Doctors and "New" Old Friends

Katie and Michael both had visits with their pediatricians yesterday. For a family just barely accustomed to being together, it was a logistical feat to get two babies in, weighed, examined, measured, “shot,” and bandaided. I know that there are those moms and dads out there, who have your very own troop of “younguns,” who are at this very moment chuckling about how easy this should have been. I am sure that it will get easier as we get a bit more experienced. All in all I think we did quite well, even though Michael helped me with the elevator buttons and we hit every floor,…..up and down.

Michael was predictably off the charts. He has always been a big boy. Not like his dad, though. I mean tall, wide, and solid. He was a very good boy during the whole ordeal. He only fell apart when the band aid was applied.

Likewise, Katie did really well. She had gained a phenomenal 10 ounces in 7 days! She now weighs in at a hefty 9 pounds 3.5 ounces. This may seem like nothing, but remember she weighed 8 pound exactly at birth and then lost all the way down to 7 pounds 2 ounces during her time in intensive care. She is still only in the 10 percentile in weight for her age, but she is making great strides.

She has never fully gotten rid of the thrush, and it appears to be coming back with a vengeance. She had been prescribed another round of the same medications that she has already been through. We are just starting over.

We have to take moment and apologize for not mentioning earlier that one of Katie’s roommates has also gone home. His name is Lawson, and he went home last weekend. His crib was just at the feet of Katie’s while we were in the Transitional Care Nursery and they were also neighbors briefly while in one room of the ICN. Beth and I enjoyed the company and conversations that we had with Lawson’s parents. As a matter of fact Lawson got Katie’s “penthouse suite” when she moved out. It was a highly prized little alcove type corner and provided a bit of coziness rather than just along a wall in the TCN. Lawson was actually in the ICN much longer than Katie, and with a much different condition. However their recoveries and post operative treatments were very similar. ( For more info on Lawson, you can read his amazing story here: http://leveringlife.blogspot.com/ )

Anyway….Welcome home Lawson!

Since we are talking about old friends, Michael has had one of his former roommates come to live with us. While we were staying at Parker’s house there were tons of toys there. One of which was a rather large stuffed dog which Michael fell in love with and named him Casey, after Nana Joan’s dog. This stuffed critter was very soft and cuddly and Michael carried him everywhere, even to bed. It broke his heart to leave Casey behind for the next little boy or girl to enjoy. When we got home Beth spent quite a bit of time surfing the internet to find another “Casey.” We had written the manufacturer’s name and the official name of the dog down in order to help facilitate finding another one. After several days of exhaustive searching she finally found two of them on e-Bay. She managed to win the bid for one and got it shipped here from Michigan. It was also delivered yesterday. When Michael saw Casey he flung his arms around this curly haired dog doll and screamed his name over and over. You would have thought that he had found his long lost brother. The two have been nearly inseparable ever since. While this is not the same Casey that we left at Parker’s house, it is identical in every capacity. To Michael this is his long lost buddy come home to stay!

We have new pictures but are having difficulties getting them to load. I will add them as soon as I can!

Andy and Beth