15 Month Stats

Today was the much-anticipated 15 month appointment where we learned whether Lucy's heavy cream diet was making a difference.  Over the past few weeks, Brian and I assessed, self-doubted, consulted with each other, hung on every word by strangers guessing the age of our children (checkout guy at Costco with 9 kids asked if they were 4 months old on Sunday...), weighed them on our unreliable bathroom scale, scratched our heads, and cajoled Lucy into eating more food.  Finally, we were at the moment of truth.

Drumroll, please, Uncle Ben....

Lucy is....
16 pounds (that's the TENTH percentile on the preemie scale)
27.5 inches long (also the TENTH percentile on the preemie scale and 3 inches in 3 months!)
18.25 inch head circumference (75th percentile on the big kid scale)

YIPPEE!  Exploding fist bumps all around!

Lucy has graduated to whole milk and no longer needs to fortify anything with Neosure.  This means my days of pumping are also through.  We will probably keep nursing morning and night until me or the girls decide its time to stop, but for now all three of us are content to keep going for a while longer.  Sadly, the heavy cream mandate has also come to an end.  Dr. Gollnick said a dollop here or there would be good and that we should continue to try and give calorie dense foods - especially as the picky toddler eating days are ahead - but that we no longer have to add heavy cream, butter and olive oil to everything possible.

Sage also had a landmark day:
20 pounds (9th percentile on the big kid scale)
28.5 inches (5th percentile on the big kid scale)
18.5 inch head circumference (78th percentile on the big kid scale)

Way to grow, Lucy and Sage!

In other news, Dr. Gollnick thought they developmentally looked fantastic.  She is not at all concerned that they're not walking yet and encouraged us to discourage them from taking those first steps.  She also wasn't sure we needed to see a developmental pediatrician, but sensing that Daddy might still need to see one, she said we were welcome to keep our upcoming appointments.

We also had blood drawn to check their hemoglobin levels and lead levels (good idea for all 12 month-olds, a particularly good idea for 12-month olds who live in houses built in 1960).  We had to go to the hospital to do the blood draw, and so took the opportunity to see some old friends in the NICU.  A silver lining on that cloud.