We celebrate birthdays for a week around this casa. I've got the entire kitchen decorated. I'm sure Ricky will be just thrilled when he wakes up in a couple of hours. Birthdays are a big deal and 30 is a really big deal! He wants to learn how to play the guitar so I'm searching for learning kits. If there were enough hours in a day/ week, I would send him for private lessons but since we are both sleep deprived that is not possible.
I'm super excited for the Super Bowl/ Birthday party on Sunday. I'm going to fix all the "tailgating" foods and a strawberry cake with cream cheese icing... his favorite. I've invited a few people over which is a rare occasion for us since having the babies home.
In triplet news, ECI came out today. ECI is tied in with the school districts. The program follows preemie babies until the age of 3. They provide a list of services including OT, PT, Speech Therapy, nutrition help, etc. We have private OT, PT and I'm working on getting private Speech because ECI can only come out 1x per week and private can do 2x per week. Once they turn 3, they can enroll in school which is a very early Pre K which they would repeat until they were old enough to actually start school. You have to qualify for ECI so with that, Pre K would help get the triplets as ready as can be for school.
Here is the scary thing about having so many people involved with your kids, everyone has an opinion and diagnosis. We've been told so many things that have scared us so bad but have turned out to be false information. Today I was told to be aware of Cerebral Palsy with Brody. I will mention this to the Pediatrician on Friday. I'm not putting a lot of weight on this comment because I've learned it is usually not worth worrying about.
Now something that totally caught me off guard: Madi needs OT to help her fine motor skills. She excels in everything else but can not grasp toys or if she does, she does not realize that she has something in her hand. She also tends to have her arms wide open which is a true sign of a preemie but not a good thing. I was wanting OT and PT services to help with sitting up, crawling and walking but I thought it would be a supplement not a necessity.
I wish we could see Genetics sooner than April for Gracie. I feel like there are some additional issues that have not been addressed. We have an appointment to see a PM&R doctor as well but it isn't until April too. We are under a time crunch on a lot of things in order to see best results.
One of the hardest thing with having multiples is being able to commit specific time to each baby. People that do not have more than one baby do not understand this. We exercise and work on strengthening daily but I have to set it up in stations. If I didn't do stations, two babies would be laying there doing nothing while I worked with one.
Brody is rolling over more and more everyday and he is also starting to lift his head a lot better. He is still very weak but we continue to work on strength everyday. His body extension is so severe he even does it with his tongue. To give a visual, when he tries to move his head while on his tummy, instead of using his core, he extends his legs and arms out. This gives a false strength. With his tongue, he sticks it out while trying to eat. How in the world do you teach someone not to do that? Its not like he understands me saying "don't stick out your tongue".
In a couple of hours, the triplets have their hearing screen. We are praying that all 3 pass with no issues. Gracie also has an appointment to have her brace adjusted because she comes out of the new one too. I hope her club foot does not turn back in.
Today the triplets are 7 months old! Where does the time go? Seriously, they are growing up too fast. I am so thankful and happy they are growing and are healthy and even though they are only 4 months old, I really miss that newborn stage. They are big and getting bigger everyday, what a blessing. Some days and nights we worried if we would have this opportunity, thankfully we do :)
Please continue to pray for all of us. Thank you so much for your continued love and support.
Krista
