Here we go again

I don't know how I went almost an entire year with 2 very preemie babies without any colds or illnesses. I'm sure making up for it. Last night, Lilly and I spent the evening in the ER. She has been having some GI stuff again. She started not eating so well last week, after she had been doing fantastic. Then over the weekend she stopped drinking her bottles. Took her to pediatrician yesterday and they couldn't find anything specific wrong. No fever, only a little diarrhea. She is cutting some new teeth, so possibly she just hurts. Well we went to Julian's game and she threw up the bottle she took 3 hrs earlier, and had only had 2 oz earlier that morning. She had not had a wet diaper all day, so they recommended we go back to ER for some hydration. 3 hrs sitting in a waiting room is not fun, but finally got back and they did think she needed a iv for some fluids. So now we are just trying to keep her hydrated so she doesn't need that again. And, I pray really hard that she will get over whatever is wrong and she will resume where she left off. It was sooo nice to watch her eat and actually want to eat. Little things to be thankful for.

When I was pregnant, and her condition she had, they worried about her non-essential organs not being perfused as well. Then at only 2 lbs, her gut was the big concern, on how she would digest food. It really has been our only problem, but at times is a really big problem. I don't know if her little system still isn't mature enough to handle the little things that most people wouldn't be bothered by.

Pray that we can stay out of the ER for a while. That is one place I really don't want to be a regular.

Happy "Adjusted" Birthday Babies

Tomorrow is the babies "adjusted" 1 yr old birthday. It feels like we celebrated it so long ago. I guess 2 months is a long time. I know the first 2 months in the hospital also felt like an eternity. There was so many ups and downs, and scary days in the beginning. Now, we are doing really good. Alex, just got over his cold that turned into pneumonia. He did have some rough days through that, but has proved that he is strong time again. It is the hardest thing in the world to watch your baby hurting and sick. I took him to the doctor the first time, and got the standard, "it's viral" thing and just to watch it. The second time they both had ear infections, at least we got antibiotics. The third time, a ER visit, and x-ray showed pneumonia, changed antibiotics. 3 days later, still no better, trip back to ped and got a breathing treatment and sent home with an inhaler (which he hates), but it did the trick. The ped questions whether this was a pneumonia or something called reactive airway disease, which is similar to asthma. You can't diagnosis asthma in kids this young so they call it the other. He said it would look the same on x-ray, and the breathing treatments were the trick to recovery, not antibiotics. The cold could have been the trigger for his lungs to fill with so much fluid and constrict so much. He definatley was a new little boy after the breathing treatment. It was like he had relief, and could breathe better. He said we just have to see if it reoccurs and treat aggressively. If it is reactive airway disease, he could outgrow or maybe develop asthma. Just wait and see. But, thank you so much to those of you who cared so much and called to check on him.

Lilly and Julian are doing good. Lilly (knock on wood) is eating great, for the moment. Alex has actually slept through the night a couple of times.

Julian is winding down with his first year of school. Can't believe I almost have a 1st grader. Time just flies by.

mother's day

I feel like I start every blog off with "where do I begin". I guess the life as a mother of 3 is going to feel like this all the time. Since the last blog, Chris and I have been enjoying Julian's baseball games and we've been spending more family time together which is so nice. The babies, especially Alex, had a cold for a couple weeks prior to mother's day. I had taken them a couple times to the pediatrician. Peds are getting sooooo conservative in their treatment now, which is hard for me because I am sooooo a fix it kind of mother, and nurse. I've been very worried about this cold because it has seemed to settle in Alex's lungs, which I don't know how they will respond to this due to him being so sick at birth. Why doctors won't prescribe a decongestant, I have no idea, and will likely bring that up at tomorrow's follow up visit. It's so hard to watch your little babies, have a hard time breathing, hurt so bad with a cough and you can't do anything for them. They just recommend "supportive measures" for colds now. Well, humidifiers, and saline spray doesn't do anything to make them feel better.

