2011 is almost gone....

Wow, Merry Christmas I haven't posted since then. The kids got a lot of toys, all of which they have really enjoyed. We got them a Step2 playhouse. They like going in and out, and putting their heads out the windows. My family Christmas was December 17th, and then Todd's parents come over on Christmas Eve and stay the night, and we do Christmas morning then. We didn't even finish wrapping everything this year. The kids didn't know the difference. They did enjoy unwrapping presents, however crawling on the boxes was the most fun this year. It was an excellent Christmas. Couldn't have asked for anything better with either family. We had a good time with everyone!

We can officially say that we have 3 walkers before ringing in 2012!!!!!! I cannot tell you how happy this makes me! Grey is walking about 60% of the time, and Lilly about 90% of the time. Most importantly they are walking. Lilly rarely falls. That was her plan all along. Grey face plants, and then just gets up in the middle of the floor to try again. Of course we praise them so much when they are walking, and Owen is left standing in the middle of the room... looking at me like... "Seriously, I have done this since July!". I then praise him, and he runs away giggling.

I cannot express how happy I am with these kids. I look at them each day and after I am done running in circles, I thank GOD that I have them, and thank GOD I have my husband. I don't tell him enough, but every day life is nearly impossible without him here. For the first time in my life, I can look at my surroundings, and although it may be chaotic, I love my life. I really do. I have everything I ever wanted. I have a wonderful family both immediate, and extended. I have a great job, great people surrounding us day in and day out. I will also have to remind myself of this and reread this frequently! LOL!This is Todd and Owen napping together, something that RARELY happens.

New Years will bring a healthier me. I am sticking to my diet for sure, and Todd said he would help with that as well. Todd and I plan on going away some time likely for our 10th anniversary alone. Todd wants to go to Turks and Caicos... but I am just not sure that I want to go that far. I want to start exercising again, hoping my mesh abdomen has the same aspirations.

One of the triplet moms in our group (that has quads) has an excellent blog. She recently wrote a post that struck me, and I know a lot of my friends feel the same way. I struggle with guilt, working, having others take care of them during the days, worrying too much about how they are coming along developmentally, how we compare to what we should be doing at this age etc. I worry about wishing their lives away, as it has gotten much easier as the months tick by. I don't miss the baby stage, it was too chaotic... but I do have those guilty feelings that creep in. This is an excellent post. If you get a chance, read it. Here's the link. I also want to work on this too.

We have no plans on New Years Eve. A quiet night hopefully here. I noticed tonight that Grey had some purulent drainage coming out of his left ear, which makes sense as he has been very grumpy at night. He has no fever, and no cold symptoms... so saying little prayers that the other two remain healthy! We'll start ear drops tonight, hopefully it will nip it!

I think that's it...Happy New Year everyone!

Cheers to 2012!

O' Christmas Tree

I didn't have an opportunity to do a post last year of our Christmas decorations... but here it is this year. This is a very typical picture of around our house. The tree shaking in it's stand because there is a toddler pointing at it! Funny Grey's physical therapist came in the door the week we put it up and asked what the tree did to be caged in as such.... It's a beautiful, fake, 10ft tree. I love to see it all lit up, but this year as Todd put it, "That thing can't come down fast enough". We are very thankful it hasn't been toppled over yet!

This was an ornament my mom got me in 2002 right after we got married. This we bought in Hawaii on our honeymooon.

This is an ornament that a pharmacist from the NICU gave to us last year before Grey was discharged from the hospital. It is very dear to us.

This is from Jamie, a very close friend to Todd's late brother Travis, and still to the Maurer family! Jamie went to Notre Dame, and still lives near by. She and her mother prayed there frequently for Grey when he was sick. It's a priceless piece.

This I believe Todd got in 2006 when we bought this house. This likely signifies the chaos I put him through by having the whole house painted on the inside twice because I didn't like the first color. He has such patience with me!

This I bought I believe at Potterybarn in 2008, acorns signify fertility... this was just as we were beginning to dealve into it all!

This was a 2009 ornament along with the bird below. We took one last trip to Gatlinburg, TN before we did our final IVF in December 2009. We went home from that trip with peace that whatever this IVF would bring was what it was meant to be.... JACKPOT!

These are our animal ornaments... Hendrix

Jasmine

RIP Happy kitty. This is Owen's first ornament. Very fitting that it's somethign similar to a sock!

This is Lillian's.

