One Year of Home Sweet Home!!!

One year ago today we FINALLY got to show Jace & Jocie their home!  And look at these pictures of them!  Jace was 4 lb. 15 oz and Jocie was 4 lb. 8 oz and they were really like monsters to us at that size!  And look at them now!  Now they are well over 20 lbs+ with their 15 month check-up next month.  Jace is crawling EVERYWHERE and getting into EVERYTHING and is working on standing up.  Jocie follows Jace around being very cautious to only do things she knows she is supposed to and if she isn’t she is very quiet and is good about being as sneaky as she can be to hide it.  She will never have to tell us a thing because her face is so full of expression we can see everything right on her face!  Jace loves when Jocie chases him because he knows she can’t catch him (she’s still scooting on her bottom – a trick she picked up from him).  They are so much fun right now – always something new!  We are still lucky to have pretty good sleepers too – although Jace tries to fight it initially when going down.  And are pretty good eaters – Jocie is always willing to try anything and will pretty much then eat it – including anything Jace doesn’t eat.  She just LOVES her food!  This summer has just flown by – as has the past year with the Wonders!

                   
                                                                    One Year Ago......

                                                                 ........and Today!!!

Our One-Year Stats & Photos!

Jace and Jocie had their one year check-up this week and we have some stats!!!  They are both 28.1" in length - but Jocie has really out done Jace in the weight department!  Jocie is 19lb 11oz which is in the 24th %ile for girls!!  That is great for one year post micro-preemie status!  And her length of 28.1" is in the 17th %ile for girls.  Jace on the other hand is in the 2nd %ile at 18lb 4oz and his length of 28.1" for a boy is in the 5th %ile.  Needless to say Jace is on PediaSure now to help speed up his growth.  So far so good because he LOVES that stuff.  We call it his "milkshake" because that's really what it tastes like.  It's like Ensure for babies so it's super high in calories and very sweet so he loves it! 

Developmentally they are coming along.  Jace is now better at Jocie with much of the motor stuff - he is crawling on his belly and getting around pretty good.  Jocie is able but just doesn't seem as interested.  What she is interested in is being on mommy's hip at all times!  Jace is also very interested in standing but he just needs us to support him as he is unsteady.  Jocie, once again, is able but just not as interested.  They are getting pretty silly together too - giggling at eachother through their cribs at nap time, batting hands while in their high chairs, making faces, and also getting upset when the other takes the toys away.  Oh the joys!  It's so much fun though.

We had the big birthday bash the weekend after their birthday and they had a great time seeing friends, family, opening presents, and getting into their cake!  But we were ALL wiped out the next day! 

Now it's summer time and Niki is excited to get to stay home with Jace and Jocie more.  She is working at Kadlec but only on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays so she gets a 3 day work week with a 4 day weekend which is great for all of us.  It's a nice break from working Monday-Friday during the school year. 

As promised in their birthday post here are some of their one-year pictures!

It's Our Birthday!!!

One year ago today I left work mid-morning for a 26 week check-up.  An hour later I was driving over to the hospital for a 6-week bed rest.  Two hours later I was in tears as I was told the babies were unexpectedly coming within the hour as I was whisked away to the OR where they were delivered a mere 20 minutes later.  We never got the chance to take birthing classes, take a hospital tour, put a nursery together, buy baby essentials, have a family baby shower – all things typical in the third trimester which I never reached.  Some of my extended family didn’t even know I was pregnant yet!  Nor was there time to comprehend what was going on in that very moment or to know the realities of having micro-premies.  Some days my head still spins at the thought of that day and it’s still difficult to wrap my head around how we were hit so blind-sided.  In fact I don’t know if I will ever really feel like it was me in that delivery room.  It was Niki who was at the appointment that mid-morning.  It was Niki checking into the hospital.  It was Niki hooked up to the monitors when all fine.  But the moment I was told the babies were coming and there was nothing they could do it was as though a switch flipped and I was suddenly up above watching from the outside looking in.  Maybe it was a defense mechanism to prepare for the coping of what was to come.  We went from excited expectant parents one day to bewildered mom and dad of two whom we hadn’t even fully discussed names for yet and had no concept of what their medical outcomes would look like, or if they would make it for that matter.  It took a few days to realize all that had happened.  Every day of their survival was a triumph within those first few weeks.  But after one year, and for every day to come, what is not difficult is being thankful every day for getting to have Jace and Jocie in our lives – and the way they entered into this world one year ago today and the fact that they are healthy, both medically and developmentally, just makes them that much more of a Wonder.  Happy Birthday to our precious Wonder Twins!!! 

