A lot of people broadcast their anniversary, birthday, and mother's day wishes for their loved ones on Facebook. I've tended to stay away from that because it seemed to not take as much effort as writing a post on the family blog. It's also time for me to originate a post for a change.
So, at the end of this Mother's Day weekend, which we spent in Lake Geneva focused on a birthday party for Jordyn, Adam, and Sara, the holiday that took a backseat can't go without comment. Mother's Day 2009 was the first one for JoLynn, although it should not have been since the wonder twins were not due until June 23. It was much different considering they were both still in the NICU.
Now, they're finishing pre-school next week and baby Mo (gender-neutral nickname for the gestating munchkin) is 15 weeks along in development. You only have to read the past blog entries over the years to recognize that JoLynn has taken the role and responsibility of mother very seriously.
JoLynn is a wonder woman. She went through three cycles of IVF including a ridiculous number of injections before a set of 5 embryos made it to the point of development that could be transferred or frozen. Adam and Sara were 2 of 4 that flourished at transfer in October 2008. Number 5 sat in the freezer until this winter when JoLynn endured another round of even more painful injections to give this little one a chance at life. And, it has paid off.
In addition to doing whatever it takes to give her babies the best development opportunities both in the womb and in the world, she provides a set of skills and perspective to her employer that fills gaps in their abilities and helps them maintain a reputation of quality and service which defies the contractor stereotype. She pays the bills, plans and prepares most meals, and keeps the laundry straight.
She also manages the healthcare demands of 2 kids who have gone through seven surgeries, more labs and ultrasounds and doctor's visits than I can recall, along with the bills that would normally be handled through insurance. She monitors the development and health indicators that could signal problems in Sara's kidneys before they could be detected in a quarterly or 6-month checkup.
I could go on, but I'll just finish with this. For 16 years she has also tolerated and compensated for my shortcomings and weaknesses. For all that I've written about here, and all that I've left out because this is supposed to be a blog and not an encyclopedia, I want to go on record as saying "Thank you, JoLynn, for being a great mom to our great kids. I love you."
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Freedom!
I can't believe how quickly 3 weeks have passed.
I think she was a little nervous at first about how they were going to get the cast off.
Can you believe part-way thru her saw broke and she had to hunt down another one?
We have all been joking the past few days, wondering what her arm would look like once it was revealed. Would it be wrinkly? Would it be smaller than the other one? Would her hair have fallen off? She just giggled. No wrinkles. But crazy, arm hair sticking up all over!
Once the cast was off they did another x-ray. There was no visible trace of a break anymore! That is just amazing to me how in just a few weeks a bone can grow new bone and fix itself.
Sara was excited to have the cast off. She was getting tired of talking to so many people about it. It was quite stiff at first and it hurt. I think she was afraid of using it, too. But as the day went on, she relaxed.
3 more weeks of limited activity--no running, no bike riding, no trampoline, no playground craziness. Then another doctor visit and we should be released. That's going to be a long 3 weeks with sunshiny days on the horizon!
She ended the day with a refreshing shower, instead of a bath with a plastic bag up to her armpit.
I think she was a little nervous at first about how they were going to get the cast off.
We have all been joking the past few days, wondering what her arm would look like once it was revealed. Would it be wrinkly? Would it be smaller than the other one? Would her hair have fallen off? She just giggled. No wrinkles. But crazy, arm hair sticking up all over!
Once the cast was off they did another x-ray. There was no visible trace of a break anymore! That is just amazing to me how in just a few weeks a bone can grow new bone and fix itself.
Sara was excited to have the cast off. She was getting tired of talking to so many people about it. It was quite stiff at first and it hurt. I think she was afraid of using it, too. But as the day went on, she relaxed.
3 more weeks of limited activity--no running, no bike riding, no trampoline, no playground craziness. Then another doctor visit and we should be released. That's going to be a long 3 weeks with sunshiny days on the horizon!
She ended the day with a refreshing shower, instead of a bath with a plastic bag up to her armpit.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
12 weeks
Last week I had my first OB appointment for Baby Mo #3. Honestly, I was a little nervous because my last visit a few years ago revealed my baby had died. I kept pushing those thoughts out of my mind.
