home once she eats consistently from a bottle.  Levi started taking a bottle and Leah's her same ole self.  On a less happy note, Leah's repeat head scan showed cysts in her brain.  They may be doing an MRI on her as well.  Unfortunately we won't know the full impact of the cysts for a few years.  The problem with developmental issues is you don't find out about them until the kid develops.  Worst case is severe cerebral palsy and/or cognitive deficits.  Best case is her brain compensates for the missing areas and she's completely typically developing.  Or she could be anywhere in between those two.  I've worked with little ones in all of these categories; obviously I'm hoping she's the kid who comes in at 3 and catches up by 5.  So, extra prayers for her would be appreciated!  The best thing is that she has 5 siblings to push her along.  And just because I don't want to end on a negative, here's a pic of Dave and I goofing off with the home kiddos...