Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween! After running errands all morning we took the kids trick or treating in the development where my mom lives (we'll be moving there in a few months if all goes as planned!!) and everyone had a great time!

I updated earlier about Addison's surgery but I wanted to post some pics real quick.

No surgery for Addison!!

I only have a few minutes so this will be a quick update but we just got home from the opthamologist and have great news!
Addison's eyes are starting to show signs of improvement. His left eye looks a lot better than last week and his right eye has finally decided to start healing. He had been going every week for monitoring and he's now going to be seen in 2 weeks.
Riley's eyes are really improving also. His right eye is back to stage 1 (the least severe) and his right eye is right on the border of stage 2 and 3 but it's getting better also. Riley doesn't need to be seen for a month!
They both seem to be improving but they're nowhere near "better". They'll continue to have check ups for at least the next few months.

Taking a short break to write another post

I'm in the middle of packing up all un-needed items in the house so that it can be ready to go up for sale in 2 weeks. I wanted to post since I actually have more to say than "they're doing well".
They both started physical therapy through Early Intervention this past Monday. It went great. The therapist is a really nice guy who has been a therapist for a long time. He'll be coming out once a week to continue to work with them to develop their muscles.
Addison had another opthamologist appointment yesterday. His ROP in his left eye seems to be getting better. His right eye is kind of "stuck". He noticed that there were very small spots of blood at the ends of the blood vessels which indicates some tugging but the blood vessels aren't attached to the retina. We go back on Halloween for another check-up and if it isn't any better, Dr. Klombers will recommend laser surgery. The surgery is pretty routine and safe but Addison will have to be put under anesthesia which scares the crap out of me. I do have to say, if I could pick any opthamologist to do the surgery, I would pick Dr. Klombers. He's a fantastic doctor and very experienced with preemies.
So, please keep your fingers crossed that when we go back next week, his eye looks better.

4 months old!

It's crazy to me that they're already 4 months old. It's been a long 4 months but it's gone by so quickly.

The boys are doing great. They're exclusively nursing. We've stopped the Zantac since it didn't seem to be helping and we've eliminated the need for bottles. They only get a bottle a few times a week, when I drink coffee.

Addison was at the eye doctor yesterday. His ROP is still at a stage 3 but not far enough to need laser surgery. It hasn't progressed over the past 2 weeks but it also hasn't gotten better so we have to monitor it once a week until the blood vessels start to pull back towards the front of the eye. Riley's eyes are getting better and he's now being seen every 3 weeks. They're both starting to focus ad stare at things. They will stare up at me when they're nursing and it's the sweetest thing ever.

We were at the pediatrician this afternoon for their 4 month check-up. Addison weighs 5lbs. 6oz. and is 18in. long. He's finally about the size of a newborn. He should be ready to move into newborn clothes and diapers in a few weeks. Preemie diapers are not cheap, don't come in bulk sizes, and aren't made by generic companies. lol.

Riley weighs 4lbs. 8oz. and is 17in. long. He's still got a while to go before he outgrows preemie stuff.

They're sleeping well, content most of the time, and it's so much fun to see them grow every day. They seem to be in the middle of a growth spurt. They've been nursing every 1.5-2 hours. Needless to say, I haven't been off of the couch much.

Our 3/4 of a million dollar babies

We've received the big bills from the hospital for both babies and I am SO glad we have insurance.
My c-section was $13,394.66
Addison's NICU stay- $363,831.32
Riley's NICU stay- $379,517.09

Grand total- $756,743.07

Of that, we owe only $2,100 in co-pays.

With all of their doctors appointment, I'm sure they'll pass a million dollars over the first year of the lives. I'm so glad we have good insurance. We'll have many more co-pays throughout the next year but it's such a small price to pay to have our healthy boys :)

My hunt for a stroller is over!!

