Crisis Averted?

The feeding dilemma has only become increasingly complicated since my last post. The girls gave the soy formula the old college try, but it wasn't doing them any favors. So yesterday we decided we would go through with the GI test, which is precisely what we did this morning. (So funny how we were driven to desperation so quickly! A few days ago I was absolutely opposed to it, but by yesterday morning I was [tearfully] saying things along the lines of "we will do WHATEVER it takes to get to the bottom of this ridiculosity!!")

Also, the doctor thought we should try out Enfamil Nutramigen in the meantime, since it's a hypoallergenic formula - just in case the girls really are so allergic that they can't even handle soy. Since introducing them to Nutramigen yesterday afternoon, we've really had no problems. Now the first feed was a little fussy, but that's to be expected any time you switch formulas on them. Last night things went so well that we even considered canceling the GI appointment, but at this point, after everything we've been through, we thought it would be a good idea to go through with it just to rule out anything serious.

So we headed up to Kosair Children's Medical Center bright and early for some adventures in GI testing.

Arriving at Kosair this morning. Chris is adjusting Tamsie and Evie is watching me. We got drenched on the way in - thus the wet car seats. 

Tamsie was getting tired of waiting to be called back, and her sleepy mama forgot to pack pacifiers in the diaper bag today! Thank goodness Kosair generously gives out Gumdrop pacis... her favorite kind! We left with about 5 of them!

Tamsie in her little baby-sized hospital gown, waiting on her x-rays

The girls were placed under an x-ray machine and given some barium and Pedialyte to drink. Tamsie cooperated very nicely, but Evie fussed as soon as the bottle was put to her lips, so the nurse had to use a syringe to get it down her gullet. We watched on a TV as the barium moved through their tummies.

"Did you say I get to be on TV?" 

We had been told we'd be able to see any reflux the girls were experiencing. I kept watching, but didn't see any at all. In fact, as he went along, the doctor kept asking us why it was we needed the test and what our pediatrician was afraid the girls might have. He seemed very doubtful we should even be having the test to begin with, because everything seemed so normal. Sure enough, at the end of the test (three hours later, after waiting to take x-rays as the barium passed through their entire systems) he announced that everything looked perfectly fine and normal. When babies need to be medicated, he sees at least a little reflux, but in both girls he found none at all. "Now why are you on Prevacid again?" he asked. 

Tamsie thinks that GI tests are hard work!

Now we're thinking the girls must have a milk protein allergy for sure, since their symptoms certainly mimic those of reflux - so we're sticking with the Nutramigen for the time being. We're also going to try coming off Prevacid in case it's causing side effects that are causing them to act all crazy like they do during feed times! Plus, if they're not suffering from reflux, there's no need to be on it! 

Tamsie gave us a little scare at one point during the test today. After her initial scans, the doctor asked us if she's ever had a heart echo. (Yes, she had one in the NICU and it was normal.) He said he was asking because it looked like her heart was located more toward the center of her body than it should be. He decided to do a scan again, with nurses pinning her down flat, to make sure everything was OK - and thankfully it was! They decided the first scans just looked abnormal because she was twisting around on her side like she likes to do.

In between all the intensity of feedings over the past few days, the girls have still managed to have lots of fun:

Evie on one of my old baby blankets

That's one heavy head to lift up!

Chatting it up on their mat... seriously! They've started talking to each other and facing each other when we put them on their play mat. 

Tamsie always has lots to say!

Bathtime with Evie! See that little mohawk? We didn't even have to try to get it to spike up like that - it does it all on its own when it gets wet. She's our little rockstar baby!

Post-bath Evie, trying hard to warm back up again while her sister gets a bath

Her little hairs curl up after she takes a bath, which makes me wonder if her hair is going to be curly like her dad's when it grows out.

Big yawn! Sometimes it's hard to be patient and wait on your sister to take her bath when you know bedtime is coming very soon!

I just took this picture as I was working on this blog post! Evie was laughing and grabbing Tamsie's arm. I think they're already best buddies!

 I'm hoping the next few days just continue to get easier and that this is just a milk allergy that we're getting under control. For now, we're just rejoicing that everything seems structurally OK inside the girls! If the new formula does continue to work, the only trauma we'll be dealing with around here will be my emotional trauma of having to get rid of a freezer full of milk that surely contains loads of cow's milk protein, given the amount of cheese I consume! But I will gladly do whatever it takes for my girls to get some relief.

