April Sickness

I was thinking about how lucky we have been this April.  Adeline has been moving through the month illness free.  Of course that set the inevitable in motion.  Yep, 103.5 and puking all day.  Didn't even try to lift her head off the pillow.  Poor little girl.

Things are still looking up though.  This virus doesn't seem to be settling into her lungs and will likely run its course in a couple of days.  Every other April of Adeline's life has been spent in the hospital and on oxygen.  Even last year, The Belle was sporting a cannula for a couple of weeks.  Viruses settle in her lungs and eventually they give into infection.  Her lungs tire and sats drop.  That's when we are in the ER trying very hard to avoid admission. 

Fingers crossed that this year is different.  We are half way there. . .

March of Dimes

We are going to pound the pavement again in order to raise money and awareness for the March of Dimes.  Their organization played direct role in the twins' lives.  Without their contributions that funded the research for surfactant, my Adeline would not be with us today.  The same could have been true for Lila Grace.  I sit here today and try to imagine my world without my baby girls.  I can't wrap my head around how devastating that world would be.

I remember very little of Adeline's birth - my eyes were closed until she was out and being worked on by the NICU doctors.  I wanted to see her but all I saw was more than twenty scrubs surrounding my one pound baby.  I kept repeating, "She has a name.  Please God, let her live, she has a name."  She was my baby, a life, a life that I so desperately wanted to live.  While I was chanting my incoherent thoughts, Dr. Chang was ventilating my baby girl and administering surfactant inside her tiny lungs.

By the grace of God and modern day research, both of my girls are alive and thriving.  We are the lucky ones.  I don't know why we were chosen to carry our babies out of the NICU when so many others never get to take their babies home.  I struggle with this thought frequently.

As we gear up for our walk in two weeks, please feel free to join in on the fun.  There is a fund raising button on the side of this blog.  A big thanks to our very generous supporters in years past.  If it better suits you, we  would love for you to lift us up on 4/30 as we walk.  It is an emotional experience.  It is a time when we are forced to face what could have been, which leaves me holding my girls close to me while my heart swells with gratitude.

Here is our story. . .

Sleep (continued)

This is what happens after the girls skip their naps and snuggle up to me on the couch.  There was a day when I could hold both on my chest with a little room to spare.  Today, there was a lot of "spill-over."  They are growing too fast but, at moments like this, I remember they are still my sweet babies.

After wiggling out of this position and placing both girls on opposite ends of the couch, I came back into the room to find this.  They may not look alike, have the same schedule or schools, but there is definitely a twin connection. 

Chicks

First grade at West Chester Friends is known for hatching chicks.  Savannah was able to visit the chicks when she was in Kindergarten and has been eagerly awaiting her chance at hatching the eggs ever since.  This was the week!  Last week the eggs arrived and the students were responsible for turning them four times a day, holding them up to bright lights to check for movement, and monitoring the temperature in the incubators.  It seems that hatching takes 21 days exactly because they all started hatching on Monday, just like T. Connie predicted.  The first one hatched ten minutes before the school day was over, and the rest decided to wait until the students were out the door to emerge.  If you look at the egg picture, you can see that all of the eggs had been punctured when the students left for the day.

Here is a video of a ten minute old chick.

T. Connie let families come in before and after school so that the students could share their experience. It was nice to see Savannah's growing attachment to these fluffy little birds. She often ended up with six or seven of the chicks asleep in her lap. These chicks were pretty exhausted after being taken out four times a day by 16 First Graders. The class even took the chicks to the Quaker Retirement home that is located on the school's campus. The students loved sharing their chicks but the chicks came back very tired. Here is a clip of one that couldn't seem to keep his head up.



After many scientific observations, writings, drawings and, most noted by the kids, playful interactions with the chicks, the students said a tearful goodbye this morning.

Here are some pictures of the girls getting some chick time.  Needless to say, ducky-lover, Lila Grace, was in heaven.  She has requested that we refer to chicks as ducks because it makes her happy.

Sleep

If I am not mistaken, there are four ducks covering Miss Lila while she sleeps the afternoon away.

After two days without naps, Lila Grace falls asleep while waiting for a bedtime story.

This is what happens during heavy rain.  We have visitors in the middle of the night.  Really glad we went with the king size bed.  As they grow, we are getting pushed closer and closer to the edges.  Hmmmm. . . .  this will be a problem in five years.

A Run Through History

This past weekend was predominately centered on a 13.1 mile run through Washington DC.  After a not so stellar half marathon in Philly last November, I quickly registered for the National Half Marathon in hopes of a better knee and ultimately, a better time.  Alex hopped on board and got my friend, Natalie, on the running train as well.  There was no turning back.

Natalie and I trained together via text.  Since hundreds of miles separate us, we held each other accountable with quick text messages.  We encouraged each other, whined together and, eventually found that pounding the pavement was the only answer.  I was plagued with kneed injuries and Natalie with unbearable shin splints.  Can you say, “Getting older?”  We pushed through the pain and were determined to this.

Race day finally came – thank goodness.  I was so done with running!!  The weather was bitter and we were fearful of rain.  Luckily, it ended up being blue skies.  Our bodies seemed to stay warm with the help of adrenaline.  Twenty minutes after the first runner crossed the start line, Natalie, Alex and I joined them – takes a long time to get 15,000 runners through a bottle neck start line.  Alex and I decided to run together while Nat did her own thing.

Run I did.  For the record, I ran faster than I ever have.  At 7 miles in I was just a tad over a 9 minute mile.  I was running all out because I knew that my knee would eventually pull me down.  We passed the Capital, the White House and Washington Monument.  It was beautiful.  I was on a high.  Of course all good things must come to an end.  By mile 8 I had to stop and stretch my knee and by mile 11 I was limp running while my knee was seething in pain.  A quarter of a mile later something snapped in my knee and I couldn’t take another step.  That would have been it for me had I been by myself.  Luckily, Alex was there and I felt with his help I could gimp the last 1.75.  It was a LONG ways.  I couldn’t go any faster than a sideways shuffle and was very frustrated that I couldn’t bring it home to the finish line.  Instead, I hobbled to the end.  Even with a sideways shuffle, we finished in two and half hours.  If you take out the time I was standing on the side of the road dealing with my knee, we had a time of 2 hours 21 minutes.  Not bad for this non-runner who was forced to walk the last two miles.

Once across the finish we waited for Natalie to cross.  I don’t know what was better.  Watching her cross or knowing that I ran under a ten minute mile – while I was actually running and not hobbling.  We left all we had on the streets of DC and are really proud of it.  It was nice to share the experience with a friend and extremely nice to run beside my husband for the first time.

We were only able to do all of this because our good friends, who live in DC, were willing to be gracious hosts and babysitters.  Not only did they watch our kids but Steve grilled up the most fantastic steaks for a post run dinner.  We had an adult dinner in the dining room while EIGHT children left us alone.  That alone is an amazing accomplishment. 

What a weekend!!

Here are a few pics from the rest of our trip - taken with my phone so not so great.


The girls with the Capital in the background

 In the Natural History Smithsonian.  Little Miss Adeline loved the giraffe and disliked the rest.  Too scary.

 The Smithsonian Castle

Here are the eight lovely children that played quietly while the adults dined and visited. Ahhh, we are finally getting there!

Questions

Lila:  Mommy do we say, "Oh my gosh or oh my goodness."

Me:  Oh my goodness.

L:  Why?  Do people not like oh my gosh?

M:  It makes Jesus sad.

L:  Oh.  Jesus is up in heaven?

Adeline:  Yes Lila, he isn't a baby anymore!

L:  Is it dark up there?

A:  No there is a light bulb!