Two By Two

I didn't fall off the face of the earth after my last post. Life has been extremely busy being the mom of 4.

Let's see if I can play catch up and update and then I'm going to try and stay "caught up" and post more frequently.

River started Kindergarten on August 17th. It's hard to believe he is old enough for Kindergarten already! I was really apprehensive about putting him in the public school system because of his ADHD and his sensory issues. The IEP meeting we had at the end of the last school year made me even more leery because they informed me that he was going to be placed in a regular education classroom and would be losing most/all of his accommodations. I felt like it was setting us up to have a bad year this year. Up until the day before school started I went back and forth about whether or not to put River in the school system or to enroll him in the home based school program through the county where I could be more in control of his education. He is such a social kid that I decided he'd be happier in Kindergarten at the brick and mortar school where he could have time with other kids on a regular basis. It's been roughly 2 weeks since school started and other than a few days where he got disciplined for talking too much, he's done really well, I'm so proud of him.


Journey is in the public school's program for the developmentally delayed. Although he's not really developmentally delayed other than his speech. They are using the program mostly for language immersion. He was in the school system at the end of the last school year from shortly after he turned 3 until the year ended. This school year he's back with the same teacher because he's still considered a "3" which is great. Over the summer we worked hard on potty training and he seems to be getting the hang of it. He can stay dry all day for days on end and hasn't had any poop accidents in weeks. He's done really great. He went to the eye doctor the day after he turned 3 and got glasses. He has strabismus and they think that's causing him to be have some focus issues. We are still having a lot of issues with getting him to eat a variety of foods. He fixates on one food at a time and wants to eat only that food to the exclusion of any others. It's frustrating for us but he seems to be growing just fine so we just give him multi vitamins and try not to make a big issue of it.

Then there is the girls. Ember and Kaeda turned 1 on August 16th. I can't believe it's been a whole year already.
They went for their well baby check ups on the 20th and they are growing like weeds (okay maybe not but they sure have come a long way)
Ember is 18 lbs 12 oz and 27 inches now
Kaeda is 16 lbs 15 oz and 26.5 inches.
They are at the very bottom of the charts but they are on the charts
Ember is receiving physical therapy and there is some concern that she is a lot weaker in one side as opposed to the other. They actually had her evaluated for CP but the doctor didn't feel that it was something she had. The physical therapist comes once a week to work with her here at the house.
Kaeda is receiving speech therapy here at the house once a week as well. She is having some feeding issues and we're working on them.
They are pulling to a stand, crusing furniture, saying mama and dada, and Kaeda. :) They are great!


In news other than kid news, I'm back in school. After spending a year looking for work and being unable to find anything that paid enough, had benefits, and worked with my family. I decided it was time to make a change. So I am back in school working toward my bachelor's in Accounting. Yes quite the switch from my previous degree of nursing. I think it will be a good change for us. I started classes on August 22nd and I am taking 6 classes this term. I'm nuts!

Anyway, I will do my best to update more regularly.

The girls are 2 months old now (3 weeks adjusted 9 weeks actual). Today they had their 2 month well baby visits.

Ember was 8 lbs 9 oz and 20.2 inches long (she was 5 lbs 4 oz and 17.75 inches at birth).


Kaeda was 7 lbs 4 oz and 18.9 inches long (she was 3 lbs 13 oz and 15.5 inches at birth).

Both girls need to go see an ophthalmologist to have their eyes checked because they were on oxygen for a few days after birth.

Ember has to go see a cardiologist because the doctor detected a heart murmur. She thinks it's a PDA but we'll know more when we see the cardiologist. She said she normally would take a wait and watch approach but with Journey's heart condition she would rather be safe than sorry.

We also need to do some neck muscle exercises with her neck. She noticed today that Ember turns her head to the right almost all the time. She said that's probably how she was in utero but now that she's out we need to help her use that muscle more so she doesn't develop torticollis.

I brought up to her my concern at the fact that Kaeda seems to have a really rough time sucking on a bottle nipple. She checked both girls suck ability and said that they keep losing suction because of the shape of their mouths and may benefit from Haberman nipples. We'll see. The each got 3 shots and we go back in December for the 4 month visits.


