Who even reads this blog anymore?

I guess a lot of people still, because my hubby told me that he's getting hate mail because I'm not writing! Trust me, I have wanted to write a lot, but I literally never stop. When I actually do stop, I fall asleep on the couch! It's been a long time since I wrote, and I've taken a million pictures since then. The last time I wrote was about Patrick's surgery. Long story short, he is doing very well, knock on wood. I will definitely follow up with some more stories from the last few months, so you might have to back track. I'm going to make this post about the March of Dimes walk, because that was the last big thing I blogged about.

The March of Dimes walk, the march for babies, was about educating moms about the importance of staying healthy.  It also raises money for research to prevent early delivery and treating premature babies.  When I was pregnant, I took very good care of myself. Even though I knew the importance of staying healthy, I still had issues, which can happen.  We decided to start a team, walk with the boys, and try to raise money. We ended up raising over 2,000. I can't even believe that we did that well. I figured we would raise a few hundred, but we had lots of friends and family that donated. We even won an award! I have no idea what it is, but we were invited to a dinner for it, haha. 

We started the walk at 8 am. It was hoooot outside! Thankfully, we had bought big visors for the strollers and fans, so the boys stayed nice and cool.   We had about 20 people are on our team. Our team name was "Little Shamrocks" . I figure it was fitting because they had the luck of the Irish.   We started off in the Family tent, where we met our team members, and listened to music from some local singers on stage.  The boys had no idea what was happening, but they were in a good mood, and that's all that mattered.

  They then announced that it was time to walk! I slathered them up with sunscreen, put on their visors, and away we went!

There were a bunch of photographers taking pics, so we have a few of us going under the banner, but I have to upload them still.

We walked 3 miles around the Nova Southeastern campus. It was a bit of an emotional walk, because halfway through, they had what was called an area donated to angels. There were poster boards with the names of babies that had passed on. It was very sad. They also had an angel baby ceremony  on the main stage while people were walking. I did not stay to see it, because I would have been a wreck. I saw lots of parents holding the signs later on, and I just wanted to hug them, but at the same time not get arrested for being a weirdie. Moving on, I'm getting teary...

Everyone on our team had a March of Dimes family T-shirt, and our team name was on the back. They were a bit heavy, note to self for next year...tanks.

 We were told by one of the nurses before the walk, that if we raised $200.00, they would take a picture of the boys, and put it on the walking path. They have what is called an "Ambassador Avenue."  It's pictures of all the success stories that left the NICU. I was so excited. We sent in the info on the boys with their pictures. I had no idea what to expect.

                                              I hope we see them soon!

                                                                                       There they are!!!
Yea! We found them! They were so big!! The best was, we get to keep them!  We took some team pics, and picked them up to finish our walk!

                                                                                 Craig, and I with our little boys!

                                                                                         The "triplets"

                                                                                        Mia and Mason

                                                                                    Team Lil Shamrocks!

We kept on walking with our posters in hand. I knew we were getting closer when I heard yelling and noisemakers. We hit the end of the walk and were handed little stickers that said "I Did It!" We crossed the line and cheered!  We headed back to the family tent for all of the festivities! The first thing we did was took a pic of us in front of our banner.

                                                                                        Brady and I near the banner

                                                                                           Top 10 baby!!

                                                                                       Looking good Patrick!

 We took a few pics of the boys with our team mates. The boys won a prize for cheering the loudest when the prize patrol came by. They won a gift certificate, and beads, which Patrick loves!

                                                                                     Brady in his Lil Shamrocks gear

                                                                                          Patrick rocking the Shamrocks!

                                                                                         Team Shamrockers Jeffrey, Claire and Eddy

                                                                                     Gabby, Christina,  and the boys after their prize patrol win!

We all gathered up with some food and had some lunch. They had Chick-Fil-A, McDonalds, and Panera Bread. Dunkin Doughnuts even showed up. They had local tv stations handing out fun stuff, and games everywhere. They also had Elmo, the Nesquick Bunny, and pirates! The boys did very well with all of them!

                                                                                Brady likes Elmo, he even pet his fur, hahaha

                                                                                  Patrick didn't mind him either, he just kept an eye on him!

                                                                                       Elmo and Patrick

                                                                                          Say "Chocolate Milk!"

