Health Report

THE CANCER PATIENT
The good news is that GH feels good. He had all four drugs at chemo last week and recovered beautifully with virtually no side effects. Today he was scheduled for another four-drug week, but low platelets got in the way of that and instead he got only three. Counts looked OK, other than the platelets. Well, and bilirubin--a liver function--which is creeping up. That's not good. So a mixed bag overall, but for now we're focusing on the fact that he feels good, his energy level is pretty high, and he's home and able to enjoy time with the twins.

THE TWINS
We went in for the twins' one-month pediatric checkup yesterday. They were declared "perfect babies" by our doctor. Hooray! They are both 50th percentile for head size and length, and Riley is also 50th for weight. Maddie is 90th for weight, coming in at 10lbs 6oz. She's a big girl! Definitely getting her nutrients.

We were glad to get the OK to introduce a pacifier to Maddie. She definitely comfort sucks on our fingers, which is fine but can get tedious if you want to, say, do something that involves your hand. So she's a binkie girl now. She took to it like a fish to water, and has been much calmer today for it. Riley has no interest. He sucks like a maniac at anything in range when he's hungry, but he's not a comfort sucker. One less habit to break with him . . .

We also got the OK to introduce a bottle every now and then. I've been pumping every day to get a supply in the freezer. I want to be sure they'll take a bottle for when the go to daycare, and it will be freeing to know that someone other than me will be able to give them food every so often. I love breastfeeding them, but it's a huge time commitment and sometimes a break would be nice.

I'm just so glad they are healthy and hearty and well. Hooray, Madeleine and Riley! You make us proud.

MOI
Physically, I'm great. I go in for my six-week postpartum checkup next week and don't expect any problems. Yeah, I'm tired on many days, but that's just par for the course and I'm trying to take care of myself and nap when I can. Mentally? Well, I'll save that for another post. I'm OK. But yesterday was one of those hard days and I'm still kind of recovering. This parenting gig is intense, isn't it? Yikes.