The Babes' 6 month appointment

Let me start out by saying that I'm a little behind but I have many good excuses :)

About 2 weeks ago we had the 6 month appointment for the babies! Wow! 6 months! I can't even hardly believe it. In one sense it's flown by but in another sense it feels like the days have dragged on at points. It is different because for 2 months I wasn't able to have both babes at home with me as they were still in the hospital. So, I've only had them both home for 4 months. I just can't believe that my babies are 6 months old already. Jeesh!

I headed to the appointment by myself as Mark had to be out of town that day for work. Madalyn stayed at the house with Mark's mom and I braved the doctors office by myself. Let me just say that I wasn't looking forward to it at all. I have no problem taking the babies places by myself - the issue was just the with going to the doctor. I knew they would both have to go through the routine of undressing, getting weighed, getting checked out and then getting vaccinations. It was just a lot to think about doing by myself and I was SO nervous.

The nurse helped me to get them undressed and she took one and I took the other. We weighed them and then took them back to the room to wait on the doctor. While we were waiting on the doctor, both babes were extremely cheery and happy (which helped!). Samuel did decide to spit up all down the sleeve of my shirt which was rather disgusting. It's a good thing I had another shirt on underneath. I played with both kids on the table until the doctor came in.

Samuel's weight - 11lbs 14oz
Hannah's weight - 13lbs 1oz

The exam went well. Dr. H said that both babies are doing extremely well. He put both babies on their stomachs and they are both very strong for their age (their adjusted age is 4 months - 2 months behind - so for developmental stages and what not we go by the adjusted age). Both are developmentally right on track... they are beginning to reach for things, they can sit up when held (good head control) and they are rolling from their bellies to their backs. Hannah is a little bit stronger but that's understandable as she's bigger. Both did well on their bellies - Sam even was a little stronger on his belly. Dr. H said that by next appt (2 months) they should be able to sit up on their own. He then talked to me about getting them flu vaccines and the RSV injection. Because they are preemies, they are recommended to have the RSV injection - which isn't a vaccine but rather an injection of antibodies to help build up their immune system. If they were to catch RSV it would be rather bad as their lungs are less mature than a full term baby. They will each get an RSV injection every month until March.

The bad thing about the injections was that they each got their regular flu shot in the office and then I had to bundle them up and take them upstairs for the H1N1 vaccine. They both were very much upset by the time we got upstairs and I made it worse by having them get another vaccine. I was super stressed out with two screaming babies but I did well for being by myself. At one point a nurse came over and said, "we've been over at the desk trying to figure out who needs the hug more - mom or the babies." I sure was glad when that was over!

I'm so thankful that both babies are doing extremely well. I was given the go ahead with feeding them cereal which the Dr. said should help with Samuel's spitting up. So far it's been going well. They are doing great with it! It's so fun to watch them - I love that they light up when they see each other, that they light up when they see their big sister, and that they are extremely happy babies! They love to hold hands and touch each other when they are laying next to each other. Having twins is definitely a blessing and I'm so excited to be on this journey. As hard as it's been in the past, I'm so thankful for my two beautiful, healthy babies!!!

**As a side, I took them in last week for their RSV injections. I took Mady with me this time so it was me and the 3 kiddos. I had the babies undressed and laying on the table. Mady climbed up on the end of the table to watch them receive their injections. Samuel got his first and let out a big ole cry. I think Mady was surprised because she then began to shed a couple of tears. She kept saying "hold me mommy." I had to remind her that it was okay and that I couldn't hold her right then because I had to hold the babies. She went and sat on the chair on the other side of the room so she didn't have to watch when Hannah got her injection. Samuel had calmed down by this point and then Hannah got hers. She let out a cry, Samuel let out a cry as well (maybe a sympathy cry) and Mady again said "mommy, hold me." So I had 2 babies crying and my Mady just about in tears. The nurse was chuckling and all I could do was giggle. I felt bad but to keep from losing my mind I just had to smile. In the end the babies settled down and Mady got a sticker --- yep, she got the sticker but the babies did all of the "work!"