This is Grey's first Christmas ornament.

These I thought were so fitting. I found them at Target last year.

This is outside our house. It was too cold to go out and get a shot from the front. Funny there is 3 penguins pulling the sleigh. I love the big polar bear too. That is my favorite animal. This is our foyer. We added a foyer pre-lit tree this year. It makes our house look a little more festive, since lights outside haven't been a huge priority the past few years!

There are so many more ornaments that mean a lot to us both. I'll maybe be able to do this again next year! lol

Where to begin??

Seriously, I always think that each month has a lot of milestones, but this last month has been spectacular.

Where to start?

Well, we have the some great updates for the kids.

Grey has NO FEEDING TUBE. He pulled out his feeding tube on Dec 20th (this Tuesday) and it is no where to be found. I don't know if he hid it, a dog ate it, it's in the tree... we have yet to find it. He is on an antibiotic, the site looked infected at first, but has since closed up, and looks absolutely wonderful. He is taking his antibiotic much better than I expected, as it normally would go down his tube just to make life easier. It has been about a month since we had used the feeding tube anyway, Dr. Maisel told me to tell him congrats, and keep eating! He loves to eat, and will try almost anything. Currently his favorite things are: Greek God's Yogurt (strawberry honey), mac n cheese, whole milk with whipped cream, grandma's ranch oyster crackers, grape-mango- peach Welch's juice, pop-tarts of any kind, gerber ravioli, gerber mystery meat (it's what I call it, if you have seen the jars, you know what I mean) he loves salmon, pudding, oatmeal, scrambled eggs made in the microwave, grilled cheese... the list goes on and on and on. The kid loves to eat. The last time the dietitian was here she said he has lost some weight despite taking in sufficient amount of calories. Since he has a shorter small intestine than he should have, absorption of nutrients remains a little less than it should be. Therefore, I talked to the doctor she thought we should increase his calories by about 100-200. We have tried that. I think his weight has remained the same. We will find out on the 27th. Grey is almost walking. He very routinely takes 5-10 steps and he is determined to walk. It could be even by the beginning of the year. He will be proficient soon. He is currently 21lbs and 30.5 inches. He is wearing mostly 18 month clothes, but 12 month pants still (his waist and legs are small). The doctor and dietitian said that his growth was super, and nothing to worry about.

Grey likes to play by himself a lot. You can find him off playing with his ball popper that he got for his first birthday, or trying to walk, or climbing on the furniture. Grey is what I would call the most mischievous one of the 3. He is the one that figures out how to open the gates etc. He just recently figured out how to get into the gated tree area, and lifted the gate so that Lilly and Owen could also breech the perimeter. He is a stinker. Grey is getting his molars now, so a bit grumpy the past few days. I could not be more happy with Grey and his progress. One year ago, I would have never thought this little man would be where he is. The kid is a true miracle.

Owen is changing daily. He is the true definition of toddler. He does not want to be fed, and will refuse to eat if you think you are going to literally feed him. He wants to feed himself, and is picky at times. The old stand-by meal is grilled cheese. He likes to snack, but if you put it on a spoon in hopes to feed him... FORGET IT! We have had some sleeping issues with him in the past few months, perhaps it's because he has a full set of teeth now. His room was a bit chilly, but we just got new windows in the majority of the house... this has helped. It has also helped the noise in his room... that might have been a reason for his sleeplessness too. He is running all over. He LOVES to clean. If there is anything that resembles a rag, or washcloth, he is running it across any surface that he has seen cleaned. He likes to run his toy vacuum. Owen loves his shoes and socks, or anyone's shoes and socks for that matter. He is still pointed and making noises when you ask him where objects are, not really talking yet. He absolutely LOVES his father. When Todd walks into the room, he lights up. He has gotten a few toys this Christmas so far, and he loves to push around his toy truck and car he got. Owen can be heard growling alot..... hopefully that will subside when he decides to talk!