I'm sure the people at Babies R Us are sick of seeing me. I bought the Kolcraft Contours Options Tandem Stroller http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2646209 (walmart has it for $159) It's a HUGE stroller but BOTH Chicco Keyfit 30 carseats fit!! You have to purchase a second infant seat attachment but I was able to find one at babyage.com for about $20. On a side note, I did talk to someone at Chicco who said they were developing a double stroller for the infant seats but it wouldn't be out for sometime. It's a tight fit but they sit on the bars and the strap keeps thm nice and snug. The stroller was easy to put together except for the screws for the handlebar that I had to have Ian screw in. It even matches the carseats. lol. I called Ian down to inspect it and he approves so tomorrow we'll test it out when we go to Skylar's football game in the morning. We haven't all been to a game or scrimmage and I'm so excited (as is Skylar) to be able to support him as a family. I'll be sure to take pictures of the stroller tomorrow.
It feels so nice to not have to worry about this anymore!

Busy day today

Another day full of running around. After I dropped Leah off at preschool, I headed over to the midwives office to weigh the babies. Addison weighs 5lbs. 2oz. and Riley weighs 4lbs. 3oz. They're still not gaining as much as they should but they're going steady and I think it's perfect for m tiny little guys.

We had another appointment with Dr. Klombers. Riley's eyes are looking better. Both eyes have started to regress and he said that if he had to guess, the chance of Riley needing laser surgery were about 1%. He wants to see Riley again in 3 weeks and he expects that to be the last or second to last appointment for him. Addison's left eye is still getting better but his right eye has stayed the same since 2 weeks ago. He wants to see Addison back in in 1 week. He didn't seem overly concerned but he wants to stay on top of it.

Haven't posted this much in a while

So, I was able to go to the NICU to get some sticky leads. I took the boys in to visit and the nurses were thrilled to see them and love on them. One of our favorite nurses was there but doing a training class and they couldn't get in touch with her to have her come see the boys. I told them I'd be back if the boys ever outgrow their preemie clothes. I was overwhelmed with emotions after being back there. I was reminded again just how lucky we are to have them both home and healthy.
So, back to the monitor. I have 2 sets of sticky leads and the medical supply place will have 2 more sets on Friday. His one lead keeps coming unstuck but I'd rather deal with the monitor going off all night and having to re stick it, than to have it rubbing against him. Once his sore clears up, I'll put the velcro patches back and just try to pad it a little bit so it doesn't rub against him again. After talking to a nurse at the pediatricians office twice, we decided that I didn't have to bring him in since it's not looking infected. We have our 4 month check up next week so hopefully we'll be able to stay out of the peds office until then.
Tomorrow we go for a final weight check at the midwives office and then we have another eye exam in the afternoon. It will be a busy day but it's nice to have it all done on one day.

Poor Addison

I'm almost ashamed to write this. Poor Addison has an awful raw/crusty sore from one of the leads on his apnea monitor. I change their clothes at least twice a day and check the leads daily. Thursday when we were at the midwife, he was a little red but there was no broken skin. Friday there was a little bit of peeled skin so I took off the leads, cleaned them really well, put some antibiotic cream on the tiny red spot, and have checked it since. Last night when I was changing his outfit, I noticed it was all red. I pulled up the lead and it's bright red and crusty. It was not like that 2 days ago. I have had his monitor off since last night and I put some more antibiotic ointment on him this morning. I have a call into the pediatrician to see if he wants me to bring him in and I called the medical supply rental place and they have to special order the sticky leads and if they order them today, they won't be in until Friday. He's going to order them but I'm hoping that the pediatrician can help me figure out how to get him on the monitor while we wait. The monitor currently is a velcro belt with 2 black plastic squares. The squares have little stems on the bottom and that's what rubbed him. I was up all night, minus a few quick naps, to make sure he didn't have an apnea event. I was already nervous about Riley being off the monitor, having them both off was almost too much for me to handle.
I hope he heals quickly. It looks so painful and it makes me feel so bad to look at it. I feel so horrible for not seeing it sooner.

Riley is off the apnea monitor!

