23 August 2006

That Trip We Took

We've been home from Detroit for a while now and I still haven't made time to post about it. It's not that I've been any busier than before, it's just that while we were in Detroit and since we've been home, the babies have become so much more interesting. They smile. Riley sometimes laughs. They make baby noise. When they are awake, they look around and focus on things. They react to things GH and I do. It used to be that when they were awake they were either eating or fussing or thinking about fussing, but that has all changed, and it's a nice change. It does mean, though, that I spend more time with them just enjoying their emerging personalities and less time doing nonessential computer stuff.

So to all of my blog friends out there: Hello! I am woefully behind on my blog reading and commenting. Apologies.

I did have the pleasure of meeting Leggy last week. It was my second blogger meetup and every bit as enjoyable as the first. I love that I can now picture her and her son as I read her posts (ahem, when I get around to reading her posts . . .) It just makes the whole thing more real for me. She and her son are as awesome as I would have imagined.

So, yeah, that trip to Detroit. I covered the big stuff in the short version update. The main thing that I took away from the trip (other than confidence about traveling with the babies) is that it was a revelation to see my inlaws happy. We barely talked about cancer. They were clearly over the moon to spend so much time with their grandchildren and to focus on such joy. We enjoyed each others' company so much more because we were all so much happier and because I am in a situation now where I need their help more and I have an easier time asking for and accepting their aid. I feel like the trip healed some wounds and made us all feel closer and more at ease with each other and I'm glad for that. I'm even eagerly anticipating a 10-day visit from my mother-in-law in early September to help me out when GH goes back to work.

It helped that GH is doing well right now. He looks good, he feels good, and his energy level was better than it usually is when we visit his parents. They were calmed by that, as am I.

Speaking of GH, he had treatment today. His platelets have been cooperating and he has been able to keep up with this three week on/one week off chemo schedule for this round, and with relatively few side effects (knock on wood). His liver function tests and tumor marker numbers are up and down, but overall are steady to improving. We can always hope for more, but the situation is pretty good. He'll be getting a CT scan in September to look at tumor size. Those are always scary; even after all we've been through, I'm still not good at waiting for test results.

Tomorrow we leave for Florida. I'm nervous about the flight, but excited to introduce the twins to their great-grandparents. My uncle is a studio photographer and we'll be getting family portraits done on Saturday, which will be wonderful, too. The only bad thing is that Riley has a thrush infection in his mouth right now which got treated today with Gentian Violet. What this means is that the entire inside of his mouth is stained bright purple. It's really alarming. He looks like a goth baby; perhaps we'll dress him all in black tomorrow. I'm not sure how long the staining will last but I'm hoping that it fades by Saturday. If not, there's always the magic of Photoshop.

Other than the thrush (which is not painful or particularly problematic for Riley, but he could pass it on to my breasts and I would find it quite painful), the babies are doing great. They had their two-month checkup on Tuesday and passed with flying colors. Riley is just over twelve pounds and Madeleine is just under; they have pretty much outgrown their 0-3 month clothes and we've made the transition into 3-6 month stuff. They were as well behaved for their vaccinations as could be expected, too, and seem to be fully recovered today. And as I mentioned above, watching them grow up and change so much so fast is just amazing. Tonight when GH got home from treatment, I'd just positioned Maddie on my pillow to nurse her. GH came over to say hi to her and to me, and she broke out into a huge smile when she saw him. Then she just kept staring at him--she wouldn't latch on because she was too distracted by looking at her daddy. He finally had to go into the other room so that she could concentrate on the task at hand, but even then she watched him walk away and looked longingly into the other room for a good few minutes before the resigned herself to having some dinner. It was adorable.

I must go to bed and prepare for a long day tomorrow. Our flight's at 4:00, we get to Florida at 7:00, and then we have to pick up a rental car and drive to our hotel before we can put the babies to bed. Oy. Think good thoughts for us on the plane tomorrow. The worst they can do is cry for three hours straight, right? That's not so bad, right?

I'll update upon my return. Be well, everyone.

6 comments:

weigook saram said...

Glad things are going so well for you guys, and that you had a good visit with the inlaws. Enjoy your trip.

soralis said...

Glad that you had a great visit with the inlaws. Enjoy your trip to florida. (Just wait they get even cooler! :) Until they learn to crawl then Mom gets very busy!! LOL!)

Enjoy

Anonymous said...

Sound like you've got the sun in the morning and the moon at night : )
And yes, isn't Leggy wonderful? And her son is really quite something - very special people : )

luolin said...

I think it is 4pm your time now, so I hope the flight is going well-no delays, happy babies.

OTRgirl said...

I'm sad to hear they've outgrown 0-3 clothes! You'll see why in a few days... (I finally found the gift bag stuffed into a box in the basement. Thank God for yard sales.)

Hope Florida is wonderful. And that nobody cries on the plane.

Joie de Vivre said...

My sister has this Survival Guide for Parents book which recommends that if the babies cry on the plane, just talk really loudly when you try to soothe them. That way the other passengers will know you're at least trying and not ignoring the cries of your children. It goes along way towards building a sympatheic audience!

Good luck. I bet your little angels behave accordingly :)