                                                                                            Arghhh!!! Taking pics with the pirates!

Broward General had their own tent set up there, so a lot of the nurses that took care of the boys were there. We met up with them to take some pictures, and took one giant pic for the boys of all of us.

                                                                                Paula and Patrick, one of his primary nurses.  She cried when she saw him. He missed her!

                                                                   Lil Shamrocks and the Broward NICU nurses!!

It was a fun day, and we definitely do it again next year!

Love to all!
Next blog....1st Birthday!!!!!  Stay tuned!
Emily, Craig, Brady and Patrick

March of Dimes Walk!

Hi everyone!!! I know it's been a little bit since I blogged. I have been so busy. With twins, you really don't get any chances to stop and take a minute. I'm not complaining. I love my little buggaboos.  I feel awful because I haven't written since Patrick's surgery. How rude. Well, He is doing great, thank you very much.  I have so much to share about his recovery too. I have to make you hold on a minute though. I have something important to talk about.

                                                                Courtesy of  March of Dimes

Craig and I have started a team, and will be walking for the March Of Dimes walk on May 4th. Of course, we will be walking for our little boys, Brady and Patrick.  Why am I telling you this? Well,  we would love your support. We are going to try to raise money for the cause. The money goes to research to help babies affected by prematurity. It also helps educate mothers about the importance of staying healthy during their pregnancy.  We are so excited to do this because we know first hand all about the medical issues that premature babies can have.  For 5 months, we watched our little boys go through ups and downs that I would never wish on any parent.  We watched babies grow, and we watched parents sigh with relief. We also watched babies suffer, parents cry, and saw babies that became angels. Thankfully, we were lucky enough to have amazing medical care, and a NICU staff that was beyond awesome that helped our little boys overcome horrific problems. Those nurses have become our good friends, and our family.  We will be joining them on the walk.  They all benefit from the research that the March of Dimes have passed on through the years. We support them and the NICU families that we are still in touch with. We are family, and will continue to support each other through the years.

Please, if you have a moment, take a look at our team page. If you are local, come out for a walk! If you can't, you can always donate to the cause. The money goes to the foundation, and they do amazing things with it.

Here is the info.

March of Dimes Walk 2012

Team name is   Lil Shamrocks


We are looking to reach of goal of 1,200. All of the money will help save premature babies all over the world!

I know first hand the power of the March of Dimes...

                                                                                Patrick
                                                    Born at 24 weeks.  1 lb 2 oz.

                                                                                    Brady
                                                   Born at 24 weeks   1 lb 9 oz.

                                            Patrick      14 pounds          Brady     17 pounds 

Everyday we have with them is a blessing. We want to share that feeling with other parents out there.

Thank you for all of your support!

We hope to see you at the walk!!!!!

Love always,
The Connor family

Patrick's Heart Surgery

Hi all! How are you. It's been a few weeks since I wrote. We have been working everyday, and it's been hard to find a few minutes. I just wanted to let everyone know that Patrick had his surgery yesterday and is doing well today. Here is how it all went down.

We were having the surgery done at Joe Dimaggio. This place is an awesome hospital, and looks so cool. It is just bright and colorful, and it is just made for kids. We had to be there at 630 am to check in. It's not bad enough he is having surgery, but you have to wake us up at 3 am? We drop off Brady the night before at like 10p, at Craig's parents. First small breakdown occurs. I am already nervous about the surgery, and now I am spending the first night without Brady since he has come home from the NICU. Deep Breaths. I set my alarm to 430am, that was we have 1 hour to get us all ready, and we can leave by 530am to allow us enough time to drive there. Craig feeds Patrick at 130 am, so he doesn't wake up in between, since he can't eat formula after 2 am. Here is where the day started to go downhill... My phone alarm goes off at 430. I grab it so it doesn't wake him, and roll over. So we are clear..I am not a snooze alarm person. I have never hit the button, nor even know where it is. I always get up within ten minutes of my alarm going off. That being said I was exhausted because I had been working a lot this week, and on my days off Craig worked, so I was on baby duty. That being said, the next thing I knew, Craig was whispering to me that it was 530am. WHAT! Holy crap! Apparently I had slipped into a coma as soon as I rolled over. Okay, so now I am up running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. Wait,  as I write this, I think to myself, that saying doesn't even make any sense. If something has no head, it's not running around, so why do we say that. How about, I was running around being chased by an axe wielding farmer? That makes more sense right?  Okay, so, it's 530 am, the time we should be in the car leaving, and I am running around like a chicken being chased by an axe wielding farmer...on bath salts. Okay that just stepped it up a level, but now you know this is for real. I don't have time to shower, so I get dressed and make myself somewhat presentable, and attempt to make myself smell clean. Where is Craig? I don't hear movement yet. He's still in bed. I yell to him to get up! Okay.  I asked him if he packed his overnight bag? He says no. I remaining calm, but slightly want to punch him in the throat. Hurry up! Okay, so we get our stuff together and grab Patrick. Patrick is like WTF?  Craig said "Now you know how it feels to be on the other end of being woken up in the middle of the night." Touche. We jump in the car, still asleep and head down to the hospital. What's that? My phone won't load for the maps to the hospital. Ugh! Okay it finally loads and we get to the hospital at 6:25am.

