GI Appointment

Well I just got back from the GI specialist that Abby had seen when she was younger. The girls both passed their Video Swallow Studies (VSS). I'm SOOO happy with this! The Upper GI study showed reflux, which I knew it would. The girls are both 21 inches and 10lbs!! Kiley was 3 ounces heavier at 10lb 5oz. So they are growing great and we have no issues with that.

Dr. D thinks that the coughing and choking is stemming from the girls trying to drink the milk down, the reflux coming up and trying to breathe. He said that otherwise they should be ok. We are going to start them on Prevacid twice daily to see if we can cut down on the acid coming up into their throats. He also wants them on a vitamin supplement.

Annnnd.... the icky part. I need to start on the MSPI (Milk, Soy, Protein Intolerance) diet. ICK. To give you an idea of what I need to look for on labels....

Ingredients that mean contains soy:

• hydrolyzed soy protein
• miso
• shoyo sauce
• soy flour
• soy grits
• soy nuts
• soy milk
• soy sprouts
• soy protein concentrate
• soy protein isolate
• soy sauce
• tempeh
• textured vegetable protein (TVP)
• tofu
• soy lecithin
• soy oil

Other possible sources of soy or soy products:

• flavorings
• hydrolyzed plant protein
• hydrolyzed vegetable protein
• natural flavoring
• vegetable broth
• vegetable gum
• vegetable starch

(most babies will not react to soy oil or soy lecithin, but the very sensitive baby may still react)

Ingredients that mean contains dairy:

• Acidophilus Milk
• Ammonium Caseinate
• Butter
• Butter Fat
• Butter Oil
• Butter Solids
• Buttermilk
• Buttermilk Powder
• Calcium Caseinate
• Casein
• Caseinate (in general)
• Cheese (All animal-based)
• Condensed Milk
• Cottage Cheese
• Cream
• Curds
• Custard
• Delactosed Whey
• Demineralized Whey
• Dry Milk Powder
• Dry Milk Solids
• Evaporated Milk

• Ghee
• Goat Milk
• Half & Half
• Hydrolyzed Casein
• Hydrolyzed Milk Protein
• Iron Caseinate
• Lactalbumin
• Lactoferrin
• Lactoglobulin
• Lactose
• Lactulose
• Low-Fat Milk
• Magnesium Caseinate
• Malted Milk
• Milk
• Milk Derivative
• Milk Fat
• Milk Powder
• Milk Protein
• Milk Solids
• Natural Butter Flavor

• Nonfat Milk
• Nougat
• Paneer
• Potassium Caseinate
• Pudding
• Recaldent
• Rennet Casein
• Skim Milk
• Sodium Caseinate
• Sour Cream
• Sour Milk Solids
• Sweetened Condensed Milk
• Sweet Whey
• Whey
• Whey Powder
• Whey Protein Concentrate
• Whey Protein Hydrolysate
• Whipped Cream
• Whipped Topping
• Whole Milk
• Yogurt
• Zinc Caseinate

Is that enough??? Can you see why shopping might be a little exhausting? I'm going to try it for two months and see if it works. This time I'm going to be better prepared though. I'll look some good MSPI diet meals that I can make, devote one day where I will make a bunch of food and then freeze them. This way it will be taken care of and I won't need to stress about it or devote a bunch of time to the diet. I'm not going to start today, I'll probably start this weekend on Sunday so that I can start at the beginning of the week.

Well I have to go... I'll write more on this when I have a little more time.... But thats the update for now

Handprints

Hello all. I found a few moments to blog while I'm feeding Kiley (there just isn't a whole lot else to do when you're feeding babies). We finally made it home from my parent's house. We actually drove down Sunday afternoon to watch the Vikings game (heart sigh) and got snowed in. There was no warning at all about how awful the conditions were going to get. 1-3 inches of snow sure became a headache! Whiteout conditions and drifting were the real problems. Our snow drifts had sank a little but are now nice and tall again....

Still no Jeep. :( I hope we can get that back this week so that I'm not confined to these four walls. Kiley & Kara do have doctor's appointments tomorrow and the way things are going I'm really really glad we are going in. To give you an idea of what I've done today...

4am-7am: off and on feeding of Kiley, Kara, Kiley, Kara...
8am- present:  Ate breakfast, changed Kiley, changed Kara, came home... fed Kiley, fed Kara, fed Abby, fed Kiley (again), put in a roast for supper,  changed Kiley, changed Kara, changed Abby, put clothes on Abby, put new clothes on Kara, fed Abby lunch, fed Kara, fed Kiley, put Abby down for a nap, fed Kara, did homework, took a shower, ate lunch of spagettios, put a load of laundry in the wash,  feeding Kiley now... Kara is screaming again...

