The Kids Are Alright!

Tummy time turned into nap time.

The good news is the kids are alright. Today Clara and Wilson were evaluated by the neonatologists to see if they qualified for physical and/or occupational therapy offered through an early intervention program called First Steps. Amazingly, Clara and Wilson did not qualify. This is by no means a long-term diagnosis, but it is still awesome news!!! Clara and Wilson will be re-evaluated every few months for developmental delays, but they passed their first test.  

Since we last updated the blog, quite a few things have happened. One of our biggest accomplishments was hiring someone to take care of Clara and Wilson when Chris goes back to work. The doctors will not let Clara and Wilson go to day care because of their weak immune systems and decreased ability to fight infection. Unless Morgan wanted to become "Mr. Mom," that meant hiring someone to come to our house. The woman we hired is incredibly nice and has experience taking care of twins . . . which means she knows what she is getting into. Clara and Wilson are probably glad someone is taking over who knows what they're doing.

Clara watching Morgan sing and dance to music in her room.

Last week was also sort of an emotional week for us. Two of our close friends from law school gave birth to twins at 31 weeks. (Thank goodness everyone is doing wonderfully and it appears they will not be in the NICU too long. Hopefully we'll soon have pictures of the four of them playing together. Please keep them in your prayers). We also were asked to be the Ambassador Family at a fundraising dinner sponsored by the March of Dimes. There was a video presentation of our family and we addressed the roughly 400-500 people in attendance to tell them our story. Watching friends enter the NICU and talking at the March of Dimes dinner forced us to confront parts of our experience we don't frequently revisit. It is easier to think about those things while holding two screaming beautiful children, but it also revealed those wounds are not completely healed.

Last week also marked one year since we lost Morgan's Grandpa. Those of you who knew Grandpa knew how close he and Morgan were and knew how much he wanted a great grandson (he had eight great granddaughters). On Saturday, one year after he passed away, we took Wilson to meet the man for whom he was named.

    

On a much happier note, Clara and Wilson are five months old today!!! Wilson weighs 9 lbs, 10.5 ozs and Clara weighs 8 lbs, 3.5 ozs. They are smiling at us more every day and continue to notice more of the world around them. Wilson loves to look at any light fixture and Clara usually tries to find out who is in the room if she hears another voice. 

Wilson is going to hate us some day for tying the bow!

We will continue updating the blog as we get into the holidays. We might also have some "guest blogger" appearances in the near future. One of Chris' best friends from college, Christen Terry - widely known as "CT",  is coming into town tomorrow to help Chris take care of the kids until Wednesday. Morgan and CT were also good friends in college and hilarity always ensues when the three of us get together. Throw two infants into the mix and we have no doubt the next few days will be fun. Sure, it might be the last time CT comes to visit, but at least she has agreed to blog about the experience.

Chris, Morgan, and CT at a concert two weeks before Chris' water broke.
Things will be a little different this trip.