Pictures of their one year photo shoot to come soon!  Here is a picture of them with their birthday ribbons on today - their first birthday!!!

Happy New Year!!!

                     They did good for Santa!!!

                                                             
                             Double the fun for Dad!

             Jace with Great-Grandma ("G.G.") Swanson

                         Jocie with Grandma Greenwalt

WOW has time FLOWN by! Especially since Niki has been back to work. She returned to work the Monday after Thanksgiving and then the holidays flew by. We kept saying “We really need to update the blog” and that was about as far as we got. We’ve had so many people wanting updates which is so great to know you guys continue to be thinking of us. So, here is the most recent update, which we can thank 2-hour school delays for J Well now the Wonders are almost 8 months old! So crazy! They are 15 lbs+ now and Jocie has surpassed her brother in weight but maybe not for long. Jace started having some issues with his feeding. He started being super sloppy and messy (boys, go figure!) and it seemed as though a good 1.5 to 2 ounces of his feeds were ended up soaked up through his burp rag and bib onto his shirt. We finally got in for an Occupational Therapy evaluation and found out he is a “chomper”. Basically, he chomps instead of retracting his tongue and lips back to suck. So we got different bottles for him that have a long skinny nipple (thank you Dr. Brown) and he is doing MUCH better. No more messy boy! We are on just day 2 of this and it is just SO much better. He is also getting ready to be discharged from his physical therapy as his flat side of his head has really rounded out. We have one more appointment in which the physical therapist is going to do a developmental test on him to just see where he is at with his gross motor skills.

The babies are being watched by a nanny who comes to our home and we just love her. She is great with the babies and is able to help a bit with dishes, their laundry, and replenishing supplies in their room which really makes a big difference to just have those few things not to worry about during the week.

The holidays were fun with them of course. We did suffer their first colds just before Thanksgiving (Jocie) and just after Thanksgiving (Jace). Unfortunately Jace’s came with a fever the day after Thanksgiving so we went to urgent care and then ended up in the ER because the doctor at urgent care couldn’t find the source of the fever and due to their history she didn’t want to take chances. Everything checked out okay with some baby Tylenol. Christmas was spent at our house in the morning with Niki’s parents visiting from Moses Lake and then we all packed up and went to Cody’s parent’s house in West Richland for a TERRIFIC Christmas dinner and family time of visiting and opening presents. For New Year’s Jace and Jocie got to ring it in with Grandma and Grandpa Ratliff while we went out for some adult time. Grandma and Grandpa Ratliff have been so helpful in watching the Wonders just about once a week so we can run errands, watch a movie, or grab some dinner. They even had their first over night stay at their house just before Christmas so we could have our annual Christmas party with friends.

As for the Wonders themselves – they are just growing and growing and every week is something new they are doing developmentally. Jocie has rolled over from back to side to tummy twice. They are both talking up a storm – especially Jocie. Jocie just LOVES her toys that light up and play music where as Jace is more into physical play of being tossed around. There is nothing better than coming home to play with two giggly Wonders! They love to be helped in sitting up and Jace likes to try to stand – he seems really strong on his two feet so maybe he will reach the standing developmental milestone before Jocie since she’s taken him on just about everything else! We just can’t believe we will be planning a first birthday party here in just four months!

5 Months and Counting!

Wow it has been WAY too long since we have shared about the Wonders!!!  They are 5 months+ now.  We can't believe we are almost half way to their first birthday!  And as you can see we FINALLY got "newborn" pictures taken and thanks to firefly BLU photography they turned out great!  They are doing great too.  They are now 11 lbs.+ and are in the 50th percentle for height and weight going by their corrected age (their due date).  The only thing they take is a poly-vitamin and they don't need to sleep in their wedges any more for their reflux.  They are now in their own cribs and this past week they slept 7-10 hours 5 out of 7 of the nights!!!  That made for a happy and more well rested mom and dad!  Their eye tests have come out negative for any damage.  They just have one more check at 8 months of age.  Jocie has needed to go back a couple of times for a hearing test because she has failed in one of her ears twice now.  However, the audiologist noticed quite a bit of wax build up after she failed the second time so at our next pediatrician appointment the doctor cleaned most of it out but he did notice some still right up next to the ear drum.  We go one more time to the audiologist in a few weeks and will see the pediatrician the day before to remove as much wax as possible.  The good news is she passed her initial hearing screenings while in the hospital shortly after birth so hopefully it is just the wax that is impeding her hearing at this time.  Jace just began weekly physical therapy because one side of the back of his head is a little flat.  However, the physical therapist can't tell if it's because of tight neck muscles therefore favoring one side while he sleeps or not.  Physical therapy is the most concervative treatment and hopefully it will help.  Jace and Jocie definetly keep us busy with all of their appointments!  More than one outing a day is pretty exhausting - especially the appointments in which only Niki goes.  She should be getting some pretty buff shoulders and arms here soon though!  It is not easy carrying two car seats and a diaper bag! 