Lillian, oh, my Lillian. Lilly is WALKING! Yes, walking. I have had her looked at by every therapist that has come into our house. They all say she is just "cautious, and has the skills to walk if she wants to". URGH! She prefers to bear crawl, or walk on her knees, but just these past 2 weeks or so she is walking a lot more. She has been walking through rooms, and back and forth, rather than on her knees. She is the screamer. If she doesn't like what is going on, she will shriek like no other. She currently is wanting to be rocked to sleep at night... and we are trying to break that habit. She is a stubborn little sister... but, she is a true momma's girl. She is trying to talk, and if you sound out things for her, she will repeat it... like T-T-T tree... she will do the T-T-T. She is doing much better with the shape sorters, and is the first to point to everyone's belly button whether it is solicited or not. She was the first to realize that Grey's feeding tube was not there... wondering if he had help with that... hmmmmm

We got family pictures taken, and Lillian was the ham. Owen wanted to run around and chew on sticks, and Grey was teething... he cried the whole time.

They also went to see santa, and I'll see if I can scan that picture... it's hilarious. Grey is screaming, and Lilly and Owen look scared out of their mind!

We have changed around the house a bit. We have new gates up, and Owen is the first to test them to see if they truly closed. If not, he escapes very quickly with 2 others following right behind.

I am really looking forward to this Christmas, it's so much different than last. I will try to post a little more, as I got a new lap-top from Todd for Xmas!

http://www.jamiesangarblog.com/index.cfm?postID=927 Here is the post to Jamie Sangar's blog that has our pics and a slide show is you want to visit it.

This picture is priceless.... All 3 in the tub, obviously before Grey pulled his feeding tube button out!

This day, 365 days ago..... our family was all home.

What a difference a year makes.

Today was the day of Grey's NICU discharge. 157 days is a very long time. Grey came home to us on an apnea monitor, an NG in his nose for feedings... and a scared little boy that had only been out of the NICU once since birth, and that was to go to the main hospital for a scan to look at his liver more closely. He didn't have very wide horizons yet. Grey came home a jaundice, yellow little boy. He barely took anything by mouth, drank about half an ounce twice a day; the rest was put down his tube for nourishment. As far as activity when Grey came home, he mainly just lifted his arms off the bed to look at his hands. He mainly looked at his right hand, but occasionally his left. He didn't yet lift his head, nor did he really try. He has just gotten off of oxygen a week before discharge, and didn't ever require it again.

We knew when Grey came home that our lives would change from the routine we had been doing. We knew it would definitely be an adjustment for him as well. Afterall, he'd not been in a car, not been in a different bed besides his isolette, only been outside once, and he had never seen our house, dogs, and hadn't smelled or heard the things that he would come to later know. We had a lot of work ahead of us, and so did he. Grey was used to his own little room, his own environment, and his own ways.... and now, he was part of our ways, our life and our environment. He adjusted slowly to all of this.

He slowly had to learn that he wasn't the only baby in the house. I think though, he adjusted better than I thought he would. At first, he needed darkness, silence, and tightly tucked blankets to make him feel like he was safe. I remember at our Christmas gathering with my side of the family the week before Christmas Todd spent the whole time up in our room rocking him, and keeping him in a low stimulation environment. We had him in therapy 3x a week that either Todd or I had to take him back to the hospital to complete. He didn't do well with going out of the house to therapy. We then consulted First Steps of Indiana which allows therapists to come to the house, and that has been a GOD send to us! Wonderful therapists, and so much easier on all of us. I remember the evaluation for First Steps with the therapists that come to the house to check out if they qualify, how developmentally they are, and what therapy they would benefit from. The therapist said to me, "He has a long way to go to catch up to where he should be. Kids like this just don't bounce back quickly. You will have to be patient with him." I remember going back upstairs to my office that day and being tearful for what Grey had already had to endure, and how it was always him that had to work harder, and do more. He recently was re-evaluated for his yearly evaluation for First Steps. The therapist that said that to me came again, and instead of bringing her toddler toys in to the house to evaluate Grey, she brought her baby toys as she remembered him from the January 2011 evaluation. The look on her face when she saw him trying to take steps, pulling himself up, and crawling up the stairs as fast as he could was simply priceless. I truly doubt that she remembers what she said to me, and I am more than sure it was no way maliciously stated.... but I said to her back, "He might be the exception to the rule, but he did bounce back quickly, and he is definitely not far from where he should be." She looked over at me and said, " I am simply amazed at how well this little guy is doing, I should have brought in my toddler toys."

With that, I will end this post.... but I again want to thank St. Vincent Woman's NICU staff, doctors, therapists, etc. Special thanks to Becca, Erin, Brooke, Cathy, Laura, Shelly, Lindsey, and Alex for keeping Grey alive, and me sane. Also, I cannot even name all of the doctors that took care of Grey, but namely Drs. Bensaad, Tauscher, D, Simon, Hendrickson, Kokaska, Maisel, Roberts and so many others.


