It’s hard to believe that 9 years have passed since Peyton (A) and Paige (B) were born. Peyton started out at 2 lbs 6 ounces and 15 inches long. Paige was 2 lbs 5 1/2 ounces and 14 1/2 inches. Even smaller than my little Cubbie. They are now brilliant, beautiful girls who have their own distinct personalities!
The days of writing down the exact number of cc’s each girl drank and at what time is long gone. For those interested, there are 30 cc in 1 ounce. They came home eating around 15 cc at a feeding. That’s 1/2 of an ounce!! Think about that. Amazing. Now they can eat their weight in steak. :)No more holding Peyton upright for 30 minutes after each feeding to keep the projectile ‘spit up’ down. No more waking Paige up 3 times while trying to get her to eat. No more making wipes. No more apnea monitors. No more weekly trips to Dr. P for weigh ins. No more doses of caffeine (seriously). I don’t miss any of these things, but I do miss snuggly little girls. I miss carrying both babies around at once. I miss picking one up out of the crib they shared and doing my morning ritual of kiss, hug, pat pat pat. I loved that! I miss arms and legs going crazy like they were trying to fly when I came in the room. :) I miss Scottie’s gentleness from the very beginning. I miss picking out the tiny outfits,and taking pictures in each new one. (I guess I still do that almost) I miss all the little baby words they had for things, like dobbies for shoes.
Now we’re off to gymnastics and swimming and ice skating. Now they’re reading to us instead of the other way around. Now they are doing math problems in their head for fun. Now they don’t have to ride in car seats, even though I still prefer them to be in boosters. Now they are doing art projects. Now they are explaining computer games to me. Now they are answering my questions about working the dish remote. Now they are playing the piano and singing with the children’s choir. Now it’s Hannah Montana and High School Musical instead of Blue and Dora. Now it’s the Cheetah Girls and the Jonas Brothers instead of Baby Einstein and the home made cassette tapes I made for each girl to have in the NICU. It’s a new stage. Different. New worries. More concern about how they are adjusting instead of getting them to sleep and eat and gain weight. Now it’s new shoes because they’re growing. Now it’s make up for the skating show. Now it’s holding your breath while watching them perform and praying that they’re aren’t nervous or scared or getting their feelings hurt. New things. Exciting things. Amazing things. Healthy 9 year olds, not sick preemies with ventilators or c-pap machines or g-tubes or ng tubes or iv’s. That part is fantastic!! Love you Peyton and Paige. Happy Birthday. Aunt Jame
3 comments:
thanks, I needed to cry this morning! I must say (she will kill me for saying this) that when I went in to check on them after bedtime last night, Peyton was asleep with her thumb in her mouth, clutching "back up baby doll." I guess she just needed her last night! Right now, they are tag teaming the laundry (that is a nice feature)! Oh, and they still try to get the occasional dose of caffeine!! Thanks for sharing!
sorry, once i got started i couldn't stop. All night and today I kept thinking of all the little things like how red they were and their tiny ears with no cartilege that just looked like skin flaps. The unintelligible way Paige said "orange". Somehow it had 3 syllables. Funny things, sad things. Never too old for baby doll though! I get baby beth out every once in a while now
Well, I guess we all had a good cry after reading Jamie's novelette about the twins. I loved holding them both at once. That's my favorite memory. But, I do remember clearly how we had to bundle Sandy up on Monday to drive to Peoria for Miss Paige while their dad stayed with Peyton in Champaign. Such trying times, but GOD is good. Two beautiful, smart girls who are soooo much fun to be around. Happy Birthday to you..... Grammy
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