First Pediatrician Appointment

The boys had their first check-up with our pediatrician, Dr Winch on Tuesday.  They were weighed and measured.  Ragnar has almost regained his birth weight and is weighing in at 5 lbs. 15 oz and is 20 1/4" long.  Magnus has regained his birth weight and is weighing in at 5 lbs. 6 oz and is 19 3/4" long.  Both boys had their PKU recheck test and hardly flinched when their heels were stuck.  Dr Winch went over a lot of basic baby stuff along with specific preemie concerns.  Our boys are considered late pre-term preemies.  As such, they will have their developmental milestones slightly adjusted for their birth date vs their due date.  Also, she emphasized (especially at this time of year) how important it is for us to protect them from illness.  She suggested that we keep them out of social situations (church, stores, and crowded places) for at LEAST 8 weeks and probably closer to 10.  She also reminded us that we need to health screen all visitors to the babies and really consider if we want little kids visiting them at all during this time period.  These little guys are so vulnerable to picking up any illness and with little ones this young there would be a full septic work-up done if they do contract a fever before 8 weeks.  The septic work-up includes a spinal tap, so we want to avoid it at all costs.  This doesn't mean we have to stay home, rather just stay away from groups of people that we aren't sure if they are well or ill.  She also went over night sleeping and day sleeping and told us we shouldn't try to keep them up more during the day in the hopes that they will sleep at night because they really need all of their sleep now.  She said that closer to their due date we can look at keeping them up more.  She also wants us to continue nursing (or practice nursing) and then supplementing with expressed breast milk or formula.  They gave us a bunch of free formula to supplement with.  Hopefully, we won't need to use it.  Overall, Dr Winch is happy with how they are doing and wants us to come back in a week for a weight check and to check in on how they are feeding. 

Ragnar (heat pack on his heel for PKU test)

Magnus (heat pack on his heel for PKU test)

Ragnar & Magnus

Nate and I agree with Dr Winch and have decided to keep them out of social settings until March.  We plan on taking them to church for their naming/blessing at the end of March/beginning of April.  Around that time, we'll also figure out if we want to take them out more often to stores etc.  We also are planning on limiting visitors and asking anyone that visits about their health and the health of family members.  We hope that our friends and family understand our vigilance about this matter.