Survival Mode

The topic of the last week has been Claire's acid reflux. We have had three "double" doctor's appointments - starting with the pediatrician last week, where our doctor was thrilled with the twins' growth. Colin was 6 lbs even and Claire was 5 lbs 10 oz. Colin is 19" long and Claire is 18 3/4" long (she's in the 50th percentile for height even for being a preemie).

At that appointment they scheduled us for hip ultrasounds for both of them because of our family history and from what they found in NICU, which was actually that both of them had lax hips. My mom came with me to the hip ultrasound yesterday, and they determined that Colin's left hip has laxity. Claire's right hip has laxity. So both of them have the potential for the same hip dysplasia that Adam had. But because of their size and preemie status, we're going for follow up hip ultrasounds in 4-6 weeks. It is what it is. We'll deal with that when we know what we're facing, but frankly, a couple more pavlik harnesses would only be an inconvenience and a bummer, not a tragedy. Things could be much worse.

After the hip ultrasounds we went to the Chiropractor. A good friend recommended him and I was incredibly impressed. We took Adam to a chiropractor when he was a newborn for his acid reflux and gas issues, and it helped. Adam's issues as a newborn and until he was about 10 months old included excessive spitting up/throwing up and trouble burping. We would spend hours after every feeding trying to get him to burp... And if you didn't get all the air out he'd scream and scream for several more hours. The chiropractor helped, as well as keeping him upright and changing my diet to avoid dairy and acidic foods.  He took Nexium daily for months. We also had to go to soy formula and eventually the expensive Nutramigen formula. So I was prepared and knowledgeable about acid reflux when the twins came along.

But Claire's acid reflux (or whatever digestive issue she does have) is much, much worse. She eats every 2-3 hours, and for at least an hour and a half after every meal she moans and grunts and squirms in discomfort. She spits up and throws up, but she also has milk literally shooting out of her nose after some meals, thickened with rice cereal or not. I've even seen this when she's in a full upright position in a bouncy chair. Our pediatrician recommended thickening the breast milk and prescribed Zantac in case that didn't work. Neither solution is working even slightly. I solicited advice from smart mothers on Facebook and was reminded of the benefits of the chiropractor, advised to let her sleep in the bouncy chair and was told lots of stories of babies who had similar issues and grew out of it, which helped. A friend suggested a good chiropractor and another very generously brought us dinner and allowed us to borrow their nap nanny to see if that would help Claire at all.

Our own personal NIC nurse Mandie told us that it's common for medications not to work on infants and that it can also help to lie her on her left side. My mom also noticed that she sleeps better on her stomach, which is great for napping but isn't really an option at night, when our struggles are the worst.

The chiropractor checked out both Colin and Claire and adjusted both of them. He commented several times on Colin's "nicely shaped head." (Go Colin!) He asked whether they slept together (I told him we let them nap together during the day but they have separate bassinets at night). He asked if I noticed whether they liked sleeping together or not, and I told him that Claire really liked being with Colin, while Colin didn't seem to have a preference.  He recommended probiotics, which is a good idea anyway since she's on antibiotics for her fetal hydronephrosis (dilated kidneys), and also suggested plant enzymes. After he checked out Claire, he then suggested that part of the reason she did better with Colin was because being next to him relaxed her and made the symptoms less extreme.

This was something I only half noticed until he brought it up (I might have gotten there eventually, but I blame sleep deprivation... Which has recently caused me to think far too long about whether a Walgreens would accept my 25% off CVS coupon because I didn't want to drive another 2 minutes to the CVS, and has given me several nightmares about spending 45 minutes pumping only to stagger sleepily into the kitchen and pour the breast milk down the sink. I've had a few close calls...)






Anyway, after he said that I started to notice how much his suggestion could be true. When Claire is being held by Mamie, me, Shannon, or even better, lying next to Colin, her moaning is considerably better (not gone, but better) regardless of her position. But at night, in her own crib or bouncer, is when the symptoms flare up the most. So far the nap nanny and sleeping in the bouncy chair is helping, but I'm starting to think that the magic cure, for now at least, is being near her brother. Colin might be the medicine.

So we will continue to search for the miracle combination that can help Claire. Luckily, nothing is slowing down either of their appetites, and they are eating about 2 and a half ounces at every feeding.



Adam still loves Colin and Claire and has accepted them as his family with no question. He came home from school earlier this week to find Manie holding Claire, and he got mad at Mamie, who got the silent treatment, but he didn't take it out on Claire. He can tell them apart, knows their names, and even though he just calls them both "baby," is able to tell whose blankie belongs to whom. And each morning his favorite thing to do is hold his brother (Colin is less squirmy). This morning I changed and dressed Colin, then handed Colin over to Adam (who was sitting with Mamie on he couch). Adam held out his arms eagerly when I turned toward him, then sat in silence, grinning from ear to ear because he got to hold his brother and didn't even have to beg.

Watching Mickey together

Apparently the ear tugging is hereditary.

Since Adam moved up to the two year old class at school on Monday (just three days a week now until I go back to work), his maturity level is much higher. They said he did incredibly, even on the first day. I'm so proud of him.



This picture might mislead you into thinking he's regressing - chilling in the car seat next to Claire with a pacifier in his mouth... but really he just gets very excited about going for rides in the car and didn't want to get left behind.





Last Friday I gave Adam a long overdue day with just Mom to do something fun. We went swimming at Lisa and Mike's for a couple hours. We called it Adam's Special Big Brother Day. He was thrilled to get to try to swim and couldn't get enough of the pool.












For Independence Day we had our first family outing to the park. We made some new friends there who gave charming little Adam a Popsicle and a bottle of water, and the babies drew a crowd of admirers (the smart, look-but-don't-touch kind of admirers). Then we took a walk and went home before it got too hot.

Helping Dad push the stroller

I'm simply in amazement that today I am 32, today Adam is 26 months old, on Friday Colin and Claire will be 4 weeks old, and on Sunday they will be 1 month.

Week Two of doctor's appointments and our first family outing was a success... And in recent days (let's face it, months), success is measured in units of survival. 1 unit of survival (5 breathing members of the family) = success. The smiles are just bonus points. We are over achievers.