This is Grey's last picture in his crib in the NICU

Grey's first picture at home. Notice the apnea monitor cords, his NG, yellow skin, and his 0-3 months clothes that he is swimming in:)

Grey in a hat that I thought he needed.... I think he is wondering WHY?

This was his favorite pose. He loved his hands!

Here they all 3 were. 1 year ago today.

Wow.... what a difference a year makes!

Here is a little video of Lillian and Grey entertaining one another a few nights ago. THIS is a little boy that doesn't have too far to go to be right where he needs to be. Thanks to GOD, a lot of prayer, a lot of work, a lot of tears, and a boy with a will power that just doesn't stop!

Oct/Nov updates

Here are our 3 monsters

Grey monster

Owen Monster

Lillian Monster

We have a lot going on day in, and day out here. Currently we are all sick. All but Todd. I think that is the only way we can stay sane, is having one person not blowing their nose and coughing around here constantly.

Here is our zoo outing. As you can tell, they didn't know what to think of the bats, or the lady in the glass washing the windows in the enclosure. Our wagon at the zoo attracts all sorts of people. Everyone has their comment. I have to learn to have thicker sking when it comes to that. Oddly enough the people that just say stuff as they walk by, and don't ask us about them, ticks me off more than anything. Comments about people when you know they can hear you is just rude. Test me on the right day, and I'll let you know that. I decided the zoo trip was going to be fun regardless... and I just needed to get over it. Sometimes that attitude isn't easy to have. With multiples, you know you will get the comments and stares; I acknowledge that. Some people that come out with us spiratically can just accept this, and know that it is going to happen. But day in, day out of the comments when you go somewhere starts to rub you raw. Either way, I'm working on it.

We have been on a few more trips this month. We went to the zoo, and also to the children's museum. I am convinced we got the PLAGUE from the museum. Grey insists on chewing everything. You can imagine the germs there. Chasing him with a Lysol wipe is hopeless.

We also had our 16month shots, along with the flu vaccine. That was on Halloween night. They did great that night by the way.

Owen has an ear infection, currently on antibiotics. At the check up, he was overly concerned what was going on, as he was GOING to RUN away if he had too.. and indeed he tried. He is the more sensative of the 3. He cries when Lilly cries in pain, kind of cute, but rather annoying at other times! He is still enjoying his silky blanket, and must have it at nap and bedtimes. He has become quite the picky eater. He LOVES shoes and socks. Owen is also still talking like a caveman, grunting and pointing. Dr. Riddell our peds md just laughed, and said he thought that speech would come soon. Wondering how long his ears have been bothering him. Hopefully once that is healed we will be good. Owen also likes to help our cleaning lady Angel sweep. He is literally obsessed with the sweeper attachments, and will cry and point when he wants it. He nearly has all of his teeth in now, just waiting on 2 canines. I will have to get a video of him dancing, the kid loves to dance! At 16 months he is 33 inches, and 30lbs. Dr. Riddell says... "Wow Owen, you are going to be a big boy, and that is great!"

Greybear is progressing wonderfully. He thinks he can walk. You will see him look at his destination, which is usually greater than 10 steps away, and he can only take 2 steps... so he will try to get there, and fall flat on his little melon. Usually there are no tears involved, he just tries it again. He loves to throw himself back, and twirl around in his crib and fall down. His current trick with Lillian is a fake cough and sneeze. I will have to get that on video too... it's too funny. Now that he is sick with a double ear infection, when he fake sneezes, it blows snot all over... yummy....! He is eating better than I ever could have expected him to. Even though he is sick, he is still doing great. His oral intake of fluid isn't stellar, but we are working on it. He loves to watch the neighbor dogs and our dogs out the windows of the playroom. He too dances like there is no tomorrow, and now has started the a Jersey Shore like fist pump move when there is music on that he likes. He has adjusted to his room all by himself, although his feeding pole has to be wedged under a foot stool and his crib so he doesn't pull it over, and disconnect it... He is a crafty, smart little fella! His eyes are looking better than ever, and we just had some labs drawn on him last week or so, and they looked great. A year ago now, he wasnt' even home, and as yellow as his pumpkin. He is nothing short of a little miracle. At 16 months he is 30 inches long and 22 lbs.

Here he is questioning why these birds are diving in the water....


