Peaceful Moments

Books are bringing a sense of peace and quiet as long as they haven't seen them in a few hours.

They are going in their mouths less and less! 

Marcos enjoying reading books.

 Sofia reading.

And a big OH NO! I THINK this is Marcos but not 100% sure.  This is what happens when I dress them very similar and then take a few days to upload the pics. Unfortunately I didn't take another pic to help me figure it out. Sorry boys!

Marcos (or Carlos) petting Mickey.

These pics are quite peaceful, but very far from everyday living.  This morning Marcos was getting really rough with Carlos in a not playing kind of way.  Ok, he was beating him up.  Marcos has been getting more and more aggressive and we are trying our best to redirect our sweet boy.  

Perhaps the teething...or lack of language...but this too shall pass, we hope quickly.

The 100th day of school

Last week a good friend of mine gave me a good laugh.  

She teaches kinder and told me how she put baby powder in her hair on her 100th day of school.  

Then she asked about Isabella's.  I hadn't heard much of it yet.  Sure enough...a couple of days later, Isabella got assigned her biggest project yet for first grade.  A collection of 100 items grouped in 5s and 10's.

I won't lie...my first reaction was, You have to be kidding me! Who has time for this?! Soon followed by "We'll have to make three projects when the trio is her age!"

So here it is...after a long but healthy week, our Friday and Saturday night...Dad cut out our big heart while Isabella and I collected, arranged and pasted.  She came up with the big Valentine idea and the tissue paper all by herself!  It turned out to be lots of fun and some good quality Bella time.

I love how this girly girl finished up her project quickly Saturday night so she could still watch a Star Wars movie with Dad!!

And here she on Monday morning.  Definitely not a morning person!

Phone calls galore!!

This morning has been a bit crazier than usual, that included lots of important phone calls. 

We first had a call from the director of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program (DHH).  

Very informative. Marcos qualifies for the program.  I just need to get one of our doctors or audiologist to make the referral.  

Then we got a call from scheduling....Marcos's tube surgery is tentatively set for March 19.  

This is requiring lots of coordination because since he is going under general anesthesia, we are requesting that his clogged tear duct be repaired.  Again something that we've been dealing with for awhile, that he has not outgrown.  Our pediatric opthamologist explained it like this:

"Basically once asleep I use a thin silver polished wire called a probe and pass it down thru the tear duct drain system to open up any partial clogs"

This will help Marcos not get teary every time he goes outdoors.  No matter what the weather is like outside, he often looks like he has been crying, when he hasn't been.  I've kind of been avoiding this because it's not causing any harm but if we can get it done at the same time, we will be very happy so we can enjoy the outdoors more.  Our doctors have advised to have the procedure done if it had not resolved itself at 18 months. The time has come.

We've also had to reschedule his speech evaluation a couple of times due to lack of childcare for the other 2 but its now back on our calendar again for February.  Another advantage of the DHH program is that they provide a home visit vs. the clinic appointment through our insurance.  So we will wait and see what happens with that referral. 

Though hearing tubes, speech delay, and clogged tear ducts can also be common in full term babies, its really hard for me not to think that this is a result of being born at 25 weeks.

But in reality, there are way more serious things we could be dealing with so I move on and continue to advocate and get things done.  

In between all this important business I was able to capture some sweet moments....Sofia and Carlos kissing.

 With both her brothers!

Somehow all these calls are helping ease the frustration I feel when I can't get anything done....besides taking care of all the kids. 

Yay for nap time...wait...did I just hear Sofia say "hiiiii" through the monitor?!

Marcos, can you hear me?

We have been healthy for a few days now and hoping we stay that way.
Marcos was able to make his appointment with the ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) doctor last Friday and I was not thrilled with the outcome.  One of the tubes seems to be clogged with either fluid or ear wax, while the other one is not in place.  We've been dealing with hearing issues since the beginning. He did not pass his newborn hearing screening when he was discharged from the NICU.  He has been retested several times with very little change.  I have been told that the hearing loss is in the middle part of the ear, therefore not permanent, also known as conductive hearing loss.  Up until now, the doctors have assured me it was fluid in the ears.  In June of 2012, Marcos had his ear tubes put in to see if they would help.  The test (tympanometry) afterwards did not show much difference.  The doctor was a little bit puzzled and decided to wait and retest.  I've lost count of how many times we have visited the audiologist.  In December, he was tested again with no significant change.  So now, the doctor would like to put him under general anesthesia again so he can see what is going on and insert new tubes if necessary.  We were also given another explanation as to what could be going on.  He may have an abnormality in one of his ear bones resulting in hearing loss due to lack of contact between the conduction bones in the middle ear.  This type of hearing loss is easily fixed with a hearing aid.

This will be the fifth time that Marcos undergoes general anesthesia.  Though I am glad it is not permanent hearing loss, I was a little bit shocked because this has not been mentioned before. 

