Our December

I can't believe it's been a month since I have updated! We have been busy with the holidays and doctor appointments. NO "me" time to sit and write. As I write this, Ailyn is trying to feed me a Hershey kiss. I have a lot of medical updates for Ailyn but will make another blog post on that. For now, I will fill you in our crazy busy month!

Meet "Ollie" our newest addition to our family. We adopted Ollie from Target. He spent the entire month doing fun things for the kids to see each morning. Ollie reported back to Santa each night on Camden and Ailyn's behavior. Camden fell in love with Ollie from day one and was very sad to see him go.

Ailyn had her Christmas party at school. Art projects are always "fun" with Ailyn. Most ends up on the floor or in her mouth. I am not even sure if she enjoys doing it but we try every time. 

This year we started a tradition with our friends. A night of making reindeer food and watching Christmas movies. This year we had Elf playing. The kids enjoyed this project so much! I know I will look forword to this every year!

The kids were in the pageant again this year. Camden goes to Sunday school every Sunday and was looking foreword to this all month! It was very cute. My "angels" looked very sweet.

On Christmas Eve we said goodbye to Ollie. Camden was hesitant to touch him at first since the rule is you are NOT allowed to touch. The elf will lose his magic if touched!! Camden took this very serious. One time Ailyn knocked him over. So Camden wrote a letter apologizing. Ollie came back the next day with a broken leg and was on a heart monitor (LOVED having Ailyn's NICU stuff) but he didn't lose his magic.

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Ailyn has no clue about Ollie, did not grasp the concept at all. Maybe next year ;)

The boys always follow Santa on NORAD.

 Before bed we had to feed the reindeer!

And, put our cookies and milk for Santa!

Ollie must have told Santa how good they have been!! They both sat looking at their gifts for a few minutes before asking to tear them open.

Ailyn opened every one this year all by herself. She even threw away each piece of wrapping paper before signing "more" for the next gift. My girl for sure ;)

Camden loved all his gifts! We love watching him get so excited to open each one.

My Mom made Ailyn's favorite babies knitted clothes!!! They are adorable!! A favorite gift for sure! Ailyn's babies always had to be naked.... no more! She loves having me dress them up.

Camden has organized his toys every year since 2 years old!!! Ailyn tried knocking them all down and thought that was a very fun game. Big brother did not think that was a fun game.

To end our night we had good friends over to exchange gifts. The kids had a blast with each other and we enjoyed some wine and Chinese food.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HANUKKAH TO ALL!!!!!

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Go Team Ailyn!

We felt the love today!!! To say I was overwhelmed by the love and support you all gave us would be an understatement. All day long I was receiving texts and tagged posts on Facebook. It was an awesome feeling to know my Ailyn is so loved by so many. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for wearing purple for Prematurity Awareness Day!

My purple nugget!

Becky, Evan and Philomena

Keyla and baby nugget Zuri

Brooke

Nicole

Kira

Cadence and Philomena

Jaimie and Kinsley

Athena

Brylee

GiGi

Miss S!

Kenzie

Heather

Meaghan

Malia

Shari, Sophia and Rebecca

Carter and Lukas

My girls

Jaidyn

and Miss Brylee put on purple again for bedtime!

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Prematurity Awareness Day

Today, November 17th is Prematurity Awareness Day. In honor of today, I am going to introduce you to some of some good friends we have met along our journey and share my story. 

I was on bedrest my entire pregnancy with Ailyn. 28 strait weeks. It started with overstimulation from IVF, then preterm labor started at 14 weeks. I went into labor on a Saturday. Aaron had just left with Camden to go to his office. I knew something was off and warned him. I got up to take a shower and in the shower felt a terrible pain. I knew to call 911 but had to get to the phone. I thought for sure I was pushing Ailyn out. The pain was unreal. The paramedics came and got me into the ambulance. My water broke in my driveway. The ride to the hospital was a blur. Aaron met me at the hospital and my good friend came to pick Camden up. The doctor could not find Ailyn's heartbeat and my abdomen was filled with blood. They rushed me to the OR right away. Aaron was told to wait to hear Ailyn's cries. She didn't cry. I had a severe placenta abruption.

