The Tale of Two Preemies: August 2011

Monday, August 29, 2011

Houseboat Vacation

Our houseboat vacation was a blast. It was the perfect weather for a few days on the lake. It was so nice to not have anywhere to go or anything to do.

The kids did a little unsuccessful fishing

and a lot of swimming. Who needs to stop for snacks when you can eat it in the water?

We found a little time for relaxing. Tate was fake coughing in this picture and it cracks me up every time.

Our attempt at a family photo. In hindsight we should have tried this on the first day instead of the last.

My sisters and me on gorgeous Table Rock Lake.

Our home for 4 days.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

I'm Baaack, For Now.

I realize I've been on quite the blog hiatus. While I can't promise you my return is permanent, I want to reassure you (if any of you are left) that I didn't fall off the face of the earth.

What can I say, it was a busy summer. I was hoping for a relaxing one, but I should know by now that such a thing does not exist.

At any rate, summer is over and the kids are back to school. I for the first time, since I was 4, am not back to school. At least not back to taking classes. I didn't want to feel completely left out, so I picked up a fall coaching job. I'm coaching our local cross country team. It's been fun, but tiring and frustrating at the same time. I am anxious for our first meet this week.

I will try my darndest to give you a few summer recap posts, but for now I will leave you with this. My boys started school last Friday.

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.