                                                                                     Front lobby

                                                                                  Surgery building

                                                                                    Recovery building
                                                                    
We casually stroll in like nothing is wrong. We go to registration, where Patrick is quietly hanging out, with a smile now and then. Mommy guilt sets in.

They bring us up to the Pediatric Heart Center where his nurse checks him in. It was the same nurse that had examined him for his consult. She was really nice.

 He did really well for his exam.

                                                                                  All ready for surgery

 About 15 minutes after that though, he realized he was up, and was hungry. No good. He then cried on and off for about an hour. Finally his nurse came back and asked if she could hold him. She said sometimes they associate food with mommy and daddy, so someone new might help. She walked around with him for a few minutes and it seemed to help. She then traded him to the other nurse who helps and she rocked and walked him. It worked. He fell asleep until about 830 when they came to take him downstairs to the cath lab. Three nurses come up to take us downstairs to the "Cath lab" We get in all white "hazmat looking suits" and a surgery cap. I felt like it was 28 days , or a contagion scene. You know what I am talking about. We carry him in and place him on a super long bed that moves. They tell us that they are going to gas him down, and then place a cath. I told them that was good, because he beats up nurses. They put the gas mask on his face, and he struggles. Vomit in my stomach. Deep breaths. It's not as bad as I thought, but it sucks. We kiss him, tell him good luck, we love him, and head out.  I...hate...this. we go upstairs, make sure they have our phone number, and take the chance to eat. After a cold breakfast from the cafeteria, we head back upstairs.  They take us to a family room with a big tv, a comfy couch and a giant playroom for the kids on that floor. The nurse gives us blankets right out of the dryer because they said the room gets cold. Good thinking, because it did. We sit down, snuggle up, and watch "Let's make a deal." It's hits about 945. His nurse comes in with an update." He is doing well, but...."   Ugh... here it is. "They are having trouble placing a cath. Sometimes it can be because he was a preemie and everything is so small, or because he had a lot of catheters and he has scar tissue." Wait, isn't a catheter how they are getting this occluder in? she didn't seem concerned so I didn't freak out. After all, this is Patrick, he is known for this type of baloney. We snuggle back up, and watch "The price is right." Its now an hour later. The procedure takes two hours, it's now been two and a half. Next thing we know lunch comes in. I guess on Wednesdays they feed the families with outside catering. Sweeet. Not hungry though. Craig decided to go check up. He comes back and said they just called. Sweet.  The doctor comes up to talk to us. He said the procedure went fine. They couldn't place a cath that, I guess makes the procedure faster, and smoother by letting them test to make sure the occluder is in place.  He said the occluder was placed, but it took them a little longer to make sure it was placed right, and doing it's job, because the other cath couldn't go in. He said he tried, and the other surgeon tried. The other surgeon, per Craig, is like the head chief of the peds cardiology and is a big deal. Not big enough for Patrick. He said there was also a small opening in between two arteries, that may still close on it's own, and should not get any worse.  We will just keep an eye on it here and there. It shouldn't cause any problems. We head back to the family room, eat two bites, and then the nurse comes and gets us to go see little man. We grab our stuff, head down to the other building, and go the PACU.

He looks so sad.

                                                                         Mom and dad, is that you?

