The end of a long week of appointments....

Our second week of appointments is complete. We finally have 3 days of uninterrupted staying home. No trips into Manhattan, no traffic, no waiting rooms and no anxiety. I find myself really looking forward to this point in the week.

This week we had a hip ultrasound for Caleb on Tuesday. They wanted to check him to make sure his hips were not dislocated as well because they are twins and because Caleb was breech as well. Caleb was so good during the ultrasound (and mostly because he was pooping, but I will take it where I can get it) and thank God, his hips are fine.

The hip ultrasound for Caleb was followed by Owens third round of casts. We thought Owen would be getting his first real bath and we brought the camera and were all ready, but due to his belly button (a tiny piece had not fallen off) he had to have it buzzed off. He is such a good baby. He gets a little upset at the noise, but if we touch his face and head and give him the pacifier, he calms immediately. They buzzed off his casts and we were able to get a good look at his feet. Both Nick and I felt that there was good progress. I think the doctors are used to more progress, because they debated casting him again or waiting two weeks to allow us to do physical therapy to help stretch him. Because Nick and I saw a real difference, they casted him again. The foot that is called a vertical tallus or rockerbottom, was so different. When he was born, Nick described Owens foot as looking like his leg met his foot in the middle of his foot. Imagine an upside down T. Then picture his little round heel being in the middle of that upside down T. Now, his heel was far more towards the back of his foot and it looked like there was more foot in the front where it belongs. His clubbed foot is really severe. We saw some improvement where his toes were, with his toe nails up on the top of his foot instead of his foot being completely upside down. I felt like the docs were a little disappointed with the stiffness of his feet, but we feel like any improvement is good. We are not disillusioned, he will eventually need surgery, but the more conservative we can be with the treatment, the better we feel.

During the clubfoot appointment, we had our first hour of PT. Efi, our physical therapist seems great. She came down and moved Owen. One of the biggest challenges (so far) as his parents, is that we are a little afraid to move him. On the one hand they tell us, not to be afraid and on the other they tell us that he has not moved his bones in 7-8 months and that he is fragile. So we don't want to hurt him. But to see Efi moving his arms and stretching his knees a little, opening his hands up and turning his head, was great. He liked moving. He would cry a little but as soon as he was a little stretched, he looked at peace. I did some exercises with him today and Nick will do more tonight and we both feel good because we feel like we are helping him.

The only downfall about Tuesday is that we were at appointments from 9am and we got home at 7pm. It was a crazy day and it makes it hard to stick to the pumping, feeding schedule we are working on with the lactation consultant.

Wednesday brought more appointments. First, we had Owens hearing test. I am not thrilled to say that he did not pass. He then was given an inner ear test and he did not pass that either. So we have to go to a specialist and have another test done. I know he can hear out of the left ear and I know he can hear me. When I would walk into the the NICU and talk, he would immediately look for me. Now, when I speak to him, he looks for me. So, I am not sure if this is something that will resolve itself or not, but I hope it does. All we hear from the docs, as kind of a consolation prize is how smart "these" kids are. I don't need to start worrying about whether he will be able to communicate or have speech problems. We have the next hearing test on May 10.

Later that day, we had a hip ultrasound for Owen. As they told us from the beginning, his hips are dislocated. His left hip is completely out of the socket and his right is partially in and partially out. The radiologist kept saying "his hip is out of the socket for now" as if this could or would change. I asked him if that was possible and he told me it would be one of the goals. I am not sure how its possible since no one has mentioned it as of yet, but I will ask at next weeks cast appointment.

I had my own appointment today and I have to say, I love my OB/GYN, Dr. Amy Huang. She is just amazing. Throughout my hospital stay, she would come to my room when she was on rounds, sometimes at 3am to check on me. She would sit with me and talk about Owen and everything and hold my hand. She is amazing and I really appreciate all she did for us and her bedside manor during this whole experience.

Next weeks appointments include: early intervention, casting, physical therapy, occupational therapy for night splints for Owens hands, pediatrician and an appointment with the head of rehabilitation for the Children's Center at the Hospital for Joint Diseases who will oversee Owens OT and PT.

Besides the schedule of appointments, we are good. We look at Owen and he is so cute and so sweet and we look at Caleb and he is so cute and sweet and we are happy. We have good and bad days, crying, anger and the whole spectrum of emotions, but its OK. Gavin is great. Back to school and that is a great thing. Structure is Gavin's friend. He started playing soccer last week and he likes it. He is going to see How to Train a Dragon tomorrow with Nick and he is excited about that. He loves his brothers and kisses them 100 times a day. All in all, we feel we are doing everything we can for all of the boys.

I will update again next week! For now, we are just going to enjoy the weekend!