End of the year contemplations

This year has been extremely unpredictable and a little weird. Some things were expected, many were not. I expected to get pregnant, but not with twins. I never expected to have a kid with health problems, but there it is. I am very lucky that everything that Alice has gone through is fixable and she will grow up with no lasting effects. I know that everyone says when you have children your life will never be the same, but WHOA! I never expected it to be this different. For us there will never be normal again. Everyday is a new adventure.
Alice doesn't need a lot of attention unless she has just had a new cast or something, then all she wants is to be held and to know that we are there. She is a very sweet girl and bears her issues the best she can. She rarely cries and when she does it is because she is in pain or uncomfortable. She is easily comforted and loves to snuggle with her dad. Alice isn't a big fan of new people and new places.
Claire is fun and smiley, but demanding. When she wants something, she wants it NOW. Claire thrives on a schedule and does best when she is in her routine. She loves to eat, I think she is trying to grow as fast as she can. She is also a champion sleeper. Claire loves to be in the middle of the excitement and doesn't like to be alone.
It is incredible how different the girls are in looks and temperament, but we love them both so much and are amazed at how blessed we are.

Poor Alice

Alice finally got her casts off today and is now wearing the brace. As you can see in the picture, it is shoes connected to a bar. The shoes have to be pretty tight to prevent blisters and the bar keeps her feet spread. I didn't think it was possible, but she hates the brace more then the casts. She has been quite pitiful since we got home. At one point she was posing a hunger strike. It was obvious that she was hungry, but she wouldn't eat. The doctor told us to take the braces off for a few minutes at a time adding up to 1-2 hours a day to prevent sores. Because of her hunger strike we took her shoes off and she ate. Hopefully this doesn't last long and she is able to get used to the brace because she has a way of just making you want to cry when she looks at you. I just keep reminding her (and myself) that this is for her benefit and it really isn't that awful in the grand scheme of things. When they put the brace on for the first time she moaned while the shoes were put on, but was generally OK. As soon as she tried to move her legs and realized what was going on she got SO upset. She is still behaving that way. As long as she isn't trying to move around she is fine, but that never lasts long.

Happy Birthday to me!

I turned 27 today. I didn't really do anything special. I tried to convince my husband that I shouldn't have to change any diapers, but that didn't happen. The Inman's came up tonight with take-out from Chili's and we watched Kung Fu Panda. It was nice of them to come with dinner so I didn't have to worry about making anything. Marc and I will go out on Friday to officially celebrate.

Their own room

The last few nights we have been having the girls sleep in their own room in a crib together. Up to this point, they have been sleeping in a bassinet and a pack 'n play on both sides of our bed. We decided onthis change because we have been using the pack 'n play for a few outings and we are too lazy to set up and take down everything every day. There was an unexpected happy consequence of this arrangement. Claire started sleeping through the night. She slept for 10 hours last night and 9 hours the night before. We are not sure why this is the case, but we are very happy about it. Alice is still waking up once a night, but that is completely manageable. This is the best Christmas present ever. I just hope this continues.

Merry Christmas

For the girl's first Christmas we spent the day with the Inman's. We got to Melanie's house around 10:00 and her son Ryan had patiently (?) waited for us to open his presents. He had already opened everything from Santa, but we opened the rest together. We spent most of the day playing Guitar Hero, which Ryan got for Christmas, and playing with the girls. We also made gingerbread cookies.
The trip home was another story. Just after we started out it started to snow and it progressively got worse until we were driving up the canyon and could barely see the road. We were worried at one point that we would have to turn around because the visibility was so poor. Luckily there were tracks from a previous vehicle that Marc followed at about 15 miles an hour for most of the way up the canyon. Marc kept saying that if the tracks failed that he wouldn't go any further, but they kept going and so did we. We were so relieved to finally see our driveway. As we went up the driveway the car almost got stuck on the curve but Marc was too determined after we made it that far that he maneuvered us up there with a bit of effort. All in all it was a happy and safe Christmas.