The (Not-So-)Great Feeding Crisis of 2012

So I know I've mentioned it on here before that we've been having trouble feeding the girls, initially just Tamsie but now Evie too. Basically what it looks like is that at the majority of feeds, the girls eagerly suck down their milk or formula... for about five or ten minutes. Sometimes they eagerly suck it down the whole time, until it's gone, but usually panic sets in at the five- or ten-minute mark. The screaming commences, and the girls turn their heads or force the bottle out of their mouths with their tongues and absolutely refuse to take any more. Given their petite frames, this is not a good thing, and it truly disturbs their poor mama to no end! They're doing great with weight gain, but we need them to keep packing on the poundage, so we push them to take a full feed. We give them a few minutes and then try again. Sometimes it will work and they'll take down the rest. Other times they want nothing to do with it, and they just scream and scream and scream some more. Honestly, this is the most aggravating thing I think I've ever been through. It's pure torture to watch your children, who were born prematurely and thus have a lot of catching up to do, scream and refuse to eat, when you know how crucial it is that they get the volume of food that they need in order to continue to thrive. Plus, it's awful to see them in pain. I have come to absolutely dread feeding sessions.

Evie at the doctor's office this morning. She wasn't having these types of problems initially, but I guess she saw Tamsie getting lots of attention for it and didn't want to be left out!

She's baaaaaack! Tamsie eagerly awaits the doctor's newest insight on what's causing her to despise eating so much.

We've been to the doctor about this twice already and have tried all sorts of different combinations of food, medicine and bottles. When we make a change, we see improvement for about two days or so, and then the screaming starts up all over again. It's obvious the girls are in pain from reflux, but we just don't know why it is that nothing seems to work. It's pretty much the least fun guessing game we've ever played. 

This is what often happens when I feed Evie: she eats until she refuses to take any more, and then she just falls asleep in my arms. When I wake her up, she cries some more. The black on her bib is from Colic Calm, which we have been giving the girls in an effort to get them calmed down enough to give the bottle a try.

Today we learned that Chris had a milk allergy as a baby and had to be on soy formula. Armed with this info, plus the news that Tamsie started throwing up last night, we took the old girls back to the doctor this morning. We are switching to soy formula for now. If that doesn't work, we will have to have tests done on the girls' upper GI tracts in three days, and then we'll have to see a GI doctor. We are hoping and praying that everything resolves itself once we get them used to taking soy with rice cereal! I just can't bear to watch them keep crying every time they eat. If everything works out the way we're hoping it will, we have the doctor's permission to cancel the tests and the appointment with the GI doctor. Please pray that we are able to do this!

Other than that major issue, the girls are super-easy. We took them out with us to eat at Macaroni Grill on Sunday night, and they were as sweet as they could be. People kept coming by our table and asking all about them (once again, making us feel a little like we were having dinner with the Easter Bunny), and everyone kept telling us how lucky we are to have these sweet girls. We say we're very blessed! Even when times are so tough it's hard to even think straight, I wouldn't trade them for the world. I love them more than I can ever describe.

Evie at play time

Tamsie's feet got a little too chilly so she broke out the house shoes from Uncle Noah

Poor Evie needs a manicure. She's scratching her little face all up! I was trying to show off how long her eyelashes are and how much her hair is growing. Of course, it's hard to tell in a picture because she's blonde, just like her mama!

Tamsie's profile in this picture looks exactly like her profile in one of the ultrasounds we have. I know a lot of babies come out looking nothing like their ultrasound pictures, but our ultrasounds were actually very good previews of what our babies now look like! Evie is in the background here, and that's Chris working on his computer in the middle. He's been having to work from home a LOT lately to help me out with feeding them during this whole process. I am so very thankful he has a boss who is letting him do this. I can't imagine handling it all on my own right now. We're praying things go back to normal around here pretty soon!

Laughing Little Ladies

I'm the sort of person who really needs no encouragement at all to go around the house singing songs on a regular basis. So once I learned how much babies love hearing singing and how good it is for them, there's basically been no stopping me. In fact, nowadays they regularly hear such masterpieces as:

- "Mama's Little Baby Loves Ceiling Fans"
- "Evie Girl and Tamsie Pearl"
- "Time To Change Your Diaper"
- "Beautiful Babies Smiling at Me"
- "My Little Ava Goes, 'Tweet, Tweet, Tweet!'"

