6-month check-up

Will and Kate went today for their 6 month check and they are doing great!!!! Kate is now weighing in at 13 lbs 7 oz. and is on the lower end of the chart, but on the chart, for children who are 6 months. Will is 12 lbs. 13. oz. And only his head is on the chart at about 50%, but they expect more from boys and their weight, so he is doing fine. He is starting to eat better and less spitting up, so I expect that he will surpass his sister soon.

Kate is going to get to try having some rice cereal. The criteria for trying is good weight gain and being able to hold their head steady while in the seated position. Kate is able to do this; however, we have to wait a little longer for Will, since he is still not as successful with holding up his head, for reasons mentioned previously. We think it will be good not to have to try feeding both at the same time anyway, so it works out just great!

And, as for the oxygen, their illnesses set them back about a month on their progress. So, Will is at .2 liters/min. and Kate is at .3 liters/min. However, last night, we did an oxygen challenge on Will and we think that he will be able to move to .1. He actually held his own with no oxygen for about 20 minutes with the cannula off of his face. That was the furthest either one has gotten on room air, so we were impressed. And I cried, because Will was so cute, I was so proud, and because he looked nothing like himself without the cannula on his face. 20 minutes and everything returned to normal and I breathed a sigh of relief. I have determined that when they are off of oxygen and the apnea monitors, I will have a few sleepless nights. Once Kate is 100% well, we will try to ween her down as well. Hopefully, next week.

They have both been evaluated for PT(physical), OT(occupational), and ST (speech). Appointments with PT and OT have now moved to every other week, because they see no concerns at this time and seem to be developing normally. For their motor skills, they are ranging from 4-6 months - higher than their gestational age (adjusted age) and just a little under their chronological age. And for speech and interaction, they are right on for a 6-month old. I am not surprised since their big brother was speaking in 3 word sentences at 14 months. They will be evaluated by speech again in July.

Keep checking for updates and sorry that it has taken us this long to include all of these big events.

Rolling over already??!!

Kate decided today that she was going to throw her head over and roll from her belly to her back. Gosh, I was sure surprised! And of course, I tried to video it, but kept missing it. I did finally catch one where I had to help a little, but she did all the pushing by herself. I was even trying to put her hand down so she would push off the floor and she pushed off my hand. Good girl!!!! I was so excited and then realized that this leads to more activity and she was already wrapped up in her cords. This should be very interesting, especially if they start crawling and are satill on oxygen. Talk about chaos. Anyway, enjoy the video!!

HAPPY EASTER FROM THE LOVEKAMPS

Well, I didn't get this out in time for Easter, but what can I say: We have been rather busy. Anyway, we had a great Easter as a family. Ben loved hunting for eggs and of course, eating all the candy. We had to do it inside, because it was freezing and had snowed the day before. He kept looking for eggs for 2 days. Will and Kate loved wearing their Easter bunny ears. Adorable!!! It was hard to get them both to smile at the same time though. Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!!!

Girls Night Out

Well, as you could have guessed, Will and Kate picked up some of Ben's congestion and cough and come Monday, Kate was not handling it too well. She was coughing and retracting with her breathing, so I took her to the doctor, where they had to increase her oxygen, from .2 to .5 or so. This meant an overnight in the hospital for observation and testing.

I wasn't even allowed to come home and had to wait at the pediatrician's office until they had a room available for her. Once over there, they did a chest x-ray for pneumonia, testing for RSV and pertussis (sp.?). Everything came back negative -thank goodness!! After some mucous management, they were able to ween her oxygen back down to .3 and we went home Tuesday evening. Since, then she has gotten better, but is still not 100%, but getting there. We have their 6-month check on the 16th, so I will try and update again with weights and what is next for them.

Boys Night Out

Josh and Ben got invited by Todd and Jackson Sleeper to go to Phoenix at Lake Roosevelt to camp out for the night.

Since Mimi was here, I thought it would be ok if they went and left us for the night. It was my first night in my house without Ben here, so it was rather weird, but I got used to it quickly and even had time to paint the majority of the downstairs while Mimi manned the babies. Ben and Josh had a great time, riding four-wheelers, shooting guns and bow and arrows, and of course, sleeping outside, even though Ben was a little cold after a late night trip outside after nature called. It was such a good bonding time for the two of them and I think Ben thinks Daddy is the best!!! Next time, Will is going to need to join them.

More pictures to come when I can get them from the Sleepers camera.