What a Crazy Year It's Been!

Somehow it’s already been 365 days since we received our pair of blessings… Braelyn McKee arrived at 12:28 PM and Gwendolyn Marie came a couple of minutes later at 12:30 PM. Together, they entered the world on a bright, crisp and cool Kansas City Tuesday.

Truth be told, Dad and Mom were actually running a little late getting to the hospital a year ago today... Otherwise the girls would have come a little bit before lunchtime. All we can say is that it’s nice to have kids around to blame for our incessant tardiness now! Before the girls, we were just that flaky couple that was never on time. Sprinkle in a set of twins and we’re still running late (more so than ever actually), but at least now we have a pair of VERY good excuses!

;)

Seriously though, we thought you might enjoy a quick look back at just how much our family has changed in a year's time… ENJOY!

Gwen’s MRI Results, Part I

So we heard back from the neurologist in regards to Gwen’s MRI. Obviously, his findings really are more geared to the brain/spinal column and not it’s prevailing effect on her apnea. In terms of Gwendolyn’s Chiari malformation, he still didn’t feel as though it was any more severe than a “typical” Type II situation (of course for those that don’t have spina bifida to begin with, we suppose there isn’t really anything “typical” about a Chiari malformation at all). For reference, the scale goes from Type I (least severe) to Type IV (most severe). On average, most children that have a myelomeningocele (the form of spina bifida that Gwendolyn was born with) have a Type II Chiari malformation. It is the neurologist’s opinion that Gwen’s case does not call for a decompression surgery. As I noted, we still need to get the pulmonologist’s findings but that was a positive report in the short term.

Two points of concern came in the fact that one of Gwendolyn’s ventricles had slightly more fluid in it than the last time they checked. When she was first born, both ventricles were rather inflamed and enlarged as a result of her hydrocephalus. While her shunt helped alleviate the swelling and actually collapsed one of the fluid sacks, the other ventricle has remained at a consistent, non-threatening level of fluid. Hopefully this ventricle doesn’t continue to have the fluid level rise or Gwendolyn might be looking at a follow-up to either replace or reposition her current shunt. Still, the neurologist said that Gwen’s brain currently is at a non-stressed state and at the end of the day, that’s obviously the most important factor.

The other thing that came to light as a result of the MRI was the presence of a cyst in her spinal cord called a syrinx. The neurologist stated that again, given her spina bifida, it is a fairly common thing. However, it will require regular monitoring. If the syrinx were to grow, it could swell to the point that is chokes off the spinal cord from the inside out. If gone unchecked, it could cause irreversible damage so we obviously want to say on top of it and what size it is.

So we suppose the update on Gwendolyn from a neurological state is kind of indifferent. While there’s nothing that requires immediate concern, she’ll have a repeat MRI in six months to chart the level of the fluid in her ventricle and to make sure her syrinx hasn’t got any bigger.

Again, we won’t have the other piece to the MRI puzzle until pulmonology is able to look over things and decipher it’s relation to Gwen’s apnea but that’s the most current status report as far as neurology is concerned.

And even with all that apprehensive news above, just look at the photos of Gwendolyn and Braelyn on the swing set the other day. In the end, that’s all the proof we need that they are both doing rather well all things considered.

Mom's Birthday Recap

We are happy to report that Mom had a very good birthday. In fact, Braelyn decided to perfect something she had been working on for a while as a special gift to her Mommy. Yep, Braelyn finally crawled. As Dad noted, she still has a little hitch in her giddy up. For some reason, she only periodically tucks her right leg underneath her. The other times she simply sticks it out to the side like she's trying to trip a passer-by (you can almost make it out in the above photo). Still, this was the first time that she got from point A to B without utilizing a roll, army crawl, or a shrieking scream imploring an adult to please just move her in the direction she'd like to go... NOW!

We also celebrated Mom's birthday with one of her favorite things in the world... a Saturday morning breakfast run. In addition to the four of us, cousins Madison and Lindsey, Aunt Susan, Uncle Kyle and Grandma McKee joined us for this special birthday outing. As you can see above, Gwen enjoyed playing with Madison while Braelyn kept Dad busy by squirming in her highchair and eating some of his meal... Madison obviously got the better end of that deal if you ask Dad! ;)

Speaking of fun, did anyone catch the Chiefs game yesterday? Mom and Dad sure did!