... among many others, including some that are actually legitimate songs! So it really wasn't anything out of the ordinary when I spontaneously broke out into "Left Leg Up, Right Leg Up, Both Legs Up" when I was playing with Evie the other day. One of my favorite things about the girls right now is their silly little senses of humor that are starting to show up. Well, after I had kicked Evie's right leg up and then her left leg, I kicked them both up at the same time... and she burst out in giggles! It completely took me by surprise, because, believe it or not, I was actually not consciously trying to make her laugh by singing that song. Now, any time I sing that song to both girls, they laugh and squeal with delight.

Then when I was feeding Tamsie the other day, I had been talking to her the whole time. (This is something I've been doing a lot of lately with her feeding phobia that has been brought on by reflux issues - I talk to her to soothe her so she keeps taking down her milk. It's a process I recently likened to charming a snake. Sometimes when I stop talking, she panics and refuses to take any more.) Well, after a while I got in a silly voice and said, "Do you want to burp?"... and once again, she burst out laughing - catching me by surprise!

One more little such story: Evie woke up in a rage a few nights ago about 15 minutes after she had fallen asleep. Little girl would not stop screaming, and we could not figure out why. Then I took her to her diaper changing table and started kissing her belly - something that usually makes her laugh - and sure enough, the crying turned to laughter! It reminded me of when my mom would fuss at me when I had done something wrong growing up, and then I'd make her laugh right in the middle of her rant... which, of course, never went over well - although it was very funny (to me) at the time! :)

Well it's once again time to clear off some photos from the old iPhone... here goes!

Evie is wearing an outfit from her grandma! Obvi, the "somebunny" her shirt is referring to is none other than Grandma herself, who for various reasons is known as Rabbit in certain circles. 

Tamsie models another outfit from Grandma. Her hand and legs are blurry because she was kicking them everywhere at the time.

If you're not familiar with Halo Sleep Sack Swaddles (as I certainly had no clue what they were this time last year), this picture won't mean anything to you. But if you do know anything about them, you'll probably agree with me that Tamsie's swaddling days are sadly numbered. The girl has developed the ability to wrangle her way out of them. 

Who's who? At least I'll always know the difference, even if no one else does!

Tummy time with Tamsie now features this interesting move every time. It debuted sometime last week, and it has made an appearance ever since. Chris calls it the Beached Whale.

When she tries to fall asleep, Tamsie puts her hand behind her head like this and moves it around like she's brushing her hair. In fact, when she's awake and she puts that hand back there, you know it's only a matter of minutes before she's out.

Yesterday we introduced them to their pack 'n' play. They took to it immediately: here Evie naps while Tamsie contemplates napping.

And now Tamsie is well on her way to dreamland, thanks to a little help from the Wubbanub!

Could she be any more comfortable? (said like Chandler, of course! Not sure why we're referencing Friends here, but it works, right?)

One costume change later, and Tamsie is also out... hand behind head.

These are some gorgeous dresses their YaYa ordered them. The girls wore them to church this morning.

When we got home, it was almost time for them to eat... but I didn't want them eating in their dresses... but I wanted pictures of them in their dresses... so this is what wound up happening!

Evie looks all sweet and innocent here. Don't believe it.

Tamsie is discovering no milk is to be had from sucking on her dress.

But it's still apparently a very fun thing to do.

Loving Evie's expression here

Trying harder than ever to bite their dresses... this is why I think it won't be long before they're teething!

Now that Mom has intervened, you can see their pretty dresses... but Tamsie is sad she's not biting hers anymore!

I tried to take some nice pictures of them in their chair, but alas... it was too close to lunch time!

Post-lunch Sunday restfest!

Since I'm the sort of inept mother who didn't think to get St. Patrick's Day outfits for the girls that I could then feature on the blog today, I'll leave you with the next-best thing: "St. Patrick's Day," by John Mayer.

Twins on Tour 2012: Baby Edition!

This past weekend, we finally made it back to Memphis! It was truly fabulous and very much-needed, especially after the situation we've been going through with the girls and their reflux. (Yes, that is plural - Evie has joined in on the fun as well.) When times get tough, sometimes you just need your mama!! After living away from family this entire time, we have truly come to appreciate help when we can get it. Not only was it nice to have help, but it was also wonderful to get to see some of our very best friends in the world and meet some new babies! Here are some photos from my iPhone that tell the story of our weekend trip:

Saturday morning, my dad enjoyed introducing the girls to some classic Beatles. 

