Twins' first long drive

We drove to Edmonton to kinda celebrate Erin and Mark's birthday. It was Joscel and Joshua's first long drive.

On our way there, we made sure that it would be their nap time so we left at 12:30 pm. Joshua slept for 2 1/2 hours so he was fine but Joscel only slept for an hour and was grumpy for the rest of the trip! I gave her snacks, books and toys but she pushed them all away.

As soon as we reached the hotel, she was happy as can be.... I guess she doesn't have the patience (like Mommy!)

We didn't take pictures of our "window shopping" at West Edmonton Mall but we sure had fun there.

We also made sure that we took advantage of the pool and hot tub in the hotel.

Joscel and Joshua enjoy bath together...

And of course, they love to make a mess, not only at home, but everywhere.

Our babies can read...

We've been busy with kids' stuff lately and we're happy that they are doing really well for a couple of months now. We noticed that since we kept them home, (we used to go out a lot plus the "not so fun" trips to the emergency) Joscel and Joshua are staying healthy. It's so nice to see them in great health and condition.

Here's what keeps them busy lately.

My sister's visit...

My sister from Grande Prairie was here last week and stayed for 4 days. She had to get her medical done for their family immigration papers. It went well and we're hoping in 3 months time, her family will be joining us here in Calgary for good.

The plan is, Jo will finish the basement. Our house is a 4-level split so they will occupy the fireplace and the basement, and we will stay upstairs (as if it will always stay that way, knowing that we like to be together all the time!)

It is always fun to have her around, at least one member of my own family could experience playing with my twins. We both love cooking and her 4-day stay made us gain a few pounds! We also took advantage of the great weather. We were out in our front yard enjoying it!

Keep her and her family in your prayers so we can all be together again.....

They're wearing glasses

The time has come, they are wearing glasses now. Joshua wasn't supposed to wear them yet but we noticed a couple of months ago that his eyes drift sideways when he focuses. He is nearsighted but it wasn't that bad. We were also told that his case needs an operation of the eye muscle but don't know when.

Joscel is also nearsighted, though the left eye is the worse one. The left lens of her glasses is thick. These glasses aren't hers, we are still waiting for the right frame.

We are still having troubles putting them on since they get irritated when they wear them, I guess. It just takes time getting used to them and that means more patience from us.

All is well

Yep, everyone is doing better now. It turned out that Joshua didn't get FMD. He just had an episode of diarrhea and vomiting. Having 2 sick kids could drive you crazy sometimes but I'm glad that they are both ok now.

Joscel also had her follow-up chest x-ray today. If you recall, she was hospitalized for 2 consecutive months for pneumonia. They x-ray today showed that she still has a little fluid in her lungs but was explained by the doctor that it usually goes/clears away after 6-8 weeks. We are already on the 6th week so we're hoping that it will totally go away in 2 weeks. So far, we're not seeing anymore signs of her having trouble breathing. And she looks very active anyway. In fact, we caught a video of her giggling while playing with her new "sneezing puppy".

Here we go again..

Last week was another stressful week for us specially for Joshua.. He had a fever for 5 consecutive days and we had no idea what was going on. We took him to the emergency to be checked and the doctor said that everything was fine, maybe it was just due to his 2 molar teeth coming out. I guess she was true. He got better the 6th day. And we thought that everything's gonna go back to normal 'til Joscel took her turn. Her temperature went up to 39 so we thought she'll be fine too. But on the third day of having fever (not to mention the sore on her tongue and gum, while puking and having diarrhea), it was her turn to be taken to the emergency. We found out that those sores weren't just canker, she got "foot and mouth disease". Until now, we are still wondering where she got that from. I feel very sorry for her since they said that those are extremely painful for 3-4 days and will stay in her tongue for a week or 2. She's also not eating right now. And she just started drinking milk yesterday!

We are also afraid that Joshua might have gotten it too since it's very contagious. He just started crying this afternoon and won't take his bottle. We checked his tongue and gum, we're not sure if those blisters are already signs that he got the disease. Ughhhh ! Poor kiddos. All we have to do right now is just pray and hope that they'll feel better soon. Hopefully after this, no more having a trip to the ACH emergency.

We'll keep you posted about their health as much as we can.

Learning things...