We were ecstatic to see the baby moving so much the tech had a hard time capturing photos. It was funny because she kept talking about how the legs were outstretched and she doesn't usually see that.
It is no surprise that we struggled with infertility for 6 years before our 3rd IVF led to welcoming Adam and Sara into the world. A few days after implantation, we learned there was 1 last embryo that survived to 5 days of life and it was frozen. Because Shannon and I believe that life begins at Day 1, we were not about to destroy that 5 day life. Time kept ticking and I wasn't getting any younger so we made the decision to rescue the member of our family who had been waiting since October 4, 2008. It has been a long road of shots, shots, and more shots. If you have not been thru this process, you have no idea how difficult it is. It definitely shows how much strength you have.
Here is the earliest picture we have of our baby after 5 days of conception. God is so amazing.
We were ecstatic to see the baby moving so much the tech had a hard time capturing photos. It was funny because she kept talking about how the legs were outstretched and she doesn't usually see that.
We talked a little about avoiding pre-term labor but since it was so sudden with the twins, it is hard to provide a solution. He talked about possibly doing some kind of Progesterone shot once a week starting at 16 weeks for the duration of the pregnancy. I am classified as high risk again, which I expected. There is one thing they saw in the ultrasound that we need to keep an eye on. The top ultrasound photo shows a vertical gray line in the sac by the baby's feet. It is an amniotic sheet like a wall in the amniotic fluid. It could have been caused by scar tissue from my D&C. Usually that pushes out of the way as the baby grows. We will have to watch that it doesn't somehow get wrapped around the baby in a way that would cut off circulation.
I have felt pretty great so far except this week. But my pregnancy was quite easy with the twins, too. This week I have been exhausted and struggled with a migraine in my eye. I am thankful for all the ways my mom has helped. There isn't one thing she would say no to if I needed it, even if she is tired herself!
The kids are so excited about the baby. Adam is very protective, telling me things that I shouldn't be doing like mowing the lawn this summer. Obviously he wants a baby brother and would like to name him Max. He has also informed me that he is forgetful lately because the baby has affected his brain, too, just like me! My favorite is that Shannon had a conversation with him and asked "Do you think it would be okay if we put the new baby's crib under your loft bed?" "Sure Dad!" "The baby will wake up in the middle of the night and cry. You will need to change its diaper and give it something to eat." "Well, Dad, I'm going to be sleeping pretty hard..."
Sara kisses my belly, talks to the baby, and tells me she is so happy I'm going to have a baby. Obviously she wants a baby sister and would like to name her Kaylie. The other day when I explained how tired I was she told me "Considering that, I think you should plan for a nap today." I have noticed a strong mothering instinct in her since she was very small. I imagine some days she will be a great helper...and other days she will want to take over!
It is no surprise that we struggled with infertility for 6 years before our 3rd IVF led to welcoming Adam and Sara into the world. A few days after implantation, we learned there was 1 last embryo that survived to 5 days of life and it was frozen. Because Shannon and I believe that life begins at Day 1, we were not about to destroy that 5 day life. Time kept ticking and I wasn't getting any younger so we made the decision to rescue the member of our family who had been waiting since October 4, 2008. It has been a long road of shots, shots, and more shots. If you have not been thru this process, you have no idea how difficult it is. It definitely shows how much strength you have.
Here is the earliest picture we have of our baby after 5 days of conception. God is so amazing.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
5 year check ups
We had our routine visit with Dr. Neese just after the kids' birthday. Adam is 42" tall (31st percentile) and weighs 35lbs (11th percentile). He continues on the track to be Mr. Tall and Skinny. Sara is 41 1/2" tall (31st percentile) and weighs 32.5lbs (5th percentile). Sara has had phenomenal growth since her robotic surgery. Adam has grown 2" in the past year and Sara has grown 2 1/2" in the past year. I can't believe how tall both of them have gotten!
