We Survived a Year

Today marks the anniversary of the beginning of our ordeal with the twins. It was one year ago when, crawling into bed, I felt my water break and was overcome with dread. The little guys were only 20 weeks gestation (half-baked) when little Ambrose somehow managed to break his little bag and spill all his water. No one expected them to survive that night, or the 8 weeks until they delivered, or the 10 months since then! What a horrible, wonderful year it has been. And we have all lived to tell about it.

10 months

christmas pictures

Check out our photo albums by cliking the links above, then click "slide show"

Charlie is crawling now. We'll try to catch it on film to prove it.

Ambrose will be liberated from his spica cast December 31.

The big boys are looking forward to Christmas, which we will be hosting in our new home.

Ryan has been out of town for work for the past two weeks, but we'll all have the next two weeks off together.

We Moved!

We are finally in our new home. The first two nights we were without heat. Apparently there was a misunderstanding with Southwest Gas as to when they'd turn it on. Night One was the coldest. We woke up multiple times throughout the night to make sure all the boys were covered. We could use bricks to hold down Josef's covers, but he'd still find a way to kick them off.

We had a nice Thanksgiving with family. Everyone went to bed early and everyone slept hard on Night Two. We still have lots of little things at the old house that need to be moved over the next few days. Our new garage is much smaller, so we're trying to figure out where bikes and strollers will go!

The big boys love the new house and all the room they have to play. The little ones echo "Da Da" to each other all through the house. It's really cute. Ambrose is still in his cast until January. His feeding issues continue, as does his reflux. We try to work with his oral aversion everyday by offering small amounts of baby food on his tongue and lips. He may end up eating baby food first and then learning how to suck later. He is also still on oxygen. Last week we did an overnight pulse ox study. He went from 7pm to 5am without the use of the oxygen tanks. He did really really well. His O2 sats were around 91-93% all night. That is great progress! We don't want to rush him, but we're hoping to have him off the oxygen in the next few months. He's really cute when we take off his nasal cannula and get to squeeze his little cheeks.

Thanks to all the family members that helped us move this week. We greatly appreciate it!

Halloween

Blue Power Ranger - John Paul

Lightening McQueen - Josef

with Luigi - Uncle Rigo

Darth Vader - Charlie

Yoda - Ambrose

At the Park

Ambrose is happy enough in the spica cast. He has little outbursts of fury every so often; it must be very frustrating for him. Diapering and positioning him are the biggest challenges. Thank you to the Cady Family for Ambrose's Cast Cooler; he likes a good vacuuming at least once a day. He is still experiencing frequent vomiting (2-3 times a day) so he's on two reflux meds, but I'm convinced it's more related to the oral aversion and his gag reflex than reflux.


Charlie is a hog with the baby food: cereal, yogurt, fruits and vegetables, meat, anything you put in or near his mouth. He will hardly nurse or take a bottle - he wants big boy food!
Josef is almost always happy and is such a little joy. And he will eat anything too. I've never seen a kid eat mushrooms before! He is talking so much more lately, using and misusing little phrases he picks up here and there (some that we wish he hadn't).


John Paul is really enjoying school and soccer. However he has a hard time obeying the first time, and "if Mommy has to ask all her boys five times, that would be twenty times." He does better if I appeal to his senses of responsibility and purpose. For instance, this week he's the man of the house while Daddy is in Kansas for work.


We're looking to close on our new house in the next week or so. It's more than 2,800 square feet with 4 bedrooms plus a loft, and a pantry as big as our minivan. We're very excited and hope to be moved in by Thanksgiving. It's a much longer commute to work (30 miles versus 4), and we'll wear out our CD player listening to books and lectures and learning foreign languages, but it's definitely worth it considering the space and the price.

That fire hydrant is absolutely going to get run over

...repeatedly.

Thank you to whoever left guerrilla fruit and chocolate on our porch!

Spica Cast

last bath

post-op


new carseat

The procedure went well. Ambrose's little hip went right into place with a satisfying "pop!" said his ortho, which means the socket is the right shape, we just have to wait for his muscles and soft tissues to tighten up. Should be about January.

He has a special spica car seat with no sides and is double diapered, one inside one outside, and a hole for his g-tube. He looks a little like a cross between cookie monster and a potted plant. The hard part will be keeping the inside of his cast clean and dry, especially around the diaper area.
Ambrose is a little cranky, probably has some soreness while his muscles surrounding the joint get used to their new arrangement, but the procedure did not require any cutting, just an injection and general anesthesia.

Thank you for all your prayers, and we welcome any Halloween costume ideas for Ambrose.

Go Fish

John Paul left home real early this morning with his Dad and Godfather to try his luck fishing. He had a great time and returned home just in time for dinner, which he brought home for Mom to clean and cook. They were mighty tastey little creatures!

Speaking of little creatures, Ambrose's procedure is early Tuesday (10/6) morning. Please keep him in your prayers and check back here for updates.

In other news, our offer has been accepted! We hope to be moved into our very nice and very big house by Thanksgiving.