And on the topic of birthdays... We just can't believe that the girls officially turn one this week. Boy, does time fly by!!!

A Picture That's Worth a Thousand Words

Anyone wondering if Gwendolyn has to stay in the hospital tonight after her MRI need only look at this picture:

Yep that's the sight (known to us as her contented "squinty smile" face) awaiting Mom and Dad as we were ushered into her recover room while she began to awaken from her anesthesia. Luckily, Gwen did a fabulous job of keeping her oxygen levels up during the scan. So, she never needed to be intubated with a breathing tube. As a result, she had a fairly uneventful time waking up after her MRI was complete. Shortly after getting called into her recovery room, we were officially given the green light to take Gwen home. Unfortunately, the MRI itself went on a little longer than we anticipated. However, that was only because they decided to take advantage of Gwen's outstanding vitals and get images from multiple angles that they initially didn't think they'd have time to capture. So, while we aren't staying the night at the hospital, we did spend the majority of the day there... Still, we're pretty happy with that trade off!

As for the results, we'll be waiting a little bit for those. Unfortunately, it will take a little bit of time for the necessary individuals to review the MRI images and render their opinion of Gwen's chiari malformation. But we hope to hear back once those deliberations are complete.

When we did finally get home, we collected Braelyn from Grandma McKee's and sat down for a celebratory pizza dinner as a family. As you can see above, even Braelyn got in the act as she grabbed a piece of crust and began gumming it (That's daddy's little girl).

All in all, it wasn't a bad Friday at all for the Castellanos! Undoubtely, your well wishes played a big role in today's good cheer. We can't thank you all enough yet again!!!

We'll keep you posted when we hear back on Gwen's MRI results. We hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Almost That Time Again

Well, here we are... Only a day away from another trip with Gwendolyn to the hospital. At least this MRI shouldn’t be too stressful (famous last words). While we hope she won't have to spend the night after this scan held over for observation, we've been told it could be a possibility given her history. Still, we are keeping our fingers crossed that she awakens quickly from the anesthesia and we are sent on our way before it comes to that.

Obviously, we also hope this MRI goes a long way toward finding about the severity of Gwendolyn's Chiari malformation. While its effect on her apnea will probably be a subjective diagnosis more than a concrete one, it should at least help Mom and Dad make an educated decision with the assistance of Gwen's pulmonologist and neurologists as to where we go from here.

We’ll obviously keep you all posted as to how things go tomorrow but if you have a moment to think about Gwen and wish her luck, we’d appreciate it.

Last night, the girls and Daddy went on a secret field trip to get Mom a birthday gift... We'll be sure to give a little more information on that fun mission over the weekend but we can’t wait for Mommy to open her gift on Saturday!

We guess that’s all for now… We hope you enjoyed today’s blog photos of Braelyn and her sister.

Whole Milk and Funny Faces

Well, another weekend has quickly evaporated into a work week. Unfortunately, there was a little more time than usual spent playing in “The Community” for the girls thanks to a Saturday afternoon hail-storm that boomed into the area and lasted well into the evening. Needless to say, it kept us a little more sequestered than normal. Earlier in the day, we did sneak out with the girls to watch a parade during the Blue Springs Fall Festival. Unfortunately, miscommunication meant that only Grandma McKee was able to watch it with us as the rest of the McKee contingent ended up on the complete opposite part of the parade route. Still, the girls did seem to enjoy the outing quite a bit.

At one point of the parade, Mom and Dad realized just how far little Gwendolyn has come recently… When we got her home from the hospital last January after her extended stay, she’d erupt into tears at the sound of a sneeze (Of course, Dad’s sneezes are nothing to… Well, sneeze at). Yet, there was Gwen on this sunny Saturday morning in her grandmother’s arms smiling and gazing wide-eyed with amazement as fire truck after fire truck rolled by flashing its lights and blaring its horns. That girl sure has come a long way!!!

Speaking of getting older, Braelyn has finally graduated to regular milk. Although, we’ve got some formula left and so as not to waste it, we’re still giving her some of that until it’s finished. Yep, that’s our oldest above getting her first official bottle with regular milk. Speaking of bottles, Braelyn’s assimilation to the sippy cup hasn’t gone as smoothly as we would have liked. We’re still working on making that transition so it seems like it will be a little longer than initially anticipated.

