Olivia & Mason

Olivia is doing really well.  We haven’t had any major obstacles or problems lately, and she seems to really be coming out of her shell.   She is beginning to tolerate tummy time much better.  Now she will lean over from sitting position and get on her tummy and scoot around the room.  She scoots backwards, and usually ends up under a piece of furniture.  Furniture is the only stopping point she recognizes.  We will look around and see a head sticking out from under the sofa, the coffee table, the recliner, the dresser, or just about anything that is 6 inches off the floor!  She still doesn’t like to be on her knees at all.  Her knees butterfly out and she gets very upset if you try and get her up on all four’s. 

As for eating, she is doing really great.  We are having some problems at night when it’s time to go to sleep though.  We can’t tell if she is just fighting sleep or maybe a little reflux.  She is very irritable, squirmy, and continually throws herself back.  It could also be the helmet, but it is so hard to tell.  She is eating all of her cereal and fruit in the morning, most of her bottles throughout the day, and a little supper in the evening.  We haven’t thrown lunch in yet.  I wanted to wait until she was consistently gaining weight before adding more.  We were concentrating more on making sure she drank all of her bottles for the weight gain, than get full on food and not want the bottle.  Her last weight came in at 15 lbs 8 oz!  Go Olivia!

Mason and Olivia continue to play very well together.  Mason is a big bully, but Olivia is very sharp and often outsmarts him.  She will be holding a toy he wants.  He crawls towards her to get it and she will turn the opposite way and drop it, then turn back to watch him coming.  As soon as he begins to crawl over her lap, she pushes him out of the way to protect the toy.  Once he’s rolled over and upset, she picks the toy back up and continues to play…lol.   Occasionally you will catch him pushing her over, or she will be spanking his bottom.  It is hilarious to watch them. Mason is constantly moving around the house exploring.  He is crawling everywhere, and pulls up to everything.  I can already smell trouble!

The MDCP is working out much better now.  We have two consistent nurses, a primary and then a secondary to fill in when the primary takes off.  They are really great with Olivia.  We are currently only utilizing 30 of the 62 hours we qualify for, but are considering increasing it a little.  We will finally be moving into an apartment this month and will need a little more help since my mother won’t be around all of the time.  I can’t begin to say how excited we are to finally be getting  a place.  Since we put our belongings in storage last September to go to Florida, we have practically lived in a room for a year.  Although we share common areas at the house and did at the Ronald McDonald House, it’s just not the same as spreading out with your own things.  We are literally counting down the hours!

Doug is working very hard on the CDH Connection website.  Things are coming along nicely and starting to shape up.  We cannot wait to launch it and begin to be able to help other families diagnosed with CDH.   I will give more details as we get a little closer.  I know we’ve said that a few times, but it is quite an undertaking, especially when you are working full time and taking care of twins.  Hang in there with us though.  It won’t be long!