Day 76 Update

Good Morning All! The babies are now almost 11 weeks old - can you believe it!??! Things are starting to settle into a pattern, thankfully. Sorry it's been almost a week since the last posting, but that pattern is kind of stuffed to the gills (or stuffed like a bird as Harry says).

Let's see. We went to Mom and Dad for Thanksgiving. We went earlier in the day to visit Golda. She was doing well. Thanksgiving was very quiet, just us and Aunt, Roy, Eric and later AnnMarie. Well, not quiet, per se, just not too many people is more like it ... with two infants and a five year old it's not really ever quiet! Friday, I spoke to the nurse at St. Mary's and insisted that they speak to the doctor about starting Golda on oral antibiotics since the topical one wasn't really doing the trick. They started her on them that day and ever since her G-tube site is looking better and better. There is very little red now and it is mostly just darker pink. Mema, Harry, the babies and I went shopping to Babies R Us. We used most of the gift cards we received (that hadn't already been spent on formula!) - thank you - and bought size 6-9 month clothes. I can't believe that we are at the point of needing that size! They are wearing mostly 3 month and some newborn clothes now, but I needed to know we had the next size with the way Micah has been growing! Golda is in newborn size and looking absolutely adorable in them!

We visited as a family on Saturday - it was kind of nice, although somewhat overwhelming, to be "just" the six of us for a little while! I took some more photos of the bunch, although mostly in pairs this time. Sunday, Mom and I actually made it get pedicures and manicures again! It was my first since August - the last time I was feeling up to going. It felt heavenly! Thanks Mom! Jon spent the day working, working, working, trying to get caught up. I too spent time working and doing laundry. And, sigh, Harry seemed to have a lovely case of pink eye blooming. I called the pediatrician and he called in an antibiotic. With all that going on we didn't go to see Golda - especially since Harry was still contagious until he had been on the antibiotics for 24 hours.

Yesterday we had the GI doctor for Leah and Micah and I went to see my GP as well. I got prescriptions for my allergy meds again - yeah! and got cleared for pink eye - phew. Then I came back home and helped Jon get Leah & Micah ready and we headed out for the GI doc. We checked in & were taken back almost immediately (I had asked to wait in the back since the waiting room was full of sneezing coughing people) by the doctor. She was very nice and seemed knowledgeable. She took full histories (as full a history as an 11 week old can have!) and then examined them both. She said the reflux wasn't too bad and is possibly within the range of normal, although she did not want to remove them from Zantac at this point nor change their formula. She said that she thinks that from their symptoms, both what we told her about and that she witnessed while we were there, that they have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (thanks to me, poor things). She would like to try treating it with suppositories to relieve their gas, the main thing causing their symptoms, and some constipation. We are going to give them suppositories three times a day when they seem the most fussy and in pain. We have given them to Leah and Micah twice already today and Mylicon once. It definitely helped them move their bowels and pass gas, but I don't think it's stopped the general crabbiness that occurs after every feeding. I suppose this will take some time though since there has been a general build-up of gas that needs to be relieved first. Patience. Pretty hard to come by these days! Oh, and Micah weighs 10 lbs. 10 oz. and has been steadily gaining, but Leah is still coming in at 8 lbs. 4 oz. We told the doctor that she has been down and now back up, but is pretty stagnant at this weight for about a month so we are now mixing her formula more concentrated to increase the calorie count per ounce. Let's see how that goes! We have return appointments on the 18th.

Golda is doing well. As I said above, she is on oral antibiotics and they are doing the job finally. The nurses have also switched the gauze they are putting on her g-tube site to try to get it to absorb the excretions better. She is getting so much more alert too. When I am there she is usually wide awake and happy to be interacting. She likes to be held more now and likes when I hold her up and let her "stand" or sit her up and "dance" her around. I even got a little smile out of her yesterday when I nibbled at her neck! Jon went to visit her tonight and she took the opportunity to nap with Daddy. Daddy was cradling her on her tummy (woo hoo) on his chest while reclining in the rocking chair and she conked right out. Then Daddy conked right out too! The nurse kept out of their way to let them enjoy each other (so nice!). When Daddy woke up he put Golda back in her bed and the nurse showed him how to give her the antibiotics in her G-tube. Cool. Then Golda cried and cried :( It took Jon about 15 minutes to calm her enough that he felt comfortable leaving her.

Golda has an ophthalmologist appointment set for Friday at noon. I got permission to take her in our car using a car seat, but when they checked out her car seat they realized that she wasn't big enough for it (the minimum weight is 5 lbs) and so she would need to ride in a car bed. They have them at St. Mary's but theirs happened to have expired and can't be safely used now. They are ordering new ones since they need them anyway and are trying to get one here in time for us to use, but if not, then they will arrange a medical transport and I will go with Golda alone. Otherwise, it will be Jon and I taking our littlest girl to the doctor! And, now the big news that might affect these plans too - as of yesterday, Golda was weighing in at 2.26 kg (4 lbs. 15.97 oz.)!!! That means she may be big enough to ride in the car seat after all - but I will call tomorrow to check on that since they may still want to be more cautious with her.

Harry is doing okay mostly. He is really annoyed that he has pink eye and is in fact in complete denial, even though his eye is now finally looking a little better and has less goop and his throat is a bit sore. Oy. But at least he is no longer contagious and we can let him kiss the babies again. He gets really sad when we tell him that he can't touch them or kiss them. Although, with the crazy crying jags they have been having I am waiting for him to say he wants them gone - so far he has managed to check himself before saying that. For instance, when they were crying tonight and I had to pay them attention and couldn't play another game with him, he said in anger "I wish they" and stopped. When I asked what he was going to say he said that they wouldn't take all my attention and that they would just be quiet and not have belly problems. I commiserated with him, but I don't think he was too impressed. What helped was telling him that in a couple of years they will be able to play with him too. That made him a little happy, like all this craziness might actually pay off for him :) poor thing! But when his teacher asked him what he was thankful for he answered "my family and my triplets!".

Okay. That's about it here for now. Tomorrow we have the urologist for Micah (to check his testicular hydrocoele), Thursday we have the high risk clinic and neurodevelopmental clinic for Leah and Micah and Friday the ophthalmologist for Golda. Phew, a busy week! I will try to post daily so it won't be so long each time! And, I know, photos, too.