Doctor

We take it all for granted, until it hits close to home.  As I have blogged about in the past, Baby B has been slow with his speech development. This past week, a Speech Pathologist did an initial evaluation on him and started working with him to encourage him to talk. But, an amazing thing also happened this week too. He started talking. Not a lot. But, he did say 2 new words, Baby and Blue. Though not huge in anyway, but he has not only said them, but he keeps saying them.  And he says them correctly when referring to either a baby or the color blue.

This past week, work has been crazy. A lot going on. I was beyond stressed off and I was getting close to the end of my patience. And then something happened. I was playing with the boys and I asked Baby B where his hair was? And he touched his hair. Then we proceeded to go through all of the body parts and for the first time, he touched each and every single one of them as I asked.  And as he sat and smiled, holding his toes, he pointed to my shirt and said “Blue”. At the end of a rough week and all that I have been wanting is for my son to say something, anything, he says “Blue”. I could have cried. And then for him to go through all of the body parts was equally as exciting.

Maybe his delayed speech development is attributed to his brother talking for him? Maybe he just did not have anything to say?  Maybe the speech pathologist helped?

Regardless the reason, he did it. He is beginning to talk. Speech is the form of communication that we know, but it was something that Baby B was not ready to do.

So, we encourage him to talk more. We are still separating them on Saturday mornings.  And we continue to ask questions and help him learn new words. We are still waiting on the report from the Speech Pathologist, but this is a good start.

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We knew it. We had talked about it, but when the Dr. mentioned the words “Delayed Speech” at the boys 2 year check up, it hit me hard.

As a parent, you never want your children to suffer any pain or have struggles in life. So, when the Dr. suggested that Baby B should see a speech pathologist for delayed speech, it was hard.  I realize that you should never compare your children, but when you have twins, it is hard not to. It is hard not to look at one boy that is saying 3 word sentences and then look at the other and they are only making sounds and wonder if there is something wrong?

I had already made up my mind that if the Dr. did not bring up the speech problem, that I would. But it was obvious from just observing the boys in the office, that the Dr. quickly picked up that Baby A was doing all the talking and Baby B, well he was making sounds of letters and pointing at the Dinosaur (which he loves) and making Dinosaur sounds, but the words, just were not there. The Dr. tried to ask him questions and encourage him to speak and he wouldn’t say a word, just sounds. And that was when the Dr. turned and said, “I am not concerned, but, I think that he needs to see a speech pathologist.”

My heart sank. My mind went racing.

And then the Dr. quick put our concerns at ease. He calmed the worst of the fears by assuring us that he isn’t Autistic. He calmed our fears by figuring out that Baby A, he talks for both of them, so why should Baby B talk? And then he gave us suggestions, like separating them a little more and spending more 1 on 1 time together. Reading more at night. Less tv, even though their tv time is really limited.

So, I did like most parents would do on the drive home, I called my mom. Now, my mom has been an elementary school teacher for 42 years, so she has experience in this. And she did as any parent should do, she put my mind at ease. And then after I hung up with her, I walked around the grocery store for an hour, just trying to process it all. But in reality, there wasn’t anything to process. It isn’t like we are dealing with something major. I mean, it is important for him to get help and to start speaking sentences, but as I have found online, this isn’t an uncommon thing for the 2nd child of twins and especially twin boys.

The speech pathologist is coming out next week for the assessment. And until then, I ask questions and hope that he will start saying words on his own.

More to come.

// Resources //

Here were a few articles that I found to be very helpful >
Kids Health – Delayed Speech or Language Development
Parenting – Guide to Speech Delays
Baby Center – What Should I do if my 2-year-old doesn’t talk yet?

Disclaimer – I am not a Doctor and nor do I give out medical advice. I have stayed in a Holiday Inn, once, but still doesn’t qualify me to give any advice. Talk with your Doctor, as they actually went to school for this stuff. They can help you a lot more than I can.

