Not much to update, but I thought I should still write a little about how things are. First here's the little update on the twins: "Not much new to report here. Michelle is still cute as ever, feeding and pooping well. Her next pediatrician appointment is on Thursday the 17. Michael is still reluctant to feed from a bottle, and even though they pump the remainder of his prescribed servings into him, he has still lost weight over the past few days, so they have changed his formula to a high calorie mixture to "fatten him up" Otherwise, he looks great." I'm sure Michelle will appreciate the fact that we posted that she is "pooping well" in this journal when she gets older, hehehe. And there's not much to report here either. I'm now down 38 pounds (not bad for only being 2 1/2 weeks post-partum!) and I am wearing the same jeans I was before I got pregnant. This is the first time I've ended up being the same size after a pregnancy as before so I'm pretty happy. Doug and Kay are sending me some pictures of the babies soon and I can't wait.
January 11, 2002
Here's the update I got on the 9th: "Michael's nurse said that the cardiologists feel that he may be ready to be discharged, although he is still on a couple of medications to ease the load on his heart, and will be for some time. However, Michael will not be discharged because of the difficulties that he is experiencing in eating and holding down food. After losing weight for a few days, he has started to gain, but is still not up to his birth weight. They will try to find out why in a couple days, but it is not unlikely that we will have to learn how to feed him using the tube in his nose until he gets substantially larger. We will find out later. Michelle is doing fine, and actually looks big compared to Michael now. " And here's the fantastic one I got this morning: "Michael should be coming home soon. We have a conference with the doctors at noon tomorrow. If he is feeding well tonight and tomorrow, he may come home tomorrow. If they decide to keep him longer, we will have to go for a training session on Monday to learn how to insert the feeding tube up his nose into his stomach, and how to operate the pump and all of the other things that go along with it. We do not look forward to this, but we may not have to because Michael has eaten all of his formula for the past day. They haven't had to pump any in since Wed. They even took out the feeding tube today. Michael's change in the desire to feed may be attributed to the fact that they tried giving him formula that was very, very warm, if not hot. He appears to prefer it that way. The funny thing is that I suggested that they try serving him formula that was very, very warm, after noticing that Michelle seemed to feed better when it was hot. The main problem was that the faucets in the hospital rooms do not provide water hot enough to heat the formula very warm. Hopefully they have solved the mystery of Michael's reluctance to feed. I'll let you know tomorrow (Friday) about the outcome of the conference, and all of the other stuff." Isn't that great news? Hopefully Michael will be at home, where he belongs, really soon.
January 12, 2002
Michael is now home with his mom and dad and little sister!! Here's the update: "Michael was discharged yesterday. He has made an incredible recovery, although he is still on a couple of medications. It is great to have him home, but we were comfortable with him in the hospital because we knew he was safe there. One of his medications can be toxic if improperly administered, so we are giving it to him under each others supervision and double-checking the dosage. Sorry I didn't let you know sooner, but all I have been doing since he came home has been feeding, burping, changing, feeding, burping, changing, etc. This has been one of the few moments that they have been asleep at the same time. Michael is rocking in the swing. Michael has his first pediatrician appointment on Thursday morning, and a cardiaologist appointment in six weeks. Michelle has her follow-up pediatrician appointment Thursday afternoon. I read up on Michael's conditions (aortic stenosis, and aortic coarct). The description is a little bit scary, but the doctors assured us that right now he is not "fragile". We will find out more, and how is progressing when we see Dr. Dyck again in February. The cats are a little confused by the rapidly growing family and all of the visitors. Shadow stared alternately at Michael and then Michelle as they sat in their car seats, trying to figure out where all of these babies were coming from. But I don't think that he minds. Kay accidently spilled some baby formula on the floor, and he seemed to like it." Sounds like they are pretty busy!!! I guess that's what life with twins is like---twice as much work, but I'm sure twice as much fun too.
January 18, 2002
I got an update on the twins today: "Yesterday morning we took Michael for his first pediatrician appointment. He is in fine shape. His weight is finally up; 7 lbs, 14.5 oz. The doctor said that he has made an amazing recovery. In the afternoon we took Michelle for a three week check-up. We saw a different pediatrician than we did the first time, because the office hours of the first doctor were not compatible with our schedule and commitments. Like us, the new doctor was curious as to why the first pediatrician requested that Michelle come back so soon. However, we found out why when he began his examination of Michelle. The doctor said that Michelle also has a heart murmur, which the first doctor picked up, but felt that it was nothing to worry about, so she didn't tell us about it. The doctor we saw yesterday said that Michelle's murmur is minor and nothing to worry about, and that 50% of all babies are born with a heart murmur. Nevertheless, they are aware of it and will monitor it. Michelle's weight is up to 8.4 lbs, and it shows. She used to look so small compared to Michael. Now she is much larger. We had Michael with us when we took Michelle in, and the doctor was amazed to hear that Michael was already at home after all that he had been through" I'm trying to lose some more weight. I'm down to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I'd like to lose more as I never lost the weight from my other 2 pregnancies yet.
January 23, 2002
I got some pictures in the mail today!!! I don't know maybe my opinion is a little biased, but I'd have to say they are the cutest twins in the world! Click here to go to the album.