We made it to mother's day, with good days and very bad days, but was hoping this was going to be a great day. Chris was so sweet and surprised me with a day at the spa that included a limo ride there and home, so I didn't even have to drive. He was going to brave the day with the kids alone. I was so happy that he did this for me. It was so thoughtful, and he really wanted me to have a special and relaxing day. It was great. I got pampered with a facial and a long massage. It was just what I needed. The day was going good for me, but I could hear Alex on the phone coughing so bad, and he was really having a rough day. He would have coughing fits that lasted so long and he was starting to gag and throw up with them. So as soon as I got out of the limo when I returned home, I scooped Alex up and we were off to the emergency room. We got there and thank goodness there was no wait, and they took us right back. The doctor was really nice. Alex's lungs sounded pretty good for how bad he was coughing, but the doctor ordered a chest X-ray because of his history of premature birth and severe respiratory distress and pneumonia at birth. Well, the x-ray showed he had a right lower lobe pneumonia. Just what I was hoping to prevent, and what I had worried about. They changed his antibiotic and sent us on our way. Well, 3 days later, cough had not improved at all, and I was off to the doctor again. Mom had come down to help me and see Julian play his baseball game monday night, and she also got to go with us to Julian's music concert at school Tuesday. Julian was thrilled that she came to see him do these things, which was really a neat treat for him. I love it when Julian feels special. It made him feel really good that Dee Dee came to see him and he got some good one on one time with her. It was also nice to have another nurse's opinion about Alex, and she agreed that he needed to go back to the doctor.

Thank goodness the doctor was nice and acted appropriate, because I was ready to attack. I was ready for someone to make my baby feel better. She gave him a breathing treatment in the office and sent us home with an inhaler. It has really started to help and give him so much needed relief. He is starting to show some energy and interst in playing again. I am so happy, it doesn't appear that he is hurting so bad now. I am just shocked that it took so long for this to happen.

It didn't end up being the best mother's day, but it was great because my husband tried so hard to give me a special day. Mother's day is always a time where we are thankful for our mothers, which I truly am. I wouldn't know what to do without mine and Chris's mom. But for me, it is a day that I am thankful that I was lucky enough to become a mother of my 3 beautiful children. I am the lucky one and truly have been blessed beyond belief. Motherhood did not come easy for Chris and I. It is something that I dreamed for and prayed for and we had to work really hard for this to happen to us. I could not imagine my life without the opportunity to be a mother, and I could not have asked for anything better in my life. So, I look at mother's day as a gift for me in itself that I was blessed with the responsibility to take care of Julian, Alex and Lilly. They are and will always be my mother's day gift.

Busy week

It's been a very busy, long week. We did end this crazy week with a great day today. The week seems to fly by now. We are busy with Julian, and getting him to school, speech appts, baseball practices, and the babies schedule in between. I look forward to 9 pm when I can finally take a moment and sit down. This week also the babies got a cold which made the days a little longer. There just wasn't enough mommy to go around to make everyone happy. I ended up taking the babies to the doctor Friday afternoon. You hate to go into the weekend with sick kids, and not know if things are going to get better or worse. Luckily, it was "just viral", and nothing to specifically treat by the doctor. That's good and bad. Good that they weren't bad sick, but if they had found something you can treat it and it gets better faster. With the viral stuff, you never know how long that may linger. Peds are so cautious now about treating kids too, and I like to have a "quick fix". I knew when I took them that that would probably be the outcome, but you never know and would rather be safe than sorry. I also thought this could have been some teething stuff. Alex cut another tooth on the bottom and always gets the runny nose with it. I just really worry about him when he gets sick. His runny nose seemed to settle in his chest and he had a pretty bad cough. HIs little preemie lungs don't handle things like that very well. But, today he seems a little better. Lilly ran her first fever, and haven't really figured out why. I was hoping she was teething too, but so far no more new teeth. Just hoping they are better so we have a good week.

Julian is doing really good with baseball. He is so fun to get to go watch. His first game is this week, and Chris and I are really looking forward to it. We've had nice weather this weekend, so Julian has loved being able to get out.

We also got a sidewalk finally put in this week. Our house is slowly starting to look like a home.

Today, we all participated in the March for babies walk. We couldn't believe how many people were there. It was such a wonderful feeling to see people so many people out there but also heartbreaking because everyone there had a "story" as to why this was such an important cause to them. It definately hit home for us. We are so blessed that Alex and Lilly are here #1, because that was our first hurdle, and #2, that they have done so well considering their very early arrival and complications following delivery. I am truly a blessed mother to have 3 beautiful children.

It's hard to believe they came out at the same time, they look totally different. As much as she is small, he is big.

Alex thought it would be fun to play on the dishwasher.