But here are the positives.  The bone abnormality will only be explored if the 2nd set of tubes have no significant impact on the next hearing test.  He is scheduled to have a speech evaluation that will hopefully give the doctor valuable information to help solve this puzzle.  Lastly, I know he hears me.  He loves "Old McDonald had a Farm..." and tries to say E-I-E-I-O at the right time!  He also says bye, ball, wa-wa for water, ca ker for cracker, car and a few other words/sounds.  

And so this journey continues....Please pray for us and our doctors to help figure this out.

I'll share a couple of pictures taken during the doctors visit.   Look how big he is!!

With my assistant Isabella

I can't believe my tiny little boy who weighed 1 lb and 4.8 oz and measured ONLY 11 1/2 inches (the length of a barbie doll) is a full blown walking toddler!!! 

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

This can end...NOW!

Our 2013 started out okay, much better than 2012.

Around this time last year, my little Sofia was fighting RSV.  She spent 2 nights in the hospital and her wheezing lasted all winter long.   You can read a post from last January here.

Two weekends ago, we made the switch to big kid car seats.  No more infant carriers.  We even did forward facing. We went back and forth on this, but the kiddos' legs were a bit squished.
Big kid car seats...a milestone!

 Boys in the front!

 Girls in the back!

 Carlitos

 Maquitos

 Sofita

  Good thing.  I had the great idea of trying them out prior to me being solo during the week to make sure the straps were on correctly, etc...So we ventured out on Sunday afternoon and not too long after leaving our house, I looked back, and Marcos was quietly throwing up while the car was moving (and all over the new car seat cover!)  Since his seat was facing forward, I was able to get back there quicker.  We thought perhaps he got car sick.  So we cleaned him up as well as the car, and continued with our outing.

Yes, we are brave.

We walked around downtown and decided to try out a sit down restaurant. It was late afternoon, after the lunch rush but before dinner time. We have gone out to eat before but they were much younger and could stay in the car seat/stroller...so having all 3 of them sit in a high chair was another milestone. We ate fast and managed to get out fairly quick. As soon as we got back in the car again... Marcos does it again. Coincidence.... Not! We managed to get home, Dad hung out with Marcos while I did the night routine with the other 2.  My sweet boy threw up who knows how many times. He was completely wiped out and managed to only wake once that night.




This picture was taken after his first episode, notice his shirt is missing? Not sure how my lil guy was still smiling.



Then that Tuesday night right before bed time...Sofia coughs, then throws up.  She does this now and again, if she coughs right after taking a bottle.  I nervously put her to bed not knowing if she caught the bug Marcos had or what.  Sure enough, about 20 minutes later she was still awake screaming and crying. Good thing we went in her room right away.  My Sofie was covered in throw up and so was her crib.

We took her out of the room and held her for a few hours.  The throwing up went on for about 5 hours.  She had nothing left so she dry heaved A LOT!  Sofia was still doing this when we hear screams from their room again.  Good thing I didn't give them the 5 minutes to settle.  I rushed in there to find little Carlos covered in throw up.  My poor babies! I think Carlos was up from midnight to about 5am.  At one point, both of them did it at the same time.  Thank God this happened at night because what would I have done alone?  Daddy was a true rock star, especially because I couldn't tell if the nauseousness I felt was from the awful smell or if I was also getting sick.  When the chills started I knew it was my turn.

We got very little sleep that night, if any at all.  Before we knew it the sun was coming out and it was time to rush Isabella to school.  Can anyone say late pass?!

This sickness caused the trio to miss a dentist appointment and our high risk follow up appointment, which I was very sad to miss. The trio was left with very little appetite and lots of diarrhea, but really we are lucky the vomiting only lasted one night because once I began to feel better it was daddy's turn to get sick.  At least we take turns, right?

So Isabella was the only lucky one to not get it.  I thought we were in the clear...and Sunday she began getting a sore throat.  The babies had their 4th Synagis shot of the season yesterday so since we were already  going to the doctors, I had her checked out as well...fast forward to today....

Strep throat!!! She's been home all week and I've managed to go up and down the stairs numerous times taking turns between the four.  I miss my helper!! and she misses her babies.  She's been quarantined to her room, and I really HATE winter.

Praying no one else gets sick cuz I'm feeling like I can't handle so much sickness especially back to back.  And my mind automatically sees it hitting their preemie lungs, chronic coughing all night and nebulizer treatments, talk about anxiety! Now we know why this post took over a week! And why our house still has some Christmas decorations up.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Today is my Dad's Birthday!  He visited over Christmas for a few days. It did not take too long for the trio to warm up to him. Christmas Eve morning, I sat down and snapped away...Here are just a few of my favorite pics...

I think he enjoyed his visit.

 Happy Birthday Grandpa! 

We can't wait to see you again!

I think Big Sis was watching TV.