And I wonder why I'm so exhausted... It's 2 o'clock right now and that is just a sample of what I've done this morning. Abby is still sleeping thankfully which allowed me to get a little more homework done and a load of laundry. The shower helped... is it bad the coffee pot is calling me again?

Tom's mom is coming up to watch Abby tomorrow morning when I go to my doctor's appointment. Abby will really enjoy having another person to entertain and I will love having the extra help. An extra pair of hands is always a huge help.

Well I need to finish up some things before my break is completely over. I leave you with this poem that I try to remember as I go throughout the day...

My Handprints
 
Sometimes I might upset you
Because I am so small
And always leave my fingerprints
on furniture and walls.
 
But everyday I grow a bit
And soon I'll be so tall
That all those little fingerprints
Will be so hard to recall.
 
So here's a special handprint
Just so that you can say
This is how my fingers looked
When I placed them here today

Picture Perfect

It was still a lot of fun... even if it didn't last as long as we might have hoped...

I wanted to write more but the girls might actually be going to sleep... and I'm running incredibly low on sleep right now. So for now goodnight... (and Abby still makes a cute Viking fan)

A little of everything

Witching Hour...or hours... 7pm-12am... of crying... They are both swinging for the moment because I just need a little break. K&K are both clean, warm, fed and just got done with a nice soothing bath. I know that babies have a typical 'fussier' point but wow, none of my girls seem to do anything half way.

Oh shucks Kiley's cry is breaking my heart. One moment please. Ok I'm impressed, it was Kiley that was still crying. Sometimes it amazes me how a mother's instinct works. She's now snuggling in my lap and falling back to sleep.

I haven't heard back from Dr. D's office yet. I'll probably give them a call tomorrow just to check and make sure that they are still working on rescheduling my appointment. Or should I say appointments... I'm sure with the recent weather they are needing to reschedule a lot of appointments.

-----------

Well I ended up getting so exhausted from everything yesterday I fell asleep before I could finish the entry. There is another... yes another winter storm headed our way tonight. I asked my dad to stop by on his way home from work to pick us up if it starts to look like it might get bad. Getting stuck home with the three amigos alone might get to be a little much.

Kiley has decided that she wants more mommy time and has edged her sister out in co-sleeping time. Last night at 12:30 I decided I just couldn't keep playing the pacifier game... so I gave in and let her sleep next to me. She slept better after that and so I was able to get a little more rest.

My brother Andrew came to pick us up around 4pm yesterday ... and save me from the Abby tornado that had gotten bored and decided to destroy things. Child proof books... hah... Abby tore the SPINE off of one of those. I was so shocked I couldn't believe she did it. But when Andrew walked in the door she went nuts! She was soooo excited to see him. I slipped on the ice in Beresford while holding a carseat... ouch. Not fun. They have a good 1/2 an inch of solid ice down there and we are supposed to get more tonight. Last night my dad was helping me hold the babies and Kiley gave him a little sprinkle of love. Yep! She pee'd through her diaper and soaked through his clothes. :o)

I've discovered that Kara will smile if I give her a kiss.

Cute huh?

This is what Abby and I were up to the other day...

And this is why ... not giving the movie theater the 3D glasses back was worth it....

Finally... I leave you with this...

Abby teaching Kiley how to drive :)

What Faith Can Do Video

Because the link of the video below is a Facebook version. Those of you who would like to see it and are not my friend on Facebook will be unable to view it. This is why I finally figured out how to upload the video to Blogger. If you still cannot see it please post a comment below and I'll try to help you see it!

What Faith Can Do

Praise God!!!

Ice troubles

We got a sheet of ice overnight and our appointments are no longer going to happen today. I'm so disappointed... the doctor that got us in so quickly is SO hard to get into and each girl had 2 tests scheduled at the hospital this morning too. So that means a total of 6 different things that had to be canceled and will now need to be reschedule. If it had been snow I would have tried to make it but it's just too dangerous outside right now for me to take my three girls out. There are a lot of schools that have closed ... *sigh*

The nurse had called me on Tuesday and said that Dr. D wants to have each baby get an Upper GI and VSS done to check for any anatomical abnormalities along with checking for the aspiration. I'll have to wait for her to call me back and tell me when they can get the girls back in again...

