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The babies are now 7 months old. Or 30 weeks. Or 213 days if you want to be a little more accurate. That’s about 1.8% of my life. The impact that they have made in our lives is immeasurable. They have been out of the womb 57 days more than they were in the womb. Loen has been out of the NICU for 103 days (she was in for 110 days) and Derby has been out for 97 days (he was in for 116 days). And we are pleased to say that they are both doing excellent.

Everybody asks how difficult it is having twins. It has not been hard AT ALL. I have come to the conclusion that they are either just fantastic babies or they have NICU skills. Personally, I think it is NICU skills. Or maybe it is because they gave us such a hard time for the first few months and they figure that we needed a break from the drama. They are rarely fussy (for me at least), sleep mostly through the night, and are really starting to let their personalities shine. It seems like people think I am just talking up our kids – but the fact of the matter is that they really are absolutely fantastic.
(You can totally tell that Tadd wrote that. So many numbers…Also the part about it not being hard at all, well lets just say Tadd has only been alone with them TWICE for a short amount of time. Ask him again after he has had them alone all day)

UPDATES (This is where the mom takes over)

• Both: They are sleeping through the night on a fairly regular basis. They will eat at 7:30 and then will go between 6-8 hours till they want to eat again. We try and feed them at 11 pm if we can and then we are good till 5:30 am. They hate to be woken up to eat. If we do so they are are grouchy and will only eat half of their bottle. They are taking 3 ounces at a time, occasionally they will take an extra ounce. I thought they should be moving up in amount but the pediatrician is happy with their intake and told us not to worry. Given their size they are taking the right amount. Tadd told the pediatrician he was concerned how Derby isn’t as social as Loen. After getting the “talk” that we shouldn’t compare them he said that girls mature faster socially while boys are faster physically. Then Derby proceeded to smile at the doctor, he is already trying to prove his dad wrong.

Posing with their Blablas again (click here to see the last time)

• Loen: Last Tuesday we had a weigh in appointment and Loen is 10 pounds 15 ounces and 23 1/4″ long. Dr. Black said the twins growth is in the 3oth percentile for their adjusted age (of 3 1/2 months). Which is amazing to us as most micropreemies are below the growth chart for awhile. She is so alert and our little smiley girl. She started laughing last week, she doesn’t do it all the time but it is so heartwarming when she does. She has started to swipe at toys but doesn’t grab them yet. You can hold something in front of her and she will swipe at it. If you put it in her hands it goes in the mouth. Tummy time is still not her favorite but she is getting stronger at holding her head up. It only lasts for a bit then she will lay her head down and suck on her hand. Loen is also “talking” more each day, they are the cutest little coos. She is a little more independent than Derby. She will happily sit in the boppy next to you and play with her hands or a ring. Sometimes she actually prefers to be put down than being held, especially at nap times. She will wiggle and fuss and when you lie her down she goes right to sleep. Loen had her eyes checked the same time as Derby last week. It was a wonderful 3 hour visit. I was SO THANKFUL that Tadd decided to tag along to this appointment. I would have been fine but it would not have been fun to have them both a little grouchy for 3 hours in a little waiting room alone. The reason the exam was so long because Loen’s right eye was very sluggish to dilate. They thought it could have been due to the fact she had more extensive laser surgery in that eye when she was in the NICU. Dr. Silverberg noticed that her right lens looked a little cloudy so he wanted to have a closer look. So they tried to dilate her eyes twice more. By then Loen was over the whole thing and kept rolling her eyes back in her head. So he made the decision to do an exam under anesthesia in August. I always thought it would be Derby that would require that, not Loen. But Dr. Silverberg said he wanted to be sure her eye is okay. It could be anything from a little leftover blood in her eye (from her ROP surgery in January) to a cataract. He said it so nonchalant – I choked a little bit. Like if someone said “I’m not sure, it was either a kitty or a man eating lion in your backyard. I’ll take another look”. Nothing like hitting all ends of the spectrum.

Loen with her first outfit and pee wee diaper

Loen laughing video (click picture to go to video)

• Derby: Still has the cheeks. Tadd thinks they are slimming down but he still looks like a chipmunk. He weighs 10 pounds 11 ounces, is 22″ long and is quickly catching up to Loen. He is still stronger than Loen and holds himself steady when sitting up or on his tummy. He smiles a lot in the morning but is partial to his mother. Like I tell Tadd, he knows where his next meal is coming from. He hasn’t laughed yet but I feel like it is so close. He also coos and will make these loud happy yelps. He too is fascinated by his hands and will lick them. He is my clingy monkey and would be happiest if you held him all the time. This past week he has been clutching my skin really hard when I hold him. I think he is worried I will put him down and pick up Loen instead. The patching was unsuccessful with Derby so he will have surgery to correct both of his “lazy eyes” on August 4th. Again, a worrisome thought, but Dr. Silverberg specializes in pediatric cases and strabismus. He is the doctor who performed my stabismus surgery last year. He also feels that Derby will interact more once his eyes work together.

How Derby has grown. Posing with his preemie clothes and pee wee diapers

Derby showin off his man abs (click picture for video)

Tadd put together their highchairs on Sunday. Good thing we did because one of them was damaged. We were able to switch it out and Tadd put together the new one before dinner time. Usually the twins are quite grouchy during dinner time but we put them in their new high chairs with some toys and they were so good. I know it is not good to have them sitting up before they can do so on their own but it was nice to have a calm dinner without one of us trying to wolf down our dinner so we could pick them up. The other thing we often do is wear them in slings and cover them with a napkin so food doesn’t fall on their head. I think they liked the change in scenery and the fact that they were so close to us. Though they do look tiny in them.

Once again we are happy to report the babies are doing wonderfully. I have tried to always think positively when it came to the twins, it would be so easy to let your mind wander down the “what if..” path, but this past week I thought a lot about the what ifs. I came across other preemie blogs when looking up preemies and development. I usually avoid them because they make me depressed. I saw one where both of the twins are still on oxygen and require tube feedings. They are the same age as our twins. Or a 3 year olds that has such bad reflux they have to puree all of her meals, yet she still projectile vomits. One of the saddest is the story of Lennox and Zoe. I cannot read it because it always makes me cry. I am so thankful that the twins are here. They are doing well, they are beautiful, they survived. I feel guilty for the times when I am tired and they are screaming, when I want a little time to myself and they are being needy. I have to stop and think about how blessed we are because it could all be so different.

Sometimes they lie together and hold hands (that’s what I tell myself anyways)

Loen “talking”

Derby “It’s hard 2 B so dope all da time”