My Littlest - Yet Bravest

Lila Grace is my youngest by four hours. You wouldn't know if you watched her when she is in her element. She is the one that Savannah goes to if Savannah is too nervous to go into a dark room, down into the basement or into an uncertain setting. I don't blame her, Lila is most likely the one I would chose too.

I picked her up from preschool on Tuesday by myself - for once. I heard the teacher reading a story as I rounded the corner. I assumed she would have six little ones trying to sit still in front of her. Boy, was I wrong. All six kids were standing right in front of her chair, pointing, eagerly listening and very focused on the story. Who was front and center with her index finger pointing to a page and saying, "Eye, that is an eye." My little Miss Grace. That is right!! The youngest and smallest in her class but she is right up there participating and talking (well trying to) like all of the others. I guess I shouldn't be surprised because when Lila puts her mind to it, the sky is the limit.

This was the first time I have been able to watch a child of mine actively participate and enjoy doing so. She was full of life, enjoying herself and completely confident. Put my other two in the same situation and they would be standing in the back, quietly observing. Never have I seen a child of mine take the lead!!

I am so proud of Lila. She is strong, confident, crazy funny (you really have to be around her to appreciate her gift of humor) and, yet, she is very sweet. It took us awhile to get handle on who she is going to be but I am fairly confident that above characteristics will continue to define her. She is just what this quiet and shy family needed!!

Three Down. . .

Hopefully, not two to go. Lila was a little off this morning. I rarely let children in my bathroom when I get ready but today was different. Adeline is still crying if we put her down and Lila was similar. I let Lila join me in my bathroom while Alex had Adeline duty. While standing in my tub Lila emptied her stomach. I give her credit because it was a fantastic location to puke.

She seems fine and is asking for food and drink. Although she isn't fine, I am thankful for her seemingly pleasant mood.

I pray I don't get this!!!

Eye Exams

Eye exams are par for the course for preemies, especially micro-preemies. Luckily, the girls' Retinopathy of Prematurity subsided in the NICU and their vision exams have been great ever since. That we true again today.

We have been told that Adeline's eyes don't seem to track together by a few of her therapists. After having her examined today it appears as if the the structure of her eyes (one is wider than the other) causes this optical illusion to the onlooker. Of course, I don't enjoy hearing how my child suffers from asymmetrical facial features but hearing that her eyes are "perfect" is music to my ears. Dr. Lehman mentioned that many of the asymmetrical features wouldn't be detected by the average person. Regardless, I think she is pretty cute.

Dr. Lehman had Adeline perform one fine motor/spacial task. She was asked to put a flat piece of plastic through a slot in a circle. She struggled but with trial and error got it. Dr. Lehman praised the trial and error more than I thought was necessary. I later watched Lila perform the same task without any problem. Dr. Lehman told me that she was much more impressed by Adeline's problem solving and persistence than she was with Lila's success on the first try (nothing against Miss Grace). She proceeded to tell us that it is indicative of personality and is one of the most important characteristics found in the Belle. It got her through the NICU but even more importantly, it continues to inch her down the road of developmental milestones. Dr. Lehman indicated that most kids, if missing the slot, shove the plastic haphazardly at the circle and then throw it on the ground. Adeline, calmly and gracefully found the slot on the fourth try.

What was more impressive about the above story is that Adeline is much more sick than I have given her credit for. She was laying in Alex's arms, both of whom were saturated in puke, and unable to really lift her head for more than a couple of minutes. She threw up well over five times while in the waiting room and was gagging her way through the eye exam. Sticking to a task when so sick above and beyond the call of duty.

Today's appointment was to confirm the need for tear duct stents. She is on for tear duct surgery on March 25. ENT will sneak a second set of tubes in as well.

Now if we could just stop the PUKING!

Wishful Thinking

Well that corner we were turning wasn't a corner after all. It was a mere curve in in the road of puking. After perking up last night and keeping down a bottle we put Adeline to bed with another bottle. It wasn't long after that I smelled "the smell" emitting from the crack in her door. I wiped the puke off her face and was happy that she wasn't laying in it. I put down a pad and let her continue sleeping.

When I got up this morning it was obvious Adeline had puked again in addition to blowing out her diaper. The Pediasure is doing a number on the bowels. She is still really fussy and tired. She is also continuing to puke.

We have very important eye exams for the twins today. The next available appointment is in September. This appointment is a necessary work up for Adeline's second tear duct surgery. We also have tracking concerns which is common in preemies. The timing isn't great but we are going to take her. She perked up for Dr. Chidekel so hopefully she will do the same for Dr. Lehman.