Ailyn had to be brought back to life. The amazing doctors and nurses preformed a true miracle on April 18, 2009. Ailyn did not move for the first 12 hours of life. The doctor came in and told me that "babies this sick normally never make it and to prepare for her death". But, Ailyn fought hard. She had a grade 1 brain bleed. Her kidneys and gut took a very hard hit. For the next few weeks, Ailyn peed strait blood. At 1 month old she had to have PDA surgery. For 75 very long days, she fought very hard to come home to us. I thank EVERY NICU nurse and doctor for taking such great care of our Strawberry. I will never forget them and plan to tell Ailyn about her first friends.

And, here we are 2 1/2 years later. Ailyn is an amazing little girl. Always happy and still shows us how very stubborn she is. Ailyn has developmental delays, has high blood pressure due to kidney disease, Esotropia ,is far sighted and has a astigmatism, Ailyn also has a Gtube and will wear leg braces. None of this stops Ailyn.... she proves to us each day that she will go very far in life!

We are reminded every single day of Ailyn's prematurity. I wish I could forget and move on. But, when Ailyn has daily struggles due to her extreme prematurity, that is not possible. I hope by sharing Ailyn's story, I can educate people on the severity of prematurity.

MEET OUR MICROPREEMIE FRIENDS!

Callie 24 weeks 1 pound 5.3 ounces 11 3/4 inches

Callie is one of Ailyn's NICU roommates. I am so glad we stayed in touch with Callie's family. I love watching Callie grow up. She amazes me with all she does. Such a smart little girl with an adorable personality.

I "met" Michael's Mom on a micropreemie Facebook group. Kristen and I have never met but I can honestly call her a "good friend". The bond micropreemie Mom's have in indescribable. Kristen has been so much support for me. Always there to cheer Ailyn on and give awesome advice. And, Michael... what a miracle!!! He is such a fighter. Every time he meets a milestone, I cry along with Kristen. He took his first steps months ago, I felt so proud of him! Michael has come so far and like Ailyn still struggles daily with prematurity issues.

Kensley born at 23 weeks, 1 pound 8 ounces and 12 1/4 inches long

Kim called me the day I joined the micropreemie group. We talked for 3 hours. It was the first time I had talked to another micropreemie Mom. I even got to talk to her miracle Kensley.  If I post a status about Ailyn having a rough day, Kim will message me and give me advice. She always lets me know that Kensley once went through the same issues and got through it. It is awesome to have found a friend like Kim.

Shane 24 weeks, 1 pound 12 ounces 11 inches long

Shane's Mommy messaged me about a question I had the micropreemie support group. Our babies struggle with feeding problems and a lot of the same developmental issues. I love following Shane's story. He also took his first steps a few months ago and I cheered out loud.

Prematurity sucks! Prematurity is the #1 killer of newborns in the U.S. In the U.S., 1 out of every 8 babies is born prematurely. Over 13,000,000 babies per year are born early with 500,000 of those in the U.S. alone!

So today, Honor the million babies worldwide who died this year because they were born too soon, and the 12 million more who struggle to survive.

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Lights!!

Ailyn has a vision teacher through the School of the Blind. Anne Marie has worked very hard with me to get Ailyn to wear her glasses. But, Anne Marie has done much more than that. It was her idea to get a second opinion with another eye doctor. She even comes along with us to her appointments. I am very thankful to have her part of our team!

Anne Marie has access to a really neat light sensory room at the school for the blind. So today Ailyn and I got up early to play. It was a really neat room. All sorts of lights and vibrations. Ailyn really enjoyed it.

We decided to go with the new eye doctor. The other doctor was not being proactive enough and I always felt like we were at a standstill with very little answers. The new doctor gave Ailyn glasses to wear for a couple months to see if it helps with her Esotropia (eye crossing). We put drops in her eyes to dilate BOTH eyes for one week. And, now we are putting the drops in her good eye TWICE a week. This SHOULD make Ailyn want to wear her glasses. Her glasses will counter act the effects of the drops. The drops enlarge the pupil and blurs her vision. The glasses reduce the blurriness.

It's been a very big challenge to keep the glasses on Ailyn. We started with only wearing them while we read books. She learned very quick that she HAS to have them on to read books. Now I follow her around throughout the day picking the glasses up off the floor and putting them back on.... every 5 minutes. It's not getting easier. I think she likes them because she does ASK for them to put back on. This is where Anne Marie has been very helpful and supportive. She has been my cheerleader. Texting me throughout the week to see how it's going and giving me ideas. She comes over to the house once a week also.

With persistence and patience on my part I hope Ailyn will start wearing her glasses full time very soon. If not I will have to start drinking.

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