Musings at the four-week mark

Today is Monday, May 26, 2008. The twins will be four weeks old tomorrow, although gestationally they will just be full-term – 40 weeks. Although she’s still tiny (like a little China doll, said one admirer over this past weekend), Catherine has grown. Her face has filled out! We still can’t tell who looks like whom; Hazel (“Mimi” to the kids hopefully!) says that Bennett definitely is a dead ringer for Neil when he was a baby. I hope we’ll see some resemblance to me at some point!!!

We’re still dealing with Catherine’s acid reflux; she just can’t seem to get very comfortable. Neil had taken them to the pediatrician last Monday. This was a very unexpected appointment. Bennett’s umbilical cord site was bleeding and we were very concerned about Catherine’s reflux. The doctor prescribed a compounded baby-strength Prevacid. I had never purchased a compounded drug before, and I had to go to two pharmacies before finding one that would compound Prevacid. This is a very expensive venture; I think the total cost was $80, (Oh, but they delivered to the house!) Not sure how much of it insurance will pick up…The pharmacist masked the taste of the medication in a chocolate base, which Neil thought Catherine would like, but she HATES. Neil gives her a dropperful twice a day and it seems to be helping. She has to be held at as close to a 90 degree angle during her feeding and for the 30 minutes following a feeding. Anything closer to supine and she really spits up. Poor thing!

Bennett loves the swing, and is blissfully swaying in it at this moment. He’s at 90 mls per feeding right now which seems to be just the right amount. He loves to check out the mobile above and might even be noticing the mirror’s reflection. He continues to struggle with bad gas, despite the Gripe Water we dutifully drop into his bottle prior to feeding. His little face gets all red and he grunts as he’s trying to pass it through his system. Oh, but he hit the milestone yesterday of his umbilical cord falling off—or was it Saturday? Well, he can’t tell the difference, of course! He’s got an “innie,” and Cate’s got an “outie!”

Although Neil and I continue to be fascinated with these two, they don’t have much affect and are basically “little slices of meatloaf.” I believe they’re more interactive at three months? The books say that any semblance of a smile is purely coincidental at this time, but we like to think that they have something happy going on inside their heads.

Neil has realized that Bennett loves to hear the piano. The way he cocks his head and becomes more alert tells us that we’ll have a pianist in no time. (Not to mention, that both Cate and Ben have very long fingers!) When Neil was practicing his trumpet for his final concert last week—for the performance of the Bugler’s Holiday—the twins were NOT taking to the trumpet sound unfortunately, but we have brought them piano-side for a few little concerts. Catherine doesn’t seem to be as enamored of the keyboard but there’s hope yet.

Speaking of Neil’s concert…Shar and I undertook the Herculean task of bringing the babies to Neil’s final band concert last week. All along we hadn’t planned to attend the concert, but since this was Neil’s last concert, we thought it would be special to get them there. Bennett had a blowout diaper just as Shar and I needed to leave, so our departure was inevitably delayed. His diaper was so bad it necessitated a change of clothes. It took us nearly a full hour to reach Pearland (how do folks make that commute day in and day out?) and we were still needing food, so we stopped by Mickey D’s. By the time we reached the school, it was 6:15. Neil and Evie whisked us into a practice room, where I immediately found an outlet for my pump. Shar fed Cate and Mimi was on Ben duty. In record time, we had the kids fed and diapered (Ms. Cate had to take her turn with a blowout diaper of course just at that moment). We slipped into the back of the auditorium just as the honors band was beginning to warm up. After the first song, Neil announced that “for the first time ever, I’d like to welcome my newborn children, Cate and Ben, to tonight’s concert.” It choked him up a little to say that, and the light person brought the houselights up, and it felt like the audience turned at the same time to look our way. I waved, and Neil mentioned Sharlene as well. The kids were really good throughout the concert, although Ben was having gas problems (I had to hold him the whole time). We had the “limousine” Snap-N-Go stroller parked aside the seats, just in case we needed to make a hasty exit. The concert was splendid, and American River Songs sounded perfect; the tribute to the branches of the military was touching as members of the armed services stood and were applauded as their respective military song was played. Neil, Brandon Linder, and student Chad jammed on Bugler’s Holiday. Neil played the high part and was quite nervous about goofing his part up (which he didn’t do!).

After the concert we had lots of well-wishers. Neil hadn’t been to school since the twins were born, so that day of his concert was the first time the kids had seen him. That morning, Neil reported, 30 kids mobbed his office wanting to hear about the kids, hoping to see pics. Neil was able to get on Picasa (oooh, not allowed on the school computer, tisk tisk) to pull up the pictures. He kept the planned appearance of the twins a complete surprise from the kids. What a day and night!