                                                                             I hate hospitals!
I start to tear up right away.  Partly because I hate that this shit keeps happening to him, and because he made it through surgery, and I just want to hold him forever. The nurse says hi then starts us off with this... "He is doing well, but...." WTF Patrick!!!???  "He has been dsating since he came out of surgery." Oh is that it? hahaha We say yeahhhh, he does that, that's kind of his "thing."  We text their NICU nurses and tell them what is happening, and we all had a good chuckle. One said "What else is new?" The other "Knock it off Patrick!"  His day nurse laughed and said "Well, at least he is consistent!" She said it happened after he ate, and we told her that is what always happens, plus he has bad reflux, he hasn't had his zantac since 1 am, so he is probably hurting. She also says because of the surgery, he is required to stay laying flat on his back for 4 hours so they can make sure everything clots.  Well that definitely isn't helping the reflux, and I'm sure that not burping him after he eats is making it worse. Plus..I can't hold him for 4 hours! More sadness.  The anesthesiologist comes over and says his and explains the deal. We then tell him his history of dsating and go over everything. He said that because he is doing it, he might have to stay for 24 hours, instead of the 6 that was planned. They are worried because he was a preemie, that he might have sleep apnea. We say that is fine, we knew this would happen, we packed bags. We then stayed in the room for the next 6 hours. In the meantime, they did an ultrasound on his heart while he was laying there, and she said that the flow looks really good, and everything looks great. She even showed us the occluder. She said it looks great. Awesome!

                                                                                    Finally getting some sleep
They were planning to move him to a PICU room when a bed was available. Over those few hours he wasn't dsating as much, and he was eating. At some point with the anesthesiologist, the conversation about him going home from the NICU came up, and we told him that we had oxygen, an spo2 monitor, and an apnea montitor at home. He stops and considers letting us go home. He talks it over with someone else. A hour or so later, he talks about monitors again, and cpr comes up. Well, what do you know, Craig is certified in all kinds of CPR! He says "What?! Well, then I feel even better about you guys going home!" Really!? Good and bad, I am so happy, yet terrified. This is a familiar feeling indeed. It is now 530ish. We have been up since 530am. We are overally tired, hungry, and now Craig's headache is starting to set in. The nurse comes over and says we are going to discharge you at 615, you can leave at 630. Yes!  We get him dressed, and we start packing up our things. They pull out his catheter, and show us his incisions. 

We get our discharge instructions, and we head out.  We get home and take him out of his car seat. Why is he so hot? He has a fever of 100.6. Okay, not nervous, it was probably from the car ride, he tends to get hot in the car. Give him some Tylenol. Hook him up to stupid monitor. Beep beep beep! Oh how I missed that sound. No, I didn't, I hate it, which is why when he started crying, it started beeping, I was trying not to fall asleep standing up, I had a slight emotional breakdown. I may be used to the monitors, but I not comfortable with baby cpr emergencies. For Craig, cpr is another day at work. I told his to sower, fix his headache, and get the hell down here, to help me.he calmed down, and went to sleep. I went  to go get Brady, and was so excited to see my big man. When I got home, they were both asleep, and Brady stayed asleep. I finally went to bed at 12am. What a long fricken day!!! This morning we had no fevers, and he didn't seem painful. He had lots of smiles, and was trying to dance and jump like usual. He has no idea what just happened. Thank god it's over!!!

Hopefully, and I pray that it is, this procedure is it for him. I can't take anymore, hahah.
Thank you to all of my family and friends who gave us encouraging and supportive thoughts and words through out the day. We could not get through this without you. you all have been with us from the beginning, and you have no idea how much that means to us.One day when the boys grow up, I will show them all the support that they had, and show them how many people cared for them. They are the luckiest boys to have all of you. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts!

I will keep you all updated on his recovery. We have a recheck in a week. I will update you then!

Big love to all of you!!
The Connor family

We have a surgery date!

Hi there everyone! Long time, no blog. It's not for lack of things to talk about, it was because blogger was still being fussy. Today is the first day that I have been able to put pictures on! yea!

We had Patrick's appointment today at Joe Dimaggio. Wow, what an awesome hospital. It is like a baseball hall of fame, but with kids in mind. It was really cool. Lots of cool decorations, and security at every corner. They do not play around when it comes to kids, which is nice to see.