As Joscel and Joshua grow, we continually see the differences in their personalities. A very specific example is the food they like. Joscel loves eating fresh tomatoes, cucumber, banana, apples, and other fruits and veggies. She doesn't like eggs and other meat. Joshua eats almost anything except tomatoes, apples, and other fruits and veggies. So sometimes, I have to cook separate food for both of them. It depends on what they like!

With regards to strolling, you can't keep Joscel in her stroller. She'll stay seated for maybe, 3-5 minutes and if you don't pick her up right away, she'll scream her lungs out. Unlike Joshua, he can stay seated for hours as long as you push the stroller. He basically likes going out. Whenever he sees the door, he goes straight to the closet where their sweaters are, point at it and say "bye!".

Here's a video showing how they fight over their toys, and this happens everyday! Just to warn you, this video shows that Joscel is the bossy one but in reality, Joshua is a bully to his sister!

Another Hospital moment for Joscel..

I can't believe it's been a month since I updated our blog. We've been very busy keeping up with a lot of stuff at home, specially our babies' health. And to mention that Joscel was rushed to ACH Emergency (again) last week. We noticed that she was breathing really fast, 60-70 breaths/minute and that means, she's really having a hard time breathing. They did a quick assessment on her and took her straight to a room. They gave her oxygen to help her breath and as expected, she was admitted. The doctors did an xray on her and the result showed exactly the same as the pneumonia she had last month. She recovered fast enough that they took her oxygen off the next day.

Since it's a recurring pneumonia, the doctors think that the first time Joscel had it, it didn't really go away after a month (they couldn't tell if that's true because they didn't do a follow-up xray on her). Learning from their mistake, their gonna do another xray in June. Then they'll know if it was for sure a pneumonia or it could be an obstruction in her lungs (hope not).

Because of these hospital experiences, I'm already traumatized. Whenever I notice Joscel's breathing becoming fast, I worry right away. I feel like I'm having the nervous breakdown I had when I was a kid. It's hard to control it but I just turn my hope and faith to God, and rest assured, He keeps me calm most of the time.

Recovering...

Last week we were at a familiar setting. On April 2, we took Joshua to the ACH emergency because he had trouble breathing, was vomiting, and coughing. It turned out that he had a minor case of bronchiolitis and asthma. A couple of days after that, Joscel was coughing and had short-labored breathing. We were scared she could have asthma as well. When they checked her at the emergency, her oxygen level was very low. After a series of testings, they found out that she had a slight case of pneumonia. She had problems keeping her oxygen up so she needed an extra boost. It took her 4 days to bring it back up on her own. After that, we were finally sent home with the rest of her antibiotics.

3 days after that, she had another episode. She started vomiting, 4 times within an hour so we decided to bring her back to the emergency. They gave her an anti-vomiting fluid and fortunately, she stopped puking after that. When we got home that night, Jo woke up vomiting and having diarrhea. Then we realized that they might have caught something from the vietnamese noodles that both of them ate earlier that day. My tummy is acting weird too but hopefully, i don't get it as bad as they did coz I have to take care of them all.

Best buddies?!

Everyday, we discover how these two can be good or bad friends. Though sometimes Joshua makes Joscel cry (by biting or hitting her), Joscel manages to make Joshua laugh.

Turning 1 year old (ADJUSTED)

At the end of this month, Joscel and Joshua are turning a year old (adjusted). It's hard to believe that time flies so fast.

They are not walking yet though they travel from couch to couch and very eager to walk using their walkers. They babble non-stop and try to copy everything we say and do. They love Barney and all the cartoons they watch on TV. We also noticed lately that they love playing with pots and pans no matter how I make their toys attractive!

They got their eyes tested again and Dr. Ells said that they are still nearsighted and will wear glasses in the future. And no more monthly check-ups meaning they are really doing well.

We caught Joscel pulling Joshua's ear (as always) as they watch TV. Not to mention that Joshua likes to hit Joscel (he thinks it's funny)..

We're still here!

Joscel and Joshua are 1 year and 2 months now (11 months adjusted). They are just practicing and learning to walk by themselves. They like to copy what we do and I think they are talking too (in a different/baby dialect though). It is so much fun to play with them and learn something new about them every single day.

But the sad thing lately is, the 4 of us are sick. They are saying that it's all over Calgary (flu season) and everybody seems to have it. We are all coughing and sneezing. We just feel bad for our babies coz we have to wipe their nose all the time and they hate it. Keep us in your prayers pls...

