18 Month Twin Update

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Jack and Rory are officially 18 months old! It’s so hard to believe that these two have only been around for 18 months, I can barely remember my life without them in it. Now, I’m sure pre-mom Bethany may have had a lot more sleep and freedom but she definitely had a whole lot less love and pure joy in her life. Cheesy I know… but oh so true. I mean just look at these cuties.

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While the boys are 18 months old they have an adjusted age of 15 months. For those of you not familiar with premature birth this simply means that because they were born in March but not technically due until June we subtract 3 months from their actual age to get to their adjusted age. Adjusted age is used for developmental and growth milestones for preemies. Because they are so super tiny when they are born their bodies and minds are not fully cooked yet so they need a padded measuring tape to adjust for the odds that were stacked against them at birth.

Both boys had their 18 month follow up appointments last week and I thought it was about time my blog friends had an update. so here are the details…

JACK

Jack is growing and developing tremendously! He is still a bit behind his brother in his developmental goals for his adjusted age however, he has a darn good excuse. His extended stay in the NICU was not chock full of developmental opportunities due to his illness and eventual diagnosis so he is delayed by an extra 2 months. BUT just like everything else Jack has done in life he is kicking butt and catching up to his brother in his own time. Here are some of Jack’s latest developmental milestones:

  • He can sit up alone and unassisted

  • He can move from laying to sitting unassisted

  • He can say the words: Mama, Dada, baba (blanket), bye bye, and wow

  • He can wave, give high fives, sign all done and blow kisses

  • He is ALMOST crawling, he is so close but just doesn’t quite have the mechanics down

  • He has 6 teeth but still no interest in eating anything with his mouth

Medically speaking Jack is doing well. We are now up to 1 hour and 45 minutes off the vent each and every day and he has started increasing in increments of 30 minutes per week. He is also up to date on all of his shots and he is growing lighting fast, here are Jack’s latest growth stats:

  • Height: 2.5 feet

  • Weight: 23.2 pounds

  • Head Circumference: 16.9 inches

RORY

Rory is incredible, he is truly our miracle baby. His start in the world was a lot harder than his brothers at first but once he decided to get better he just got better and better and better. He is definitely 18 months going on 13 years and he has an at-ti-TUDE! But he is so darn cute it is hard to stay mad at him for long. Rory is excelling developmentally and here are some of his latest milestones:

  • He can walk ya’ll. Like really really walk

  • He can play while kneeling or squatting

  • He can get from sitting to standing and back to sitting

  • He can say: Mama, Dada, baba (bottle), hello, bye bye, uh oh, yep and wow

  • He can wave, give high fives, and blow kisses

  • Has 6 teeth and will eat anything you put in front of him

Medically speaking Rory is a normal boy. He no longer has any residual health issues due to his prematurity except for his astigmatism in his left eye. He is also up to date on all of his shots and he is growing at the speed of light, here are Rory’s latest growth stats:

  • Height: 2.4 feet

  • Weight: 22.84 pounds

  • Head Circumference: 18.5 inches

We have made it so far from our 1lb 13 oz tiny wrinkly, red, alien babies and we could not be prouder parents!