We are back - With answers!

It has been a long couple of days. Sunday afternoon we drove up to Canberra. Mum and myself ended up staying up to around 2am just chatting. It was the first time since Mitchell was born that we have spent time together and just talked with out a baby around (Zach and Anna were sleeping peacefully!). Up first thing Monday morning (6:16am to be precise - Thank you Zach and Anna) and wondered around like a zombie until I had consumed a morning coffee - this is a rare thing as I ONLY EVER drink tea, white no sugar, unless it is purchased or made at home on our WONDERFUL Sunbeam Espresso machine - Cafe Series of course! (see picture below)

I TOTALLY love this machine and because I spent a few years making beautiful coffees for a living I think I totally make an awesome cup! Anyway totally off topic there so we move on...... Get twins dressed, jump through the shower while my absolutely WONDERFUL mum made them breakfast - its funny how spending a few good days with your mum that you don't see all that often makes you really miss having them around - organise paperwork, nappy bag, tidy up the 'living out of a suitcase' mess and it was off to our appointment with Dr Rosier. Can I just say that this man is totally awesome! He was lovely to talk to and checked both Zach and Anna out thoroughly but most of all he finally gave us some answers.....

Zachary definitely has Cerebral Palsy Diplegia - in the mild form, the most likely course in his case was his premature birth. Even though I kinda knew this was coming it was still a little emotional to hear out of the mouth of a specialist. To say I felt shattered is an understatement. I wanted to cry. Thankfully Dr Rosier was wonderful and explained the long term effects and how we will go ahead with treatment.

Firstly, Zachary will undergo a MRI. This will show the problem areas and give us a better insight things. Our next step and Physio Therapy to try and get his lower limbs more mobile and to try and loosen and lengthen his muscles that are the major cause of the problems at the moment. We have also been referred to Dr Kevin Lowe in Sydney. He is specialist in the use of Botox in CP children and he will get assessed to see if he is a candidate for Botox. Since he is only one of two doctors that specialise in this in Australia it could take a while to get in to see him unfortunately.

Today we have a 1pm appointment with Monaro Early Intervention to work out a treatment plan. This means running Mitchell to Pre-School, rushing back to get the twins down for a sleep so they can get in at least 1 & 1/2 hours before heading off to the appointment. We really don't want two extremely tired babies while we are there.

Anna's assessment went considerably easier. She is on target for corrected age. We had them both weighed and measured. Zachary is 10.55kg and 78cm long. He has an average head of 47.6cm. All with in normal range. Anna is 10.50kg and is also 78cm long. She does how ever 'have a HUGE noggin' as the doctor put it measuring 49.5cm! For her that is off the chart considerably! Extremely smart - YES... hehehe. I was just thinking the other day that her head looked huge! Anna most likely has Exotropia. We have to see a Opthamoloigist to get a few more tests done and see what this means long term for her. Other than that all was well. Thankfully.

I will come back and update you after we get more answers regarding both Zachary and Anna. Other things we did while we were away....

Well mostly shopping. I made the most of being in Canberra and went to the new DFO. I didn't really buy much there just a few small stocking stuffer's from the bookshop (coloured pencils, etc). I also got Ashlee a new pair of shoes as a bit of a surprise. We then headed off to Spotlight to indulge in some of there specials. I picked up some cute and floral material (come back later for piccies!). I need to get a few things made for the kids for Christmas (And something for me of course). With the weather warming up they are all in need of T-shirts, shorts, skirts, etc. Went off to Medicare to claim back (mind you less then half!) some money from our Paed appointment. Had a look around Target and Mum grabbed some new bather for Ashlee as she has school swimming coming up soon.

I also met up with a old friend, Dianne, from high school that I haven't seen since Ashlee was 6 months old! She is married now and has two kids of her own and it was great to see her again. I also caught up with my Auntie Jane that has never meet the twins. It was great to see her again. We also had dinner with my brother Daniel and his wife Melissa. I love catching up with them, we always have a great laugh, and briefly caught a glimpse of brother Matthew who arrived home just before I was about to leave. (He is nearly 30 but still lives with my Mum, doesn't give me much hope ... hahahaha).

Better head off now and get Mitchell to Pre-School, then come home and get into some house work. Coming home from being away seems to make a lot of mess. Mostly it is just yet to be unpacked suitcases etc but last night I was just so zonked I headed to bed with out doing much at all. Today I pay for that! Please pray for my darling boy, that all turns out well. Thank you xx