So, I guess it’s been a year already. It’s been one heck of a ride, too! Let’s dig in a bit, since it’s been so long.

We last talked back in December. It’s hard to remember what’s happened since then. I’ll try to pick the high points.

Therapies

I can’t really remember what I have or have not talked about regarding any of this, but in case any of you do not remember, either. The girls have been seeing “Ms. Rae” since the NICU . She is considered an O/T , but I’ve learned she’s more of an all-around therapist. She’s worked on making sure that their muscles and tendons are being used properly so that the girls can learn the correct movements. For example, they have learned some of their own techniques for getting from sitting to crawling. While it may work, the motion may not be conducive to learning the next progression, say, going from crawling to standing. So, she will work with them to learn the “normal” way to do that transition so that it is easier for them to learn the next step in the progression.

That was both a simplification and a perversion of what she’s doing, I’m sure, but that’s about the only way that I can understand it. She is the only person, other than Sam and myself, that the girls have “known” since the very early days.

To add to Ms. Rae, the girls are part of a program that monitors their development up to age three, I think. It’s a collaborative effort between doctors, speech therapists, physical therapists, social workers, and probably at least one group I’m forgetting. We had a 4 hour appointment a few months ago that consisted of several visits, one at a time, with each of those groups. They then had their own group meeting and then had a session with us to talk about their findings. Honestly, it was kind of nice to have all of the groups in one room, though it was missing Ms. Rae. As part of this, they did determine that they’d like to add dedicated speech therapy and physical therapy. I’m still not totally sure what all they’re trying to address, but I do know that they are somewhat behind on their speech development.

With this program, I do feel like at least we shouldn’t get “forgotten” between all of the different groups. We also have a point of contact with a social worker if we have any questions. Of course, that supposes I can find that business card 😬.

Daycare

We knew that we could not afford to send the girls to daycare right away. At the pre-school/daycare that Sam works at and Wavy has been going to school (shameless plug: Small World Learning Center), the infant classroom is the most expensive, and we have twins! Well, we have reached that milestone! Starting on Monday, June 14, they will be attending. It will only be half days since that’s what Sam works, but it does allow me time to work on my business (Wooster Technical Solutions) with more uninterrupted time. It’s also great socializing for them. The pandemic has kept us away from most of the social activities that we may have otherwise done (though not all of it).

Baby Dedication

As part of the Seventh-Day Adventist tradition, we do not “baptize” babies, but we do have a “dedication” where we get in front of the church with the girls and Pastor Fred Brunkhorst says a few words and we have a prayer. As has been the case with these twins from conception, their dedication was not a “normal” one.

We originally planned to have the dedication in February. Because of that timing, most family was not going to be able to make it to the event. It just did not seem that there was going to be a time where it would have worked, especially given global circumstances. As is true of all “best-laid-plans,” it did not turn out the way that we had planned. The morning of the scheduled event, we had our first good snowstorm of the season. We did not call it until late, but it was decided Saturday morning that we did not want anyone driving in unnecessarily just to be at the dedication. I was able to bring my little snowblower in and help them clear a walkway for those that attended anyway, but we did not give anyone extra reason to try to brave the roads. I am definitely spoiled having grown up in Minnesota. Roads here just do not get cleared well at all.

We decided to kind of postpone indefinitely and would talk with the church when we had a good idea of when we wanted to try again. In March and into April both Sam and my mom got their vaccinations (they work with kids) and my dad was already vaccinated (law enforcement), so my mom planned a trip at the end of April (she hadn’t been out since August right after they came home).

We finally did have the dedication on April 24. It turned out to be a blessing because my parents (and brother) were able to attend, as well as several church members that may not have been able to attend in February.

Development

We have seen so much growth already with our girls. They have been babbling for a while with a lot of “dada.” Sometimes they will work in a “mama,” but mostly “dada.” 😁

They’re also crawling machines. They’re surprisingly quick. They can both get themselves up if holding onto something and Aspen has stood without supports a few times, but only for a few seconds. They can take steps if their hands are being held.

Aspen has been holding her own bottle for a while and Elizabeth finally picked it up in the last week or so. Of course, we have now transitioned them off actual bottles, but it has translated well to sippy cups. Liz gets upset sometimes and struggles, but they’re doing well.

Oh, and I almost forgot, they’re drinking regular milk! For those that aren’t caught up, the girls haven’t been taking any dairy protein since 34 Weeks. We stopped using Neocate several weeks ago and have not seen any of the bloody stool issues from before. This is great news as it indicates that the issue was due to their under-developed guts rather than something inherent to themselves. At least thats how we understand it.

We still are behind the curve a bit in a few areas. However, the therapies that they have been going to and will continue to go to will help us to make sure that they do not fall behind. At this point, they’re just outside the “normal” range in things like speech. Something that would go just about unnoticed without the attention that they recieve because of their premature status, but enough that we want to make sure they start out strong and do not get behind from the beginning.

From a growth perspective, they’re both spot on. At last measure, height-to-weight, Aspen was at 50th percentile, so exactly where they want her, and Liz was within a few percentage points of that. Looking at them, you really wouldn’t think they weren’t a year old.

Wrapping Up

It’s been a great first year. The girls have done really well and have really not had any medical issues since leaving the NICU . We have had a lot of support from friends and family and have tried to take advantage of every opportunity that we could. Thanks to all that have watched our journey and for those that have supported us in any way.

Picture Dump