We discussed shots that are needed before Kindergarten and Adam constantly clearing his throat. I started him on Zyrtec again and that seems to have helped. I pointed out a mole that has developed on Sara's head but Dr. Neese isn't concerned about it. The largest part of our conversation centered around Adam's challenge to focus during preschool. The teacher mentioned to me recently that she feels he is developmentally behind with impulse control. What mom wants to hear their rock star preemie is developmentally behind? I thought that was all behind us! Dr. Neese feels like most of it is just that Adam is very young compared to the other kids in his class. We did discuss the possibility of ADD because Shannon was diagnosed with that last summer and we definitely see some of those tendencies with Adam. Dr. Neese stated that studies indicate about 5% of children born full-term with no complications are diagnosed with ADD. However, for preemies who had some type of stress to the brain (such as an IVH brain bleed like Adam had), the rate can be 25-30% so it is something we may need to pay attention to further down the road. He suggested that we do not give the Kindergarten teacher any leading information to begin with and let her assess the first few weeks on her own. Then we can touch base with her about 3 weeks in to see if she is seeing any issues to work thru. Sounds like a plan to me!
In the same week, Sara had a routine visit with her Pediatric Nephrologist, Dr. Gordillo. Her blood pressure is great. Her weight is great. Her growth rate is back on the curve. And her urinalysis came back normal. The protein continues to be absent from her urine so her blood pressure medication is doing its job. He will coordinate blood work with her next robotic surgery in the summer to make it easiest on her.
We discussed shots that are needed before Kindergarten and Adam constantly clearing his throat. I started him on Zyrtec again and that seems to have helped. I pointed out a mole that has developed on Sara's head but Dr. Neese isn't concerned about it. The largest part of our conversation centered around Adam's challenge to focus during preschool. The teacher mentioned to me recently that she feels he is developmentally behind with impulse control. What mom wants to hear their rock star preemie is developmentally behind? I thought that was all behind us! Dr. Neese feels like most of it is just that Adam is very young compared to the other kids in his class. We did discuss the possibility of ADD because Shannon was diagnosed with that last summer and we definitely see some of those tendencies with Adam. Dr. Neese stated that studies indicate about 5% of children born full-term with no complications are diagnosed with ADD. However, for preemies who had some type of stress to the brain (such as an IVH brain bleed like Adam had), the rate can be 25-30% so it is something we may need to pay attention to further down the road. He suggested that we do not give the Kindergarten teacher any leading information to begin with and let her assess the first few weeks on her own. Then we can touch base with her about 3 weeks in to see if she is seeing any issues to work thru. Sounds like a plan to me!
In the same week, Sara had a routine visit with her Pediatric Nephrologist, Dr. Gordillo. Her blood pressure is great. Her weight is great. Her growth rate is back on the curve. And her urinalysis came back normal. The protein continues to be absent from her urine so her blood pressure medication is doing its job. He will coordinate blood work with her next robotic surgery in the summer to make it easiest on her.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Egg Hunt
As Easter got closer, the kids kept talking about doing an egg hunt in the back yard like we did last year. Apparently it was memorable but I didn't lead on that I was planning it again. Thankfully my mom helped with some of the purchases and stuffing about 50 eggs since I had been feeling so worn out in my first trimester.
After we got home from church, I snuck outside to do the hiding. It amazes me how easy it is to completely distract the kids. I came in the back door and Adam said "Where were you Mom?" "What do you mean? I've been here." "No, I called for you and you didn't answer." "Maybe I was in the bathroom."
Then he started asking about the egg hunt. "What egg hunt?" "Mom, we had bags of plastic eggs in the pantry. Come here, let me show you." "Where?" "Up there, Mom." "Adam, that's some plastic grass."
I finally told them to go outside and they saw some.
It is really funny when they walk by ones that are so obvious. Here is a yellow one right behind Sara's head.
And she kept walking right on by...
It was cute when they were sharing eggs.
See the green one by the top of the slide?
Adam didn't. Now he is heading back down the steps.
Sara found it!
And then we had the fun of opening all the eggs.
Adam just made one big pile of stuff.
Sara, on the other hand...organized piles of stickers, different kinds of candy, and money.