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I had to go to the Dentist this morning, which is not my favorite thing to do. In fact, I would rather dodge traffic on a busy day, than go to the Dentist. But today, I went to a new Dentist and after about 5 minutes of talking and poking around in my mouth he informs me that I have a small cavity. Seriously? I am 36 and never had a cavity before in my life. Who was he to tell me this? I mean, I guess that since he is the Dentist, he probably knows what he is talking about.  But 15 minutes later, as we are wrapping up, I asked about when I should bring the boys in. He suggested that when they turn 2 or a little older, have them come in and watch, so that they can see that it isn’t a scary place (granted, this coming from the guy that told me that I had to have a filling because of said cavity). We have started brushing the boys teeth already, which is loads of fun. I can only imagine the trip to the Dentist being about as bad.

As I drove to work this morning, I thought that the only thing that would make my day a little better after leaving the Dentist, was stopping to pick up a bag of Candy Corn Pumpkins.

 

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The boys were drinking formula for right at 1 year and man, it was financially killing us. I hugged the Dr. when he told us that we could start the transition from formula to milk. No lie, I had to wipe the tears from my eyes. Think about it, a container of formula is about $22.00 – $24.00, depending on what you are getting. And because we had twins, we were going through a container about every 5 days. Our monthly spend for formula was about $200.00 a month. Whereas now, we buy 3 gallons of milk a week, at $3.00 a gallon and we are spending $48 a month.

We were also very lucky too, as the boys immediately took to the milk as well. We didn’t have to do a mixture of formula and milk. We saw the Dr. on a Friday afternoon and we gave them their first full taste of Milk that night. So, once again, we have been very lucky.

This is a huge savings. Now, if you are close to 1 year, I would wait and talk with your child’s Dr. before making the transition from formula to milk, as I have read that if you start this too soon, that there are allergies that could be developed. That being said, with a savings of close to $140 a month, we are able to use the additional money for other foods for the boys and also, put more into their college funds.

 

 

 

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The boys are a little over a year old now, but I wanted to share with everyone something that I found to be very helpful for our 1 year checkup for the boys: Doctor visit worksheet: The 1 year checkup  – From the BabyCenter.com

My wife hates it when the boys have to get shots. I do as well, but I am usually the one that gets to hold the boys down when they get their shots. I don’t really physically hold them, I really just keep their arms close to their sides so that they do not hit the nurse. I don’t really enjoy the job, seeing my children cry, but I know that it will make them better or protect them in the long run. And sometimes, the Dad just has to do certain things.

Another important thing to do for a Doctor visit, research, see what other parents are saying or questions that they are asking their Doctor. You are a parent, not a Doctor that knows all of the answers to medical questions. We have even asked our Pediatrician, tell us what we are not asking or thinking about? Again, we are parents, we only know what we know. And our Pediatrician does a great job in giving each boy 30 minutes of his time for their checkup and really sits down and explains everything that is going on.  And he often times, tells us things that we have not really thought about. Trying to prepare us for the coming milestones in the boys lives.

There are no stupid questions, remember you only know what you know. But for your next Doctor visit, I challenge you to really ask a lot of questions and even ask your Pediatrician what you are not asking that you should be.

 

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The boys got the MMR shot over a week ago and before the Dr gave them the vaccine, he told us that there was a 1 in 6 chance that they would have a reaction. My wife and I laughed, pointed to Baby A and said that he would get it and would get it while we were at our families house.

Well, sure enough, we were right. Yesterday morning at their breakfast we realized that he was breaking out into a rash on his stomach. He had started with a running nose and a slight cough the day before as well, which we didn’t think too much about.

Baby A appears to be ok. The rash doesn’t bother him, as he is not scratching it or anything. The runny nose is not that bad, coughing off and on and he did have a low grade fever. So, we are calling the Dr this morning, just to let him know and we will keep a watch on it.

I read several articles last night on the MMR shot and reactions and it seems like his reactions are in line with others. The benefits still seem to outweigh negatives. Here are some of the articles that were helpful:

So we will just wait this one out and hope that he feels better soon.

