Last night was a long night. Early this week Brandon was showing signs of being sick. He sounded congested, he was fussy and most importantly his oxygen needs went up. We called the doctor and he had us take him down to the hospital to be tested. They discovered that he had the virus. Of course this isn’t good but at least it wasn’t RSV. He seemed to quickly recover. His oxygen needs seemed to return to normal, with occasional swings that didn’t last long. In many ways he seemed to be doing really well. However, he has been very fussy. He has always had the tendency to pull at all of the tubing on his face when he is upset. However, this last week it has been really bad and especially bad in the middle of the night.
When he wakes up he begins by begin very wiggly and agitated. Usually a pacifier will calm him down but he can’t keep one in his mouth on his own. As he gets more agitated his really begins to flail and just keeping the canula in his nose can seem like a wrestling match. This makes it very hard to prepare his feedings. In the early stages the pacifier will stay in for a while so I began by getting him calm and hurrying down to make the feeding concoction of fortified milk and medication. Inevitably he would pull the canula out of his nose and I would have to run back upstairs to make sure he is breathing. After 3 or 4 trips up and down the stairs without much progress towards feeding him, I get pretty frustrated.
In the last couple of days I have learned to just take him with me the first time. This means that I don’t really try to keep him groggy and in an almost asleep state. This also means that he gets really mad. Last night I’m pretty sure we woke the neighbors. Brandon was screaming with all he had. He was angry and there wasn’t anything I could do. I couldn’t find anything wrong so I assume he wasn’t feeling well. Possibly he had a sore throat like the rest of us have had. Whatever the problem was, he has been like this a lot lately. He stayed mad for a while, after about 15-20 minutes I can calm him by holding a pacifier in his mouth but it can take more than an hour to feed him and put him back to sleep. With preparation time, it seems like I spend more time out-of-bed than in-bed.
Because Brandon has been fussy so often lately, we have spent a lot more time holding him and paying attention to him. Luckily Katelyn has been amazingly good. She is such a happy baby. She rarely complains and when she does it is often with grunts and moans long before she breaks into a full cry. She is always smiling and very happy. She also has been doing well at rolling over. She has been doing it for a while but lately she has been fast enough that when I walk away to get a diaper I will come back to find her face down in her toys.
I know that the purpose of this blog is to tell you about Brandon and Katelyn but I want to tell you a quick story about Blake. There is an interesting thing about having twins. Everyone wants to compare their personalities. We are often asked things like “Which one is the out-going one and which one is the shy one?” We have worked hard to not have Blake and Derek feel like they need to live up to theses labels. We would hate for either of them to always feel like they are shy only because they appear to be slightly less out-going than their brother. Also, as any parent knows, it isn’t as simple as picking a personality trait because they will act differently if different situations. In a case where Derek might appear shy, Blake could be very outgoing and in another situation they might appear to be the opposite. I mention this because Blake can be rough and tough in a lot of situations and might be easy to miss the fact that he has a heart of gold.
Yesterday was a comparatively warm and sunny day. We let the boys ride their bikes for the first time in a long time. Blake’s first question, asked through his messenger, Derek, was, can he deliver “emails”. I had forgotten that during the summer one of his favorite things to do was to deliver “messages” to the neighbors. While riding his bike he would often disappear and we would find him down the street knocking on doors. We worked hard to get him to limit his door knocking and to have him ask permission before choosing a neighbor to disturb. The funny thing is that many of these neighbors would later tell us how their day had been brightened (sometimes on a bad day) by Blake’s message of ”I love you” followed by a big hug. The great thing about Blake is that he really means it.
When he wakes up he begins by begin very wiggly and agitated. Usually a pacifier will calm him down but he can’t keep one in his mouth on his own. As he gets more agitated his really begins to flail and just keeping the canula in his nose can seem like a wrestling match. This makes it very hard to prepare his feedings. In the early stages the pacifier will stay in for a while so I began by getting him calm and hurrying down to make the feeding concoction of fortified milk and medication. Inevitably he would pull the canula out of his nose and I would have to run back upstairs to make sure he is breathing. After 3 or 4 trips up and down the stairs without much progress towards feeding him, I get pretty frustrated.
