Three month appointment

Because Jake and Abby were born before 32 weeks gestation, they qualify to receive monthly shots this fall/winter to protect them against RSV, or Respiratory Syncytial Virus. You can read more about RSV, which is similar to a cold virus, here. RSV is the #1 cause of re-hospitalization in preemies, so we are doing everything we can to avoid it and not spend any more nights at CDH! This is the main reason we are super cautious about where we take the babies, the health of the people around them, hand sanitizing before you hold them, etc. The shots that they receive, called Synagis, can't prevent them from contracting RSV, but they can lessen the impact so if they do get it hopefully it's not as severe. It's no fun having to worry about germs all the time, but I am determined that we will make it to spring with no illnesses, so we're doing whatever we have to do to get there.

We went to the pediatrician this morning for the second of their Synagis shots, and they were pronounced in excellent health. Jake is up from his birth weight of 3lb 11oz to a CRAZY big 10lb 12oz! He moved up on the growth curve for his actual age of 3 months from the 2nd percentile to between the 5th and 6th percentile, which we were really excited about. Abby is up from her birth weight of 3lb 5oz to a petite but still growing-at-a-great-rate 8lb 2oz, and is also on the growth curve, albeit under the 1st percentile. The pediatrician was really happy about both of their gains. He even joked, "Not to be stereotypical, but if one is going to be small and one is going to be big, you probably want her to be the smaller one." Point taken! Remember how I said there is very little specific feedback in parenting? Thankfully, you get some from the pediatrician, and he said we're doing "an excellent job" and to "keep doing what we're doing". He has twins himself, so he knows what our lives our like right now, and he joked that he was very impressed to see us smiling and laughing. I was impressed with us too, given that I'm pretty sure last night was the first night that one of us was up AT ALL TIMES. Even so, I got one stretch of sleep that was close to three hours, and a venti Starbucks after our doctor's appointment, so I'm feeling pretty good today.

The funniest part of the day so far was when we ran in to my friend Allie on her way out of the pediatrician, and she literally caught me with my pants down. The baby weight is officially gone, and then some, so I need to start buying belts or smaller jeans, because even my pre-baby jeans are falling off me these days. Who knew that having twins was the most effective diet in the world?!