two of everything

it seems i am finding less and less time to post here. but the good news about that, is max and keegan are growing up and exploring more of their world. i feel like our house has exploded with baby items - there are at least two of everything! two highchairs, two bumbos, two exersaucers, two cribs now, and about 5 strollers, the list goes on and on.

the newest addition are two custom made orthotic pillows from hopkins. at the boys 4 mo. check-up with dr. n there was some concern over the flattening of their heads. apparantly this is pretty common with preemies and multiples (and more of an issue now with 'back to sleep'). i guess we had a few strikes against us. i was pretty upset when the dr. suggested that we visit the orthotic cranioplasty specialists. so being of the internet age, i pulled all my resources, got online and investigated. thanks to some great people, we decided to take a more conservative approach. we just felt like max and keegan have already been through soo much and to have them wear helmets for 23 hours a day was sort of a last resort. not to mention that the helmets cost about $2500 each and are not covered by insurance! (don't you love insurance) anyway, after doing some research i called the pediatrician back and discussed taking a more conservative approach. he agreed that was fine, but not to wait much beyond 6 months if we end up needing the helmets. so last week, we had an appointment with an occupational therapist at hopkins to have these special pillows crafted. i guess i had envisioned a highly technical mold being made of their little heads and pillows being built to suit. but even at hopkins, things can be simple. think a basic piece of foam and an electric kitchen carving knife - no kidding! but we have already noticed an improvement with keegan! hopefully max will not be far behind. they can only use these pillows until they start to roll over, so here is one time when being behind the curve developmentally could be on our side. we have another appt. at hopkins later this month to see if the helmets are still in order. fingers crossed!

in the meantime, fin has been such a great big brother. it is so sweet and wonderful to see the genuine love that he has for these "little guys" as he calls them. he catches me off guard often by just taking time to stop and enjoy the little things. the other day when i called him to come do something he said "hang on mommy, these little guys are just making such cute sounds i don't want to come just yet." its funny when i was pregnant i had feelings of guilt over the fact that there were two babies growing in my tummy. i worried how fin would find his place and if he would feel lost in our growing family. i feel privileged to be witnessing him not only finding his role as a big brother, but doing such a great job. here is a recent pic of my oldest...

finally on the chart

most moms would probably agree that when you go the pediatrician with little ones, half the fun is guessing how much they are going to weigh. we were so excited to visit dr. n this time because it had been over a month since the boys had been weighed. when you get used to a daily weight update in the nicu, over a month seems like an endless amount of time to wait. when the pediatrician tells you the weight, they tell you the percentile as well. the good news is that max and keegan are finally on that chart with other 4 month olds. keegan weighed in at 14 lbs 14 oz - not bad for a 3 lb 8 oz 31 weeker. max weighed in at 13 lbs 3 oz, more than i thought he would because you can really feel the difference when you hold him compared to keegan. overall they are doing great - we are just thrilled with their progress.

here is keegan the future couch potato...





















and max, enjoying tummy time...
















and with big bro...

what could be better?

i cant think of a better way to spend my birthday. check out my boys...
















daddy reading to the boys

















keegan and max hanging in their room






















fin and daddy making me a cake
















isnt it beautiful?

4 months plus

well, i was hoping to do a better job posting here, but the days get away from me (as you can imagine). max and keegan are now 4 months old and doing all sorts of cool tricks. my personal favorite is sleeping through the night! max is a chatterbox and loves to mimic "agoos" and such. he is doing much better with his relflux issues, but still doesnt weigh as much as keegan. i can feel the difference when i hold them. keegan continues to be an excellent eater and has gotten soo big, i hardly remember the days when he was in the 3 pound range. they go next week for their 4 month check up and i cant wait to see how much they weigh. they both look soo healthy and the preemies days are beginning to fade away. at the same time, it is nice to reflect on that time and count our blessings. we are soo lucky.

fin has been a great big brother. he loves his "little guys" dearly. he has been a great help (for the most part). a few times now when we were driving by the hospital he told me he is soo happy that we dont have to go back there anymore. i concur!

here are some pics of the little guys...
















keegan hanging in the bjorn
















max in the bumbo

happy (belated) easter

i guess i need to get used to being late! max and keegan are sleeping through the night now - i am beginning to feel human again. here we are on easter day at granny and pops house.

belated st. patrick's day smiles

ok, so really just keegan is smiling. but i promise you max can smile too. still working on capturing the moment.

a smile that will melt your heart...

max and keegan are both smiling (on purpose) now. what a treat! i have said this before, but God really gives you what you need when you need it. these endless months of less than restful nights are starting to take a toll on me and this week having these two creatures smile up at me was just what i needed. i will work on capturing it on film this week to share with all.

on another (less smiley) note, we have just about finalized all the insurance bills. this has taken numerous phone calls just to get people to actually bill things the way they are supposed to bill them. all totaled the bills are in the ballpark of $200,000.00 for my two hospital stays and the nicu stays for the boys combined. thankfully we have great insurance coverage and are not responsible for much more than $100 copay for each hospital stay. i really feel for those people who are not fortunate enough to have insurance - a life event like we went through could totally ruin a family financially.

tomorrow is the first st. patricks day for max and keegan. we are going to celebrate with corned beef and cabbage and maybe even some green beer!