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Yesterday was the boys 1 year checkups. They are growing as they should, got their shots, and the biggest news of all, no more formula. That is right, as of 3:00 yesterday the boys were switched from formula to milk.

And since I love saving money, here is a quick break down of the savings:
Formula – $40 a week for 2 containers.
Milk – $3.50 for a gallon.

We are estimating that we will need 4 gallons a week, which will be $15 (with tax), which is a $25 a week savings. Saving $25 a week is not huge, but that is $100 a month that can go to pay down debt. Every little bit helps, so bring on the milk. And thus far, the boys seem to love it.

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My wife and I have been very blessed when it comes to our boys sleep patterns. For the first 3 months, they slept for 2 hours at a time, had a bottle, would sleep for 2 more hours and so forth. At our 3 month Doctor visit, I asked the Doctor how long before they would sleep through the night. He laughed and told me that we had a while. I guess a week was a while, because the following week, both boys on the same night, started sleeping 6 – 8 hours at a time. Oh, what a beautiful thing.

Then it happened.  At 10 months old, Baby A started waking up at 11:30pm on the dot every night, screaming. So what changed? Was he teething? Was he growing? He wasn’t talking and telling us what was wrong, so we were left to guess. Everyone told us to let him cry it out. Normally, that would be ok. But we live in a townhouse and the next door neighbor likes to beat on the wall when he starts crying. So, that really didn’t help the situation at all. We called our Pediatrician and asked for advice, they too said to let him cry it out, but they also suggested to give him extra food before he goes to bed. That night, we moved Baby A downstairs into our living room, setup the pack and play, put on some classical music, feed him, gave him extra food, kissed him on the head and off we went. 7:00am the next morning, I go downstairs, there he is, sitting up smiling. This goes on for 2 more weeks. A full night sleep.

Then it happened again. Now, we are at 11 months old and he started waking up at 11:30 pm. So for almost a week, every night he would wake up. What changed? He was still downstairs. He was still listening to classical music. He now had 2 more teeth to come through. So what was it? What changed? Well, before calling the Pediatrician, I did some Google searches to see if this was a common issue or not and it was – Read about it here on Baby Center . Was he hitting a milestone? He did just start to walk. There might be a few more teeth coming in. It does look like he is growing. Wait, that might be it. If he is growing, could that mean that he is waking up at 11:30pm, which is 4 hours after he last ate, which is about the time in between his bottles during the day, was he hungry? That night, I gave him 4 oz. of formula and what do you know, he slept through the night.

I am not saying that this will work for you if your child is crying. I’m not a Pediatrician, so always ask them first, which is what we did. But, so far so good. We have given him the extra formula and we are all able to sleep through the night again. Let’s just hope that this continues.

Sleep, it is a wonderful thing.

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Today is Health Care Day 2 for the Supreme Court and their hearing of oral arguments on whether or not the Health Care plan that President Obama signed into law was constitutional or not?  And at the center of the arguments today is the highly contested and most often questions, Individual Mandate. I discussed yesterday my views on Health Care and what I thought that should be done, but I was asked by a friend, what does Health Care have to do with your sons?

Here it is in a nut shell.  If the law, as it is today, stands and goes into effect in 2014, there are a few things that could have an effect on the boys:

  1. If everyone is required to have medical insurance, getting an appointment if the boys are sick, will be that much harder with their Doctor.
  2. If small businesses are required to pay more for health care, then jobs could be slashed from employees.
  3. If jobs are slashed and cost of goods and services go up, that means, that as the parents of these boys, we have less money to spend on them.
  4. If we have less money to spend on the boys, that means less spending on family outings, meals out, baseball games, college savings, etc.

So, yes, this current Health Care bill does have an effect on my sons. It has an effect on all of us. I think that most agree that we have a health care issue, the difference is, I think that what is being proposed is going to do more long term harm than good. All American’s deserve the right to have Health Care, but it is the individuals right if they want it or not.  And I for one, would rather keep my discretionary income for my family, then see the cost of goods and gas go up higher due to the Health Care bill.

