Another day, another doctor

My girls have seen their fair share of doctors (in addition to the normal NICU doctors) ... but thankfully, not because they've been sick. Let's recap:

- The hearing doctor paid them a visit in the NICU, and they both passed their hearing tests.
- They also saw the eye doctor a few times in the NICU, plus they followed up a couple of days after they were discharged - good results all around, and we don't have to go back for another year.
- They have now been to the pediatrician twice - once, for their regular 2-month check-ups, and then they went back for a weigh-in. Once again, good news for both girls.
- We've also had a home health care nurse who has come to check on the girls four times and to weigh them, to make sure they're progressing as they should. Thankfully, they have been doing great! The nurse also comes once a month to give them a synagis shot, which should protect them against RSV - something that preemies are particularly susceptible to that is also particularly dangerous.
- Tamsie was born with a kidney condition that we're hoping she grows out of eventually, but in the meantime she is on antibiotics to keep her from getting UTIs (which would NOT be good for someone her size). She had a few kidney ultrasounds while in the NICU, and since then she had to go to Kosair Children's Hospital for a VCUG test and then to Norton Suburban Hospital to get a urinalysis. Then we had an appointment with the urologist, who informed her that there are five grades of her condition - 1 is the least severe, and 5 is the most severe. Tamsie is at a 4. He was also a little concerned about something he saw on her VCUG, so now she has another test at Kosair next week to investigate a little further - followed by another urologist appointment the next day. We are praying that she just grows out of this condition and that it doesn't require surgery - and, of course, that she doesn't get any UTIs in the meantime.

Well, yesterday we went for another highly anticipated doctor appointment - this time with the neonatologist. Once again, the girls received a terrific report! They are doing just fabulous developmentally. Since their due date was supposed to be December 24, they should be acting about like two-and-a-half-week olds, and they are. We also found out that Tamsie is now 7 lbs 6 oz, and Evangelyn is 6 lbs 7 oz -- which was wonderful news, as I went in just hoping that Tamsie would have hit 7 lbs and Evie would have hit 6! :) The girls had fun playing around on the exam table while waiting for the doctor to come in, and I snapped a bunch of photos with my iphone (Evie's on the left and Tamsie's on the right):

They couldn't stop wriggling around the whole time! Really the main thing the neonatologist told us we need to work on is getting Evie to sleep with her head straight back. Lots of preemies show a preference for sleeping with their heads on either one side or the other - which can adversely affect their head shape as they grow! Not cool! Tamsie does not really have a problem sleeping with her head straight back, but Evie does. Now when we try to implement this at home, she cries, and I want so badly to tell her, "Trust me, you'll thank me later, when your head is not oddly shaped!" Haha! Right now I have her with her head propped up on her Boppy, and she's really not loving it:

I really liked the neonatologist yesterday, which is a very good thing, since we will be seeing her every four months or so until the girls are about 2 and half years old - when they should be totally caught up with their peers. The whole time we were there, I kept thinking back to the neonatologist we met in the hospital, and how much I really liked her too. Then, later on last night, Chris asked me if I realized that the doctor we saw yesterday was the same neonatologist we met in the hospital. I totally did not realize that! This is another story for another blog post, but my memories of being in the hospital leading up to the girls' birth are very fuzzy at best, due to the crazy condition of my body (and apparently my mind!) at the time. So I was really happy to learn that the babies' doctor is the same doctor who impressed me so much in my delirious state in the hospital! :)

In other news, the girls made their first official public debut yesterday! Once getting the all-clear from the neonatologist, we stopped by the seminary on the way home. It's fitting that their first outing would be to the seminary, since that is why Chris and I moved to Louisville in the first place! First, we took them by the communications office, where I worked before I had them, and then we took them to the Women's Leadership office, where I was able to introduce them to one of my very favorite professors, Jaye Martin! Then we stopped by our friends Kristen and Anthony's apartment on campus and hung out until the girls were absolutely starving and we had to take them home. We had such a great time getting to go out and introduce the girls to our friends! It felt so incredibly long overdue!

Today, our friends Chrissie and Josh and their little girl, Sophia, are coming by to see the girls, and then my parents are coming to town tonight and staying for the weekend! I can't wait!! :) I will try to update as I can this weekend, and stay tuned for some posts on the crazy story of their birth!

If you've made it this far in this extraordinarly long post, congratulations! I promise shorter ones to come.

Much love,
Shelby