A long overdue update

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I last updated. The days and weeks just seem to fly by and I don't have much to say any more.

Currently our main issues are with ears. In my last update, Joe's right eardrum has perforated. A couple of weeks later, on the same day both Joe and Harry's left ears perforated so were once again on antibiotics, and after a horrible night with Joe last night, his left eardrum has perforated again today and he is back on medicine to treat it.

I feel so sorry for him. He was obviously in lots of pain and was finding it difficult to feed and sleep but as soon as it popped the crying stopped. The discharge was much more bloody this time and the dr couldn't really get a good look as there was too much pus in there. If it happens again Joe will be referred to an ENT specialist who will investigate things a bit more thoroughly.

Today was the babies follow-up with the pediatricians to assess how they are doing generally. They were so, so good, especially Joe who was uncomfortable with his ears and has a cold. They were both smiley and happy and showed everyone how wonderful twins are. They were a real credit. It was especially nice as it was one of the nurses from NICU doing the clinic, not one of my favourites, but it was lovely to be able to show how well they have done.

The doctor seemed very pleased with how happy and content the babies are but confirmed our suspicions that all is not perfect with Harry. There is some degree of hypertonia which is high muscle tone which basically means that he is very stiff and doesn't bend his torso easily. We noticed this almost as soon as we were discharged from the hospital and I may even have mentioned it on here before. Positive signs are that he doesn't keep his fists clenched all the time and is able to get his hands to his mouth. He and Joe will both he assessed fully in a couple of weeks by the Child Development Team who will give us exercises and advice on the best way to get him moving. Harry also is being referred for a hip scan as he was breech when he was born. The dr thought he felt his left hip clicking a bit so just wants it checked out.

A referral to the dietician was talked about but I want to hold off on that for a while to see if practice will help him improve his eating. At the moment he is unable to move food from the front of his mouth to the back so he can swallow it and instead he just lets it all dribble out of his mouth which makes for lots of mess and frustration.

Joe is doing okay, although very obviously delayed. He is also able to get his hands in his mouth and likes to suck on his thumb now but is not even close to being able to roll over.

The children go back to school on Wednesday so hopefully our life will get back into some kind of routine.