Double Trouble

That old "double trouble" phrase for twins is used waaaaaaay too often. It's just cheesy at this point. But I get it now. I'm getting glimpses of what lies ahead for us. Today, the twins found the CD drawer and entertained themselves by pulling them out and dumping them on the floor. Dumping almost all of them on the floor, no less. They just seem to encourage each other - one finds something interesting, and the other jumps right on in (look at Molly's evil grin in the photo). In the future they'll use their powers of manipulation to play off each other and work the parents, but for now it's just about making messes. Mess Patrol alert!

We've continued to have some bad days due to the earaches. What should have been a nice "break" at work on Thursday ended up being an anxious day for me. The nanny was keeping me abreast of Molly's eating, sleeping, and mood levels, and it wasn't looking good. I came home over lunch and picked up Claire, got some good one-on-one time with her at lunch, and then bought more Motrin at the HyVee store and went home to give Molly meds. For some idiotic reason I decided to give her only the Omnicef and head back to work - she didn't seem bad enough for Motrin. Boy was I wrong! The nanny said she screamed all afternoon which, let me tell you, invites much much much mom guilt. After calling the pediatrician's office three times in a row (I'm a freak), getting numbing drops prescribed and picked up, I got home early to give the poor baby Motrin and the ear drops and within 30 minutes she was a new baby. But it was NOT good news that the Omnicef wasn't making a dent in her pain. The doc's office requested she come in for a re-check on Friday.

So today, Friday, I packed up all three kids again and went to the regular pediatrician's office to see the same nurse practitioner. She said she saw very little improvement in Molly's ears and prescribed the dreaded Augmentin. At this point, I'm desperate to alleviate the child's pain so I didn't fight the nurse this time.

After a dose of Augmentin, more Motrin, and more numbing drops, Molly's mood improved enough to play in the CDs and then we even took the kids out for Friday pizza night (which used to be our usual Friday night thing until the twins threw a wrench in that schedule). The babies did well at the restaurant which is always a good feeling because it opens up a little freedom for us. I've since given Molly a second dose of Augmentin and am waiting on improvement - one dose didn't help a lot (when the Motrin wears off she starts crying again), but surely two will?? If not, this is one mean earache. Poor baby. I also upped the probiotic to one pill per baby (rather than splitting a pill between the two) to ensure we don't end up knee deep in poop again. My own personal experience with Augmentin isn't a good sign - it usually causes lots of gut rot for me, so I'm worried about Molly's reaction. We'll see. So maybe it's not a good weekend to take the babies swimming. Swimming plus gut rot is not recommended.

I bought "big kid" carseats for the babies after they were asleep tonight so now it's time to test to see if three big kid carseats fit across in our car. This could be a challenge. I assume that at the 9-month appointment next week their height will mean they've outgrown the infant carseats. For those of you learning, the infant carseats have both a height and weight limit, and if you hit either of them (not both) you have to move to the big kid carseats. The new fad in carseats is these oversized, plush models (think Britax, at nearly $300 a pop) but that's a joke for parents of multiples with an older kid too - I'm just looking for the most narrow seat there is. Forget safety ratings - just give me something that fits and doesn't require me to buy a new car. Amazing how the priorities are forced to shift. So with no real plans for the weekend (other than to monitor Molly's earache) hopefully we find time to test out the fit of these new carseats.

Oh, and TGIF. Hello sleep-in time this weekend!