Niki goes back to work the week after Thanksgiving break so that will be a hurdle for us as parents to climb.  It will be very hard leaving them.  The thing Niki looks forward to though is seeing their faces every day when she gets back to work - that's what will keep her through her work day :)  In the past couple of weeks they have really began to show their different facial expressions.  The best one is when they smile at us when we get them in the morning :)  They truly are two amazing miracles and never will we have so much to be thankful for.

4 Months Old!!!

These two are really growing like crazy!  Just within the past 5 days Jace gained half a pound and Jocie 7 oz.!  Jace is now 8 lb. 11 oz. and Jocie is 8 lb. 3 oz.  It's funny to hear people say "Oh, look at the tiny, tiny babies" when to us they are not tiny at all!  We used to think newborn babies born at 8 lbs were tiny but our perspective has definetly changed on that!  So lots to catch up on...........
Jace and Jocie continue to keep mom and dad as happy and exhausted as ever!  They do have their bouts of good sleeping through the night - mostly Jace who will go anywhere from 4 to 6 and sometimes 7 hours.  Jocie recently started giving us a bigger break from every 3 hours to pushing the 4 to 5 and even one time 6 hours.  It's amazing what 5 hours of straight sleep can do for us - it feels more like 10!  We've had various doctor's appointments including routine pediatrician appointments, eye appointments, and a hearing test.  So far all is good with the eyes but we do have to go back one more time to be sure (these exams are not fun for the babies or us - in fact even some nurses can't be there when the optometrist does the exam so we of course leave as well).  We have to take both back in a month for another hearing test as Jocie's had some abnormal response in one ear and her ear canal was too little for the doctor to run the test to determine if it was due to fluid or not.  Jace does have fluid in one of his ears. 

 
Other than going to various appointments we are at home for the most part enjoying our time with the babies and keeping them out of harm's (a.k.a. germ's) way.  They are really beginning to learn the communication dance of hollering to get our attention just so they can be held.  Niki is for sure a sucker for this but it is so hard with TWO!  The worst part is when we are home alone with them and both wake up to be fed at the same time and you have to choose who is going to have to cry it out for a while.  For the most part we tend to get Jocie because at this point Jace is SO laid back and Jocie has less tolerance. Fun stuff!

It's Our Birthday - Corrected Gestational Age Birthday That Is (Our Due Date!)

The Wonder Twins are now 0 days old!  September 4th was their due date so for many developmental milestones they are considered the age based off their due date which is known as their corrected gestational age.  So even though they were born May 31st and turned 3 months old this past Wednesday we follow the charts of expected developmental milestones as if they were newborns.  Doctors continue to base their milestones off the corrected gestational age until about the age of two or three. 

Catching up on the past two and a half weeks since they have been home:  First of all - the thing most people want to know right away (and us too!) is how much they weigh now.  Jace is 6 lbs and Jocie is 5 and a half pounds and they are both officially too big for preemie clothes!  Jocie is finishing off the last pacakge of preemie diapers and then they will both have graduated to newborn diapers too!  Overall things have been going well other than lack of sleep (of course!) and a bit of a scare Jocie had a week after being home.  We did end up taking her into the ER because she had refluxed while she was sleeping one evening and Cody found her weak and pale.  He was able to stimulate her but she was having a hard time keeping her breathing going.  She was able to catch her breath on her own but we decided to take her into the hospital to get checked and see if there were some things we could do to prevent it from happening again.  They admitted her that night and kept her overnight for two nights.  Based off our observations the doctors decided to take her off the formula which had been added to the breast milk for calories and have her do breast milk only.  They based this decision because we noticed she seemed to have such a difficult time clearing her throat with the added formula as it made the milk too thick for her.  She has been more than making up for the lack of calories though by actually eating way more!  She still has reflux issues but she is able to clear it herself when she does reflux.  Hopefully they will grow out of the infantile reflux in the next couple of months.  They also decided to put them on apnea monitors at night for a few weeks for our piece of mind.  So far they have been doing great!  Their follow up eye appointments have gone well too and they will just have one more in another two weeks and then they should be done with those.  Overall, we have just been enjoying our time with them at home.  Exhausting but exhilarating at the same time :)