Prematurity Awareness & 2 year well check

November 17, 2011 is World Prematurity Day.  Raising awareness about the seriousness of premature birth.

On this day, I celebrate NICUs everywhere & I celebrate the health of my preemies!  I pray for all those less fortunate than us.  And I stand amazed at the little miracles whose lives I've had an opportunity to play a small role in. 

On this day, we celebrated by finding out just how big our 2 year old preemies are!  We visited the pediatrician for our 2 year well visit. 

Developmentally, we get an A!  We said YES to pretty much all of the developmental questions they asked.  {The only one I think that was a no was saying things like "I" or "Me" rather than "Olivia" or "Logan."  We do say "mine" though}  We talked a little about speech.  They should have 50+ words in their vocab, (& I think we are all there.)  Strangers should understand around 40% of what they say.  (so hopefully they do?)  And we should be putting 2 words together (which Logan quickly squeeked in this week!)  So all is well for now.  We'll just keep an eye on how they progress, especially with speech, making sure they are improving with their actual pronunciation of words.

Hayden still has big tonsils.... we'll keep watching them.
Ears look good!
Hearts & Lungs sound good.
And he was glad our past few months of daycare hadn't landed us back in the office too much thus far!

The main thing we discussed was Logan & Livi & their outie belly buttons or hernias?  They had those massive umbilical hernias as babies, remember?  They don't look all that big here, but I remember thinking Livi's was the size of a golf ball.  Maybe it wasn't really that big at its peak, but thats what I remember comparing it to. 

Most likely a product of prematurity (though Uncle Ethan had one too, so genetics could play a part?)  Well they shrunk way down a long, long time ago, like at 6-7 months old, & I just assumed what was left was an outie.  A little leftover stretched skin.  But Dr. Fran thinks that the defect {the hole in the abdominal wall that allows for the hernia} is still present.  Or may still be present.  Small, but present.  So he suggested we visit the surgeons to see if they recommend repair.  Usually if they are going to repair themselves, they do so by age 2.  So now that we're two, its time to check with the specialists.  He said they might not even suggest surgical repair & at this point its really up to us.  Not that I want any surgeries, nor do I feel they give us any trouble at this time, but I think its worth a vist to Raynor's office (or one of those guys in that practice) for a consult.  Especially because I know Uncle Ethan's (which never got repaired as a baby) hurts him sometimes as an adult.

So I need to call & make that appointment.  Livi needs a follow-up appointment with Dr. Troia {eyes} made for April-ish.  And we were supposed to take Liv back to see Dr. Thomas {respiratory} this fall too, but I'm guessing now it will be after the 1st of the year for sure before we can get in?!  Seesh!  Guess I'll spend the afternoon on the phone!

We got 1 shot, Hepatitis A vaccine.  And they got their flu {mist} vaccine. 

They of course were scared.  Cried some.  Said "all done" & "bye bye" a lot.  But we survived.  Fully enjoyed some fruit snacks when it was all over.  And assuming we stay on a healthy course- we don't go back until they are THREE!  That seems crazy!

We had a difficult time getting Hayden to stay on the scale.  I think he actually weighs more than what they got, but no biggy.  {My guesses going in were 25-26 lbs for Livi & Logan, 30-31 lbs for Hayden.}  And somehow they got Hayden to be shorter than Livi & Logan, which is obsurd.  We laughed about it.  All agreed even watching them run around the room that that could not be true.  Tried it again, & still failed.  Oh well.  So... I stood them by the wall & measured them at home before putting them down for naps ;)  I think what I got seems more accurate when you see the percentages.  They are still shorties.  These percentages are on their term growth chart.

Hayden:
Weight:  29 lbs 6 oz (67%)
Height:  {They got 34.75 in which was the 60%}  I got 34.25 in (48%)
Head:  20.25 in (98%)
*At 18 months, he was 26 lbs 11 oz (62%), 32 in tall (43%), head 20 in (99%!)

Olivia:
Weight:  25 lbs 15.5 oz (41%)
Height:  {They got 35 in which was the 80%} I got 33.75 in (50%)
Head:  19 in (64%)
*At 18 months she was 22 lbs 15 oz (30%), 32 in tall (63%), head 18.5 in (65%).

Logan:
Weight:  25 lbs 12.5 oz (22%)
Height:  {They got 35 in which was the 67%} I got 33.5 in (28%)
Head:  19.5 in (67%)
*Logan has really caught up in percentages this past 6 months.  At 18 months, he wsa 22 lbs 3 oz (8%), 31 in tall (16%), head 19 in (57%).