4 Month Check Up

Yesterday the babies had their monthday as Todd has coined it. They are now 4 months old! I can't believe it. Where did the time go? If this is how fast they will grow up, I'm sad. It is going too fast! Along w/ turning 4 mths old, they had their 4 mth check up w/ Dr. Nguyen. Have I mentioned how fantastic she is? We LOVE her! She listens to all my concerns & really give us good medical advice. She has no problem sitting through my gazillion questions either. We are very lucky to have found her!

So let's get the babies' stats out of the way...

Gabi ~ 12lb 13oz, 24 1/8" (25-49th percentile in weight, 50th in height)
Sofi ~ 11lb 13oz, 24" (5th percentile in weight, 50th in height)
Ian ~ 11lb 13oz, 23 1/4" (5th percentile in weight, 5th in height)

She is very happy w/ their stats & is even happier that they are all on breast milk (BM). I do fortify 2 bottles a day w/ about 3/4 of a scoop of formula. They still need the extra calories, especially our 2 littler ones Sofi & Ian. She is very impressed that they are sleeping through the night & doing well on the 4 hr feeding schedule. Which brings up the topic of solids.

When do we get to start solids? We have some guidelines to follow to figure out when is best. She would like the babies to all be between 13-14 lbs so we have a few more weeks to go before that happens. They also should be drinking at least 32 oz of BM which is happening but not consistently. They eat between 28-34 oz depending on whether the are going through a growth spurt. Another thing is that they should be able to support their heads w/o assistance. Now, that isn't sitting w/o assistance b/c they haven't gotten there yet BUT it is necessary for them to be able to control their head movements. So, we have 2 of the 3 pretty much under out belts. Dr. Nguyen said in another 4 wks they should be ready to start rice cereal. Personally, if they are still good w/ drinking BM, then I am not going to do rice cereal until they are 6 mths old. Much easier that way! Besides, feeding 3 babies w/ a spoon...HA! That is going to get messy quickly! I'm diggin' the bottles right now, hardly any mess.

We have hit all the milestones except for rolling over from their tummy to their back. That is more my fault than theirs though. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get them on their tummies & watch all 3? Yeah, then they start to cry b/c they don't like it. So, when it boils down to it, it's mommy that hasn't followed through. Oh well...we aren't perfect by any means.

Now for the important part which I will be posting about again in September right before RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) season which also coincides w/ cold/flu season. We unfortunately had a bout of sickness pass through the house. We don't know how it was introduced but the end result was 3 people getting sick, 1 baby & 2 adults. We learned our lesson, so to speak. There are a few "rules" that will have to be followed in order to have visitors over at any time but especially through RSV season. They are...

1. You must be symptom free to visit. This means no sniffles, no coughing, no fever. It doesn't matter if it is from allergies as most people don't confirm the diagnosis w/ the dr.
2. You must wash your hand w/ soap & warm water THEN use disinfecting foam BEFORE touching babies.
3. Children will be allowed to visit if they are not in daycare or school (weekends are fine) due to the high rate of disease transmission.
4. Do not smoke before coming over to visit or during visitation of our babies.

They are pretty basic rules. The reason is that RSV is VERY DANGEROUS to preemies. If you are interested, below are some sites that explain RSV & what it does to preemie lungs. We DO NOT want to end up in the pediatric ICU this fall/winter season.

www.preemiecare.org/rsv_resourceshtm.htm
www.preemiecare.org/LungsTrees03-4.pdf
www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T084300.asp
www.babylinq.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=44

For you picture people, I have a bunch in my camera that I haven't uploaded yet so they will be coming later today or tomorrow...I PROMISE!