I recieved another update today. Everytime I read the updates I get I can tell how proud Doug and Kay are of their babies and just how loved the twins are. It really makes me so happy that I helped them have their family---I don't think I could have found more loving parents :-)
"I took Michael in for his weekly check-up. They want to monitor his weight and make sure that he is growing. This week he is up to 8lbs, 13 oz. Dr. Teoh is very pleased with Michael's progress. He is gaining weight at twice the average rate. He is still on a special high-calorie diet, and still on his medications. Dr. Teoh said that he will probably be on the medication for some time. Michael is scheduled to see Dr. Dyke (the cardiologist) for a complete check-up on Feb. 25. Michelle will have her next check-up on Valentine's Day. This week, one of the local radio stations held a "radiothon" to raise funds for the Stollery Childrens' Hospital. I phoned in with a pledge on Thursday morning, and in the afternoon stopped in at the hospital with Michael on our way back from Dr. Teoh's office. I took Michael with me, and wanted to tell them Michael's story. I was on the air for about 10 minutes, speaking of Michael's condition, and the amazing work performed at the hospital. The telethon raised over $560,000 for the hospital over three days, or a total of $1,000,000 in two telethons since April, which is phenomenal for a city the size of Edmonton. We are truly incredibly fortunate to have such a world class facility in our city."
February 14, 2002
Things have been pretty good around here lately. Nothing much to report on my end, but wanted to add a little update on the twins. Here's the latest news:
"Michelle is such a little cutie. I took her in for a check-up today. She is doing fine. Her heart murmur is barely audible. Her weight is up to 11 lbs., although her eating habits have changed a little bit recently. On Tuesday, she demanded to be fed every 2 hours. However, after her 11 pm feeding, she didn't want anymore until 8 o-clock the next morning. Wow, nine hours. Last night, she only lasted seven hours, but that is still great, considering they aren't even eight weeks old yet. Hopefully, she is starting a trend that Michael will follow. We won't be checking his weight until late next week, but he really seems to be putting on the pounds. Of course, the only real exercise that he gets right now is when he exercises his vocal cords, and he uses them well when he lets us know he is hungry. If diaper pooping was an Olympic event, we would have a couple of gold medalists here."
I should be getting some more pictures next week sometime--I can't wait!
February 15, 2002
The pictures got here sooner than I expected!! Click here to go to the newest photo album.
I was showing Tayler and Caylen all the pictures this afternoon. Caylen is 2 so she has a little bit of trouble saying their names correctly. She calls Michelle "Chelle" just like Tayler does, and she calls Michael "Winkle". I thought that was pretty cute!
February 26, 2002
"Over the past week, Michael has had a couple of doctor's appointments. Last Thursday, we visited Dr. Teoh (his pediatrician) to check on his weight gain. Although it had only been two weeks since he last saw Michael, Dr. Teoh almost didn't recognize him. When I removed Michael's undershirt so that we could weigh him, Dr. Teoh remarked "Wow, look at the rolls on him." Michael was up to 12.9 lbs., so we can now put him onto a regular formula diet, the same as Michelle's.
This morning, I took Michael to the pediatric cardiac clinic at the hospital. He underwent a series of tests to check out his heart and arteries. Although it was neat to see the images of his heart and all of its components in operation, it wasn't very pleasant to hear the results of the test. His aortic valve is still not operating properly, although it is performing "within acceptable limits". He will not have to undergo another surgery right away, but they will continue to monitor his condition. The longer that they can delay his next procedure, the better. Other than that, he is fine. He smiles a lot, and has been able to laugh for several weeks now. Michelle has just recently begun laughing, and is honing her cute skills. Unfortunately, her 9-hour sleep period of two weeks ago was just an aberation, and she is back to ensuring that we get up at least once during the night."
March 15, 2002
More pictures!! Not too much for an update. I'm going to visit the babies on the 18th so I'm sure that will be lots of fun! I'll update when I get back! Click Here to see the newest pictures.
March 20, 2002
I got to see the twins on the 18th. I hadn't seen them since 5 days after they were born, so obviously they had changed a lot. They were so big!! It was also really nice for me to finally be able to hold Michael because I was only able to do that once the day after he was born. So I got some cuddle time with both of them. They gave a few smiles, and a few cries. I, of course, took some pictures and will post them as soon as I get them developed. They look like happy babies, and that makes me happy too.
March 28, 2002
I got a little update on the babies. Michael weighs 15lbs 6oz. He is 24 1/4" long, with a head circumfrence of 42.4 cm. Michelle is 14lbs 4 oz, 22 3/4" long, with a 40 cm hat size. Wow, they are getting so big!! I actually looked back at Tayler and Caylen's baby books to see what they weighed at 3 months old. Tayler weighed 15 lbs and Caylen weighed 14 lbs. So they are similar in size, but Tayler and Caylen were born weighing 8lbs 10oz and 8lbs 13oz, and the twins were only 6 & 7lbs!!! They are definitely growing well!
