Keeping up with the Schultzes: 5 Months

Our 5 month started with a trip to a GI Dr to discuss Lyla & Nixon's acid reflux. We were able to get their measurements at this vist:

Lyla's 5 Month Measurements:

Weight:16 lbs 14.55oz (79%)

Height: 25.5 In (60%)

Head Circ: 45.1 cm/ 17.76 in (99%)

Nixon's 5 Month Measurements:

Weight: 16 lbs 4.32 oz (69%)

Height: 63.5 cm/ 25 in (38th%)

Head Circ: 43.4 cm/ 17.09in (93%)

Ready for our Dr appt

Lyla ready for her GI appt

Nixon posing for the camera

Nixon already messing with Big Sister!!

The Dr. appointment went well, maybe too well. The Dr. spent a lot of time discussing what we had done so far to alleviate the symptoms, what our concerns were, what the issues were and continue to be. At the end of a LOT of talking, the end result was both good and bad...

Good: the girls seem to be very normal babies and the spitting up should resolve itself by their first birthday.

Bad: The spitting up will likely continue until their first birthday. Ugh.

Papa posing at the Dr with Lyla.

Nixon bored by her Dr appt.

He wasn't overly concerned with the quantity the girls were spitting up and felt like the Prilosec was working well, so we will continue to use it and change only if symptoms reappear. When I asked about solids, he said it was important to start babies with spit up and history of reflux on rice cereal first since its the best "trial food". Meaning, its not harsh to babies sensitive tummies and it can be added to bottles and increased in quantity to achieve a thickness the babies can get used to. Also, it can weigh down formula or breast milk which will hopefully cut down on the amount of spit up we have. FINGERS CROSSED!!

Sunday, August 3rd: we were sitting in church and I let Nixon suck on my finger while listening to the sermon and I felt something SHARP!! NIXON had a bright white tooth cap poking out of her gums!!! I couldn't believe it! I poked Trae and he felt it and we both grinned with shocked looked on our faces! Nixon seemed very proud, just smiling away.

Tuesday, August 5th: Claire and Trae see ANOTHER tooth popping out, next to the tooth that had already made its appearance. Nixon now has 2 middle bottom teeth poking out of her gums. They look SO cute when she smiles her big grin but WOW they are so sharp and she wants to suck/ chew on your fingers all the time. She shows no interest in sucking/biting on Sophie, pacifiers, chewing toys, nothing. I have tried freezing washcloths and that works for a few minutes, but nothing long term. Just fingers.

Thursday, August 7th: Lyla joined the party and has a single bottom tooth starting to pop out of her lower gums. She sucks on pacifiers and chews on her fingers and seems content.

Playing at the YMCA kids center while Mommy works out

Lyla and Nixon are SO fun these days. Despite most people thinking they are identical, which we think is hilarious because they look so different to us, their personalities are SO different:

Lyla is so patient with Mama, Papa and sister. She doesn't mind keeping herself busy by playing with her feet, toys we give her, putting herself to sleep while we tend to Nixon. As long as she isn't hungry and has a pacifier.. she is good. She LOVES when you sing to her and is the happiest baby I have ever known. She will give you a gummy smile at the drop of a hat and will even give you a raspy Lyla-laugh if she hears you laughing. She is starting to look just like mama did when she was a baby and I even see myself in her in some of her many facial expressions. When tired, if she hears sister crying, she will start crying too.. so I think she will be very empathetic and sensitive.. also very much like her mama. Lyla is very vocal.. she talks a LOT and even lets out these high pitched squeals that sound like a dinosaur. It makes us laugh and she likes that.

Nixon is our firecracker. She wants it her way and she will let you know it! She is very independent wanting to sit up or stand up on her own and she gets frustrated when she is laying down on her back- she will immediately start rolling over and then gets frustrated she can't move when on her tummy. She wants to be held ALL the time, but likes her Bumbo seat where she can sit up straight and also likes her swing. I invested in the Podee bottle system which allows the baby's to feed themselves with a straw into their bottle and a nipple that attaches to the straw that they can hold in their mouth. Nixon LOVES this and so does Mama.

