Happy Four Months, Babies!

Keith, Evelyn and Colin with Grammy a week ago

Today marks their four month anniversary, which we celebrated by going to the doctor's for a check-up and booster shots! Keith is 22 inches long, and weighs 13 lb 3 oz. Evelyn is also 22 inches long, and weighs 11 pounds 4 oz. Colin is 22.5 inches long, and weighs 13 pounds even. The doctor was really pleased with their progress, as are we!

In other news, this past Sunday was probably the most challenging day we've had since the babies came home. Colin was literally up and crying from 9am to 10pm. There was very little respite, and he was absolutely exhausted. He was screaming at every feed, demanded to be held at all times, and was obviously in serious discomfort. The new antacid medication we got from the doctor on Friday was doing nothing, and his shrieking was setting off the others. Not sure if it was sympathy crying, or if he was just keeping them up, but EVERYONE was crying, myself included. My parents came over in the bitter cold with Sunday dinner as per usual, and it was a much needed breath of fresh air. Things seemed a lot more reasonable and tolerable; a desperately needed shift in perspective. And a tasty meal, too!

On Saturday, we had described Colin's behaviour to Edward's father who is a GP. He surmised that the oat cereal we had given Colin on the gastroenterologist's orders may not be agreeing with him, and may in fact be making his reflux a lot worse. Many of the medical professionals we spoke with were a little surprised we had been told to start with oat, because babies tend to do better with rice as their first solid. We decided the stop the oat and start rice cereal immediately. We were losing hope on Sunday, as noted above, but kept the course. On Monday, Colin was a changed baby. He started sleeping better during the day, and settling a lot more easily. Today has been, well, amazing. We had a bit of an altered schedule due to the doctor's appointment, but the improvement has been nothing short of incredible. He still has reflux - he had a huuuuge spit up at the doctor's office - but the writhing and screaming has stopped almost completely, and more importantly he is sleeping in his crib (swaddled, which he seems to need) as I write this. We are so relieved, and hope that he will continue his transformation back into our Mr. Smiley!

The moral of our weekend: Thank GOD for our parents... I only hope that we can provide our little ones with the same amount of support and care.

Of course, the babies are still all up crying from 6 to about 9, but we can handle the fussiness that almost all babies seem to go through at that time! I've gotten quite adept at eating while rocking a carseat with one foot :P