The Tale of Two Preemies: 6 year old worries

Thursday, November 15, 2012

6 year old worries

Cole is a worrier. I'm sure I've blogged about this before, but he hasn't grown out of it like I had hoped. This week is the book fair at school. They did something new this year called Reach for the Stars. Each child was supposed to read 20 minutes each night for about 2 weeks. Each night they filled in a star to show that they had read that day. They got sponsors and half the money donated went to the school for new library/classroom books. The other half the kids got to keep in the form of a voucher for the book fair. If kids did the reading but didn't have sponsors, they still got a $5 voucher. So each kid that did the reading got at least one book from the book fair. I thought it was kind of a neat idea. My boys had some sponsors (thank you grandmas and grandpas and aunts!) so they had a bit of money to spend. They had all sorts of neat books and Cole picks out Earthquakes and Tsunamis among other less worrisome titles. It was a factual book, but every page brought a new round of questions along with "can that happen here?" Ugh! I tried to convince him to look for another book, but nope, he wanted THAT one. I tried reassuring him that we are not going to have earthquakes and tsunamis here, but it couldn't wipe that worried look off his face. He is the kid that you make sure you don't watch or discuss news around. I'm still hoping he grows out of it. Enough to not be afraid, but not enough that he stops caring.

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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.