Helmet Therapy...

Well we requested a referral to a specialist for evaluation of Nolan's flat spot.  We had a PT appointment on Monday followed by a evaluation appointment yesterday.  The verdict is that Nolan is still measuring in moderate range for plagiocephaly and we'll be moving towards helmet therapy.  Hopefully we'll be on our way out with PT though as they have basically told us he is resolved with torticollis.  So that is the good side.

I was pretty pro-helmet or at least pro-specialist evaluation.  I kept feeling like Nolan was getting decent care for the torticollis but that head shape wasn't a huge concern for our therapist.  So I was glad to have him seen and even happy to hear there was a recommendation beyond turning his head and increasing tummy time (we've been doing that for 4 months with only mild improvement).  But of course then I start looking into helmets and worrying about the risks (if any) and if it will be successful (feeling more confident here).  I also start seeing these adorable children with helmets on their heads.  Gratefully they are all grinning from ear to ear so it doesn't seem too bad but still these cute little kids in these not so cute devices.  Also, I think of a fellow mom friend who was sad about the cuddle time being different and not being able to kiss her son's head or nuzzle his hair as much during the therapy.  That part is sad.  Nolan's sisters will miss being able to ruffle his hair all the time.  It is silly but just a little sad to check in with reality and realize Nolan will be stuck in a helmet 22-23 hours a day for 2-3 months.  It makes me sad even though I know it's only short term and at least there is something we can do.  Hoping he doesn't mind it and hoping it is a success.

Update:  We went in on April 15th to have Nolan's scan/pictures taken of Nolan.  They placed this cap on him and then took several pictures, using a high tech camera, around his head from different angles to get a 3D image.  It was interesting and he was a good sport about it all.  The helmet is supposed to be done within two weeks but due to our schedule they rushed it a couple days and we should get it on April 27th before heading off to visit my parents.  I hope that he adjusts to it well.

Cap they put on him to take 3D pictures of his skull shape for helmet fitting

Complete with stickers used to find center of his face, ears and top of head during imaging

Easter 2015

Easter 2015 

City Egg Hunt

6 Month Update

*For me and my memory...feel free to skip*

Weight / Length:  (guessing here)
 He is starting to wear  6-9 month clothes and is moving into size 3 diapers.  Oooops...Nolan won't have his "6 month check up" until he's almost 8 months.  I forgot to schedule it until a few weeks ago and then our pediatrician is out with training/conference or such so it will be on May 19th.

Eating:  We are still breastfeeding (yeah!).  He took one bottle and then started refusing bottles again (snob).  We have stuck a toe into solids.  He has tried oatmeal, rice, apples, avacado, butternut squash, carrots, sweet potatoes and banana so far.  His favorite I would say was the carrots or apple.  He also gets tiny tastes of bread, ice cream and things we're eating.

Milestones/Development:   He is able to sit up on his own for a few minutes at a time, longer if I distract him with toys, his sisters or Thor.  He is trying hard to crawl but can't get arm strength and scooting to work together.  He is starting to take up rolling to get short distances and he definitely scoots but not super effective.  He's starting back into babbling more and more also...sometimes if you listen carefully (or imagine with me) you might here a "momma" mixed in with his cries for attention.  He is able to grab things (rarely missing them) and hold things more easily.  

Physical Therapy/Torticollis:  His PT is going well.  His tilt was in normal range last visit (as of a month ago) and I think his turn is close but he through a fit for our therapist so couldn't really tell or get him to work with her.  He was considered normal range with tilt and turn at appointment on February 24th but not sure if that means we can plan to stop PT or not.  His head shape is still concerning.  He stayed at 8 mm the last two times it was measured (basically for 2 months now).  He'll get measured again on April 6th. Our therapist has said she may refer for a helmet if next measurement isn't much better.  We discussed it and requested a referral to have him evaluated by a specialist.  This appointment is on April 9th.  He is getting closer to 9 months and supposedly there isn't much change to be had after that point with head shape.  So we'll see what the specialist has to say and if we are headed for a helmet or not. 

Sleep:  His sleep is unpredictable.  The moment I say he's doing better we have a rough night (up every few hours) but he did have a night with 2 6-hour stretches (so nice) and the next night with 5-hour stretches.  And now he is getting more consistent 7 hour stretches in (yeah!!).  I hope it starts sticking but we'll see.  My guess is once he is a little more mobile he'll start sleeping better but who knows.  

Fun Memories (Outings/Events):  I let him swing in the infant swing on our swingset a couple weeks ago.  He loved it.  He was smiling and excited.  Hopefully we'll be hitting the park again more often soon.

Challenges:  His torticollis and sleeping is the only big challenges we have right now.  He is a really good baby in general though.

Likes/Dislikes:  He is fascinated with Thor still and loves it when we have Thor sit by him or when we play with Thor around him.  He also love watching his sisters and (unfortunately) trying to grab their hair (especially Kendall's).  He seems to be more frustrated with movement and knowing he's getting it but physically not quite there seems to make him mad.

