The Tale of Two Preemies: Summer Catch Up: AMPI Trip, Part 2

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Summer Catch Up: AMPI Trip, Part 2

The next part of our journey was the dairy part. We met with a bunch of other young families from our cooperative near Chippewa Falls, WI. We spent time at a park with the kids and toured the cheese plant there. I didn't make the tour. It took longer than planned and Shelby needed to eat. Pat went. He said it was hot, smelly, and loud. The cheese they make is tasty, though!

This is the only picture I took from that part of the journey. A white Peacock.

After the park, tour, and some delicious steaks, we headed back to the hotel for some swimming. Instead of riding the bus, we elected to drive, which worked out wonderfully. We made it back to the hotel and got about an hour of swimming in before it was inundated with everyone else.

The next morning we headed out to tour a couple of dairies. The first dairy left us unimpressed. They have about 3 times as many cows as we do, but their bulk tank is the same size as ours. The biggest problem is that they don't have the lounging space for their cows. Cow comfort is a huge deal. If the cows aren't happy, your milk check shows it. The second farm was better. Nothing out of the ordinary other than they seem to have buildings stacked on top of each other. I thought our farm was cramped!

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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.