We went today to meet Patrick's doctor that will be part of his surgery team. He is having a cardiac catheterization.  They basically just went through all of his history with us, then showed us what he would be having done. They are placing a Duct Occluder. They go into his groin, and go up into his femoral vein/artery, which then goes up to his heart. Are you shitting yet? Yeah I am.  They basically put, what looks like a small mesh kitchen strainer, into his heart, and it clogs the hole, and stays in forever.

Here are some pictures. Sorry the flash shows on some of them, I can't turn all the lights on, boys are sleeping...miracle right?

Did anyone out there have one of those three tiered metal/ mesh fruit baskets that were different sizes in the 80's? Yeah, you know what I'm talking about, it looks just like that.  I just read through the pamphlet. It gave me 20 bad things that can go wrong, and only two that were good. 1. Short hospital stay. 2. No scar...well thank god for that....Seriously though, they have scars all over their bodies, they get more noticeable as they get older. You can see every cath hole. It sucks, but chicks dig scars right? Keanu reeves and Chris Cagle can't be wrong...

Anyway, He is going in in mid Feb. I am very nervous, but it needs to be done. This is the last thing that is keeping him from bulking up, and being 100 %, so we really want it done.  I think the doctor was surprised to hear us say yes to it so quick. This isn't our first rodeo, we know the good and bad of all surgeries.

Anyway, Patrick was very good for his appointment. The doctor said that the procedure wasn't a rush since he has had it all of his life, and it's not causing him any discomfort at this point, and it's not affecting his eating or breathing.  He said the risks of not doing the surgery actually outweigh the risks of having it done. Did I say that right? Yes?  He could get pneumonia, and other lung issues like blood leaking into them. No thank you. Anyway, that is the word on that, and I will keep you posted for sure.

                                                                              Patrick at Joe Dimaggio. This was after he found out he had to have surgery..poor kid.

Anyway, all else is good here. The boys have been doing well. They eating like champs! As of last week, Brady is a big 15.6 pounds, and Patrick is 11.4 pounds. They have started Brady on Rice cereal with his formula. He has finally made the chart for his age group. Yeah! 

They are both doing well in rehab. Brady rolled over in front of them for the first time which was awesome, and Patrick, not to be shown up, did it a second after, haha. Patrick is going to have an OT evaluation soon to see if he needs extra help. We are still waiting to find out when that is. 

Brady has discovered TV the last two weeks. I don't let him watch junk, don't worry! I know that there were a bunch of moms that just read this, and shook their head at me for letting him watch. To that I stick my tongue out and blow raspberries at you and here is why.
1. I have two kids that had stage two retinopathy, who at one point, could have had vision problems, and still can, but thankfully are not blind. If I see them starring at something and they are fascinated by it, that shows me they can see, and that is awesome.
2. He loves the bright colors and stimulation. He kicks his legs to the music, and we dance and sing to it. That is good for his rehab since he needs to move his arms and legs. It's also good for his learning/speech for Patrick.
3. If you don't have twins, you have no idea what it's like to have two children screaming bloody murder, and you are by yourself. If I can turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and let him dance, and give me five minutes to take care of Patrick, I'm doing it. Nuff said...

Patrick is not as interested in tv yet, but he is starting to look at it, which is awesome, because his vision could still be a problem. If he starts watching, I will be overjoyed. He still could have vision loss because of his PVL. BTW, did I ever show you what the doctor uses for their eyes?

                                                                                     yeah, so they hold their eyes open with those speculums, and then they poke those metal rods covered in cotton into their eyes.

                                                                                       Also, I hold their arms down and they scream. It's an epic time for all...

Any who, here are some recent pics from this week of the boys..

                                                                  Brady in his chair. He refuses to lay back anymore. If he is not sitting up, he is not happy.

                                                                             Patrick...saving lives.

Alright everyone, I'm exhausted and it's only 930pm. I'm am off! Thanks for reading!