YaYa got to come to town from Jackson, MS, to see the girls! They were so happy to see her that Evie wriggled right out of her bow! ;)

We were also able to spend time with Jennifer and Tyler too. Here, Tamsie is loving the attention from Aunt Jennifer, who just adores her!

Saturday morning I could wait no longer to meet Cliff, so Mom and I stopped by Carissa and Roy's for a quick visit. I am officially in love!

Look at that sweet face and those big blue eyes!!!

Here is Cliff sporting a Roy face. He looks just like his daddy, but I can definitely see lots of Carissa in him too!

Close-up of his furrowed brow... and check out those big man hands of his!

When we got back to my parents' house after visiting with Carissa and Cliff, we got a visit from Jennifer, Brian and Pierce! Jennifer and I go way back to early elementary school (kindergarten or 3rd grade, depending on how you count it) and she is one of the best friends I could ever ask for. We've been through it all together, and she's seen me through all sorts of crazy phases and loves me anyway! These characters live in North Carolina, where she and Brian attend Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, so we hardly ever get to see each other. I'm so thankful they were able to meet the girls! She is expecting a second little boy this spring and sporting a way cute bump!

Here is Pierce, the soon-to-be big brother. And I do mean BIG! He is so smart and fun, and I just loved getting to see him! Jen was all slated to be my matron of honor back in June 2008 when I got married, but she couldn't make it because she was busy recovering from having Mr. Pierce... and now just look how big he is!

Another old classic friend, Melissa, was able to drop by Saturday night and hang out with the girls. I know this is a dark picture, but I just love their faces here.

A little bit brighter now!
It was so grand getting to hang out with Meli Mac. She had me laughing til I cried!

My twinnies hanging out on one of my old blankets from back in the day.

The requisite "Tamsie's arm in Evie's face" pic... no collection is complete without it! Evie is such a good sport!

Also the requisite "random 80s dance move" pic... representing the great decade when their mama was born!

So chill... rockin' their skinny jeans!

Sunday we went to our home church. Even though we were once again shamefully late, it was great getting to be there and see so many dear people who love us and pray for us. My dad took this picture. After church we had lunch at my Grandma's house and got to hang out there for a while.

Sunday afternoon while Mom and I were running errands together, Dad and Chris had the girls laughing. This is another picture Dad took.

Later Sunday afternoon we got to go meet McKenzie at Matt and Sara's once Sara was discharged from the hospital. I am such a goon that I was living in the moment and failed to take a picture, so I'm totally ripping this one off Sara's facebook page. The girls were thrilled to meet their future BFF, and they showed their love for her by... sleeping. Well, Evie did. Tamsie got up at one point and tested out her mobile for a minute! ;)

After that, we went over for dinner with Carissa, Roy and Cliff... Memphis Pizza Cafe, of course! Here, Evie couldn't get enough of watching Cliff!

Carissa, me, and the babes: I'm holding Cliff, and Tamsie's on the left with Evie on the right.

Time to go home: Tamsie falls asleep in her trademark position: tongue out, head tilted to the side

I couldn't resist this close-up! 

One of the times we stopped to feed. Evie was ready to take down some food!

I had her giggling!

Happy face!

Sweet little Evie smile!

... aaaand she's done.

Tamsie is usually ready to get right back on the road as soon as possible when we stop, and she makes no secret of her feelings.

That tongue! Cracks me up every time.

This is how she entertains herself on road trips... well, that and falling asleep.

Evie was nervous we wouldn't get home in time for the Bachelor finale. (We did. And what a terrible finale it was! All I can say is that he got what he deserved!)

Evie travels in style.

We're not sure if it's a good thing that Tamsie likes to keep her head over to the side so much, so we rolled up her spare outfit from the diaper bag and used it to help prop her head up. It was one of those moments where you don't even realize the humor in it until you stop and think about it - and then we couldn't stop laughing at how ridiculous she looked! That's me snapping the picture!

Of course, Tamsie saw no humor in it at all!

I'm not gonna lie, we've been pretty homesick these days. It's really hard being away from everyone up here, but we are so glad we were able to get back and see some of the people we miss so much this past weekend. Our weekends in Memphis are such whirlwinds, and we still have more people to see that we haven't gotten to see yet. There are always more things to do than I have time to do when we're in town. (I mean we didn't even make it to Ben & Jerry's this time, if that tells you anything!) But on the whole, we had a wonderful trip, and it did us so much good to get away for the weekend!