Looking Forward to:  We're looking forward to our trip to see my parents.  The girls are going to be thrilled to see them and Nolan will hopefully have a good time as well.  I'm looking forward to him crawling so he's not so frustrated but other than that I'd be happy for time to stand still with this baby getting closer to turning into a toddling little boy.

The older he gets the more he attacks Mario

Love this smile

The drool continues...no teeth in sight but drooling for months

Swimming Lessons

Kendall and Seren started swimming lessons this past Saturday.  They were excited the week leading up to it, nervous when we handed them over to their instructor and generally seemed to enjoy the class.  They are the cute little things in pink and blue-green sitting on the pools edge (I'm sure you can't tell...silly me didn't bring a good camera to take a couple pictures).  They stood in the water, chased easter eggs and had fun.  The instructor dunked all of the kids to get them used to the water in their face.  They were NOT a fan of that and both girls got visibly upset but the teacher distracted them and they continued enjoying everything else.  We were given the assignment to work on it though and have since been playing in the big jetted tub every night to get used to water in their face, closing mouth and eyes, blowing bubbles and such...hopefully they show improvement by this coming Saturday.  

We sat across the pool so they wouldn't notice us

Nolan came to watch too and even dipped his toes in (didn't care one bit about it though)

They were glad to be done and a little chilled with slightly blue lips but BIG SMILES

5 Month Update

Weight / Length:  (guessing) around 15 lbs and maybe 27 inches.  He is starting to wear  6-9 month clothes and is still in size 2 diapers.

Eating:  We are still breastfeeding (yeah!).  He took one bottle and now refuses bottles again.  I don't know if it's the bottle or the formula.  He also won't take baby cereal when it's mixed with formula (yes I gave in to see if this would help with his sleeping; it doesn't haha).  Can't say I blame him.  I have tasted both and formula isn't all that appealing if you know the difference of more mild and sweet breast milk.  I am at a crossroad on whether I want to offer any other "solids".  I have given him cereal a few times and he does seem to enjoy it.  I mushed up a banana and he was okay with that too.  But he still comes back for his main intake from me.  It's only another month before the recommended time frame now anyway so I may just cut it out again for that time.

Milestones/Development:   Nolan has good head control.  He does better with tummy time and likes to look at toys and faces this way.  He rolls tummy to back and also back to tummy now.  He rolled back to tummy the day of his 4-month appointment when we got home.  He definitely squirms around to try to get places.  He's getting better at trunk control too and trying to sit up so I imagine he'll be on his way to crawling soon.  He has been more quiet recently in his vocalization.  Maybe it's with all the motor development that speech has taken the back burner.  He still laughs and coos but is distracted more by things around him and across the room and what his sisters are doing, etc etc.  He is able to grab things and hold things more easily.  He is starting to anticipate more (ie with tickle games he will giggle before I get to tickle him).

Physical Therapy/Torticollis:  His PT is going well.  His tilt is improving to almost normal range (within 5 degrees).  His turning is still not great and he has tightness in his neck and resists stretching.  I have been a little more lax on stretches and he fights me the most on turning his head (go figure where the most improvement is).  He does turn to his right (weak side) more often now but mostly when he is relaxed.  You can still see that he fights it when he doesn't like the stretch. 

Sleep:  He doesn't sleep very good at night still.  He goes to bed between 7-7:30 and sleeps a few hours.  Wakes up between 10:30-11:30 usually.  Then another 3 hours and up again.  We did get a 11:30-4:00 stretch the other night so that was nice and gives me hope that he can do it.  We try to let him fuss more and I hope that helps.  

Fun Memories (Outings/Events):  We got an Ergo baby carrier and took him for a walk and the girls on the trikes with it.  He seemed to really enjoy being outside even though it was a little cool.  I think he will love getting out once the weather warms up.

Challenges:  His torticollis and sleeping is the only big challenges we have right now.  He is a really good baby in general though.

Likes/Dislikes:  He loves his sisters and seeing what they can do.  He likes to grab at our phones, the remote or other types of things we mess with.  He also like to try to grab at Thor and stares at him.  We let him pet Thor with us controlling his hand as it makes Thor nervous.  Thor is good though and never nips he just licks like crazy to avoid any unwanted grabs of collar, ears or fur.

Looking Forward to:  Him being able to sit up and play.  I know it's frustrating to him to do tummy time so much and I don't like him playing on his back too much.  Anyway I know he will love to sit up and be more mobile as he wants so bad to move.  I try to teach him and he's excited to use his arms to pull forward (with my help) but so mad when he can't do it on his own.  Hopefully looking forward to being done with physical therapy (skipping the helmet if we can but still concerned on head shape).

Mario and Nolan - getting closer in size to each other

So adorable just want to eat him up

I thought the couch was blending with his shirt so moved him to our nursery  chair and he just wanted to eat his toes

The Talk

I've been reading reviews of different books and how to introduce the donor egg aspect with our children.  It made me realize I haven't shared some of the fun stories of the girls learning more about this.

