Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Guess What?


It's been a long journey. Now after a week of keeping such a BIG secret we can finally tell everyone....



Wait for it......



Drum roll please......




WE ARE COMING HOME!!!
After 139 days in the hospital, many tears, and headaches, we
are heading home! And another BIG surprise we are coming home without oxygen, monitors, or a feeding tube!! Just baby Blake!! Big ol' 132 day old Blake!!
We couldn't be more excited to start this new chapter of our lives, outside of the hospital!

















Monday, August 20, 2012

Boys Rule


"A Miracle Baby"
This little tiny baby
Was sent from God above,
To fill our hearts with happiness
And touch our lives with love.
He must have known
We'd give our all
And always do our best,
To give our precious baby life
We are grateful and so blessed!



Wide awake and playful today.




Already sticking out his tongue at me!


"Whatchu looking at daddy?"


You Cry, I Cry.


Our lil' monkey butt!


This boy cracks us up!


Blake and Nurse Katie.


Blake and Nurse Nicole.


Boys Rule!




Sunday, August 19, 2012

Live in Hope





130 days old...it was 137 days ago my water broke. How much time has past, how many lives have changed since that day the boys were born.
April 11th, at 8am i wrote in my pregnancy journal....
" it's been a week. Today Dr. Fitzpatrick took me off the procardia due to the fact my WBC's are up. He is concerned. Which in turn makes me concerned. Not for the safety of myself, but rather the safety of you both. I need you both to be okay. I have never met you and yet you have completely stole my heart, and have become my life. The two most important people. I'm scared. I'm scared today."

I read this and am overwhelmed. The twisting, nauseating knots in my stomach have become a too familiar visitor to my body. As we get healthier I find myself reflecting.

Looking back into my pregnancy journal was interesting too.
To remember the food cravings... McDonald's cheeseburgers, frozen raspberries, hashbrowns, and ketchup!
To the foods that..well for lack of a better way to say it...did not stay down.... Caesar salad, chicken fingers, potato soup and ahhh pizza! (how I could not eat these things I don't know!!) I find entries with name ideas (we of course chose the best!) and then reading my true gut feeling I had when we found out there were two of you!

January 22nd
"on thursday we found out that you are not a you at all- you are a "we"! There are TWO of you...two, as in twins, as in not one but TWO!!....flooded with fears I won't lie. This is alot, I shook my head, laughed, cried, panicked, felt over joyed, full of fear and love...whew I'm in shock!"

March 2
"I've started to feel you in my belly just over the past two days. It's an odd feeling- not definite movement but a feeling that there is something or I guess actually Two someone's in there fluttering. Fluttering around like butterflies!"

I find myself at times still saying the plurals- they, them, both, etc. it immediately registers that we are no longer a plural. We now have one "twin", seems wrong to say. But our one "twin" is fighting so hard! And Blake definitely is a twin...and although Conor is gone, I know it has to be them both fighting. It brings comfort to know that Blake's whole life he will have a back-up, a special someone to hold him steady when he stumbles, to pick him up when he falls, and to help him fight when he needs the extra strength to pull through.

This has been a long journey from finding out we were having twins, to losing Conor, Blake's 9 surgeries and lots of tears. Hopefully this is the hardest thing Zach and I will ever experience. I read through the journal today to reflect. To remember where we started from. My pregnancy was so swiftly taken from us it's sometimes hard to remember how fun it was. The first kicks, the talks of baby names, and the worries and joy we felt!
And now as we get closer to the end of this journey I can see how we have survived it! Blake is thriving, Zach and I are still as in love as ever! And possibly even closer than we were before! (even after spending everyday for the past 4 months together!)

As I closed my journal, and stared at the front cover, I read the front page...
"Live in Hope"
How fitting! How fitting a phrase for our journey. God knew, he knew this was our path before it happened, and he set this reminder for us on my journal.. All before it happened.
Just remember, to live in hope! I like it! We are living in hope, in hope for a brighter future, in hopes of lots of years of love, hopes of laughter and fun, and hopes of taking our little man home to stay!!


Pictures!

I promised pictures, so here they are!

Here is lil' man after his surgery on Friday-seeing pink elephants after the pain medicine was given.


Knocked out from the medicines.

Daddy loving on Blake after surgery.

We are doing well after surgery and are up to 6lbs 6oz. And 19 1/4 inches long! Eye test on Tuesday.
Now for some pics of Blake with his aunt and uncles!

Blake and Uncle Zeb.


Blake and Aunt Abby.


Blake and Uncle Kyle.



Friday, August 17, 2012

Update!


After a LONG two and a half hours...Blake's 9th surgery is finally finished! Everything went great, a little hiccup in the middle of the surgery, but everything ended great! While repairing Blake's abdominal wall hernia, Dr.Rouse found a small connecting hydrocele. This is a small pocket of fluid coming from the excess fluid caused by the shunt. This was a quick and easy fix and while they were already operating went ahead and repaired it as well (so does that count as 10 surgeries?) Blake also had his circumcision completed while he was under general anesthesia (the boy has already been through enough we were trying to be nice!)
So something did happen during this surgery that has never happened before- right after surgery they went ahead and extubated Blake from the breathing machine and placed him on a nasal cannula!! YAY!!! Thanks for all the prayers, we will be posting pics of our little man soon once we get to go back to see him!


Want to know a secret?

I HATE Waiting.
Just in case you wanted to know!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Day after Day.

August 15,2012




Day after day, week after week, we see parents smiling, baby in car seat, waving goodbye and wishing us luck. As people keep coming and going we keep sitting and waiting...sometimes uncontrollable tears well up and wishes that it was us leaving come to my mind. Don't get me wrong we are happy for people when they get to leave, being in the NICU is hard on everyone- I think once I compared it to a roller coaster, but after four months I find it much more similar to a tsunami. It's constants waves of emotions crashing down, day after day, and you hold strong knowing that one day the waves will calm and a bright sunny day will take its place. It just happens to be that some people get to see the calm a little sooner. So when I feel jealously rearing it's ugly head, It's then I take the time to sit, take a deep breath and remind myself that at one point we had said goodbye to this lil' man, we were convinced that every breath was his last....and yet today, today our lil' man is 6lbs 3oz, on no oxygen support, and eating from a big boy bottle. (most of the time anyway!) So I sit, cuddled next to him, and wait! For its His plan, and I'm simply here to follow it.

Friday- its a big day- a day that gets us closer to home...Blake's (cross our fingers) last surgery here at Riley's. Blake will have a hernia repair and his circumcision done Friday morning at 7:30am (6:30am Henderson time). The surgery should be relatively easy, but I've said it before it does not make it easier on mommy and daddy. The surgery is to remove two hernias, one on Blake's abdomen, and one near Blake's groin. The surgery should take approximately an hour and a half or so, so please keep us in your thoughts. As always with any surgery Blake will be placed back on the breathing machine, and this is always a scary thing because of Blake's past. But we stay hopeful he will do well, and will only be on it for a little while! We ask for a quick recovery, and lots of prayers. This is our last hurdle for now and gets us one step closer to coming home.



















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