Where to start...
Well, we have recent teeth sightings. Both Natalie and Abby are getting the teeth on either side of their top two teeth. Natalie's are actually poking through a bit more than Abby's. Fortunately, both girls love having their teeth brushed. I've been using my sonicare, and they love it. They fight over it:-) I bought a new toothbrush for them today so mine won't be all over the house.
Teeth brushing is actually going to be very important. From the preemie forum I'm a member of, I learned that the Pedisure they drink is full of sugar and prone to rotting kid's teeth. One mom said her 2 year old's dentist wants to cap all her teeth already because of the damage. Great. Just great. For those of you who don't know, I'm pretty neurotic about my teeth. At 34, I don't have any cavities. It's takes me at least 4 minutes to brush my teeth. Personally, I can't figure out where that 2 minute thing came from. I mean, if you have 30 teeth, and each tooth has 3 sides (front, top, back), and you spend 3 seconds on each side, that's 270 seconds right there - that's 4.5 minutes right there! Anyway, I digress...so teeth are a big deal to me. I have a reoccurring nightmare that my teeth are falling out in my hands. It's awful. So, the idea that Natalie and Abby's teeth are rotting by the minute is pretty unnerving for me. So, there will be lots of teeth brushing.
Oh the eating front...
The girls seem to be eating better. Natalie has been draining her 6 ounce bottles usually twice a day, sometimes more. We do high chair feedings twice a day and then they nibble from our plates in the evening. We have also started using something called Resource Just for Kids. It's like Pedisure (complete nutrition), but more caloric - 45 cal an ounce. The good thing is that they can drink way less and still get more calories. For instance, if they drink only 15 ounces of Resource it's the same as 22.5 ounces of Pedisure (which they may never do). It's 675 calories which is more than they have been getting. I've estimated they've been eating about 470-540 cal (16-18 ounces) of pedisure a day, and they need nearly 1000cals. It seems like they drink a little less of the Resource, but I'm hoping their volume will increase again. It makes sense since the Resource has more fat and calories and should be more filling.
On the down side, the girls have been throwing up more than they ever have before - especially Abby. I can't quite figure it out. I have identified two definite causes: When they get really upset and cry too hard, they throw up. This is pretty normal for kids though. Lots of kids do this. This doesn't worry me as much. Second, Abby has a tendency to drink really fast from the bear cup. She can drain nearly 5 ounces in about 5 minutes. It's unbelievable. it would be fantastic if she didn't then throw it all up.
Both girls have also been gagging a lot. Natalie seems to do this more. This I'm a little confused about. It seems their reflux has returned, and we are going to restart their Prevacid. But, I'm not sure WHY it's back. We cut out adding cream, duocal and benecalorie (except when they need to poop - that stuff is a great laxative!), because we thought the high fat content was bothering their stomach. But, the vomiting has continued. I'm wondering if it is because they are eating more and at times their stomachs just can't handle it. I have read that some kids do vomit a lot on Pedisure, but they were on it a while before the vomiting really started. Now, I'm also wondering if the higher fat content in the Resource is a problem for them. We are currently using Pedisure and Resource so the problem is hard to isolate.
I'm not a big fan of the vomiting. It's especially troublesome on road trips - like to and from my dad's. Abby woofs down Pedisure, throws up all over herself and her car seat (it even drips through the strap openings to the base), and then I have to spread a blanket on the ground, strip her, change her, clean her up, hold her with one arm so she doesn't eat God-knows-what off the ground while I use a dozen wipes to clean out her car seat. Then I have to fashion some kind of cover so she doesn't have to sit on a wet car seat cover. The whole thing takes at least 30 minutes. On the bright side, at least she's not a projectile vomiter. I mean, it could go all over the back of the seat.
Okay, on to more pleasant things...
I think I gave birth to monkeys. Natalie and Abby climb on EVERYTHING. They love their slide and climb up and down it every way possible. They can also now climb on the couch unassisted, which is not necessarily a good thing. Since they have no concept of depth perception or the idea that if they climb over the arm of the couch, they will fall on their heads, it could be a little dangerous. Yesterday, Abby had a little routine: use the book shelf next to the ottoman to climb on the ottoman. Crawl across ottoman sometimes pausing to stand up, just because she can. Then using the ottoman as a launching pad, she climbs across a small gap across the arm of the couch onto the couch. Then she walks across the couch to the other side where she wants to climb over the other arm of the couch. That's usually where I stop her since that's the part that could result in a concussion. I take her off the couch, and she starts the whole thing over again. Monkeys, I tell you, monkeys.
More to say, but if I don't post now, I may never get this out!
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