One-Year Adjusted Stats (by Meghan)

***NOTE***  
Meg began writing this post a month and a half ago and we're finally getting some time to finish it.


November 4th marked a very important day for our little ladies.  As of now, they are one year adjusted. At this point last year, we had 11-week-old preemies who were just passing their due dates. Sophie and Maddy were at home and Izzy still had a tough road ahead in the NICU with 1.5 months out of her 4.5 month stay remaining.

Today, you'd almost never know our girls were preemies, except for some delays in milestones. So, let's get down to the stats!




Sophia:
Weight: 23 lbs., 75th percentile
Height: 30.5 in., 85th percentile

Our little spitfire is getting faster each day. She walks everywhere and climbs on everything. Falling off is no problem her her.  Usually, she just gets up and tries again. She says baba, mama, dada and a whole bunch of other sounds. She's learning to sign.  Currently, she waves hello and goodbye, signs "all done" when she's done eating, shows "so big", and holds up her pointer finger when you ask her how old she is. She is also learning the names of many objects.  She knows who dada and mama are as well as the words ball, piggy, kitty, baba, book, and the phrase "turn the page."  Every day brings new learning!



She already loves shoes.  I think I need to find her a new passion, like cleaning the dishes.




Definitely the most jealous of the three, so far


Has huge smiles!



Madelyn:
Weight:  21 1bs., 50th percentile
Height: 30 in.,  80th percentile

Maddy is growing and learning every day, too. The therapists working with Maddy believe she has sensory processing disorder (SPD).  Because sensory processing issues are part of autism spectrum disorders we've been very worried about her.  The pediatrician was also concerned when we shared our observations of her behavior at home.  He advised that if she didn't start "coming out of her world" a bit more by the time she was 18 months adjusted, then we would start to worry about the autism spectrum.  Although kids with autism spectrum disorders have SPD, kids can also have SPD and not be autistic. Preemies with NICU experiences have increased risk of having a sensory disorder.

The great news is that over the last few months since our one-year check-up at the pediatrician, Maddy seems to be doing a lot better. She's not yet communicating with gestures like waving, but she is starting to communicate her needs and wants to us through crying.  She's also showing a much greater interest in being near us. Earlier, she would play for hours and never notice if we were in the room. She wouldn't look when we called her name.  Now if we're in the room, she sees us, drops her toy immediately, and makes a B-line toward our legs. This is great news and leads us to believe she does not have an autism spectrum disorder just a sensory processing issue.

Maddy had her re-evaluation for developmental therapy last week at which time it was determined she could benefit from adding this to her weekly routine. So now she gets speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and developmental therapy. As you can imagine we're busy, busy, busy!

Another celebration for Maddy is that she's walking! At just 12 months adjusted, two of our little ladies are walking. I still can't believe it sometimes!  Although she's not as stable as Miss Sophie yet, she's practicing all the time and getting better every day. She is so cute.  I often hear her giggling as she's taking steps and trying to keep her balance. :)

Funny, I thought she was going to have blue eyes


Since they're the only ones walking right now, Maddy and Sophie have a blast playing together, especially when they're playing "I get you!" and chasing each other around the room


By the way, we've since moved up to the big bathtub in our bathroom





Isabelle:
Weight: 20 1bs., 35th percentile
Height: 28 in., 15th percentile

Izzy has made leaps and bounds since our last post. She's crawling, pulling to stand, and cruising on the furniture!  Just a few weeks ago, she wasn't crawling yet and look at her today. Every time she pulls herself up she looks to us for celebration, so now we're clapping all the time.

Although physically she's a bit behind, her cognitive development is right on track.  She's waving hello and goodbye and clapping and she's starting to match words to objects like mama, dada, and kitty.

Such a pretty lady








I can't remember what I said, but it sure was funny




Also, we have had lots of small graduations recently and they're definitely worth celebrating!

1. We packed up the bottles and Sophie and Maddy are using bottles.
2. Izzy is off of oxygen! Yahoo!
3. The cranial bands are done as of this week and they made a huge difference for both girls. 
4. Maddy and Sophie are self-feeding regular table foods.
5. We're down to one nap.
6. Did I say two out of the three are walking already? :)
7. Maddy is done with reflux and reflux medicine!

Until next time...

Where Are They Now? Part 1--Sophie (by Meghan)

So sorry our posts have been few and far between! Hopefully, this week we'll catch you up on our little ones and you'll know why we've been so busy that finding time to write seems impossible! We had originally written this post as one, but it was so long we decided to break it up into separate posts. So for today the focus is dear, sweet, beautiful, crazy-lady Sophie. We had our 9-month well check at the pediatrician about a week ago and all in all three girls are growing, growing, growing!



Initially weighing in at 2 lbs. 15 oz. and 15.5 in., she was less than 3% on the charts. Last week she weighed in at 20 lbs. 3 oz., 75% for her age. Her most recent height, 27.5 in., is 40% for her age. She's taking us into a new, unknown horizon of parenting. Not only is she growing, but she's cruising through her milestones as well. As of today, she's crawling. About a week ago she started crawling, but it wasn't fast or purposeful. Now, she is a woman with a mission, which usually involves getting close enough to Izzy to play with the IV pole or any of her tubes as well as the play station as many of you witnessed. She's trying to walk already too, frequently getting into a downward dog position and attempting to pull herself up on everything. She's not quite strong enough yet, but I can tell it's around the corner and I'm scared! :)We finally started some serious baby proofing this weekend. Our living room is now equipped with a square gated area we like to call "Baby Jail" and a gate between the living room and the kitchen. We've got a lot more to do. Any advice about this stage or baby proofing must haves from other parents out there is gladly welcomed!

