Good News

We made the trip to Plano on Friday morning so that the twins could have upper gis and video swallow studies.  Tim and I got to watch both of these tests and they were really fascinating.  In the upper gi, the babies were strapped to a papoose board and then given a small amount of barium in a bottle.  The radiologist then watched as the liquid went down their esophagus and into their stomachs.  This test was administered to see if there are any abnormalities that are causing the babies to spit up so much.  The radiologist said that both of their upper gi tracts look great - no anatomical problems!  In the video swallow study the babies were given barium at three consistencies - water, formula, and nectar, to see how well they tolerated the liquid.  The purpose of this test was to see if the babies are aspirating any liquid back into their lungs.  Brooklyn did well with all three liquids, and Tayden was a little disorganized in his swallowing the thinner the liquid was.  The speech pathologist and radiologist said that there are no signs of aspiration in either baby and that we should continue to pace Tayden when he eats, giving him several breaks to breathe.  The news was definitely an answer to many prayers.  Even though the babies have terrible reflux, they are not aspirating and there are no physical problems!!!  After the visit we dropped Tim off at work.  Some of his coworkers were able to come to the car and meet the babies.    
In the afternoon, ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) came over to assess Tayden.  He had been referred during his stay at Cooks.  The nurse got his full history and checked his hearing and vision.  One of his eyes has started to seem lazy every once in awhile.  I pointed this out to the nurse and she said that his pupil looks good and that it could just be his eye muscles strengthening and learning to focus.  We will monitor it to make sure it does not get worse.  In two weeks the occupational therapist will be coming out to assess him and then at that time ECI will decide if he needs therapy of any kind, which they can do in our home.
Last night we spoon fed Tayden for the first time. He really liked the cereal and did very well with the spoon. His is getting so good at supporting his neck and is cooing more and more each day.