June 28, 2011

In honor of the girls being 3 months old I am going to slowly share the photos from these first few months. We finally got a new computer for me to upload all of the pictures onto, and I have finally found some time to go through the hundreds of pictures that were taken those first few days and made a video of pictures of day 1 (yes we took that many pictures...does this surprise anyone?!). So here are the pictures from their birthday, June 28, 2011. Part of the day its just Makayla in the pictures because Makenzie had to be taken away after I held her to monitor her breathing and spend time in the special care nursery...so it looks like a family of three for some of the day, but later that evening we were finally able to be together as our sweet family of four! Enjoy...and trust me there are many more to come ;)

12 weeks old

Wow has time flown...it's so hard to believe that 12 weeks have already gone by with you sweet angels!!! You have already grown and changed so much! Its amazing to see all that you learn and how much you change from one day to the next. Your personalities since day 1 have been completely different and unique and I love each of you so much. Each day I say how I love this stage and I don't want you to grow and change anymore and then we wake up the next day and I feel the same way all over again.

Makayla Faith my wild little one weighed in at 9lb 14oz this week

Makenzie Grace my sweet little one weighed in at 9lb 6oz this week

Love you my precious M and M's!!! Happy 12 weeks old!

Even when you sweet girls are sick you still put the biggest smile on my face!!! XOXO

11 Weeks and 6 days

Last Friday I had to call the girls pediatrician for an issue with their poopy diapers and the color being green...I will spare you the details, but they wanted me to bring the girls in first thing Monday morning. Then on Sunday Makayla seemed a little bit congested and Makenzie was sneezing and had a bit of a cough occasionally (I thought it was most likely related to her reflux) so I mentioned something to Carl to remind me to say something to the Dr. They also were both a lot more sleepy than usual yesterday which I just figured was a growth spurt because there was no fever or anything else different. So this morning we took them in and long story short they both have an ear infection :( They are only 11 weeks and 6 days old and already have an ear infection...and how did I not know this?! I felt like a horrible mommy for not knowing, but the Dr reassured us that the symptoms they had could also mean a lot of normal things so we should not feel bad at all. Its tough though to not feel bad as new parents. When we were leaving the office I said to Carl that God made their poop green so that we would take them in and get them on the meds they need to get well quickly. As far as the green poop...Makayla tested positive for blood in her stool which most likely means a food allergy. They both tested positive for this when they were around 6 weeks old, but then it cleared up. Now if it does not clear up within a few days we will assume it is a food allergy and I will change my diet as they still only eat breast milk. I will start by eliminating all dairy from my diet which is 90% of what I eat. So please say some prayers for all of us and especially the girls to get well!!!

Despite them being sick I was able to get some cute pictures of the short playtime they did have today. Can you believe how much they have grown?! Look at those adorable pants with the built in little ballet shoes...too stinkin cute!!! Tomorrow they will be 12 weeks old...where did the time go?!?!  

Thursday Morning View

This was my morning view yesterday...have you ever seen such a beautiful view?! Who needs ocean view when you can wake up to this instead?! I love you my beautiful little angels!!!

PS I would love to know what secrets you are sharing already!!!

Look at these sweet little girls! 10 weeks old today and moved up to size 1 diapers too! Double digits in weeks and moving out of newborn diapers all in 1 day is almost too much for this momma to handle. Thankfully the size 1 is still a little too big, but we are out of newborns and have an abundance of size 1’s (thanks to our awesome family and friends) so I don’t feel as bad about it. You girls are still growing way too fast though!!! I love you my precious M & M’s

We're getting so big!

Makenzie Grace at 5 weeks old

Makayla Faith looking cross eyed at 5 weeks old

Makayla Faith 7 weeks old

 

Makenzie Grace 7 weeks old

  