Love to all!
Em, Craig, Brady and Patrick

Cardiologist info

Hey there everyone! Blogger is still not letting me post pictures! What is the deal?! I don't know. I have my sister on the job. Any who, we went to the cardiologist today. What an appointment.... Normally, Brady is very happy and doesn't really mind doctors. Patrick is a little more fussy, and needs to be consoled a little more. Not today. Brady lost his mind today! He did well up until she had to take 8 sticky leads off of his chest. Then the tears started, which then lead to screams and his whole body in sweats, and beat red skin. Oh my goodness.  I even tried Sweet-ease, and he could care less. They were able to get an EKG on him. She said that he looked good, and she didn't think that he needed an echo, or any surgery. Great. My little Patrick was a champ today. Craig said he didn't even cry. He just took his snack while she did the echo. He did great for his blood pressure and EKG too. It was like Bizarro Connor kids today. Freaky Friday, only Monday. She said that Patrick's PDA didn't close at all, and that he needs the surgery.  She is going to send over the pictures to the doctor at Joe Dimaggio, and he would give us a call about setting up an appointment.  She said they normally keep them for a day or two depending on how they do. She said they would like him to be a little bigger, but if they think it is serious enough, they will do it anyway. He was a big 10 pounds 5 ounces today. He needs to be 11 pounds. So close! Brady was 14 pounds, 3 pounces, hahaha. She said he looks very good otherwise. She said that now that he is bigger, she had to take a minute to figure out who was who! She said once he has the surgery, he will bulk up fast. Right now he is staying little because his heart is working way harder than it should, so he is burning calories big time. She said afterwards, he should plump up, and look just like Brady. Oh boy, I am going to have to get a second job to pay for these kids to eat! Hahaha.

I 'll keep you update on the situation. This surgery, god willing, should be our last bad situation for my little man!


Still working on pics everyone! Sorry!

Em, Craig, Brady and Patrick

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

 Why hello there to all of you! Happy Holidays!!! I hope everyone had a good season, and enjoyed time with family and friends. It has been busy around here I tell you! Between work, the holidays and a few appointments here and there, we have been non-stop.  I meant to write last week, but as soon as I sat down,  a baby started crying, and that was that. Right now, they actually both fell asleep, but it's not going to last for long, so let's get started!

I have no idea where I left off, so let's just start with Patrick's ultrasound, because I don't have that much to say about it. We went to the our home away from home, BGMC, and had a quick ultrasound. It was the same thing that Brady had a few months back. They were just checking his kidneys to make sure that there weren't any complications from the urinary tract infection. We didn't hear anything from them, or the pediatrician, so I think we are good. We stopped by the NICU to see our old friends, and they were all very excited. They couldn't believe how big they were getting! Patrick had to chance to snuggle with Amanda, his day primary nurse. Brady was cuddled too, don't worry!

                                                                                 I love this little picture because his little tushy is hanging out! haha.

Last time we talked, Patrick was still on oxygen. We had gone to see the Cardiologist and she had said to leave him on it for awhile, but if he does well on it, to start testing him, and take it off for a hour to see how he does. I didn't do this, because I was to scared. Craig isn't scared, so he did, haha. He was actually sating in between 92-100, so Craig decided to try him off of the oxygen, and he did well. We kept him during the day, but on it at night. Then we took it off of him at night. The monitor was always on, because we wanted to see how he did. Once he started breathing better, and sating high all the time, it all went off. I put it on him twice a week or two later at night, when it looked like he was breathing harder, but he was okay, so I took it off. I don't miss it. It was loud, woke everyone up at night, and was a pain to carry around. Now it is with us, but not on him, just in case. We see the cardiologist this week so we will find out about his surgery. He is up to a big 9 pounds 13 ounces as of Wednesday, so he is almost at his surgery weight. This is great, yet so scary.

Next, we had Christmas! Christmas was fun, yet a little hectic. There was a lot of people, and it was loud, so the boys were a little overstimulated. On Christmas eve, we opened a few presents from family, and had a nice dinner. On Christmas day, we opened presents from Santa, and then headed to Craig's family for dinner and more presents. A few days before the holidays, I dressed the boys up and had a little photo shoot. This did not go well, and yet, I laughed the while time. They both dressed up in their Christmas outfits, and I sat them up under the tree. Brady, was great, he always smiles and is happy. Patrick on the other hand, is a little fussy when it comes to sitting up and staying still. I had to give him Sweet-ease, which is a sugar water that they use to calm down infants in the hospital, in between each shot to get him to stop crying.

                                                                            Brady always happy, Patrick always crying!

                                                                            I love Christmas!

       My little Elf!