I haven't left the house so quickly in a long time

For the last few days Alice has been miserable. Alice is such a sweet baby that when she cries and isn't hungry, something is wrong. We have been giving her Tylenol to help with the pain in her feet, but that stopped working on Thursday night. On Friday I decided to call the Orthopod to see if we could get in to change her casts (she was supposed to have them on for 3 weeks). Her thighs were popping out the top, making it pretty obvious that they were too tight. When I called, they told me they had some cancellations due to the weather, Dr Klatt was leaving for New Zealand that afternoon and could we come in right away. Luckily Alice had been fed recently and was already in a fresh outfit. I hadn't showered, but didn't really care. We were out the door in less than 10 minutes. When we got to the office we were whisked right in as the last appointment before he took off for the holidays. While removing the casts Dr Klatt told me that he was really glad we came in because the casts were definitely pinching her feet and there was no way she would have made it the full 3 weeks (no kidding). My theory is that the Dr takes into account normal baby growth when he puts the casts on, but Alice was a preemie and is growing faster than a normal baby. She just needs more room to grow. So Alice is happy again and we are relieved that she is not in pain.

Potica Day

Yesterday was the girls first Potica Day. Potica (poe-TEET-sah) is a Polish nut bread that Marc's mom and Aunt Dott make every year for the family. It is a very labor intensive process and takes all day, but it is amazing. When we were first married Marc insisted that I learn the art to pass on to our kids, so I have done it every year for the last 5 years. I think my help is appreciated since it is hard on your back to be bending to roll the dough out. It is fun to have traditions like that to pass on to your kids. When the girls are older we will have our own Potica Day, but until they can help we will just keep assisting.





This photo is in Aunt Dott's living room with their Christmas "Tree"

Full day

Yesterday was a long one. However it started out wonderful for me. Marc's mom spent the night and took care of one of the girls with Marc and I went downstairs and SLEPT! Nine hours of pure heaven. In the morning we took Alice down for her final casting. Surprisingly it was just an outpatient procedure done in the office. First they took her casts off and applied some numbing cream to her heels that sat there for 45 minutes. After it had taken effect she was taken back (we weren't invited to watch) and some lidocane was injected into her heels and they severed her tendons. It sound horrible, and it would be devastating in an adult, but babies are growing so fast and heal so easily that then tendon will grow back in about 3 weeks and will be the correct length. The incisions are so small that she didn't even need stitches. Blood did leak through her casts, so it looks terrible, but with a little Tylenol every few hours she is fine.
The next part of the saga was their 2 month checkup. We have been joking that since Alice got her casts the girls have weighed the same. We were right. They are both just under 10 lbs. Alice is of course smaller, but there is no way to know her exact weight until she gets the casts off. Also because of Alice's casts she was not able to get her immunizations, she will go back at the beginning of the year to do that. Not enough thigh is exposed for them to give her the shots. Claire, however, got her shots. She took the Rotovirus oral medicine really well, in fact she was mad when it was gone and she couldn't have any more. If only all of them were that way. The nurse was obviously very good at what she does since she got all 3 sticks in before Claire started freaking out. When Claire gets mad she "goes dark" and after the shot she was just about purple. We are glad that is over. She is also doing well with some occasional Tylenol.
The last stop of the day was a ward baby shower. It was fun for everyone in the ward to come and see the babies since we won't take them to church until spring to avoid all the germs. Our ward doesn't get too many babies so it is very exciting.

Recasting

Alice had her third casting done today. The doctor was so pleased with how everything is progressing that he is shaving two weeks off of her casting. So next week she will have her Achilles tendons released and get her final casts. These casts will be on for three weeks and then she will move on to braces. As the casts progress, she is less happy about them. Today she has been crying a lot and pretty clingy. Her cries aren't pain cries, but more "I'm uncomfortable" cries. It is very sad, but all for a worthy purpose.


The cast comes off


Dr. Klatt and Erin put the new casts on