I figured that with Nolan coming into our family they would have more questions about babies and I was right.  They asked how Nolan got in my tummy and I kept it simple with saying "mommy and daddy went to a doctor who helped put Nolan in my tummy" and that we went to the hospital and the doctor helped us to have Nolan.  Nothing I felt was misleading but enough information for a little 4 year old mind to understand.  They seemed okay with it and remained fascinated with their baby brother and not necessarily where he came from.

A week or two ago though we had pulled social security cards out of the fire safe for tax season.  I found the girls embryo-scope picture.  I thought they would find it interesting so I brought it upstairs and showed it to them.  They were interested and started asking questions.  I told them how babies were made from egg and sperm to become an embryo (like the picture).  I also told them I didn't have any eggs so a nice lady gave us some eggs to help us make them.  They were fine with this explanation and didn't ask more.  Then Seren started asking how the doctor got them into my tummy.  She said "did he make you swallow us and we went down into your tummy" (motioning with her hand into her mouth and down her throat into her stomach).  Oh wouldn't it be easy if that were the case.  I laughed a little and then reintroduced the difference between boys and girls that we've explained since Nolan's arrival.  I explained that girls also have a uterus where babies can grow.  I explained the doctor put their embryos into my uterus and that's where they grew to become babies and be born.  Kendall then piped in and asked "so then the doctor cut your tummy open and we were born?" (with a prying motion to her own tummy).  HAHA Not exactly.  I told them that some babies were born that way (with a doctor cutting the mommy to get the baby out) but some were born another way.  I didn't go into more detail there and they had enough of "the talk" by then and were ready to go play.

Honestly at least the medical aspect makes it more simple to answer questions about how they came to be and came into our family.  I'd rather explain that than the other method of having babies at this age HAHA.  I'm sure we'll continue to have some interesting discussions about this along the way but for now we're starting on the right foot I hope.

4 Year Old Appointment

The girls went in for their 4 year appointment yesterday.  We were thrown off schedule a year ago with our pediatrician taking maternity leave and now more so due to insurance only billing a check-up once a year.  Good news...they are doing great.

Weight / Length:  

Kendall:  38.78 inches tall (23rd percentile), 28 lbs 10 oz (3rd percentile), BMI was around 2nd or 3rd percentile

Seren:  39.84 inches tall (45th percentile), 31 lbs 15 oz (20th percentile), BMI was around 15th percentile

Eating:  They are still not hefty eaters but they do okay.  They eat better when it's their favorite food.  We asked about their eating habits and were told to just keep giving options but not make eating a negative experience.  Just keep exposing them and eventually they'll like more food (hopefully). 

Milestones/Development:   They are on target with everything developmentally.  They are excited to start preschool and I'm excited for them to learn new things and new ways of learning as well as meeting new kids and friends. 

Sleep:   They are awesome little sleepers.  They sleep 8 pm to 7-7:30 am and don't have trouble sleeping through the night.  They tell us about their dreams a lot more lately and it's fun to hear about their imaginations working. 

Fun Memories (Outings/Events):  We enjoyed movies at the park this past year, Jeff took them on hikes and nature walks, We enjoyed a trip to Zions National Park and loved all the hikes and walks there.  They loved going to the zoo this past year and seeing the animals.  They liked the park and pool.  They talk often about going to the zoo and getting out the pool when it's warm again.  They were excited for Nolan to join our family.  Seren was a little more eager and Kendall a little more reserved about him at first but they've both mellowed into the middle ground of being helpful enough but not overbearing.  Nolan adores them and loves to watch them and interact with them.

Challenges:  They are finding more independence from us and from each other.  It's good for them but a struggle also.  They play well together mostly but get into more arguments and fights about who's in charge and toy sharing.  Kendall does much better socially than she used to but she still struggles a little bit with warming up to people and feeling social at times.  She has a slightly harder time emotionally also and gets her feelings hurt fairly easily.  Seren used to be very bossy and pushy with Kendall.  She has improved with this but can still be a bit of a bully and instigator in aggravating Kendall.  Seren seems to struggle a little more with learning letters and numbers.  It's mostly a confidence and practice issue.  We think she depended a lot on letting Kendall answer or identify letters before and so she is playing catch-up a little in learning them for herself now.

Likes/Dislikes:  They like playing pretend together and dress up.  They play princess, mommy and various animals.  They like riding their big wheel tricycles around the neighborhood.  They enjoy playing on the swing set in the back yard.  They don't always listen as well lately but are still very well behaved.  We are trying to teach them responsibilities and chores.  They are excited to help put their dishes away and help cook when they can.

Looking Forward to:  Looking forward to summer activities.  They want to play in the pool and go to the parks and just be outside.  We are looking forward to movies in the park again and a trip to the petting zoo in Pleasant Grove in April.  We are also planning to visit my parents in Florida this summer.  We haven't told the girls yet although we slip up but I don't think they know or understand.  We're going to fly this time and I hope that they enjoy flying and don't freak out.  They will be doing in class preschool 2-days a week as well as online preschool through the state 5 days a week.  I'm excited for both and hope especially that they will enjoy the in class preschool and new kids to interact with.

*I'm hoping to take pictures of them soon.  I've been neglectful of taking nice pictures with my good camera so that is my goal to do soon*