Three!

We are 3! Three years ago I gave birthday to the most amazing girls! I am so thankful for their strength, loving hearts, and spunk.

  

They have come a long way from their 4 months in the NICU. I am so thankful that it all seems like a dream now. I love you girls! 

Bed Rest

Three  years ago I went to my local hospital in a panic and ended up getting medevaced to Baltimore a few hours later. It happened on October 9th 2012. 

That was the scariest day of my life. I was just 23 weeks pregnant at the time. Once I arrived at University of Maryland Hospital I stayed in a Labor and Delivery  ICU area. It was a unit for women having serious issues with their pregnancy and required careful monitoring. A woman in the room next to me for example  had some type of surgery while she was pregnant and was there recovering. After spending 3 days there I finally got  moved to my own room. I would spend the next 2 weeks there on full bed rest until the day the girls were born. 

I don't really like to think about that time. It was truly a miserable and terrifying first 3 nights in the hospital for me, but I am stronger because of it. I thank God for the medicine that stopped my labor at 23 weekd because without it my girls would not be here today.  

During my bed rest a NICU doctor came to talk to me to discuss what might happen if I have my babies premature. She informed me of the risks and the challenges associated with prematurity.   She terrified me and it took everything out of me not to burst into tears. I know they needed to inform me for what was ahead, but it sure was a lot to take in. 

Despite everything I went through there were some people that truly touched my life during that time.  

To the two male paramedics that went with me on my helicopter flight to Baltimore- you have no idea how grateful I am for your kindness and warm nature. It was a very stressful time and your calmness helped me to stay calm too. Thank you. 

To the nurses at Maryland in the labor and delivery wing-you made me laugh when I was sad and you came to visit with me when I was lonely. And most importantly you comforted me when I was scared.  I will never forget that.  You all hold a special place in my heart!

My delivery journey was a scary time, but now it it just a distant memory. Three years have passed and we are still on a journey together. Every day is a new adventure with my girls and I wouldn't want it any other way. 

World Cerebral Palsy Day

Today is world Cerebral Palsy Day. 

My Elizabeth amazes me everyday. She is so strong and determined. Since day 1 in the NICU she has been a fighter. It hasn't been easy for her because living with CP isn't ever easy.

Elizabeth's CP is on her left side and mostly affects her left hand and ankle. She isn't able to use her hand much and has already been through 2 rounds of Constraint therapy at Kennedy Krieger in Baltimore, Maryland. She continues to have OT and PT twice a week. 

Here is some insightful info about CP.

Abby's Lazy Eye

Many of you may know the my Abigail has a lazy eye. I have posted about it in the past.

You can usually see her lazy eye the when she is tired, not feeling well, or if she has just woken up. 

We are lucky she has an amazing eye doctor at Hopkins. He has actually followed her since her preemie days in the NICU.

Abigail never had ROP, but it did take a while for her eyes to become fully vascularized. 

Over the last two years we were instructed to try patching. Patching is when you cover the good eye so you are forced to use the weaker one. Well you can guess how well that went over with a young toddler. She wanted nothing to do with it. 

I can remember one time we had to have an appointment with another eye doctor because of a scheduling issue with her regular eye doctor. I told him we were having difficulty with patching because she would rip it off as soon as I put it on her. The doctor actually told me to put swim floats on her arms so she couldn't reach up and rip the patch off. Let's just say I was done with that doctor after that. Did he really think a toddler would sit there with floaties on and not protest?!

The last time we saw her eye doctor he saId that we could try eye drops instead of the patch.  The eye drops basically cause your eye to be blurry and it'll last all day. You put the drops in the stronger eye so you are forced to use the weaker one. If we do the eye drops, then we only have to do it twice a week. The eye patch is an every day event.

I have to admit I really hated the idea of doing the eye drops, but I knew we needed to do it. It's one of those things as a parent you just know you have to do, even though you feel so sad about doing it.  I really dreaded it.

 Now that we got her thrush under control I thought it was time to try the drops out. Again I was really dreading it.  

Sunday was our first go at it. I was anticipating a miserable day with lots of fussing, but I am happy to report she didn't mind it at all. She was only upset when I put the drops in, but didn't mention anything about her eye the rest of the day. This is a big stress relief for me!  We will now be doing the drops twice a week. I'll keep everyone posted on the progress.