Turning a Corner

After losing nearly three pounds, puking countless times and sleeping her life away, the Belle is turning a corner. We visited Dr. Chidekel today to confirm that she wasn't in danger of dehydrating. Her dry diaper, that was on for 15 hours, was what really put me over the top and urged me to take her in. Dr. Chidekel advised that we feed through it (Pediasure since she is refusing Pedialite during the day time hours). The laundry will most likely continue to pile high but if the liquid stays down for even a few minutes she is hydrating. I guess the absorption rate is quicker than I thought.

This afternoon she kept down her first bottle and had her first solid food in four days. She sort of played tonight and was in a better frame of mind.

Too bad Daddy is hanging his head in the toilet now.

The Three L's

Limp, Lethargic and Listless is what I would use to describe Adeline. This is the most sick we have seen her since watching her fight to live inside her isolette.

She has continued to dry heave over the past 24 hours. She wasn't able to keep even a couple swallows down until last night. I was becoming very worried that we were going to end up in the ER this morning (still a possibility) due to dehydration. Adeline just laid, and I mean couldn't hold her head up, around all day. She was happiest on our shoulder or in her crib. As I type this she is moaning in her crib because me rocking her was more aggravation than not.

No fever is present but there is an increased respiratory rate and an elevated heart rate of 160 BPM. She has slight retractions but it is hard to discern if it is just her sunken belly or if her she really is tugging in around the lower ribcage.

After arriving home from work last night at 10:40 and realizing that she hadn't had a real liquid intake in 36 hours Alex and I decided that we would wake her throughout the night and give her two ounces every two hours. It seemed to work, her diaper is wet. I assumed that tanking her up over night would change her disposition but she is still obviously in pain and has no strength or will to move.

Hopefully, she will turn a corner soon.

Fresh Air and Vomit

Let me explain by giving you a brief run down of my day thus far.

Today started out with therapy for both girls. Miss Adrienne accompanied us to drop Savannah off at preschool. We are trying to get a better handle on why Lila Grace feels the need to scream and run away from anyone who gets on her level to say "Hello." Of course today, she decided that she wanted to be a big kid and sign in on the chart when entering Savannah's classroom. Because the teacher gave her a pen and pad to appease her she was more than friendly. Not her typical, "Don't talk to me, I don't like people" self. After our successful, yet atypical, preschool drop off, we headed home so Miss Adrienne could finish up with the girls. At that point I realized what a beautiful day it was. The girls were itching to play with their toys outside instead of going into the house.

After Miss Adrienne left I decided to go to the grocery story to buy something fun for snack and birdseed for the bird feeder. I am fully intending on spending the afternoon outside with the girls due to a high temp of 40 which honestly feels like 60. The grocery store went well and soon we had Savannah in the car and were headed home. I got the girls excited about playing outside and it wasn't long after that every outdoor toy had been extracted from it's winter hiding place. Lila was off like a shot, pushing every toy she could get her hands on. Adeline was more subdue and quite happy with Savannah taking her for a walk in the stroller. It was such a breath of fresh air for all of us. No coats, no fighting - just lots of sunshine.

Eventually, we had to head into for lunch which was not a popular decision. I noticed that Adeline was being pesky and refusing every bite. Soon she was moved into the dining room for a "time out" meal. I was having to hold her arms down in order for her take her bites. After too many minutes of fighting her, I started Savannah and Lila Grace in on their snowman snack. A rice cake, frosting (I'm sure most would use cream cheese) dried fruits and mini chocolate chips made for a mouth watering treat. Just when I am elbow deep in frosting, Adeline starts to projectile vomit. I could tell it was sick vomit and not gag vomit because it just kept on coming. There are two places that I can't stand puke, beds and high chairs. Well she hit her high chair pretty hard. In fact, after she was bathed and in bed (sick yet again), Lila Grace would walk by the puddle of puke sitting on Adeline's tray and say, "oh, pook! Yuck" followed by some pretty cute giggles.

Well that is my fresh air and puked up day in a nutshell. I must mention that it ended on a pretty good note (well not quite ended yet). I told Savannah she had to nap at 3:00 which is always up for debate in this house. She quickly got to playing telling me that she didn't want to waste her time. I headed up at 3:00 and she had pulled her blinds, arranged her pillows and started her music. She told me she didn't want to make me have to do all of the work! What a sweet girl she is.

That reminds me. I have to document it somewhere or I will forget. Savannah asked me what year came before 2000. Of course to her, she hasn't heard a year starting in anything other than 2000. I thought it was pretty bright of her to be able to back track to 2000 and realize that there must have been a year before that.