I'm thankful the kids know that Easter isn't just about fun with plastic eggs! Happy Easter!
After we got home from church, I snuck outside to do the hiding. It amazes me how easy it is to completely distract the kids. I came in the back door and Adam said "Where were you Mom?" "What do you mean? I've been here." "No, I called for you and you didn't answer." "Maybe I was in the bathroom."
Then he started asking about the egg hunt. "What egg hunt?" "Mom, we had bags of plastic eggs in the pantry. Come here, let me show you." "Where?" "Up there, Mom." "Adam, that's some plastic grass."
I finally told them to go outside and they saw some.
And she kept walking right on by...
See the green one by the top of the slide?
Adam didn't. Now he is heading back down the steps.
Sara found it!
And then we had the fun of opening all the eggs.
Adam just made one big pile of stuff.
Sara, on the other hand...organized piles of stickers, different kinds of candy, and money.
I'm thankful the kids know that Easter isn't just about fun with plastic eggs! Happy Easter!
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Sara's first broken bone
I guess it doesn't surprise me since Sara is more of a daredevil than Adam but it was a silly accident instead of a high flying adventure! On Saturday she had just finished jumping on the neighbor's massively awesome trampoline and was getting out. As Shannon turned around to look at Adam, he heard Sara scream and looked back to see her laying on the ground.
Shannon carried her into the house, pulled all the leaves out of her hair, and tried to assess the situation as she cried uncontrollably and held her left arm. We snuggled, got some ice, and made her comfortable on the couch for a bit. After an hour she had calmed down but every time we tried to move her arm either to bend more or straighten, she would cry. It didn't really look swollen and there was no bruising but we decided to play it safe and take her to the ER.
We finally figured out that she tried to go down the ladder facing front, slipped, and her elbow hit the metal support of the trampoline once she landed in the grass.
I was thankful they moved us thru pretty quickly. They took vitals and her blood pressure was 110/68 and her heartrate was quite elevated. I told the nurse the BP was high compared to her last nephrology appointment a few days ago, which was 86/56. She said it was a sign of pain.
The doctor came in and was moving Sara's arm around and pushing on her elbow. No tears, not even a wince. The doctor asked if what he was doing hurt and she said yes. They were going to do x-rays but I thought for sure it wouldn't show anything since she was much more calm. 3 of the x-rays were no problem for her but 1 she couldn't hold her arm up without it shaking uncontrollably. The doc came back after looking at the films and confirmed her arm was broken right above the elbow. He expressed his absolute shock over Sara's calm demeanor and explained how hard he had pushed on the spot where it was broken and that would have caused a lot of pain. It had been a while since we got a reminder of how amazing her pain tolerance is.
It took 2 sets of hands to get the splint set from her armpit to her wrist.
We tried the sling for a bit but she really didn't care for it because it wouldn't adjust small enough.
Sara had only had a few snacks at the ER and missed dinner but she decided when she got home that she was tired and just wanted to go to bed. The doc had written a prescription for pain medication but Sara has never needed anything strong and she didn't want it. We gave her some Tylenol and headed up to her new room. She needed a little help balancing on the first step of her loft but figured it out and climbed right up to tuck herself in. I told her how well she did at the hospital and that I was very proud of how brave she was. She smiled and said "Mom, I like it when you say that to me. It makes me happy." It was a very neat moment for me.
We spent the next few days working thru some logistics...how to get her dressed, whether she could go to the bathroom on her own, sleeping positions to make her comfortable. Tonight she figured out that she could rest her bowl against her cast in order to scoop her strawberry shortcake easier. The hardest task is tearing toilet paper off the roll so I have had to leave some piles pre-torn on a stool for her.
Yesterday morning I called the pediatric orthopaedic doctor for an appointment and we were able to see him this morning. They took the splint off and revealed her little arm full of wrinkles and creases after just a few days.
The doctor came in to give us the great news that the bones were aligned very well and surgery would not be needed! Then they started on the cast--can you believe she picked green?!
