Fun day in Jackson

Hi, friends! Since our last update, Hank has had a checkup with his neurosurgeon who couldn't be more pleased with his progress. Hank will have a CT scan in May to give us a look at his brain and how well the fluid is draining. We spent a long President's Day weekend in McComb, staying with both sets of great-grandparents. The kids had so much fun! The weather was wonderful, and H&H got to play in the grass for the first time (which also included eating it!). Hayden hated the grass. Hank loved it. I've posted pictures in the February album so you can see for yourself. Today, we had a long, but very fun day. We went back to Baptist Hospital for their developmental appointment with the folks from the NICU. They were amazed at how well the kids are doing and told us that they didn't need to see us anymore! They also cleared both H&H of any cerebral palsy--this had been a strong possibility for Hank with the degree of brain hemorrhage he had at birth. After visiting the therapists in the clinic, we saw Dr. Temple, one of the neos that cared for them in the NICU. He did a quick health checkup on them and was extremely pleased. We were asked right before the babies were delivered to take part in some research regarding breathing assistance techniques at birth for babies born at 26 weeks and under. The doctors at Baptist were so excited to have us sign on for the study last year, and they will continue to track H&H to see how often they get sick, and if they end up with asthma or allergies. Dr. Temple walked us up to the NICU so we could visit all of the nurses that took such great care of the kids while they lived there for 94 days. It was so good to see those ladies, and it made me so proud everytime someone said how pretty H&H's heads turned out to be (I worked so hard rubbing and positioning their heads so they wouldn't have the preemie-peanut head!). To our surprise, Dr. Temple also rounded up Dr. Perry (high-risk maternal/fetal specialist) and Dr. Gebhart (my OB)--both of whom delivered H&H. We were so happy to see them, and I think they were also happy to see us and know that H&H are doing so well. One of the ladies at Labor & Delivery even looked in the computer to see if the nurses that were assigned to me during my stay were on duty today, but they weren't. We felt so special, seeing all of these folks who became like family over the course of 3 months. We came home and ended our day with a fashion show, put on by Hayden. She got a new bikini and modeled it for us. You'll have to check out the pics in the February album. Enjoy!