Ian got a call right after Skylar and I left for football practice. It was Dr. Worrel from the NICU calling to say that Riley no longer needed to be on the monitor! After looking at the downloaded info, almost all of his alarms were false alarms. So, after we got back from football, I took him off his leash. I was able to walk upstairs with Riley and say goodnight to Ian, without wrapping a cord around my arm and carrying the monitor.
Addison is expected to be on his monitor for another 4-6 weeks. I fully expected to have Addison on longer. He had a good amount of low heart rate alarms where his lips would turn blue but he hasn't had one like that in probably a week. His alarms have gone off only a few times in the past week. I'm almost certain that after the next download, he'll come off also.
Nursing is going really well. I've only used 2 frozen bags of milk and it was so I could drink coffee. We go to the midwife for a final weight check and then to Dr. Klombers (the opthamologist) on Thursday.
Although having Riley off the monitor is fantastic, I will probably be up most of the night. Of course, I'll worry about his breathing all night.

Weight check update

I had his weight wrong last week. Addison went from 4lbs. 12oz to 4lbs. 14oz. I nursed him while we were at the midwife to make sure his latch was good and that he was getting enough to eat. After nursing for about 10 minutes (and having nursed only 2 hours prior), he was 1.5oz. heavier. There's no question that he's eating enough. Riley was 4lbs. 0.3oz. He was too sleepy to nurse but I'm fairly certain that he's doing just fine :) I called the pediatrician to make sure their weight gain was ok. The ped. said they should be gaining a little bit more but they weren't concerned enough to have them come in before their 4 month well visit.
The medical supply place is coming out tomorrow to do the first download from their apnea monitors. They're such a pain in the rear but part of me is scared to have them off the monitors. Addison still drops his heart rate and his lips turn blue about one a day. Riley has a few but his are much more mild. We'll know if they're coming off the monitors within the next 2 weeks. The NICU doctor has to review the downloads and then approve them to come off. He then calls the pediatrician with his decision and then they'll call me.

Boys had their therapy evaluations today

Just writing real quick while they're sleeping and before Skylar gets home.

The boys had their evaluations with an occupational therapist and a physical therapist from our local Early Intervention Unit. I don't think it's any surprise that they qualify for therapy. They both tested out at a newborn level except for one social part where they tested at a 2 month old level. Not too bad considering they were only supposed to be born this past Friday. They'll have a therapist come out once per week, for an hour each, to work with them. Riley's muscles are more stiff than Addison's but they have pretty much the same issues. We're hoping to start that within the next 2-3 weeks. Because they qualify for therapy, they apparently automatically qualify for medial assistance. We were told to apply for it when they were 2 months old but decided not to because we have decent insurance. I think though, I'm going to end up sending in the applications for them as a secondary insurance. We've already spent $100 out of pocket, for the pediatrician alone. We have yet to get the bills from the nicu and the eye doctor. I'm not even sure if the opthamologist is covered by our insurance. lol. Guess we'll find out. It's not like they could skip the appointments anyways.
We go back to the midwife on Thursday to weigh the boys. I would be shocked if they haven't gained a good amount of weight. It seems like all they do is eat, sleep, and poop. Their reflux is getting better. They spit up a little bit but it's way less than when they first came home. I'm not even giving Riley his Zantac.
Also, a quick update to my stroller saga. The Kolcraft Contours Options Tandem seems to fit the Chicco seats. I went to Babies R Us and tried the seat in the infant seat attachment and it did fit nicely in there. The only issue is the stroller only comes with one infant seat attachment and Babies R Us didn't sell a second attachment. I found one at babyage.com for $20 and ordered it but I'm still waiting for it to get here. I'm a little bit concerned that the seats will overlap but it seems like there will be just enough room. It is a huge stroller though. The manager at Babies R Us even joked that I was lucky enough to get the biggest double stroller available. It's got to be easier than dragging all of their equipment through parking garages and doctors office buildings.