The sealions also threw them all for a loop!

Lillian.... oh, my Lillian. She refuses to walk. Yes. Refuses. She will knee-walk, and bear-crawl. She prefers knee walking if at all possible. She has great muscle tone, great control, good stability, and posture, she just will not push herself to do it. She too is a grunter, and pointer. Lately however, she is starting to make more sounds. I hate to push them to talk, because I know I will regret it... but we need them to keep moving along! She continues to be the best eater. BUT, when she is done, she will clear her tray by wiping it, throwing it, slapping it, or pushing it all on the floor. When she is done, she is not joking, she is done. She is great at her little fake sneeze and cough. She also loves to look out at the dogs outside, and just point, and grunt! She is the biter of the pack. Don't cross her, take her toy, or get in her way... that little piranha will bite you. I had to stop her from biting a boy about 3x her size at the children's museum for a toy banana that she thought she needed. At 16 months she is 30.5 inches and 24 lbs.

I am doing fine. Have a little bout of pneumonia. Getting better each day. Surgery stuff is all healed. Looking forward to the holiday season coming up.

Todd is doing well too. Our 9th anniversary is today. Hard to believe how much our lives have changed, and how each trial and tribulation has brought us closer together even though we have our differences.

Today we went to look at preschools for the kids. We plan on in the fall starting them likely 1 day a week. We are currently looking at Holy Cross Lutheran Preschool, it is near our house, and convenient, which is a plus. We'll see, we have time to scope out some more.

We are getting new windows for the house in the next few weeks. Our house is only 7 years old, but our windows are terrible. We are hoping that will keep the kids' rooms a bit warmer this winter. Our house faces the west, we get a lot of wind coming across the field across the road.

Hmm... I think that is most of it.

This was right before their pre-lunch melt down. You can see the boys are getting a tad bit restless!

Field trips and more

That last post is quite the masterpiece. You have to love IPAD editing. I'm just leaving it, it is a bit funny.

While I was in the hospital Todd and Jordan (our neighbor babysitter, we love her:)) loaded up the kids and brought them into the hospital to surprise me. When I woke up at the end of my bed, I saw three little skeletons! They had already had their bathes, and were in their pj's. This pic cracks me up, and reminds me of what a great husband I have!

Today Todd and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch at Tuttles Orchard. It's in Greenfield, and really close to our house. It was windy, and a bit chilly... but nonetheless we had a good time.

They have an apple orchard as well, today was the last day to pick from the trees. We originally went back into the orchard to get out of the wind, and to get a few pictures, and Owen decided that he needed to try a few apples.

They look like here they have never seen apples.
Here he is trying a few samples of unwashed, dirt covered apples.

We then ventured to the pumpkin patch itself. Above you see a picture of that. It was fun. On the way out we saw a big box. We took that opportunity to put the kids in it and snap some pictures.

I don't know if you can tell, but Owen is still chewing on his dirty apple. Grey is taking a few seconds out of the experience to chew on the wood. I'll have to post about the cribs.... Grey is part beaver. He has demolished his bed. Lillian just isn't sure about any of it.

We then went to Chicago Pizza in McCordsville. Going out to eat with the kids is an adventure. We end up having to give GOOD tips to clean up after us. But, they they were good while eating, and took an excellent nap after that!

Some updates on us...

Owen, is still teething. His sleeping is hit or miss. His new thing this week is carrying his toy dinosaurs around making growling sounds to Lilly and Grey, and anyone else that will listen. He is quite the runner these days, in fact when he sees you coming for him he takes off in the other direction. He has been slacking a bit on his eating. I'm assuming it's his teeth, but I think that is quite common for toddlers as well. He LOVES shoes and socks. He will bring them to you, sit down, and put his feet on your lap. Then make caveman noises so that you know, he wants it done now please! His ear infection is resolved. I cannot wait til that poor child is done getting his mouthful of teeth!

Lillian is doing better with her walking. She will now stand up without support, and is showing more interest in walking on her own. After having the therapists look at her that see Grey, we have really worked with her. They were right, her confidence is holding her back. Her new thing is taking all of her clothes off. She will then take her diaper off as well. I do not know what is wrong with this little girl. Last night, I went into her room 3 times before 10pm, and she had disrobed each of those times. The last time, I saw her little bare butt in the air as she was laying on her belly, butt in the air, "reading" a book in her crib. She is funny. She loves to fake sneeze and cough. She will continue to do it until you say "God Bless you Lilly".... and even then, will continue to do so until she deems it boring. Grey also has caught on to that fun.

