Friday, June 22, 2007

The post that took me three weeks to write

Seriously, I started this on June 22 and am now posting on July 13...





Things are going well here at Mom's. I think it is safe to say that the kids (esp. William) love their Grandma. My brother Jason has fallen for William while Margaret has captured the heart of my brother Nick (also a preemie). Of course, my Sis loves them both but I think a little girl is what she is after. Both babies have gotten to meet their paternal Granddad, Aunts and Uncles, Great Granny ("Big Granny"), Great Aunt Vicki, and Great Uncle Richard. There are lots of cuddles and kisses, holding, and gifts for both. Margaret even got to go on a boat trip with GU Richard and Big Granny! She looked so cute in her life jacket! She also had her first trip to the pool which was big fun!


Little Margaret has really blossomed this summer. She has started talking instead of pointing and grunting. And she is trying her best to run and jump. Lots of practice is needed, however. She is so much fun!

The name of her game, however, is mischief- catfood eating, potted plant digging, fireplace crawling, brother smacking, toilet paper eating mischief. She is certainly age appropriate and testing her limits. I will tell her "no" and she will continue to do whatever it is that she was doing, only more slowly and while keeping an eye on me. Sometimes it is really hard not to laugh. And then there is the food smearing. Food is meant to be worn, not eaten. She has taken to "running" whenever I say it is time to eat. I guess she isn't going to be plump any time soon.







William has finally started to calm a bit. I can now put him on his play gym and he will happily play for 10-15 minutes. Glorious for eating breakfast or prying Margaret off some dangerous object. He is sleeping through the night, too! This throws me off because Margaret didn't sleep through until she was 18 months or so. I don't know how much he weighs or his length but I can tell you that his head circumference has increased by 3.5 cm since his last neuro appointment. This is good news... just right. Not so much to imply hydrocephalus or too little to suggest microcephaly. William has also become more social with smiles and coos for everybody! He is so cute.


Motor wise, things remain static with William. Not much head control, has trouble getting hands to midline, nowhere close to working on sitting. He seems to be very hypotonic in his trunk and neck and very stiff in the legs and arms. Arms are a bit stiffer than his legs, even. I understand that his seizure med, Keppra (yeah, he was having seizures afterall), can have the side effect of muscle weakness so I don't know if that is contributing to his trunk/neck floppiness. His favorite thing to do is eat his fist and I want him to be able to do this on his own!!! He works so hard at it and my heart breaks when he cries in frustration because he just can't get his hand in there on his own.

I am also doing better. For those of you who don't know, I have been suffering a quite severe bout of Post Partum Depression with a little bit of Post Partum Anxiety Disorder thrown in to round things out. I had started seeing a Social Worker who immediately sent me to a Psychiatrist. Well, the "screening" and waiting list for an appointment was over two months long. So I am still waiting to get in. But I'm feeling better, meds are starting to work, and I am headed home soon.

BTW, as of two days ago, my actual age is 4-0. My adjusted age remains 28.

If you stuck around this long and are checking on us, thank you!!!

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Fisher Price School Bus


In an attempt to keep Margaret from digging up the houseplants and eating the catfood here at Mom's, I set out yesterday to buy her a new toy. Initially, I had planned to purchase the FP Sweet Sounds Home because it has a Mommy, Daddy, and baby included. She has been very interested in all things baby lately. But when I went to the store, they had none! I poured over the toy isles and finally settled on the FP School Bus, patially due to the many pictures I have seen of Eden and Holland enjoying theirs'.

I expected Margaret to enjoy the bus as she does all the Little People things I have gotten her. What I did not expect was that the bus comes with a wheelchair! I was so excited when I extracted it from the box... (why does it take near-surgery to remove kid's toys from their boxes???)

We are now going on 18 hours mischief-free, so the bus is a hit. She has enjoyed pushing it around and adding riders from her other toys. Right now it is filled with a selection of plastic bugs (Dollar Tree). One of her favorites, a huge black spider is riding proudly in the wheelchair. This makes me so happy. It really is the little things that can be so important, isn't it?

Friday, June 01, 2007

No Time

Since my husband is taking long business trips this summer, he and I decided that it would be a good idea if I stayed with my Mom for the next month or so. The drive here was a grueling 13 hours- 10 of which were non-stop screaming by William. Margaret was so mesmorized by our new car DVD player that she didn't complain much. I did have to read a new Eric Carle book about a thousand times in a row and do some singing... very easy traveller.

William now will not let me put him down for anything. He must be held 24/7 so I have had no time to update but hopefully he will settle in soon to give me some time to update about the Monkeys.