The girls still have a couple of weeks to go until their next visit to the pediatrician for their first year checkup and shots. Still, when Gwen was at her clinic visit last week, they did weigh and measure her. She’s now at 17 pounds, 15 ounces and is 26 inches long. It’s amazing how quickly she’s growing. Speaking of being amazed, Gwendolyn has taken a new “favorite.” Earlier this week, Mom and Dad went to a consignment sale. One of the purchases we made was a book with pictures of different expressions made by babies. For some reason, Gwen’s always been enamored by faces but her excitement over this particular book has taken it to a new level.

Sometimes it’s so easy being a child, isn’t it?

Everything's Better With Pasta

For one week at least, Gwendolyn’s hospital visits are complete. By and large, there wasn’t much that came for this round of consultations. Luckily, everyone seemed pleased with her progress thus far in terms of things as they relate to her spina bifida. As of now, her kidneys and bladder are functioning well, her bone and muscle growth is normal, her neurologist seems please with her shunt and both occupational therapy and physical therapy felt that her improvement between now and her last visit to the spinal defects clinic was great.

At the end of this clinic visit, Gwen was fitted for her first set of braces. As you can see, the shape of her leg is created by molding a special tape that sets (similar to what they’d use on a cast) around her feet and calves. Then they cut it off and send it to the manufacturer to custom-make her particular braces. In two weeks, Gwen should have her new set of braces and when her stander comes, she will be ready to start using it.

Next Friday, she’ll be back at the hospital for a brain MRI. Again, the purpose of this one is to chart her chiari malformation and see if it has any effect on her apnea spells. Because the best results are had when the patient is perfectly still, they will have to put Gwen out for this procedure. And given her apnea history, there is a chance she’ll remain in the hospital overnight for normal observation just to be sure she’s not experiencing any ill effects for the anesthesia. We obviously hope it won’t come to that but as we’ve learned in the past with “The Gwenner,” nothing’s ever easy.

As for Braelyn, yep that’s our little Italian girl above eating her first helping of pasta and marinara. Granted, she’s been getting table food for a little while already but Mom typically is the one that prepares the girls’ tender vittles (even though Mom and Dad ultimately share the task of actually feeding the two of them). So, when you’ve got an Irish gal preparing the meals, typically Italian cuisine isn’t one of the first things on the menu! Of course, if Dad had issue with this, he could have just gotten off his rump and made Brae Bear's pasta himself instead of waiting for his wife to complete the task… And therein lies our conundrum!

;)

Talk to you all soon!!!

A Pigskin Distraction

This weekend past wasn’t all that different than in recent weeks... Too long a list of errands to run, not enough time to really check them all off. (Yep, that lawn is still calling Dads name!)

However, it all went as good as can be expected. The girls snuck in a little football viewing with Daddy but the majority of our family time was spent going here and there as we tried to squeeze in all of our necessary tasks.

One thing we did make sure to do is give the girls’ new daycare provider a crash course in twins care. Actually, since she’s a mother of twins herself, it was really more of a course in “Gwendolyn care” than anything else. After some serious deliberation, Mom and Dad decided to move the girls from the initial day care they began at the start of the school year to a new one beginning today. The long and short is that this opportunity popped up out of the blue and just seemed like a perfect fit. Of course there are always outside considerations (we won’t be spending the extra money on gas, the girls won’t be spending an extra hour of their day cooped up in the car going to and from home, this provider is a little less expensive than the last). Still, at the end of the day, the most important factors are that it is so close to Mom’s work (blocks away really) and that we are confident the girls will be just as well cared for as they have been in the past. It’s such a piece of mind, especially with Gwendolyn’s past, to know that Mom can be there in minutes should anything happen.

As for tonight, the girls have their Chiefs shirts on and are already fighting over the remote to make sure that they don’t miss a second of the Chiefs opener. Hopefully it will be a good game.

Gwendolyn won't really see much football tonight though because she'll need to make sure she gets to bed early. She’s got a pair of routine kidney/bladder tests at the hospital tomorrow. These test pop up periodically just to make sure all’s still going properly with her body’s waste removal. Then on Wednesday, she’s got her latest all-day visit at the spinal defects clinic. Mom and Dad are pretty interested in what the “experts” opinion will be of Gwen’s developmental progress since her initial clinic visit this past spring. The big date for "The Gwenner" is really the end of next week. That’s when we revisit her sleep apnea saga with an MRI to check into the severity of her Chiari malformation and the possible need for a corrective surgery. However, we’ll just focus on this week’s rounds of hospital visits for Gwen and save that anxiety for another week!

