Sunday, August 31, 2008

Where did the time go???




The babies turned 3 months on Friday. I can't believe they've already been here that long. It feels like we were at the hospital just yesterday! Here's some pictures from their 3 month birthday. In birth order, Katie, Seamus, and Helena. Yep, that is Pat sleeping in the background of Seamus's picture!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Baptism Day


Seamus with his Godparents Robin and Tim Murphy









Katie with her Godparents Kathy Trakul and Steve Huddas











Helena with her Godparents Becca Hycki and Mike Huddas



On Sunday the babies were baptized at St. Nick's. We had it done after the 11am mass so that all of our family and friends would be able to participate. With three babies being baptized at once and three sets of Godparents it was a little crowded but we made it work. After the ceremony we had a luncheon in the church hall. For a lot of our friends and family it was the first time that they were seeing the babies in person so it was kind of exciting to see everyone's reactions. The entire day turned out awesome! The generosity and kindness of our family never ceases to amaze me. We love you all!



This picture is of the babies recovering from their big party. (L to R Katie, Helena, Seamus)
It took them almost all of the next day to recoup. I think Pat and I may still be!!!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Physical Therapy

This past week Katie and Seamus started their physical therapy. It's been weird taking babies that are less than 3 months old to be stretched and worked with. Katie started her's first, she had her evaluation on Monday and went on Tuesday and Thursday to be worked on. Her neck problems were worse than Seamus's so we were happy that she started her therapy so soon. Seamus was evaluated on Tuesday and went for his first session on Thursday. Pat and I can already see a difference in the way the babies hold their heads and turn their necks from side to side. It's been tough working with them the first couple of days because they cry when we make them do their stretches. It takes both of us to do them properly so at least we don't feel like it's just one of us being the bad guy. Tummy time is getting easier though. They don't seem to mind being on their stomachs as much. All three of them are able to roll over now so that helps too. Helena's been a real trooper as we've dragged her to all of these appointments. She doesn't have to go to therapy but comes with us anyway since both Pat and I are there. We've talked to their therapists about helmets and it's looking like they will most likely need them to correct their head shapes after all. In the next week or so we will know for sure. Well, it's been a long day- we went to Drew's first birthday party (pictures to come...) and tomorrow is the babies baptism so that's all for now. Hopefully we'll get some good pictures tomorrow and get them posted asap!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

It's been a week since I posted anything so I thought I better put something up before I start to seriously slack! We've had a pretty good week around here. It's getting closer to Pat and I going back to work so we've been trying to cram as many little outings as we can into our days. We've gone shopping a few times, taken some good long walks, visited with some of Pat's family, and hung out at home. On Friday we all went to see my former golf team at Sycamore Hills. They had their first match and we wanted to wish them luck. All of the girls really loved seeing the babies and I was happy to be there to see the progress that they are making with their new coach. I still miss it sometimes but there was no way I could still have coached with 3 babies. After that we went to Aunt Becca's to have some bottles and went with her, John, and the boys to the Armada Fair. Drew is walking now so it was fun to see him interact with the babies. He couldn't get enough of staring at Seamus and trying to touch him. We're a spectacle everywhere we go and Clay thought it was his job to yell at people who came up to us to see the babies. He kept telling them "Don't Touch!" It was really funny!
Yesterday Pat and I went out for the first time by ourselves. My mom, Stephen, and Melanie came over to babysit. My dad was supposed to be there but he somehow got into some poison ivy, again! I swear that stuff is like a magnet to him. We went to Christina and Jeff McEvoy's wedding. We ended up having a really good time and only called home once. For a while there though I wasn't sure we were going to make it. I think between the two of us we must have checked what time it was about a million times. It's amazing what a little food and alcohol will do though. By the end of the night we were out dancing and almost felt like normal people again. Today we are all going to a soccer game if the weather cooperates. Pat and I are both playing on an outdoor league. None of us are very good but we have a good time. The picture I've attached is of the babies trying to act like big kids. From L to R is Helena, Katie, and Seamus. They're all hanging out in my lazy boy (chair stealers!). Seamus was very intent on staring at his fingers and couldn't be bothered to look at the camera!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Update