In other news. Journey went to the cardiologist this week for his yearly check up. Hard to believe it's been a year already. He was 29.2 lbs and 95cm according to them although I am doubting the accuracy of their measurements as that would have him gaining 4 inches in 6 months and I just don't see that happening. His heart has gotten marginally worse but not enough to warrant a visit any earlier than a year from now. As long as there is no change next year the cardiologist said he's comfortable with him going to every 2 year checks after that. We'll see! He's doing well in his speech therapy. He transitions out of Early Steps soon and I'm a little anxious to see what is next for him. We love his therapist but I don't think he's learning anything new now.

I suck...

It's been almost a month since I posted.. gee I act like I have 4 children under 5 or something.. Oh wait.. I do. LOL

So Ember came home August 31st and Kaeda came home 3 days later on September 3rd and we've been a busy house since then.

The girls are 6 weeks old today (WHERE did that time go???) and are doing great. They act more like newborns than 6 week olds but that's to be expected since today was technically their due date.

At their doctors appointment on the 18th Ember was 6 lbs 11 oz and Kaeda was 5 lbs 9 oz.

Both girls are super cuddle bugs and want nothing more than to be held all day. Mommy and Daddy love to oblige but it makes getting anything around the house difficult. We're all adjusting

Journey is starting to sleep in his room at night, finally. He still wakes up 2 or 3 times a night but we're able to get him to lay back down and go back to sleep with out too much trouble which is a wonderful thing as it's beenabout a year since Doug got to sleep in our bedroom.

Baby crying.. here's pictures

Yesterday was a big day around here... Ember came home :)





This morning she had a doctors appointment with the pediatrician just for a check up. She's perfect. Tiny but perfect. According to their scale for her 2 weeks weight she was 5 lbs 7 oz and 19 inches long! They want to see her back in a week for another weight check. Hopefully Kaeda will be home by then so we can get them in at the same time.

So I have meant to update but it's just been so chaotic..

The girls are almost 2 weeks old now (although technically they are only at 36 weeks gestation). They are both still in NICU currently but are getting stronger every day.

Ember is at 5 lbs 3 oz as of last night which is only 1 oz below her birth weight. She is off of the NG tube and IV and is taking all of her feeds by mouth now. And so far has been taking all of the feeds completely which is GREAT. It's the last major hurdle she has to overcome before she can come home. (Minus the coming home tests.. i.e the carseat test).

Kaeda is at 4 lbs 5 oz as of last night. Which is a whopping 8 oz above her birth weight!! She is on every other feed by mouth currently and is still having trouble getting all the feed down. She just gets so tired. Which is common for preemies. She also has been having trouble with brady episodes. Her heart rate drops way down into the 60s and she requires help to get it back up again (rubbing her chest, shaking her a bit etc). Every time she does this the "clock" resets back to 5 days. She must be brady free for 5 days of observation before she can go home when all else is looking good. Not that she's at that point yet. We are at about a day and a half with out an episode now. They are fortifying her breast milk bottles with a calorie fortifier to help her gain weight and obviously it seems to be working. She's still in the isolette but mostly because of her size than anything else. Hopefully soon she'll come out of there so we can start putting her with her sister for some snuggle time.

Both girls are amazingly calm. Neither one is much of a crier and both seem very laid back. We can only hope it lasts. They each are developing their own little personalities and I LOVE it. The more they grow and the more weight they gain they more alike they look. It's amazing.

Here are a few pictures for you...

Ember Rayne arrived 2 minutes later at 8:36am
Weighing 5 lbs 4 oz and measuring 17.75 inches long


Both girls needed a little assistance breathing at first and were on CPAP machines for help for the first 12 hours of life or so but have since both been weaned completely off of any oxygen assistance. They are currently both a little jaundice and are under the lights for treatment. Both are having issues getting their calcium levels high enough and Ember is having some issues slowing her respirations down. From what they say, these are all very typical behaviors for 34 weekers.