Rejoining Society

A few moments worth photographing during our week of illness. . .

Right in the heart of Adeline's illness, she found the energy to follow Lila downstairs and into the office where I had pulled out last years clothes for ebaying. Each reclaimed their hats and were sitting in the dark (the flash lit things up), side by side with them on. Adeline's hat pretty much tells how she was feeling. I rare moment of quiet "twinship."

Literally hours before I was taken down by the illness, I found a great buy at Target. A tent and sleeping bag for less than $8.00. I worked hard to ignore the "character factor." I was just thinking about transitioning Savannah to a sleeping bag for the beach this summer and figured this would be a good trial run. We brought it home and Savannah packed up for a pretend camping trip, food and all. The camping trip was cut short by her need for a very long nap.




Here are a few pictures from yesterday where we all pretended to feel fine, put on normal clothes and ran errands. We were completely exhausted when done. The pictures are proof that we are on the road to recovery.

If you wonder where I've been. . .

Savannah sat in my bed and prayed to God that I would get better and couldn't understand why I didn't. "Doesn't he want you to not be sick Mommy?" My thoughts exactly!!!

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.