As you may guess from this behavior, Sophie is our crazy lady. She is out of control all of the time and I love it! If we take to long to feed her she arches and screams and fusses until she gets her way and she's back on the floor playing. If we walk away, she cries and cries until she sees us come back into view. During the crazy evening hours, when the others are relaxing and watching Baby Einstein, Sophie would like to be doing anything but. She wants to be with us, doing what we're doing. Part of whatever is happening with mom and dad. So she helps do dishes in the baby Bjorn, sits by me in a highchair and eats fruit or puffs while I talk to her. She is a high maintenance momma, but I just love her curiosity and the aggressive way she goes about life.  I can only imagine what life will be like with her in the stage where they're mobile, but not listening to the word "no."  Please pray for our survival because if it comes down to us or Sophie, my money is on her :)

Her talking is sounding more and more like talking every day, but she doesn't have any words yet. She recently had her first two teeth pop through and a few others feel as though they'll be close behind. She also recently started mimicking me. I'll do something then say, "You do it." Then she does it too and laughs. Then if she catches my eye later she'll smile and do it again with a look that says, "Hey Mom! Look! I can do it!" I smile and clap and she laughs and laughs. It is amazing to start to feel like we're communicating. So soon they're going to start understanding bits and pieces of what we say. I know all kids do it, but I never imagined my babies who almost died and were so small at birth would get this far. Each day is becoming more and more fun as well as more and more exhausting!

We attached lots of pics so you can see how she's growing.  We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.  Check back in a couple of days for updates on Maddy and Izzy.

We decided we'd start with a "Where They Came From" photo of each girl.






Sophie, trying out the "quad" table we picked up on CL.




Getting ready for a day at the beach!


Strawberries are her new favorite fruit.  Can't you just feel the intensity in her eyes?


She finds ways to keep herself busy until the next strawberry is loaded.



"Why yes, you can tempt me away from sucking on this plastic bar for another strawberry."


She was practicing for her rehearsal as Spiderman.  She was really into the part.






Even superstars get cranky from time to time.


Oh, how they're so easily distracted at this age.



Notice anything "wrong" with this picture?


Believe it or not, she was actually extremely angry that we wouldn't let her play with her poop.


And to top it off, the cat took advantage of all the confusion and helped herself to some of my sandwich.

A Well Deserved update to an update (by Meghan)

As many posts go these days, I wrote this one weeks ago.  So, now I'm re-reading and updating our update. Such is life in the DeBauche household these days! :)

They are growing every day! We just went to the doctor's last Friday.  Izzy weighed 8 lb 4 oz, Maddy weighed 10 lb 15 oz, and Sophie weighed 12 lb 2 oz.  They are all making progress on the growth charts for weight and height.  Sophia just crossed the line to get into the bottom section (between 3% and 10%).  Maddy and Izzy are moving closer and closer with each check in, but they're not on the chart yet.

Our biggest obstacle right now is Maddy's reflux.  We started what seemed to be a wonder drug for her: Reglan.  We had a different baby for a few days.  One who wasn't in torture after every feeding.  Unfortunately, it seems we just traded one problem for another because now her constipation is so extreme she cries all the time and spits up over and over again because she's pushing so hard.  We decided to see if maybe she had a milk allergy so we decided to put her on Izzy's formula (hypoallergenic) for a bit.  Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be much better. We're going to take her to a GI doc soon so maybe we can get that happy baby back sooner than if we just wait for her to grow out of the reflux. Our pediatrician said she could grow out of it as early as six months adjusted (3.5 months from now), or it could last as long as a year.  She is so tortured by it, I'm really hoping it goes away sooner rather than later.  Even that three and a half months seems unbearable.

All of the girls are smiling more and more every day although Sophie's the smiley-est by far. Izzy and Sophia are starting to bat at their toys. And, on Saturday, Sophia surprised us all.  She rolled over!  We were just hanging out like any other day and all of a sudden she was on her back.  We didn't really see it the first time, but we caught most of the second time on video.  The PT told us they need 60 minutes/day of tummy time.  I'm not sure how that's going to happen if she knows how to get out of it as soon as we get her onto the mat!  Maddy doesn't have much alert time that's not crying, but if she did I think she'd be smiling more and doing some of the things the other two are doing.  For now, we just have to hold her and give her lots of love.  Jeremy took some video of them hanging out together on the mat while Maddy was feeling well and somehow I caught her smiling.  Check it out!

Meghan




Maddy, trying the win the "Who can nap the longest competition?"



Sophia, being Sophia


Is this Sophia or Isabelle?


Sophia, being quite the little narcissist.  She thoroughly enjoys looking at herself in the mirror.  She's been doing this a lot lately and just loves the face she sees looking back at her.




Sophia on Christmas morning.  She was exhausted from staying up late to catch a peek at Santa.


Sophie


Sophie


Maddy




We just got about eight inches of snow late last week.  The day before it snowed, it was 55 degrees.  I packed up the girls and took them for a walk.  It was the first time we did it all together and the first time we got to fill up the Peg Perego Triplette SW.  They were all cuddled in with their Wubbanubs and enjoyed getting out of the family room.

Izzy


Maddy


Sophie



Maddy's been fighting severe constipation and reflux, but lately, she's been smiling a ton more!