A Day in the Life

For memory's sake, I wanted to do a "day in the life" type post of how our day went. Grady had an eye appointment at 3:10pm today for ROP monitoring (ROP=Retinopothy of Prematurity, an eye disease that affects prematurely-born babies). Grady has not exhibited signs of ROP thus far, but due to his low birthweight (3 lbs 4oz), he is monitored regularly by a pediatric ophthalmologist. Wren's birthweight (3lbs 11oz) was just high enough that she did not meet the threshold for monitoring.

When we have an appointment, it's pretty much an all-day affair between prepping, commuting, waiting, examination, commuting, and settling back in at home. I decided to tackle this appointment all by myself with both babies (a first for me). I'm stubborn and wanted to prove to myself that I'm a capable, independent twin mom who's "got this."

This morning, the babies woke up later than normal, as did Tom. Because Tom was running late, he could not help with their first feeding of the day. After changing them, I fed them their first bottle and put them back down and they slept for another hour and half or so and then they played and "talked" in their cribs for a little bit because I was dragging tail. 

I changed them, dressed them for the day, and then fed them their next bottle. I usually feed them a fruit at this time too but I pushed it to lunch time so I could go ahead and get in the shower and get ready for the day. I was counting on them taking another nap and playing contently so I could get ready without interruption. Well, they did take a cat nap while I was in the shower but woke up when I got out. So I set them up in my room to play while I did my make up and hair. Grady got super fussy and I had to keep stopping to comfort him, then I had to just let him cry for a bit so I could get dressed and get their next meal ready.

Ready to spread some Christmas cheer!

 Playing in the "safety zone" (amongst pillows) 

to avoid toppling over while mom gets ready

My view in the closet door mirror while putting on makeup

After I finally finished getting ready, I fed them some pears and then their bottles. After they were done eating, I packed the diaper bag and put our things in the car, loaded the babies in their car-seats, and put them in the car. We were doing pretty good on time, so I decided to do something I've been needing to do for quite some time. That something was to pay the wonderful people at my fertility clinic (OU Physicians Reproductive Medicine) a visit so they could finally meet Grady and Wren. I figured it would work out well today since we were already going to be on the OU Medical Center campus for Grady's appointment.

It was very surreal and emotional to walk into that clinic WITH babies for a fun visit. I was conflicted taking them into that waiting room, as I knew there would likely be heartbroken patients in there and the last thing I wanted to do was be insensitive. I prayed that my babies and I would be a source of hope to those who may see us, that the hurting patients would be positively affected by seeing babies that were born from a treatment performed at that very clinic. We visited with the receptionists, my nurses, doctor, and other staff for a while and had a sweet time. Then it was time to head over to the OU Children's Physicians part of Children's Hospital for Grady's appointment.

Wren with our IVF Nurse, Connie

Grady with Michelle, our research/IUI study nurse, and Dr. Hansen

Wren, Connie, Michelle, Grady, & Dr. Hansen

Grady flirting with the ladies

Before we went up to the eye clinic, we quickly met up with Aunt/Nurse Blaire in the hospital lobby for a little unexpected bonus visit. After chatting with Blaire, we went up to the eye clinic, checked in, and were called back to our exam room fairly quickly. Grady was given drops to dilate his eyes and we had to wait 20-30 minutes for the drops to work. The doctor came in and examined Grady's eyes, thankfully he did not have to use the invasive retractor around his eyelids this time! The doctor said everything looked good and was right on schedule developmentally and that Grady did not need glasses. Wonderful news! Such a praise!

Wren fell asleep while we were waiting for Grady's eyes to dilate :)

Mommy & Grady playing in the exam room

After the appointment was done, we loaded back up and headed home. While on our way home, the babies fell asleep and I decided to prolong the car nap by swinging by Sonic for a well deserved large Diet Dr. Pepper. :)

I'm setting a bad example...

And because I have to play fair, here's another self portrait of Wren and Momma!

We got home just in time for the babies' next feeding. After unloading the babies and all our stuff, I started prepping their bottles and baby food. About this time, Tom got home from work and helped me feed them their bottles and then I started cooking dinner. After we ate dinner, we changed the babies into pj's and fed them their last bottle of the day and put them to bed.

Whew! I had mentally prepared for today to be a disaster, but fortunately it went relatively smoothly and I didn't regret not taking my mom with us for backup. Sure, I would have loved having her help and company, but I did it all by myself! :)