The Tale of Two Preemies

Thursday, January 20, 2011

I honestly had no idea it has been so long since I posted. Oops.

Pat and I decided that after 5 years of marriage we should take a vacation, just the two of us. Then milk prices went to pot, so we waited a year and headed to Vegas for our 6 year anniversary. We knew Vegas wasn't the warmest spot, but it typically averages in the 50s or 60s in January. Heck, compared with the -12 it is today, that's heavenly. Only thing is, it snowed. In the desert. While we were there. Granted, it melted right away and it was still warmer there than here, but I was really looking forward to shedding my coat for a couple of days.

Despite the cold, we had a great time. Vegas was a nice city to visit, once, but there are other places I would like to see before we go back. We did a lot of wandering around the strip, checking out all the hotels and shops. Here we are at NY NY with the jelly bean statue of liberty.

We also took a day and rented a car to head out to the Hoover Dam. The Dam was impressive, but I was most impressed with the by-pass bridge that was just finished last year. The pictures do not do it justice. It is absolutely massive.

My biggest disappointment was that everything had a fee. It was $7 to park, $8 to get inside the visitor's center, $30 for the tour, $11 for the power plant tour. Really? I guess Nevada is trying to get their half of the bridge paid for.

After the Dam, we headed back to Vegas, drove down the strip, went to the outlet mall, and the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop. The place is tiny, much smaller than it looks on TV.

We also made time to take in a couple of shows. The first night we saw Blue Man Group, which I would definitely see again. The next night we headed to Cirque du Soleil. I don't have a desire to see it again, but it was definitely worth seeing once. Just the fact that the 7 different stages move up and down 9 stories, rotate and tilt beyond vertical is one thing. It's a completely different thing to watch people perform while those stages are moving and tilting. At one point there was a fight seen while the stage was completely vertical. Wow. Click the link and watch the trailer. It really is that impressive.

At any rate, it was a good trip. We got home, got our mud room remodel mostly done, and I started student teaching the following Monday. I'll blog about that later, maybe :)

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Cole's Story

Cole was born at 30 weeks 3 days, much to our surprise, in 2006. I went in to the hospital because I wasn't feeling well and was afraid I'd get dehydrated. I ended up being air lifted to a larger hospital where Cole was born 24 hours later. He weighed in at 4 lbs. 2 oz. and was 17" long. He had some developmental delays, mostly due to acid reflux. He also had positional plagiocephaly and was in a remolding helmet for 6 weeks. At 14 months he underwent a cardiac catheter procedure to close his PDA. At 25 months he tripped getting out of his kiddie pool and broke his femur. He was in a cast from his hips to his toes for 4 long weeks. He also broke his shoulder at age 5 1/2. His latest medical drama has been a cyst in his left ear. He's had his adenoids removed and another surgery to remove the cyst. He'll have a second surgery in August. He's been through the ringer, but you'd never know it. He just rolls with the punches. He's 100% farm boy. He wants to know how everything works and why. He loves the farm. Farming is definitely in his blood.

Tate's Story

Tate was born at 34 weeks 2 days in 2008. Since I had a previous premature delivery, I was on high alert for another one. It didn't help. We had ultrasound after ultrasound and everything looked great. Tate, however, was not patient. I was admitted to the hospital with preterm labor. He held off for a couple of days, but was still born early. He weighed 5 and a half pounds and was 19" long. Fortunately he had no problems and was released from the hospital 3 days after he was born. He was born the middle child. He desperately wants to do what his big brother does, but has his own interests and wants Cole do to those with him. He's my trouble-maker, fit-thrower, and snuggle bug.