On Thursday Nisey helped me take the babies to see Dr. Knapp for their six month check up. Bless her for that. There is NO way I could take them all solo. Everyone got a stellar report and even made it on the growth charts. Of course, they are still small compared to same age counterparts, but they are big enough to be compared in the first place.
Also, we were given the green light to start spoon feeds. Dr. Knapp is surprisingly liberal about solid foods and says they can have pretty much anything besides honey. He doesn’t even recommend waiting on peanut butter! We aren’t planning to try peanut butter for a while and are going to offer it just before going to a well visit, just in case! He said we should just try one thing at a time and wait two days to look for signs of an allergic reaction. When they’ve tried all the components, he also suggested pureeing our dinners such as casseroles or pizza. We are excited about this new terrain, but also a bit apprehensive. With quads, spoon feeds is most definitely going to bring new challenges our way. To help us efficiency feed the quads, George began construction on a quad feeding table. As of now, he has the table built and is working on staining and painting it. Once it’s done, he is planning to write a post about how he tackled such a daunting project!
Here everyone is waiting to see Dr. Knapp. The babies are lined up largest to smallest: Harper, Rylin, Mason, & Sydney
Sweet Baby Feet!
PS- That is not a shot you see in the picture, it is a pen. =)
Rylin
13 lbs, 6 oz
25″ long
Harper
15 lbs, 6 oz
25″ long
Sydney
12 lbs, 3 oz
24 1/4 ” long
Over the past month or so, we experienced feeding difficulties with Sydney. She started refusing bottles, screeching, arching her back, and stiffening her legs during some feeds. She never spit up, but it became an all out battle. We considered the possibility of everything from silent reflux to food sensitivities. We tried soy formula and took reflux precautions, but didn’t find much relief. Dr. Knapp ruled out other problems such as ear infections and teething. He finally told us to stop force feeding Sydney and to let her refuse bottles if she wanted. We did that and it worked! We were trying to force the poor baby to eat more than she needed. She’s been much happier these days and she DID grow since our last checkup. She’s still the smallest, but is only about a pound lighter than Mason. Sydney’s hemangioma (strawberry birthmark) on her head is starting to involute (lighten and shrink), which is great news and apparently unusual. Dr. Knapp said they usually grow much larger before they shrink.
Mason
13 lbs, 3 oz
25 1/4″ long
Mason has been receiving Occupational Therapy through ECI since about two months of age because he had a slightly flattened head. Our therapist taught us how to do a stretching regime that we do between every feed and we encourage him to turn to his non preferred side (left). He’s made HUGE progress with therapy and is tackling many developmental milestones ahead of his siblings (notice in the picture he his holding his own bottle). However, we still see some mild facial asymmetry. Dr. Knapp of course had no concerns about it because Mason is doing so well, but as his Mama I am concerned. I plan to make an appointment for him at Cranial Technologies to make sure he doesn’t need any type of band to correct his head shape. I never want to feel guilty about not having it checked or have regrets.
The babies are all wearing size 6 month pajamas and are lined up largest to smallest. Interesting to see how their pajamas fit differently.
More babies!
hugs!
Amber
Four to Adore 
Amber, I love how well they are looking! I love how your boys LOOK like boys, and your girls LOOK like girls! Adorable kiddos!
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Thank you! I agree, they DO look like boys and girls. I think if they all wore white onsies you would be able to pick out the boys and girls. I actually think your crew is the same. The girls are girls, and the boys are boys! So neat!
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Sounds like you are enjoying Dr. Knapp. He knows his stuff and he’s seen just about everything. I assure you that if he’s not worried, there is no need to worry about something. He treats the kids as if they were his own and makes decisions and recommendations based on what he would do with his own kids. We had two instances where he did get a little worried so he’s serious about stuff when he needs to be. He let us start putting cereal in Sean’s bottles really early which was great and he’s right about waiting a few days after you intro a new food. We quickly found out Sean was allergic to strawberries. Your babies are doing so great! It’s fun to see!
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We do love Dr. Kapp! He and the staff all seem to love our babies and work to accommodate us. They get us in and out ASAP. I like that he is practical and doesn’t get worked up about stuff. The only reason we are concerned about Mason’s head is because our OT is and talked about the reprcussions of not correcting it. Dr. Knapp didn’t check it out. When I asked him to, he glanced at it and then pointed at his own head saying, “my head isn’t perfectly round, see!” ARGH! It’s okay because we don’t need a referral for Cranial Tech to see him and the eval is free. He let us start putting rice in bottles at 4 months and we think it helped them sleep better at night. George used to be allergic to strawberries so we should watch out for that one!
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I love my baby book, Baby 411–it’s very current and research based. I had a copy with the twins, lent it out, and never got it back. So I bought an updated version for Naomi. The section on feeding and allergies in this book is VASTLY different in this book. The author says the best, most recent research shows no benefit in waiting to introduce highly allergenic foods. Honey is different, of course. It’s a little freaky to think of feeding a baby peanut butter though! I like your idea of doing those things right before well checks. We did a LOT of fish and eggs when the twins were young toddlers–they hated most other protein.
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I should check that book out! It’s EXACTLY what Dr. Knapp said. The newest research says waiting can actually increase the incidence of allergies. Honey is different because of how it’s made. I hate fish, but I want George to introduce it to the babies so maybe they will appreciate it more than I do!
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Hey Amber…so funny story, Dr. Knapp is my husband and his brother’s former pediatrician! That’s so funny. What a small world sometimes. Good luck with spoon feeds. It is more work and it is a new process to learn, but just stick with it and start small—that made it easier for us in the beginning! It’s fun, also, to watch them with new textures and tastes. I agree about the peanut butter, we are waiting awhile on that and on berries. For some reason I’m reaaaally paranoid about the kiddos having a reaction to blueberries. That’s a good idea to do it before a doctor visit, think we’ll do the same. Love that everyone got a good report and can’t wait to see the quad table!!
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So funny! I think Dr. Knapp saw every kid in the Irving area in the 90’s! He also saw my cousins. We just started a few bites yesterday and are easing in slowly. Can’t wait to post about our table!
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I just love getting these updates
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Those babies look absolutely fabulous for multiple preemies! Little chubba bubbas and bubbettes…that’s a term I acquired while living in Key West…Land of the Conchs. I don’t how you are doing babies and working part-time…you and George are amazing.
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Nancy, you crack me up! There is at least one chubba bubba in the bunch. Just wait till we feed them solids! You just inspired a post….how the heck we do this!
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