Grey.... little Grey is doing fabulous. We are starting the feeding wean process. We are awaiting a dietician to help us out, but I dont' want to miss our window of opportunity to get it started. Today he ate all 3 meals, and we just hooked him up to get some extra calories and fluid over night. It is going to be difficult to keep track of what he is 1) eating 2) throwing on the floor 3) licking and putting in his mouth, and throwing 4) drinking 5) what leaks out of his cups when he throws it 5) what he is drinking, and not Lillian and Owen are drinking from his cups. All of this needs to be assessed so we know what he is taking in, and how we need to supplement his fluid intake. After researching, and talking to the doctor about doing a wean of the tube feeding, it is pretty absolute that he will lose some weight. I am not really worried about that. He will do fine with that. I just don't want him to get dehydrated. That itself, makes you feel yucky. It's going to be a weight and balance type of thing, but with the overall goal to NOT have to use the tube soon. Another thing is to try to make sure that he is getting a variety of food, with a variety of textures so that he doesn't become complacent with what he eats. This isn't as important with the other 2, but is very important with him. He is doing great with this though. He has really taken to guacamole. He loves most pastas, and will not turn down mac n cheese. The more fattening, the better for him. As you see, he can be quite the mess! He too is working on his walking. He is pushing things around wonderfully. I am hoping he and Lillian will be walking in the next month!

I am healing slowly but surely. I had my last md appt this week. He released me to return to work this coming Tuesday. I was getting "random" bruising, and pain in places that none of my 12 incisions were.. (yes 12, I feel like, I look like, a dartboard). I guess the mesh he had to put in to make sure that my abdominal muscles would stay together is 12 inches by 12 inches. So, I will NEVER have to worry about a hernia again I guess. So, he said the randomness is indeed not random, it is likely where the mesh is sutured along the muscle in various places. Make sense. I am hopeful I have NO more surgeries in my future! My abdominal binder and I have become great friends. I had some friends from the triplet mom group that brought food a few days last week, that was helpful. If they are reading... THANKS!

I cannot remember if I posted this earlier, but I was supposed to be slated to go to L.A..... Yes, California every other week until the end of the year for work... that fell through, so I no longer have to go... SHEW!!!! Very pleased with that news!

Todd has been quite the team captain around here lately. He has to be exhausted. He is carrying the weight of the household. (Minus my mom, his parents, and Ashley)All 3 bathes, an carrying these kids up and down, and all around wears on you. I told him once I am up and runnying he needs to go away for a boys weekend or something. Maybe a game or something soon. He's been great, and very supportive.

Halloween is coming. We have the kids costumes all ready to go. They are going to coordinate this year. We figured that it won't be long, they will have their own opinions... so we need to capitalize while we can! They will be 3 little monsters. No, that is no coincidence!

Loving October

Well surgery is over...it was all I thought it would be and more. 5 days in iIU north hospital in carmel was good... But hope not to do this again anytime soon. Still in some pain, but it's better each day.
Greyson surgery went sper. His eyes are straight, and I really feel like it has helped him developmentally, his eying and motor skills have drastically improved in the past month. He is walking behind toys, and now standing up in the middle of the floor by himself... But realizes why he Has done and falls. He is eying everything that Lilly and Owen are, or attest he will try the foods. We will be thinking about weaning his feeding tube feeds more drastically soon. He is a rockstar!
Owen is cutting his molars which seems like it has taken 2 years. Poor little man has a sore mouth. We are trying to get him to talk... Instead of point and make caveman noises! He says ball randomly at times when he has it.... Progress.
Lillian is doing better with her walking. She is slowly gaining more confidence, and taking a few steps and leaning and then falls. She is doing very well... I feel like once she starts, she won't stop.
That's all for now... Will post more soon.

What a week....

