HALLOWEEN
Normally, everyone comes to Shane's (guess our house now) and passes out candy b/c we live on a street with lots of trick or treaters. But this year, we decided not to have anyone here b/c we were afraid of all the germs getting into the house and Timber getting sick. This was our pic last year!! And a pic from a Halloween party this year.
Baby Timber was a sock monkey...even though just she and I stayed at home and didn't get to show everyone how cute she was!!
EADE LOVE is here!!!
My twin sister, Trina, had her baby Nov. 8! She's perfect!! So very sweet!! And is dark complected! She looked so big but only weighed 6 lb 13 oz. Her hands and feet are already as big as Timber's though! I was really scared she'd be as big as Timber is now, but comparing the two, Timber definately has come further than I notice many days!!
We're super excited for Timber to have another buddy to be close to! I hope I can keep them together some days so they'll be close to our cousin, Jennifer, like we were!! Here's a pic of us 3!
Timber turns 2 months old (5 months actual, 2 months adjusted)
And the fear lives on!! :(
Still reading a lot on blogs with people who have situations similar to ours. Not that our situation hasn't been tough, but reading them sure makes you thankful! I found one blog where the mother had triplets, lost one soon after delivery, one a month into the NICU and the other had severe disabilites and many, many doctor's appointments and surgeries! Ouch! I've found many with twin to twin transfusion and many where one twin has also not made it. I guess this is like my therapy?? I'm not sure why I'm so intrigued by them, but I literally spend hours each day reading!
Looking into all of it, makes me very scared to that we are not out of the clear. I read that you can do reflex test on babies very early on and often times any neurological problems can be detected. So, I grabbed Timber and did them ALL!! It seems as though she's doing everything normal. Her head/brain ultrasounds came back normal (Tinley's had continued to get worse, we had a grade 3 bleed on one side and grade 4 on the other the day she passed away and they were doing another one Monday to see if the bleeding had gotten worse). Timber's MRI the day we left the hospital also came back normal. So, I feel there's a good chance, she'll be a typical little girl! I guess there's always the "what ifs". I read that babies with IUGR (inner uterine growth restriction) and TTTS (twin to twin transfusion syndrome) have an increased risk for neurological disabilities-like CP. Many people tell me not to worry, that everything will be fine-but they don't see everything I do either! With my job, we have many kids with disabilities, so it's very real to me. Most people don't know of many disabled kids or see the severity that I do-so it's like it doesn't exist to them. Even with Eade now being here, I'm scared that she'll do things before Timber and that I'll become very frustrated! I know, it seems silly to many, but it's very real.
Frustrations, frustrations!!!
More fun news....MANY medical companies are seriously screwed up!!! I can't begin to even go into detail on all the billing/insurance/authorizations/ etc that we've had to deal with. Hours and hours!! And things still aren't correct!! If you've ever had any hospital stay, you probably know, you don't only receive one hospital bill. There are labs, xrays, ultrasounds, specialists, physician's billing, etc and for some reason NO ONE can seem to get it right!! Maybe it's because we had so many and 2 babies with the same birthdays, hospital days, policy numbers etc, but it seriously stinks!! A warning to anyone that goes through anything like this.....keep everything!! Every phone call you make, who you spoke to, what date it was, how the issue was going to be resolved, everything!! We had a company, The Pathology Group, that I received a bill for several thousand dollars for Timber's lab-first they said we didn't have insurance to pay in full immediately, after I called and corrected everything they were "sending to insurance", sent me ANOTHER bill that was DUE IMMEDIATELY, called and corrected it AGAIN-this time they didn't have Timber's name spelled correctly (which wasn't the truth!), and it AGAIN was suppose to be corrected and sent to insurance. I call insurance and they'd never received anything!! A few days later.....21 collection letters in the mail!!! UGHHHH-I wanted to call In Your Corner and send a letter to Mercy reporting them! I still plan on sending a letter to Mercy just so they know the pain of the company they chose to do their lab!!
Collection letters!!! All 21 of them!!
All of our EOBs from Blue Cross
Folders sorted by the medical companies that bill us!!
Sweet Baby Timber
Timber has been doing great!! She wasn't feeling too great, so I took her to the doctor about a week and a half ago-she had a cold and ear infection. She weighed 9lbs 9.5 oz then dropped to 9lbs 8 oz . We've been going in once a month and getting RSV shots-it's a virus preemies and sick people catch very easily and can result in very, very sick-hospitalized babies!! We have to be extra careful the next few months, as RSV and FLU season are now here! :(
She's really started to develop a personality and been smiling and interacting more the past 4-5 days!! We love it!! BIG smiles and lots of fun!!! She rolled over 11/3 and several times over those days, but hasn't since then!! Since she was sick, we didn't do much tummy time though...just lots of snuggles!! We've changed her feeding schedule to every 4 hours-which seems to help her reflux some. Not sure why, maybe more time to digest-but it's definitely helping! She's also eating much more-she was at 70 ccs, then went to 90 and now up to 120 for some feedings!! She's been sleeping in her bed and sleeping all night!! Baby Wise....I swear by that book!! I've still been reading to Timber every night too-I think the bedtime routine is the best thing ever!! Her favorite books are: Good Night Moon, If I Could Keep You Little, I Love You Through and Through, Brown Bear, and now we love The Night Before Christmas!!
Shane and I went to bedlam this past weekend and Timber stayed at my dad and Tammy's for the first time!! She did really good...she's such an easy baby!!
Tatum, Eade, my dad, Timber, my brother Keith, Ruffin and my nephew Cash
Timber and Eade's first Thanksgiving
Izzy, Timber and Addie (Timber's cousin that's 5 months older)
Our first family Thanksgiving
Papa Dean, Gammie and Timber
LAST BUT NOT LEAST!! A COMPARISON PIC!
Sept 10 vs. Today!! We've come a LONG way!!!