Terwelp Appt:

We weren't scheduled for a Pediatrician appointment until 6 months, but I had noticed Lyla's soft spot being slightly raised, so I called Dr Terwelp before we left to go out of town. Sweet Lyla has always had a big head, she takes after her Momma in that sense. There isn't a hat that fits my head unless it's either specially made or an adjustable cap. This was different, though. The soft spot seemed like it was bulging a little. I had been monitoring it for a few weeks and while I didn't think it was getting a lot worse, it wasn't getting better, either. I called the doctor and he wanted to see her before we left time "just to make sure."
At the appointment, he took a measurement of her head and decided that at the fast rate it was growing, PLUS the soft spot bulge, that it would be safest to have a head ultrasound to rule out hydrocephalus or a brain tumor. After hearing those 3 words HYDROCEPHALUS, BRAIN TUMOR.. it was if our world was stopping all over again. Trae and I got wide eyed and were silently panicking as Dr Terwelp told us not to leave town until we had the ultrasound results and that we should go to the doctor closest to Dell Childrens Hospital "just in case". WHAT?!
Lyla was completely oblivious, obviously.. giggling as she bounced on my knee. Our car was packed, we were on our way to the beach with Milton and Sharon already there waiting for us and we were having visions of our little girl being admitted to the hospital.
To make matters worse, the ultrasound tech was running behind and we couldn't get in for a couple hours. My Mama Bear hat went on and I told Trae to drive directly over to the ultrasound place.. I would handle this. We arrived at SFC (Specially for Children) Neurology.. the same Doctor's office we went to when getting a consult on the boys' head scan (ENTER PTSD MOMENT). I walked to the receptionist while Trae sat down with the girls and calmly told her about the last time Trae and I stepped foot in their office and why it was imperative for us to be seen immediately.

The receptionist got us back in 10 minutes. Thank GOD.

Lyla during her head ultrasound

Little Lyla did great for her ultrasound, smiling away the whole time. The tech was very thorough, taking lots of pictures. Poor Trae was sweating bullets in the waiting room with Nixon, but I was sending him texts the whole time reassuring him Lyla was doing well.

We changed the girls diapers and headed to the car to drive around the parking lot to put the girls' to sleep until we heard from the doctor. As we were loading the car, we got the call from our nurse stating that everything was clear- nothing but a big 'ol healthy head for our girl!

AMEN!!! Trae and I shed happy tears as our girls nodded to sleep and we hit the road to Port Aransas.

SO glad to be healthy, happy and on our way to the beach!

PORT A TRIP

We took the girls to the beach for the 1st time this month! What we learned: traveling with babies requires a lot of work and a lot of STUFF.
The drive there (and back) were the longest road trips the girls had taken to date and they did great! I had to sit in the back with them almost the whole way to keep them company/play games/sing to them/ feed them, but we only stopped once for gas and the girls stayed in their car seats the entire time. Nixon got pretty impatient towards the end of our trip, when I learned that "I am Henry the 8th I am" calmed her down quickly. A random song that works well... and gets old after the "18th verse, same as the 1st!"

We had a great time. Milton and Sharon rented a condo next to the one we rented from Trae's Uncle and Aunt, which meant we had extra hands so everyone could get a little relaxation in while on our trip while toting the girls around with us.

We took the girls into the pool the first day in shaded pool floats to protect them from the sun. They liked kicking their feet in the water and leaning back in the warm water, but the sun was SO hot and tired them out quickly. The second day we took the girls to the beach. I was so worried the girls would get sunburned, so we had 2 beach umbrellas, the girls in an inflatable baby pool with sun visor and the girls slathered in sunscreen with sun hats on. This mama was NOT letting her babies burn!
The girls liked sitting in the ocean - the water was so warm we think it might have been like bath water and they LOVE bath time! We let them stand in the sand and Nixon got super excited feeling the wet sand between her toes- she flapped her arms and squealed. It was fun to watch.