In the last couple of days I have learned to just take him with me the first time. This means that I don’t really try to keep him groggy and in an almost asleep state. This also means that he gets really mad. Last night I’m pretty sure we woke the neighbors. Brandon was screaming with all he had. He was angry and there wasn’t anything I could do. I couldn’t find anything wrong so I assume he wasn’t feeling well. Possibly he had a sore throat like the rest of us have had. Whatever the problem was, he has been like this a lot lately. He stayed mad for a while, after about 15-20 minutes I can calm him by holding a pacifier in his mouth but it can take more than an hour to feed him and put him back to sleep. With preparation time, it seems like I spend more time out-of-bed than in-bed.
Because Brandon has been fussy so often lately, we have spent a lot more time holding him and paying attention to him. Luckily Katelyn has been amazingly good. She is such a happy baby. She rarely complains and when she does it is often with grunts and moans long before she breaks into a full cry. She is always smiling and very happy. She also has been doing well at rolling over. She has been doing it for a while but lately she has been fast enough that when I walk away to get a diaper I will come back to find her face down in her toys.
I know that the purpose of this blog is to tell you about Brandon and Katelyn but I want to tell you a quick story about Blake. There is an interesting thing about having twins. Everyone wants to compare their personalities. We are often asked things like “Which one is the out-going one and which one is the shy one?” We have worked hard to not have Blake and Derek feel like they need to live up to theses labels. We would hate for either of them to always feel like they are shy only because they appear to be slightly less out-going than their brother. Also, as any parent knows, it isn’t as simple as picking a personality trait because they will act differently if different situations. In a case where Derek might appear shy, Blake could be very outgoing and in another situation they might appear to be the opposite. I mention this because Blake can be rough and tough in a lot of situations and might be easy to miss the fact that he has a heart of gold.
Yesterday was a comparatively warm and sunny day. We let the boys ride their bikes for the first time in a long time. Blake’s first question, asked through his messenger, Derek, was, can he deliver “emails”. I had forgotten that during the summer one of his favorite things to do was to deliver “messages” to the neighbors. While riding his bike he would often disappear and we would find him down the street knocking on doors. We worked hard to get him to limit his door knocking and to have him ask permission before choosing a neighbor to disturb. The funny thing is that many of these neighbors would later tell us how their day had been brightened (sometimes on a bad day) by Blake’s message of ”I love you” followed by a big hug. The great thing about Blake is that he really means it.
2 comments:
About Blake...he has always seemed to be the most likely to say he loves me or misses me. He never fails to warm my heart when I speak to him over the phone. He asked me during our last phone conversation when I'd be back, and I said, "You know how it's been cold and snowing lately? Well, I'll be there when you are wearing shorts and it's warm". He replies, "You're an adult so you know more about seasons". It was one of those Kids Say the Darnest Things moments. Last year when I returned home from my visit I spoke with him and he said, "Mammaw, why did you leave? I miss you". I explained it was time for me to be back home, but I would visit again as soon as I could. He wanted to know when and I told him it would depend on how fast I could save the money. Blake says, "Oh, I'll get you money; don't worry Mammaw I'll get you money". He had been going through the phase of "collecting" change he "found" on his parents dresser, so he thought, no problem. He forgot for a moment that he had been getting into trouble for doing this.
About Derek...he seems,to me, to be consistently "a charmer". And can he charm me! Derek is affectionate in a different way - in Derek's way.
But I agree with, first, not labeling them (though I know I am guilty of falling into this natural tendency), and second, they are different kids on different days depending on what is going on. When I visited I was so impressed at how they played video games; well, played Lego Star Wars, so cooperatively instead of competetively. It may be the nature of the game, but I was still quite impressed.
It seems to me that they have a healthy balance in their individual personalities. And that's the main thing. They are both great kids, and I'm sure Brandon and Katelyn will be as well. You are such good parents!! I Love you both and I love my Grandchildren beyond words. I can't wait to be back with the 6 of you again. But until then, thank you so much for taking the time to update the blog with new photos and stories.
All my Love,
Mom
Mammaw Turner
Amy, I love reading about your beautiful babies and sweet stories. That is such a great story about your neighbors being cheered up.
Brandon is so cute with his little glasses. Its so fun seeing his and Katelyn's big smiles. I hope he can start feeling better soon so you can get some much needed sleep!
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