Well, it has been a busy week. Grey had surgery on his eyes on Friday. He did very well. It was a bit more emotional for me than I had thought. I thought it would be similar to his surgery experience when he had tubes in his ears, but it felt like a bit more. He got to recovery, and in Grey fashion, he was angry. Anesthesia does this to many, and he is no exception. I had prepared myself for his eyes to be red, and a little bloodshot, but... they were really red, and his tears when he cried were tinted with blood. I had not prepared myself for that. He seemed comfortable nonetheless. They said it feels similar to having an eyelash in your eye for about 24 hours, and it is better to sleep it off. He had awoke that morning with a runny nose anyway; so ibuprofen/tyelnol, benadryl cocktail for 24 hours did the trick. The eyes are definitely better aligned. The surgeon Dr. Roberts said that there will be some variability of alignment for the next few weeks, but should settle into it's norm then. The white part (sclera) in each of the eyes near the corner, covering until you reach the iris is completely red. Eyes are just gross anyway... blood in them to me, is even more gross. I can take a lot of things.. but bloody eyes for him has been difficult to see. He doesn't seem to mind. He is very happy today, and although he doesn't like his drops 3x daily... he is great!

Todd and I had what we joked as "an epic" night with Lillian and Owen last night. Grey slept for most of the night. That made one living thing in our house that got more than an hour or two of sleep. Owen has been not sleeping well. Lillian has been getting up at 4am. Last night, Owen got up at 1am, and was awake for the majority of the night. None of the kids will lay in bed with us, and sleep... a blessing sometimes, but not last night. All we wanted to do was sleep. Everyone has a runny nose, and a bit of a miserable cold. Last night I think was THE WORSE night that we have had with the kids all home with us.
Owen is cutting all his molars, 1 already in, and also his eye teeth he is getting too. He's gonna have a mouthful soon! He also has a runny nose/stuffy at times, and wanted to be held upright. Note to self:need to purchase a recliner for bedroom STAT! So, after tylenol/ibuprofen/benadryl orajel cocktail at different times, he got intermittent sleep with Todd in bed. Let me just say, neither really slept.
Lillian had a runny nose, and didn't want to be laying down either. She is getting a molar and a front tooth. I fed her at 4am, her tummy was growling. Gave her some more ibuprofen, and 1/4 dose of benadryl.... and she and I slept sitting up on the couch from 5a-8a.
At 4a, the dogs begged to go down to the basement. A freight train could come barrelling through the house, and if you are in the basement, you wouldn't hear a thing. I think they slept a bit less than Grey.
Lilly, Owen, and I took a trip to our friendly neighborhood Urgent Care clinic for a check up. Lillian has a cold. (Thanks.... I appreciate the diagnosis) And, contrary to Owen not touching his ears, he has a pretty bad right ear infection. Antibiotics and a prescription decongestant, and hopefully (PLEASE GOD) it will be a better night!

Tomorrow I have my hernia repair surgery at IU North (Clarian North) in Carmel. Dr. Don Selzer is doing the surgery. I worked with him while working at IU Med Center in transplant and also while in the Surgical ICU there. Good doctor. Straight shooter, and skillful. I have to say that I wasn't expecting to be worried or anxious about this. It isn't even the pain or restrictions, or anything... I just have a lot to live for these days. Don't get me wrong, not that I ever did NOT have things to live for.... but my little family means so much to me, regardless of my time to time frustrations. Even though day in day out here wears a sister down, just to look at them makes me happy.
I have been through my fair share of surgeries. IVF (s), r ankle reconstruction, tonsils etc, exploratory lap for infertility stuff.. yatta, yatta...but this one is different. So, if you think about it, say some prayers for all of us!
Maybe I am just getting older. Sometimes when you have seen enough, seen a lot, seen too much in the medical profession... you realize that simple things can turn ugly. Therefore, Dr. Selzer will have specific instructions if this shall happen.
1) Don't keep me at Clarian North... send me to IU.
2) Do NOT let a resident/fellow intubate or operate on me... PERIOD (sorry... I know everyone has to learn, they aren't all bad, but learn on someone else...)
3) I need my bowels/bladder, and all internal organs... please handle them with care at all costs
4) Do not sugar coat things to me or my family... I will haunt you.
5)Keep me out of pain, or again, I will haunt you.
6) Don't shoot from the hip, if you don't know how to fix it... find someone that does. ......
Seriously, the list goes on. like....
7)If I am going to be a non-productive person forever, surgery stats don't matter... let me go (I know this is a bit harsh for an outpatient surgery.. he will laugh, but I will tell him anyway)

I'm sure Dr. Selzer will absolutely love putting me under anesthesia ASAP once we speak! Good thing Todd too has all of these instructions. I give all my medical friends out there my permission to be nosey and make sure that Todd is getting the information he needs if such disasters should arise. Can any of you tell I am a pessimist? I read this all back, and just laugh. Seriously... haha!