The last two nights have been completely awful, a full out battle of just trying to get SOME sleep. They just cry and cry and cry... Kara threw up all over me the other night, I mean ALL OVER. I had a small pool of her milk contents sitting in my lap. It was in my hair, soaked through my shirt and poor thing, she looked miserable. The puking wouldn't bother me so much but the lack of sleep starts to get to you. Part of me couldn't wait to get to these appointments, to try and see if we could do something to help them. 4 hours patches of sleep? Try 1, maybe 2... and then hours and hours of crying. Not just them laying awake and talking but arching back screaming. And there are two of them! I told Tom last night that I was losing and that I needed help...

Then of course... Abby was a nightmare last night too (before bedtime) By six o'clock I had reached my limit. The babies had not given me a break at all, so even though I got a 2 hour nap from her I was exhausted before she woke up. Part of it was probably the weather and this storm coming in, seems like she always gets a little more crazy. She could also probably sense how stressed I was feeling at that point too. We might have to come up with some activities to do today considering we will probably be stuck home again all day. :(

Abby Story: Yesterday afternoon Abby ran off with the remote and I kept trying to coax her to show me what she did with it. So I got up and looked all over trying to find it. I finally noticed that whenever Abby took a step the channel changed! She had stuck the remote down into her pj's and it was in the 'footie' part of the pj's!

I had made cookies from the Toll House frozen packages. Well Abby loves her cookies and she found the wrapper in the trash (surprise surprise) and brought it to me. "Noooo cookies" she said holding open the empty package. Every so often I could hear her walking around the house going "Noooo cookies."

2 Abby stories for the price of one!

8 week checkup

Wow where to start. I just got back from Kiley & Kara's pediatrician's office. It was an interesting visit. The nice part about having an early appointment was that we got in pretty fast and the Dr was able to see them pretty quick.

Kiley: 9lb 13oz     21 inches
Kara: 9lb 12 oz    21 inches

They went from the 3rd percentile in weight to the 50th and from the 3rd percentile in height to the 30th percentile. So they are both growing great at least!

I talked to Dr. L about my concerns with the aspiration and reflux. I figured that at the very least I should get them checked out and give this all a try. Hopefully at least we can get a baseline with what is going on. I'm glad I did, he heard Kiley wheezing a bit. The nice thing is that he referred them both to Dr. D (the GI specialist that Abby saw earlier) and I didn't even have to bring it up!

The odd thing is that he wanted to order a VSS (Video Swallow Study) for Kiley.... and an UGI (upper GI) test for Kara... then use the results for both of the girls.... um what? Just because they have the same symptoms doesn't mean the same thing is going on with both of them! Strange... anyways I'm leaving it completely up to Dr. D and what they want to do. He was called away from the clinic for an emergency today so the nurse is going to try and find me a spot and get back to me later on when they can be seen. She told me to just keep watching them close and to call right away if one of them goes blue again... (yep got that part figured out just fine!)

But Kiley & Kara both got their shots... it was a little hard watching them both get poked and feeling unable to properly comfort them both. They've both had their Tylenol now and are resting comfortably in our arms as Abby naps downstairs. I need some lunch so I'll end this update here and be back later with more updates :)

Fog... ick

Kiley laughed for the first time today! It was the cutest thing ever. I was so excited and she was so happy her little head was flopping all over the place. They are both snuggled up in the bassinet right now, Kara has her arm tucked up next to her mouth (it escaped from the confines of the swaddle blanket, or straight jacket as we sometimes call it). But every so often we hear soft little sucking sounds as her lips collide with her fist. I could fall asleep to that sound EVERY night!

Tomorrow we go in bright and early to see their pediatrician. I have mixed feelings about it. I go back and forth on deciding how much to say, what to say... or really if I should just leave it alone all together and handle things on my own. There are days and moments when I think to myself that there is no way I can do this alone... and other times when I feel like things are ok and there is no use stirring up a bunch of doctor's appointments and tests and meds and the headache that goes along with all of that... I'll try and report what happens tomorrow.

Church today was very interesting. We slept in a little (because we were all exhausted) and when I say sleep in I mean 8am. Tom took a shower while I got both Kiley & Kara changed and dressed. I worked so hard at finding cute outfits to put them in (I like to show them off when I get a chance!) Tom got Abby ready while I got dressed (no time for a shower... sad) As we were getting ready to go... Abby is trying her hardest to take off all of her clothes while Tom is trying to get Kara into the carseat and somehow pursuade Abs to keep her clothes on. I grab Kiley... who has had a blowout in the last 5 minuets and now needs to be completely changed. I get her changed, Abby has at least a shirt and pants on... Tom announces that Kara has just managed to puke all over the inside of the carseat... It is now 19 minuets before church STARTS.