Joscel and Joshua had that NICU haircut since they came out of the hospital. Jo decided to cut and make Joshua's hair even. He did so well while daddy was cutting his hair!

Valentines 2010

It was a different feeling to celebrate Valentine's day with our babies for the first time. It was a great feeling actually!

We went to a hotel in SW with Jhen's family and we had loads of fun!

And here are Joscel and Joshua ready to leave....

And because our babies are tough enough now, we just put them anywhere!

THe hotel we stayed in had a swimming pool. It was a little scary for us to take Joscel and Joshua for swimming for the first time. They look cute in their swimsuits though...

Joshua seemed to like the pool (well, he likes being in his tub at home anyway) but Joscel seemed to be bored about it. Maybe she was too tired...

One happy family...

funny videos

Joscel and Joshua are in the stage where they can communicate with us now. We love it when they express what they like and don't like. And it so nice to see them play together. It looks like they enjoy each other's company.

I caught a video of them talking to each other. I have no idea what they were talking about about all I know is, they're so cute!

It's fun to teach them stuff like clapping, tongue out, etc. Here's a video of them dancing. I wonder where they got that from???

Very challenging weeks

The past two weeks was a bit challenging for us. After finding out that Joscel had bacteria in her urine, Joshua decided to take his turn. He woke up one morning throwing up for hours. We called Healthlink first. They told us not to take him to the emergency yet and just follow the directions on how to feed him bit by bit since anything he was taking in goes back out. When he stopped throwing up, he then had diarrhea. So we called again and we're told not to worry unless there's blood in his stool. After a week of having diarrhea, he had a fever. And it wasn't going away so we took him to the emergency. The doctors did a series of tests on him and everything came back normal. They put an IV on him just to make sure he wasn't getting dehydrated. After 4 hours, they sent us home. We were mentally, emotionally and physically stressed coz we didn't know what was wrong with him but I guess he caught that GI virus that was going around. Anyway, he is back to normal now, meaning, he is back to being a happy and laid-back boy. Joscel as well is back to being a feisty little girl.

Still a roller Coaster

Just a quick update about our babies,,,

Joscel has been sick for quite a while now. At first she had fever for 3 days so we took her straight to ACH Emergency. The line-up wasn't that bad but we still stayed there for 6 hours. They couldn't find anything wrong about her because she was still acting normal ( I mean in terms of her eating habbits, playing, being alert, etc.) But when the doctor mentioned that if she doesn't get better in a couple of days, they need to check her urine. I told him right there and then that I have a family history of kidney/bladder problem. So the doctor decided to get a urine sample straight from her bladder. They sent us home after finding out that her urine was ok.

2 days ago, ACH called us saying that there was bacteria growing in her urine. So they prescribed her an Antibiotic.

Another thing that worried us was Joscel's temperature dropping to 34.5-35.5 deg. Celcius for the past 3 days. We called HealthLink and they mentioned that it might be due to her bladder infection.

For now, we can notice that she is getting her energy back though we are still keeping an eye on her very low temperature.

On the other hand, Joshua is getting more and more active. And oh boy, he loves to eat! Sometimes, we are the ones who give up but he keeps asking for more. He likes to be played with too. And if you don't pay attention to him, he'll grunts really loud, or sometimes climb on you. We are glad that he is ok and not sick, and hopefully when Joscel gets better, he won't follow.

Year 2009

We are grateful of all the things that happened in 2009. Good or bad, it doesn't matter.

Here are some of the BIG things we had last year:

- Joscel and Joshua came out of the NICU after 4 months of their stay there

- We celebrated their 1st birthday

- I got my Canadian Citizenship

- I lost my job

- Jo lost his job

- My brother passed away

- My grandpa passed away

- Jo finally finished (actually semi-finished0 our kitchen and fireplace after waiting for 3 years

There's still a lot but I just can't remember.... Surely, we believe that this year 2010 will bring greater things to us.

Christmas 2009

We hosted the Christmas day breakfast and of course, we did the traditional gift-opening at our house.

It was an extra special day for us coz that was the first time we had Joscel and Joshua home with us for Christmas. We still remember Christmas of 2008 when we spent it at the hospital just watching them in their incubators. When we couldn't even hug and kiss them...

And now, here they are, learning to open presents!