Anyway... 4-5 days, I will be back blogging hopefully. Like I said, send some prayers our way.. not only for me, but for Todd and the kids, and everyone helping this week to get through with relatively low stress!

I'm so dramatic these days... lack of sleep I think.

Haircuts and what-not

I had intended on blogging long ago. There is indeed still a lot going on. Does the picture to the left summarize it?

Some updates.
Todd made it back from his trip, he had a great time. No work trips planned anytime soon for him. Yay!

I had an appointment with the surgeon this week. What I was hoping would be an easy surgery on an outpatient basis, turned into the planning for a 4-5 day inpatient stay. Sounds like this surgery will be quite the adventure for these hernias. I have to get them done. The pain is more and more, and with the pubic symphysis bone being so close to the hernias, they can very easily get pinched and that would be an emergency. I need to talk to the scheduler this week. I think he is going to have me do another CT scan, and asked me to schedule as soon as possible to avoid any small bowel damage related to the location. Super. However, he said the recurrence rate of the hernias with the mesh placement (I need synthetic mesh placed in my abdominal wall as well) is about 10%. That is good news. I am taking it one day at a time. For some reason, I am a bit worried about this surgery. Perhaps because he said it is one of the most painful surgeries that he does. Can’t wait.
Owen is doing very well. I think he is saying “ball” now. Most of his words are “dirwwt” (which sounds like a little English accented toddler saying “dirt”). He also says “dutch”…. No idea what that is. He likes to yell when he gets outside to hear himself echo and he still thinks barking at the dogs is really fun. It seems like he has been teething for months, but he is getting his molars. He walks very well, and can out and out run at times when he doesn’t want to get caught. He is adapting to his shoes well, and when outside for wagon rides is now starting to want to walk instead to ride.

Lilly the princess… She is still quite the eater. We have cut out all formula during the day, they only get 2 bottles…. One before the afternoon nap and one with 2 oz of formula along with whole milk before bedtime. By the end of the month, we will be done with formula. She is doing fine with that, and so is Owen. She likes sitting on the dinosaur we have, she should be pushing it instead. She still is not walking. She has been holding on and cruising around furniture etc, for months now. We do have physical therapists in the house weekly for Grey, and we are just working with her the way we work with him. I think it is a confidence thing. The therapist seems to think the same. We are going to push her a bit harder for a few weeks and see how she does. Her new thing is taking off all her clothes and her diaper in her crib. Lillian may have to wear a onesie until she is 3. She has quite the personality!

Grey has lots of things going on in the near future. He has his eye muscle surgery on Friday Sept 23rd. It’s coming up so soon. That is an outpatient surgery that we should see instant results. Very happy when we have that behind us. He is also progressively eating better. He is trying new things, and taking more bites of them all. We are going to a feeding clinic in Fishers called Feeding Friends. He is doing well with it, and my goal is before Christmas, we will have him eating and also walking. He will likely keep the feeding tube just in case until spring. That is pretty common. He is pulling himself up, and cruising as well as Lillian is. They both are pushing toys all over. Grey is improving very quickly. We went to the developmental peds doctor at Riley last week. Dr. Brei is his name. Great doctor. Seems like they are never really full of reassurance when you go, however this time, he said, “If you would have told me that Grey would look like this today, 6 months ago, I would not have believed this. ‘’ He then said that we should pat ourselves on the back for what we have done for him, and as well as how hard he has worked. Dr. Brei told me to make sure we keep up the good work, and as soon as he has better oral coordination he will be ready to wean off his feeding tube. AMEN! He is very verbal now a days. He wants to be heard! I think he still likes growling more than anything though.
Fall is coming. I love fall. I cannot wait for frost though. Ragweed season has been overwhelming this year! We are still debating on Halloween costumes. I think I have convinced Todd to do a “themed” Halloween, since our days of being able to actually pick their costumes and coordinate them are limited. We hired a cleaning lady. Her name is Angel. It is fitting! We have to cancel our trip to Orlando for mid October. It isn’t going to work with my surgery.

Jasmine’s leg is feeling better. She is back to jumping over the couch. Unfortunately, I think she has a UTI. To the vet we go on Monday.

The kids got their hair cut at Cookie Cutters this week. It was as painless as it could be.

Owen didn't mind the haircut, unless she touched his ear.

Lilly is concerned.

Grey tolerated it all.