Category Archives: Hospital

Pixi Stix

The Pixi Stix are here! (I’ve mentioned the muppets’ future prom dates before.)

And tonight I went to visit them, cooing, “Let me meet my future daughters-in-law” to the consternation of their doting father.

They are tiny and perfect and I love them. Continue reading

4 Comments

XO Jane – Post Partum PTSD

It Happened To Me: I Had Post-Partum PTSD. My twin boys were born by C-section at 27 weeks. I was desperately hoping for a third trimester, but failed.

Apologies for a post that is a bit of a downer on Father’s Day. But the goal of this blog (and all the other articles I write about parenting) is to celebrate our adorable muppets – and all we have gone through to get this far.

Today xoJane, an online women’s magazine, published my story. Continue reading

2 Comments

Can You Hear Me Now?

One month ago Muppets were off to the hearing clinic for preemie follow up. I was really hoping they didn’t put significant effort into fooling the audiologists with their ninja-like ability to ignore anything that doesn’t capture their interest. (I’m looking at you Search.)

The boys have been tested and monitored approximately every six months. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, about 5% of children born before 32 weeks have hearing loss by the time they are 5 years old. Because tiny babies do not yet have mature auditory systems. And their tiny ears are particularly vulnerable to damage.

So how’d the muppets do? Continue reading

3 Comments

Coffee Break!

The children arose before the automatic coffee timer this morning. That was rough.

If I can’t take my coffee break,
Something within me dies.

I don’t didn’t drink coffee. I didn’t – past tense. Now I do. Now I drink a lot of it. It’s medically necessary.

“Women who drink four cups of coffee a day are 20 percent less likely to become depressed than women who rarely drink coffee.” This may be my favorite study. Ever. Continue reading

6 Comments

Fortress of Solitude

Good news! The GREEN sippy cup has been found, since blue was apparently unacceptable.

I had a conversation with a friend the other day:

I gotta tell you, I’m super impressed with how calm you parent now…there are a lot of parents who would still be overly cautious about their preemies and you let them be kids who fall on their noggins and only panic when necessary. I mean when Destroy tanked you didn’t miss a beat. You just picked him and then set him on his way. Parents who didn’t have preemies aren’t usually that mellow. Continue reading

1 Comment

Depression is a Lying Bastard

The Bloggess said it best. Depression is a lying bastard.

I’ve found myself struggling with another “episode” lately. It started a couple weeks ago – sneaking up on me when I wasn’t paying attention. I don’t think you’d really notice by looking at me. I’m still fully functional.

But those close to me did start thinking I was acting a little off. I was being weird(er). Continue reading

2 Comments

Book Review: Fragile Beginnings

Fragile Beginnings: Discoveries and Triumphs in the Newborn ICU is not an easy read.

Told from the perspective of Dr. Adam Wolfberg, both a perinatologist and preemie dad, the pages are filled with emotional triggers to send me back to my own NICU experience. His daughter, Larissa, was born at 26 weeks when her mother suddenly went into labor. She then suffered a Grade IV brain bleed. (Larissa, not her mom.)

Interspersed throughout the story are thick science discussions about the complex world of saving tiny babies – sometimes to the point of pushing Larissa’s story to the periphery. What can be done for them? How far has tiny baby care come in just a few short years? What are the lasting effects of extreme efforts to save a child? And when is it too much; is palliative care sometimes kinder – a question not of “can it be done,” but “should it be done.” Continue reading

5 Comments

I Am Normal

Two years ago today. I am normal! I’ve been released to general population!

Yeah. We saw how well that went. Two loops later around the sun on this roller coaster and I’ve realized I am normal.

Normal is a state of mind. Continue reading

9 Comments

Miracle Babies Poem

I did not write this. Anonymous did.

I have two sons, born at 27 weeks – yet the rest is accurate in its entirety. This is the indoctrination into life as a preemie parent.

Thank you Miracle Babies, for sharing.

Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Prom Dates

Good news. I’ve secured the muppets dates to prom. It will be a twinsplosion of adorableness.

Remember the Lovelies? Back in February, Maureen announced was pregnant. And there were two. Twins! To reiterate: DOUBLE TROUBLE IS TAKING OVER Y’ALL!

Identical girls. (Destroy, aka Casanova, is *thrilled* – remember boys, only date girls whose daddy’s have less guns than yours.)

And then a week after we celebrated, I received the news about their 12-week ultrasound – that magical entry point into the second trimester when everything is supposed to be ok. It wasn’t. Continue reading

5 Comments