Oh My Holy Heck!

Yesterday evening I hit my all time Mommy low. After five days of nearly solo twin baby parenting, I hit the end of my rope and completely lost it. What made it worse was that there was no end in sight to Nathan being sick since his temp and symptoms were/are persisting. Picture wailing, crying, and gnashing of teeth. When my parents called from Montana to check in, I even went as far as wailing "Mommy, please don't leave me!" Yep, it was not pretty, people.

Thankfully, my dad came to the rescue and arranged for one of our family friends to come into town to sit with the boys so Nathan and I could both sleep. Her name is Jacque and she also happens to be the nurse that gives the boys all their shots and was the one who verified my pregnancy. She got to our place by around 9:30 or 10, and stayed until 1 am, at which point Nathan took over for the rest of the night. I actually got over 8 hours of non-baby-interrupted sleep. It was...blissful. Granted, I was downstairs in the basement on the twin-sized air mattress that mysteriously loses some of its air halfway through the night, so my butt was significantly lower than the rest of my body, but I really didn't care. I woke up actually wanting to see and hold the boys, which was a VAST improvement over last night. Before leaving, Jacque told Nathan that taking care of the boys was definitely hard, and she told my dad that they were pretty overwhelming. That made me feel...oddly vindicated.

Spending the day watching the 6-hour version of Pride & Prejudice hasn't hurt either!

Yesterday was the boys 2/4 month well-baby doctor's appointment. 2/4 as they are four days away from being 4 months old, but in adjusted age, they are 10 days away from being 2 months old. Crazy. Four months old already? Anyway, Smithson said they look absolutely wonderful and are gaining weight like champs. Usually you can see a distinct difference between the growth rate of full-term babies vs preemie babies for almost two years, but if the boys keep gaining like the have been, he said we shouldn't even be able to tell that they were preemies by the time they are 6 months old! Wow! Levi is now 9 lbs 10 oz, while Asher is 9 lbs 11 oz. I can't believe it. They're already three times bigger than they were when they were born! As for measurements, Levi is 21" long and his head is 15.25" around while Asher is 21.25" long and his head is 15.5" around.

The only thing that is cause for slight concern is that both Levi and Asher have developed flat spots on the back right of their heads. Evidently this is very common in preemies because they spend so much more time (2 months more in the boys' case) on their backs. However, Smithson said that this is by no means the most severe case he's ever seen and as long as we're very deliberate about making sure the boys are laying with their heads turned the other way, it should correct itself in the next few months. If it hasn't by the time they're six month old, though, they'll have to have some funky helmets made to help correct it. Wouldn't that just be classic? "Yes, my sons have to wear helmets...please don't laugh at them, they're kind of sensitive about it."

They've also graduated from their preemie doctor visit schedule...they don't have another visit with Smithson for another TWO MONTHS!!! Next month they have a visit with Jacque for their Synagis shot (protects against flu/colds) and will be receiving a once-a-month visit from the Health Department nurse to be weighed, measured, and have their development assessed. But other than the Synagis appointments, none of that is anything that a full-term baby wouldn't be receiving. Yay!

Now if we can only get through tonight without any histrionics, life will be good! My parents are coming back from Montana tomorrow and will be spending the night in Baker tomorrow night, so I will hopefully be able to get enough sleep before going back to work on Monday.

And now I'm going to go enjoy some Pioneer Woman posts, which always manage to put a smile in my soul, while the boys sleep in their swings...they go through phases as to where they like to sleep, and for the past few days it has been sitting up in their swings. Not that I'm complaining, as long as they're not screaming their heads off!