6-Month Checkup and Illness

Well, first thing's first, the girls had their 6-month checkup today. All is well. Here are the stats:

Frances
Weight: 17 lbs. 13 oz. (80th percentile)
Length: 27 inches (90th percentile)
Head: 43 1/2 cm (a bit above the 75th percentile)

Grace
Weight: 17 lbs. 15 1/2 oz. (80th percentile)
Length: 26 1/4 inches (70th percentile)
Head: 44 cm (80th percentile)

I honestly think they'd be weighing a bit more, but we all lost some weight after a recent bout with stomach illness (see below). They received their 6-month rounds of vaccinations as well as the flu shot. We also have to schedule an appointment for hearing screening. They passed it before they left the NICU. But I guess the state of Maryland requires that they get tested again before a year old, simply because they were in the NICU and received antibiotics in their first 24-hours of life. So I gotta schedule that. Their next pediatrician appointment is at 9 months. (Nine months... I can't even imagine!? Time is flying by!)

Some developmental things to note this past week:

• Grace and Frances both have their bottom two teeth coming in. Grace's have completely broken through, and Frances has one that has broken through and one simmering just under the gums. Yay! At least this explains the hours and hours of screaming. I'm hoping that subsequent teeth will break through sans as much drama. Please!!!
• Also, we were reading "I am a bunny" - well we don't actually "read" it, we just say "where's the bunny?" and point to it each time. This time Grace pasted her slimey hands on the bunny. We thought it was a fluke, that she was just favoring the left side of the book, but when the bunny was on the opposite page, she was slapping her slimey hand right on him. Frances loves to "turn the page" when we read books. Everyday they are changing. So cute!

Last week was our first experience with a full family stomach virus. We've had the full family cold before, but this really sucked. It hit me at work. Richard had felt sick almost at about the same time I did - but at least he was working from home since his office was closed due to weather. So about a 1/2 hour after Richard and I had complained about our symptoms - he calls me at work and puts the nanny on the phone. She says that Grace and Frances are throwing up and have fevers. Initially Richard and I thought it was food related - at this point, we realize that since the babies are sick too, it's a virus. My co-worker had been out sick for two days with the same symptoms. So yea, I brought it home - nice mommy! Doh!

Anywho, I had to leave work a 1/2 hour early. And SOOO glad I did because the full force of the illness pretty much hit as soon as I walked in the door. Grace wasn't keeping ANYTHING down. Frances and Richard were faring a bit better than Grace and I. Richard had to take Grace to the ER. But they told him, just to keep trying to give her pedialyte - and hopefully she keeps it down - if she doesn't, then we have to worry about dehydration. By night time they each got about 2 ounces they kept down. I was in the same boat. And with the fever and aches and pains. Blah! We all felt like we'd been hit by trucks the next day. Richard and I called off work. But, as my mom says, "there are no sick days for parents." And believe me being sick and taking care of two sick babies - not a walk in the park. The nanny was with us, which helped immensely since we were definitely NOT functioning at 100%. Case in point, I was so weak, dizzy and distracted, that I FELL down the stairs. Seriously. What the heck? I was sooo pissed at myself. Thank GOD I did not break anything. Disaster. So as you can imagine, I'm still feeling a bit sore, but the stomach bug was gone for me by Saturday evening, as well as 4 pounds of weight! Seriously, gotta work on replenishing those fluids! The rest of the family felt pretty okay by Friday evening. And no, the nanny is not sick, she's super human.

Well, that's all for now. Stay tuned...