                                                                                Reindeer Games

                                                                                Candy kiddie

                                                                                 Brady Claus

                    Gingerbread Patrick

After I took what I needed, I rushed Patrick the changing table, changed him out of his hot clothes, and got him settle in bed. The whole time I was doing this, (as I'm sweating from running back and forth) I was calling to Brady, telling him he was being so good because he was being so quiet, and that I would be right there. I run over to the tree, and this is what I find...

                                                                                 Hahaha, photo shoots are hard work!
Here are some of the pics of  and Christmas Day!

                                                                                 Gettting ready to open our stockings!

                                                                                  Yea, our first stockings!

                                                                              Dad's first presents from us.

                                                                             Our presents from Santa, mom and dad.

                                                                           Some more presents!
There was a lot more, but I'll save you the boredom...

I guess next was New Years night. We didn't do a lot. I did, however, dress the boys up in their little Northwestern Tee shirts for the big game. They won!!!! Whoo hoo!
The neighbors brought their fire pit over, and we sat outside, and watched a few fireworks. It was fun. The boys slept through it, but I decorated their bassinet while they were sleeping, and then put hats on them afterwards, haha.

I think the last thing appointment was Patrick's Early Steps. We went yesterday, and of course, Patrick was tired, so he didn't perform well. We woke up at 7 am, like always. He took two naps for about 20 minutes. We headed out for our appointment at 1130, since we had to drop Brady off at grandma's house. Craig had to work, and I couldn't do this appointment by myself with two kids. They ask a lot of questions.We got there at 1230, for a 1pm time. I see his old NICU doctor, and I laugh. He is a older guy with a heavy Italian accent, who speaks very quietly. When we first started in thr NICU, we used to have the nurses translate for us, because he was hard to understand. At the end of our stay, we understood him completely, which tells me that we were there to long. He used to mess up their names and he would laugh. On a few occasions he would call them B ratty and Pay-trick. Then he would say I mean Brady and Patrick, hahaha.We ended up waiting in the lobby for like 30 minutes. Patrick starts crying because he is hungry. I feed him half a bottle because I know they like to see him eat. The girl at the front desk hands me paperwork, and I fill it out. Meanwhile there is another lady next to me, who I didn't pay any attention to, and I went back out to hand them my stuff. They tell me I can feed him, and he is happy to hear that! I go back into my waiting area with the quiet lady, and I look up at her baby....I know this kid! It was Patrick's neighbor in the NICU, the one he used to watch movies with! Their beds were next to each other for the month that he was re-admitted.We started talking for awhile before we went in. It's now almost 2pm. We get brought into a room, and wait for another 30 minutes...ughhh, Patrick is starting to get annoyed. Finally his doctor comes in. He says "Oh Patrick...how are you doing today? (as he chuckles to himself.) I laughed and asked him what he did when he saw his name on his appointment book today? He laughed.  He did an exam, and asked a bunch of questions, then the OT girl and other, whatever, she was, did her exam. The results were pretty much the same thing as Brady. Only his goals were harder, which is dumb being that he is a little more behind than Brady. They graded him on looking around and responding to voice. He didn't really look at the nurses, but as soon as he heard me, he focused right in on me. He lifted up his head during tummy time, but not long enough to please them. The OT girl said no more back time, only on tummy for now on, that will help his head to, because she said it is to flat. I laughed. First of all, they are sleeping on their back. Second, when I am home for 24 hours, I will lay them down in whatever position it takes for them to get a nap in.  Third, they lay on their tummy for about 10 minutes before they get pissed and try to smother themselves, and begin to angry rage cry. So, again, not happening. I just said okay and smiled. They said rehab twice a week. They want him in OT twice, and PT twice. Rehab said that they don't need to be there that much. I will let them fight that out. I want to give Patrick as much help as he needs. If they say 5 times a week, I'll go. End results. Brady has to learn to hold his head up for thirty seconds, sit up for 5 seconds, and rollover. Patrick, who needs extra help, has to hold his head up for a minute, sit up for 5 seconds, roll from front to back, back to front, and grab for toys on his belly......hahah, what? How does he have more stuff to do? Silly nurses.

                                                                                  My little Patrick, waiting for our appointment.

I think that is it for now. We see the Cardiologist on Monday, so I will let you know how that goes!


Love to all!
The Connor Family