With that said, Braelyn will be flying solo for a large chunk of the next two days while Gwendolyn gets poked and prodded. Luckily, our Brae Bear is the outgoing one so we don’t anticipate that she’ll have much of an issue assimilating to her new daycare surroundings without her partner in crime!

That’s all from the Castellanos… we’ll talk to you soon!!!

Ready for Some Football

Mom, Braelyn & Gwendolyn got ready for the opening of the Chiefs season in style last night. The team held a pep rally at the stadium (which Dad had to work, of course) so the girls came out to show their team spirit.

Not even the rain dampened their fandom as the girls got their first taste of Arrowhead Stadium... Although, as the cheerleaders will now attest to, the twins apparently aren't big fans of pom-poms. For some reason, every time one got shaken in Braelyn's or Gwendolyn's general direction, tears ensued. Still, it looks like we've already got our girls hooked on football (mission accomplished)!

We can't wait for Monday night to get here... Chargers beware!!!

Laboring through Labor Day

What a busy and fun-filled Labor Day weekend the Castellanos had. Unfortunately, Dad needed to spend a chunk of it at work but we still squeezed in an outing to a carnival, had a pair of meals with our McKee family, went to a Blues concert in the park and even ran a slew of errands (including purchasing supplies for Braelyn and Gwendolyn’s first birthday… Wow, we can’t believe it’s almost that time).

Anyway, we thought we’d share some of our favorite pictures from the weekend that was… Enjoy!

One of Braelyn's favorite things to do is ride on Dad's shoulders. Here, she's getting a bird's eye view at the carnival as she plays the "drums" on his head.


Gwen and Mom chill out on a blanket at the park...


... While Braelyn sits on Grandma McKee's lab and enjoys a snack.



Apparently listening to the Blues makes Gwendolyn laugh.

Welcome to Our Little “Community”

For those of you that haven’t been to Casa Castellano, we thought we’d take this opportunity to introduce you to the girls’ secluded play area. Affectionately known as “The Community” (as in gated community), this haven allows the girls to enjoy playtime without the typical assault of wet noses or face licks that is inevitable when our two dogs Angel and Joker are out of their kennels. While Dad initially resented the fact that Braelyn and Gwendolyn would be “caged up,” they honestly seem to enjoy their own space and since it engulfs a rather large portion of our living room, there is plenty of space for them to roam. Rather frequently, Mom or Dad climbs in and joins in the fun. When Grandma McKee is visiting we pop one of the connectors on top to allow for easier access to the girls so she doesn’t have to “hurdle” the fence of The Community to interact with them.

That’s actually where one of the funnier side effects of The Community comes into play. With Ms. Wiggles (a.k.a. Braelyn) on the scene, a compromise in the “integrity” of The Community’s gate often is too inviting for her to pass up. That’s because Brae Bear enjoys testing boundaries already and there’s no better boundary to try and cross then figuring out what it will take to squeeze her little body out of the gate if it’s left even a smidgen ajar. Straight out of Mission Impossible, Braelyn will roll over to the space in question as if clairvoyantly knowing which portion isn’t completely affixed. Then, she’ll begin kicking it with her legs. As soon as the smallest of gaps is present, she makes her break; often looking around to ensure that Grandma, Mom or Dad can see her so that she’ll be caught in the act. (We guess she’s still mastering the element of surprise… Which is fine by us!)

Gwendolyn’s experience in The Community is typically more docile. (No shock there we guess.) She has what originally was an enlarged nursing pillow meant for twins that makes a large “U” shape. She’s turned that device into a makeshift cushy chair where she often sits while she’s in The Community. Before long, Gwen’s known to pull up a bucket of toys and have a good old time blowing raspberries at the various objects she encounters while sitting in her "chair." Of course it’s not all fun and games for The Gwenner when she’s in The Community. That’s because her at-home physical therapy sessions will often take place at least partially inside The Community as well.

So there’s your look behind the curtain at the twins’ latest craze this soggy Kansas City Thursday. By the time you’re reading this, Braelyn and Gwendolyn are liable to be enjoying another play session in their special gated community once again!