Somehow we manage to get all three kids loaded into the car, I stuff a few toys into the diaper bag, another spare outfit and some snacks for Abby. I leave the house without breakfast or my morning coffee ... it was just one of those mornings.

The drive to church wasn't much better. The fog was so thick it was like a blanket of white had been tucked around us. Things went pretty well until a small grey car pulled out in front of us with NO lights on... and driving at a slow speed of 30-40 mph. We very nearly avoided rear ending them. Thankfully Tom saw them quickly and avoided hitting them. I will never understand why people don't have their lights on in the fog!

Naptime & Bedtime has gotten a little difficult for Abby lately. She breaks my heart when she sobs for me when I leave her in her crib. I try to give her plenty of hugs and kisses and cuddles... telling her I love her and that I will see her in the morning. But hearing her cry out for me makes me want to run back and tell her that everything is ok and that I will never leave her. In all honesty I love my Abby so very very much... but there aren't many moments where I feel the need to 'rush to her rescue.' Perhaps it is because she is so strong (and strong willed) that she is off on her own and doesn't need me. This new 'stage' is confusing to me because the times where she wants me so badly are increasing.... while my time and arms are decreasing...

It's especially hard now that Kiley & Kara are getting more alert. I want to be able to carry them with me and play with them too. I can't wait until Abby can play with her sisters and not 'hurt them'. Where she doesn't have to be so careful with them.

Well Kiley & Kara are asleep... time for me to go to bed. I'm completely exhausted.

Abby story: We were driving in the car today and Abby was reading a book about these counting sheep. One of the sheep was dancing and had it's arms out in a familiar pose. Abby sees it and yells "TOUCHDOWN!"

Did I mention she loves football? :)

Human boomerang!

Well... I have a little time to post and so I'll try to catch everyone up on what is going on around here. My friend left this morning and the house feels a little more empty (strange considering it is at times very full!) It was fun to have her over. Last night we played board games when my friend Carrie came over to play. We laughed and laughed. It was the type of board game where you must do silly things to advance towards the finish line.

"Wah wah wah Wah wah wah...." <---- The sound Tom made as a human boomerang. I had to do the hula and there was plenty of awful singing. It was a great time even if Kiley & Kara cried through most of it. It got a little difficult when I wasn't allowed to use my hands or arms....

Kiley & Kara go in for their 2 month check up on Monday. I'm going to talk to the doctor about their reflux and I'm hoping he will refer me to the specialist that treated Abby's issues. I'm also 99% sure that they are aspirating. The other day when I was feeding Kiley she aspirated some into her lungs. She turned purple and couldn't breathe... it was a little scary!! They also seem to choke and cough a lot so I might need to have them get video swallows done... great...

I don't know how to feel about all of their issues. Some days I really don't think it's fair we have to deal with this all over again... though they do say it is hereditary. There is a good chance that they will have me go on the MSPI diet again (milk soy protein intolerance). Thankfully this time around I have a better idea about what I'm getting into ... and there is a group in my online community that has a lot of helpful information and resources. I won't feel so alone if I have to do it again, and hopefully I can prevent myself from starving this time...

And just in case you are wondering... I won't stop breastfeeding...  A) I don't trust formula B) Formula is far too expensive let alone if it has to be specialized and C) They are better off if I don't stop.

I guess we will find out more on Monday. I really hope that he doesn't try to handle it himself first. Last time it took him 6 months to decide it wasn't working. I know this stuff... he isn't qualified to handle it. And I have two this time... I can't handle 6 months of it... not with Abby too. On a positive note, Kara is really holding her head up now! They are beginning to smile and coo... they are growing stronger every day!

Abby has taken to screaching... I really really hope it isn't a long phase. We are all ready to pull our hair out... or go deaf. It's like she's discovered a whole new octave! gah! Yesterday we went on a walk. It was nice to get out even if it was a little chilly. I hope the weather doesn't get cold again! The -30's were tooooooo cold. Tom's Jeep is still in the shop and it is very frustrating. He made an appointment to have it seen on Wednesday and they haven't even looked at it yet. They told him to call again on Tuesday or Wednesday. It's been there since Monday! Do they realize that I'm stuck at home as long as they wait??? Grrrr

Well I had better get some laundry done and I need to take a look at my online classes again. If you feel like it, leave me comments :) As much as you love to read my blog I love to see that people are actually reading it and I love to see the comments :)