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Today marks a historic day in our country.  Today, the United States Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments on whether or not the Health care that President Obama signed into law is constitutional or not. The Affordable Care Act is designed to help those that do not have insurance currently, the ability to obtain insurance at a reasonable cost regardless of pre-existing conditions. Now, I am really paraphrasing this, because this law is really a lot more than this. There are a lot of things within this bill that are great. There is a WHOLE  that I disagree with.

And for today’s purposes, I only want to address 1 portion of this bill pertaining to Individual Mandate, my suggestion for an alternative proposal to health care, and how I think that the Supreme Court might rule on this bill.

There is a lot of controversy over the topic of Individual Mandate. Curious to know what the Individual Mandate is? Here it is in it’s simplest form: By 2014, if you, a private citizen, does not have insurance, you will be forced to either purchase insurance or pay a penalty. So, what does this really mean? If you, an individual, does not have insurance by 2014, the United States government, if this bill passes, will require you to either purchase insurance from a private company or pay a penalty for not having insurance. I believe strongly that if you are an American citizen that you have certain rights that are guaranteed under the Constitution and no where does it say that you have to have insurance.

Now, do I think that American citizens should have insurance? Absolutely. However, this gets to be a tricky issue.  Currently, in many states, there is a shortage of Doctors, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners. Why is this a concern? Well, let’s say that 1 million new patients come into the insurance system and start going to the Doctor, because for the first time in 10 years, they have insurance. What happens? A serious backlog at Doctor offices, which means, longer waits to be seen and treated.  US News and World Report had a story that Three Quarters of Americans could not afford Health Care and that roughly 9 million Americans lost their health insurance over the last 3 years due to the economic conditions and job loss.

This only backs up my thought that by adding 9 million new patients, a new problem is created, an even greater shortage of Doctors. So, unlike most that disagree with legislation, I have an alternative solution and though, it is flawed, it does make sense:

  1. Strike down portions of this bill, especially as it pertains to the Individual Mandate. Allow private citizens to choose what they would like to do. Give them the option to opt in or not, with no penalty. But give them the option, that if they have a pre-existing condition, that they are not denied coverage or charged an astronomical amount for coverage.
  2. Let’s provide affordable options that are affordable for individuals and/or families, to ensure their medical care.
  3. Let’s address the shortage of Doctors in this country. I have often heard that Doctors have huge student loans after they graduate. Let’s help them, as they treat patients. Create a medical health care system, that allows those that do not have insurance a free or subsided clinic that provides 24 hour care.  But, just as residents do at hospitals, they work with patients under the supervision of a Doctor, let’s do the same thing. Give these residents that choose to work at these clinics a stipend salary and allow them to reduce their overall student loans.
  4. By creating this new system where uninsured patients are treated by residents (oversee by an attending Doctor), this frees up our ERs in our America that are often filled with uninsured patients (hospitals can not turn away people that need medical treatment if they are unable to pay or not), thus allowing ERs to treat those with insurance that need immediate help.

Again, I am not saying that my idea is the greatest, but it solves several needs and addresses our shortage of Doctors. But by going to a system like this, patients are treated, new residents are able to learn, and ultimately, citizens are not told or penalized if they do not have insurance.

As for what I think the Supreme Court will do? My best guess is that I don’t have the first clue. If you look at this down party lines, there is a 5-4 vote for more Conservative Justices. My guess is that the bill maybe sent back to Congress and certain parts of this bill will either be re-written or removed completely, i.e. the Individual Mandate. My thinking is that the Justices’ will view the Government forcing citizens to purchase insurance from a private company will be viewed as unconstitutional. But at the end of the day, I do believe that people have a right to be treated and they should. I just do not believe that the Government can force an individual to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty for not doing so.

More to come on this very controversial topic, but take a look at this Consumer report to read a little bit more on the health care law that will be heard tomorrow.

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