The babies went for their ultrasounds and x-rays on Wednesday and it's taken me until today to sit down and update this. It was quite the event! Pat was at Oakland Hills watching a practice round for the PGA championship so our friend Kathy came with me instead. We started with Katie going in for her hips ultrasound and she absolutely hated every minute of it. She cried pretty much from start to finish so I was expecting the worst when we got to Helena and Seamus. Kathy stayed out in the waiting room with the other 2 and Seamus was entertaining her while Helena slept. Luckily when we finished up with Katie one of the nurses took her back for her x-rays so we could continue on with our production line of ultrasounds. Both Seamus and Helena were great. Seamus was all smiles and flirting with the ultrasound tech while Helena continued to sleep through hers. Those of you who have been around Helena will know that when she's asleep is about the only time she's quiet so we got really lucky!
On Thursday afternoon we got the results back. Everything checked out fine with all of their hips so no side effects from crowding before they were born. Katie and Seamus's x-rays came back fine as well. No structural problems with their necks so now we get to start with physical therapy. Luckily, we found out that we'll be able to go to a rehab place only a mile or so from our house so that makes it very convenient. This coming Friday the 2 of them will go in for an evaluation at the therapist and then after that will each go twice a week for about 45 minutes a session. Hopefully they won't have to go for very long. It's my understanding that once they start to see some improvement then they have you work on the exercises at home on your own. The goal is still to try and avoid having to wear helmets so let's hope this goes well. We've been trying to make the babies do a couple of sessions of tummy time a day to try and help out too. They all absolutely hate it! Katie's the worst though, she's not very good at lifting her head up off the mat yet so she gets very frustrated! One good thing that's come from this tummy time is that both Helena and Seamus have rolled over! The pictures are from when Pat was missing all of the fun at the doctor. I'm still jealous!



Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Doctors, doctors everywhere as far as the eye can see...

Yesterday the babies had their 2 month checkup. It was quite an eventful day. On top of the typical check list that they run through with normal infants we had to go through a second list because they were preemies. All of the babies got the 2 month round of shots. What fun! 3 screaming babies not enough hands... Everyone is growing well. Katie now weighs 9 lbs 7 oz which puts her into the 10-25 percentile for a 2 month old in weight and is 20 and 1/2 inches long which puts her at the 3rd percentile for height. She had to go get her eyes checked at the ophthalmologist yesterday as well, as did all the babies. They had to check their retinal development which can sometimes lag behind in preemies. Everything looks good. She and Seamus will have to go for a recheck in 12 weeks to check their eye muscle development but so far no eye issues!! Helena doesn't have to go back at all. They all also have to go for an ultrasound tomorrow to check their hips. Anytime there's crowding before birth hip dysplasia can sometime be an issue. Let's hope that comes back ok too. Seamus and Katie will also have to have an x-ray of their cervical spine tomorrow. Both of them are having some issues with torticollis which basically means flattening of the head on one side. The x-ray is to make sure there is no reason structurally that it would be happening. Their pediatrician believes that it is most likely being caused by tight neck muscles which can again be due to crowding before birth. If this is the case they will start physical therapy to try and correct it. If that doesn't work they may end up having to wear helmets to try and correct their head shapes. Let's hope the therapy works!! Seamus weighs 10 lbs 9 oz which is the 25th percentile for weight and is 21 and 1/2 inches or at the 5th percentile for height. Helena weighs 8 lbs 13 oz and is at the 5-10 percentile for weight and is 20 and 1/4 inches long and in the 3rd percentile for length. All of the babies have almost doubled in weight since birth! Their height unfortunately they may have inherited from their parents. Oh well! You can get along just fine in life being short- you just need a stool!

On Sunday we actually had a chance to get out and go to the zoo. The family picture is at the fountain in the zoo. The babies pretty much slept through the whole trip but Pat and I loved it. The other pictures are Helena (in yellow), Katie (in white), and Seamus waving hello! We'll keep you posted on how the rest of the test results come back.


Saturday, August 2, 2008

Grandpa's retirement party







Yesterday was Grandpa Huddas's last day of work. He doesn't like to say he's retired, instead he refers to it as stopping working. Not quite sure what the difference is! Either way it won't last long since he'll be watching the babies once school starts up again. We all went up to Becca's house for a celebration bbq. Clay thought that since we were having cake that we should be singing happy birthday so he and Grandpa had to blow out candles. Drew thought it was hilarious! Pat decided to see how much bigger Drew's diapers were than the babies so he tried one on Katie. Needless to say it was almost as big as she was!! The babies celebrated by sleeping most of the time we were there. In the pictures Grandma's holding Katie, Grandpa's got Seamus, and Becca's got her Goddaughter Helena.