They put a ton of gauze around the elbow to protect where it is broken. Her elbow is huge and it was making me laugh. It is extremely heavy for her. I wonder if her left shoulder muscle will be bigger at the end of the 3 weeks of lugging that around!
We go back next Friday for another x-ray to make sure nothing has shifted and surgery is still not warranted. 3 weeks with the cast and probably no physical therapy after that. Healing of a 5 year old is amazing!
The picture below is the best x-ray that shows the break. On the left side of the base of the upper bone, you can see a black line straight thru the bone. It then goes down slightly and out the other side but is hard to see on that side.
Shannon carried her into the house, pulled all the leaves out of her hair, and tried to assess the situation as she cried uncontrollably and held her left arm. We snuggled, got some ice, and made her comfortable on the couch for a bit. After an hour she had calmed down but every time we tried to move her arm either to bend more or straighten, she would cry. It didn't really look swollen and there was no bruising but we decided to play it safe and take her to the ER.
We finally figured out that she tried to go down the ladder facing front, slipped, and her elbow hit the metal support of the trampoline once she landed in the grass.
I was thankful they moved us thru pretty quickly. They took vitals and her blood pressure was 110/68 and her heartrate was quite elevated. I told the nurse the BP was high compared to her last nephrology appointment a few days ago, which was 86/56. She said it was a sign of pain.
The doctor came in and was moving Sara's arm around and pushing on her elbow. No tears, not even a wince. The doctor asked if what he was doing hurt and she said yes. They were going to do x-rays but I thought for sure it wouldn't show anything since she was much more calm. 3 of the x-rays were no problem for her but 1 she couldn't hold her arm up without it shaking uncontrollably. The doc came back after looking at the films and confirmed her arm was broken right above the elbow. He expressed his absolute shock over Sara's calm demeanor and explained how hard he had pushed on the spot where it was broken and that would have caused a lot of pain. It had been a while since we got a reminder of how amazing her pain tolerance is.
It took 2 sets of hands to get the splint set from her armpit to her wrist.
We tried the sling for a bit but she really didn't care for it because it wouldn't adjust small enough.
Sara had only had a few snacks at the ER and missed dinner but she decided when she got home that she was tired and just wanted to go to bed. The doc had written a prescription for pain medication but Sara has never needed anything strong and she didn't want it. We gave her some Tylenol and headed up to her new room. She needed a little help balancing on the first step of her loft but figured it out and climbed right up to tuck herself in. I told her how well she did at the hospital and that I was very proud of how brave she was. She smiled and said "Mom, I like it when you say that to me. It makes me happy." It was a very neat moment for me.
We spent the next few days working thru some logistics...how to get her dressed, whether she could go to the bathroom on her own, sleeping positions to make her comfortable. Tonight she figured out that she could rest her bowl against her cast in order to scoop her strawberry shortcake easier. The hardest task is tearing toilet paper off the roll so I have had to leave some piles pre-torn on a stool for her.
Yesterday morning I called the pediatric orthopaedic doctor for an appointment and we were able to see him this morning. They took the splint off and revealed her little arm full of wrinkles and creases after just a few days.
The doctor came in to give us the great news that the bones were aligned very well and surgery would not be needed! Then they started on the cast--can you believe she picked green?!
They put a ton of gauze around the elbow to protect where it is broken. Her elbow is huge and it was making me laugh. It is extremely heavy for her. I wonder if her left shoulder muscle will be bigger at the end of the 3 weeks of lugging that around!
We go back next Friday for another x-ray to make sure nothing has shifted and surgery is still not warranted. 3 weeks with the cast and probably no physical therapy after that. Healing of a 5 year old is amazing!
The picture below is the best x-ray that shows the break. On the left side of the base of the upper bone, you can see a black line straight thru the bone. It then goes down slightly and out the other side but is hard to see on that side.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Speaking of five...
We are going to be a family of five!
Coming hopefully as close to my October 31 due date as possible. This was my ultrasound a few days ago. The baby is just over an inch and is already sucking its thumb! More details to come...
Coming hopefully as close to my October 31 due date as possible. This was my ultrasound a few days ago. The baby is just over an inch and is already sucking its thumb! More details to come...
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