Update on Makayla's Appointment

Today was one of the hardest things that Carl and I have had to deal with as parents so far. As you know we had to take Makayla to Duke ENT for some issues with her breathing. The Dr came in and we went over her history, she asked a bunch of questions, and then told us she was going to stick a tiny camera down her nose and throat...I was thinking what?!?! She isn't even 7 weeks old! The Dr said "were going to spray some numbing spray in her nose that will last 15 minutes and she shouldn't feel a thing"...boy was she wrong! The Dr sprayed some nasty spray up her tiny little nostrils and Makayla did NOT like it at all. Then she got a nurse to come in the room to hold her head down while I held her...Carl immediately said can I hold her head instead? Thankfully the Dr said yes so Carl held onto her head, I was holding her as tight as I could and then the Dr stuck the camera in her nose that went down in her throat. Immediately screams came whaling from Makayla...it was horrifying to say the least!!! I have never ever seen or heard her or any baby that little so upset! It was the worst feeling watching her in so much discomfort and I couldn't do anything but cry too! Carl could not even look at her it was so bad he just watched the screen. It only took a few minutes for her to get all of the pictures and diagnose her, but it seemed like it took an eternity. After she was done Makayla's wheezing and gasping became even worse than its ever been, but the Dr said that was perfectly normal and to just give it time. Time?! Are you kidding?! My sweet little girl was miserable and struggling to breathe!!! It took FOREVER to get her calm and to slow down her breathing and she has been so miserable and pathetic ever since. Needless to say they did figure out the problem. She has a congenital defect called Laryngomalacia which is one of the most common defects in infants with breathing problems (although I have never heard of anyone with it). We were given a new stronger prescription for her reflux that is suppose to help with this as well, and we were sent home with a list of things to do that should help to settle down the symptoms. Fortunately this is a defect that should resolve itself and go away by the time she is 18 months or so which is awesome. If it does not resolve itself then we would discuss surgery at that time, but for now we will do all that we can to settle things down. Because I am no Dr and am horrible at explaining things to make it easier on myself and to avoid having to answer a million questions about it I am going to copy and paste from cincinnatichildrens.org about Laryngomalacia below. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers today...they mean a lot to us! Please keep them coming for our sweet little girls and us as you will see below we have a long way to go with this.

Laryngomalacia (Infantile)

Related Services

• Otolaryngology

Laryngomalacia is best described as floppy tissue (epiglottis and arytenoid cartilages) above the vocal cords that falls into the airway when a child breaths in.

• Laryngomalacia is the most frequent cause of noisy breathing (stridor) in infants and children.
• Laryngomalacia is the most common congenital anomaly (birth defect) of the voice box (larynx).
• The cause of laryngomalacia and the reason why the tissue is floppy is unknown. The part of the nervous system that gives tone to the airway is most likely underdeveloped.

Diagnosis of Laryngomalacia

Diagnosis of laryngomalacia is suggested by a typical history and is confirmed by clinical examination and flexible laryngoscopy (see diagnostic studies).

Signs and Symptoms of Laryngomalacia

Infants with laryngomalacia have intermittent noisy breathing when breathing in (inspiratory stridor) becomes worse with agitation, crying, excitement, feeding or position / sleeping in the supine (on the back) position. These symptoms are often present at birth and are usually apparent within the first 10 days of life. However, noisy breathing (stridor) of infantile laryngomalacia may be present in babies up to one year of age.

Symptoms will often increase or get worse over the first few months after diagnosis, usually between 4-8 months of age. Most children with laryngomalacia outgrow the noisy breathing (stridor) by 12-18 months of age.

Other symptoms that can be associated with laryngomalacia include:

• Poor weight gain
• Difficulty with feeding
• Regurgitation of food (vomiting or spitting up)
• Choking on food
• Apnea (stops breathing)
• Chest and / or neck retractions (chest and / or neck sinking in with each breath)
• Turning blue (cyanosis)
• Gastroesophageal reflux (spitting up of acid from the stomach)

Prayers needed for the girls

Well my suspisions were correct...both girls have reflux :( We started them on Zantac this past week and are praying that it works!!! I HATE to see them in pain...it just breaks my heart! We were hoping to avoid the medication route and were given some things to try differently over the last few weeks with feedings, but after we came home from vacation it was evident that they needed to go on the meds asap. At first we were just having problems with Makenzie and reflux and then all of the sudden it hit Makayla like a mack truck within a week. Its crazy how they can be perfectly fine to then miserable and projectile vomiting :(

Then this past Tuesday I woke up to a terrifying noise...Makayla was wheezing and struggling to breathe. Long story short we got her to the pediatrician and after examining her the Dr said "well the good news is its not asthma" (we were concerned this was the issue because Carl suffers from asthma and it runs in his family) so I am like ok well if thats the good news whats the bad news...she proceeded to say "I honestly think this could be just really bad reflux but because she snores and has grunted since day 1 I think we need to get her to a specialist to rule out some sort of congenital defects". I think she saw the panic look on my face because she then went on to say she would be willing to put money its just her reflux so don't worry...clearly this is easy for her to say and NOT easy for me to do. The Dr also said we should see some improvement from the meds, but this is not the case yet so either the Zantac is not working or it could be something else going on. It is so scary watching and hearing her struggle to breathe and not being able to do anything!!! Needless to say we go to the specialist at Duke Monday morning and could use some prayers please!

I know I have been slack about posting anything lately, but trust me when I say I have my hands full so please excuse me but I will update as soon as I can about this when I know something. Just please keep us in your prayers! Thank you all!

One of Makenzie's nicknames has been "Squeaker" since day 1 and in this short video you will see or should I say hear why...Makayla is just modeling for her daddy ;)

**Please excuse the videographer...hopefully" the video taping does not make you sea sick**