In the flesh...

This is more of a test than anything else to see if I can successfully get a video to load and play - here are the boys when I went in their room this morning...on their 6 month birthday. The quality stinks b/c it was taken on my digital camera, not the video camera.

Sayonara!

We're so happy to say goodbye to all of Cole's oxygen and monitoring equipment. We're officially discharged today from Pulmonology and no more machines in the house - yay!!! Sayonara and good riddance - we graciously give it up so that some other preemie can have a chance at life like Cole!

Happy 6 Month Birthday boys!
It's a great day here in the Licameli house - lots of celebrating going on today!

One year ago today

One year ago today, our little miracles were conceived. If you would have asked me then if I would share this information with anyone who wants to read my blog, I would have said you’re crazy. But after so many months, I have poured out my deepest thoughts and ramblings so why not tell it all now? This time one year ago, my eggs were retrieved and by now, growing into little embryos. It was 12:15pm when I was scheduled for surgery and my bursting ovaries couldn’t wait to get all of the eggs out! By 2pm, I was on my way home to rest and pray a lot. And a bit less bloated to say the least. Our primary fertility doctor did my retrieval, which was HUGE for us. Dr. Mottla is no stranger to many of you! You never know who you’re going to get when you get into surgery so seeing him that day was such a bonus. I think I might have cried when I found out he was doing my surgery. He’s the best of the bunch and we were so grateful that he was on call in the OR that day. Apparently he was our good luck charm.

Five days later, we were back for transfer and they put two top quality embies back in. After 4 previous failed cycles, we were guarded, yet optimistic. I had 19 eggs retrieved; and over half of them grew into top quality embryos. We have photos of our embryos. Little did we know, that both embryos that we put back would grow into our THREE little miracles. We were so hopeful. Just a few short days later, I began to get so bloated that I couldn’t even sit up straight. I was in terrible pain but knew then that ovarian hyperstimulation (hyper-stim) was a GOOD sign because it usually meant that you were pregnant. By Sunday of the weekend following transfer, we went in emergency up to the Shady Grove Rockville clinic for a sonogram because the pain and sickness were so bad and getting worse. They found over 2 liters of fluid in my abdomen; and also ran a pregnancy test that we found out was positive. Early hyperstim usually means multiples – we didn’t ever consider THREE though (we didn’t even find out about the trips for a few weeks after this). Twins were definitely on our radar so the news was so exciting that I almost forgot how terrible I was feeling. For a few minutes anyway…

It was the following Monday that I was back in surgery again, having the 2+ liters of fluid removed. It was immediate relief – but it came back within a few days. I was out of work for several days and could not function very well. This condition is not risky at all to the pregnancy, it’s just a nightmare for the Mom. Eventually the fluid retention went down a bit, but never really went away completely – and believe me, I was not complaining – I WAS PREGNANT! I remember I had a baby shower brunch the following weekend for my best friend and I had nothing to wear because I looked 6 months pregnant. I was sure that everyone would notice. Nobody did.

I’ve had a funny feeling for the last few days and it wasn’t until this morning that I realized why. For whatever reason, I think my body sensed this anniversary date and reminded me of how precious these little miracles are. For one year ago today, their lives began as just a few little cells. Quite amazing.

Even more of a coincidence is that tomorrow is the boys 6 month birthday. Funny how these milestone dates fell just one day apart. It’s been an emotional day in a strange way – for thinking of all that we’ve been through over the last year is really mind boggling. When I reminded C. about what we were doing a year ago, he just smiled and said “it feels like that was FIVE years ago!”. But as I have said before and I’ll say again, it was worth every single second. As I hugged my boys today and wished them a happy “conception” day, I’ve never felt so thankful.

I’ll have another post on Thursday with updates on their 6 month appointment – where has the time gone?

Good luck charms!

The Licameli clan was decked out in Terps gear yesterday in honor of the UNC game and as it turns out, it was well worth it! Here are Daddy's little terrapins - ready for the game!

Cole wanted to go along to the game...but no such luck. Maybe someday...

What a proud Dad!

TGIF

Good ending to a long week!

Have a great weekend all!

Baby Amellia

I'm in awe at this baby. I know most of you have seen the story on the news about the little 10 oz (that's just over 1/2 of a pound!) baby that was born in November and released from the hospital yesterday after only 4.5 months. AMAZING.

She was just a tiny bit bigger than a BALL POINT PEN! Modern medicine is an amazing thing. I remember so clearly the day after we were admitted to the hospital at 23 weeks (the 2nd time) and a NICU nurse came to talk to us. At that time, we were just trying to make it to the viability mark of 24 weeks. She told us all of the dirty details about what preemies go through. She outlined the common problems, the statistics for survival, the most likely outcomes for our children at various gestational ages and what we should expect. She was right on. One thing that she told us that I will never forget is that white males are the weakest preemies. They nickname them "wimpy white boys". African American Females are the strongest preemies. Hence, Baby Amellia above, who defied all odds and is the youngest baby EVER to survive. Again, it's AMAZING. This baby only stayed in NICU for a little over 4 months. Heck, Cole was there for 3 months, and was two and a half times her size. And her prognosis for the future is bright - no glaringly obvious problems. What a miracle.

I've been so intrigued by this story and am so thankful that she is going to be alright. Another interesting comment made by our initial NICU consult nurse (who later became our favorite Nurse practitioner on the NICU staff) was that there is a lot of controversy out there now amongst hospitals with regard to preemies. It seems as though they are saving so many babies now at such young ages and many people feel that it is a disservice in a way since many of the "micro-preemies" have such difficulties later in life. They are unsure what to do about this since anyone in neonatology is obviously challenged by young babies and they strive to save any baby that they can. They will take "extreme life saving measures" as they call it, to give any baby a chance. Some would say "at what expense"? It's certainly a point to ponder. But I will say, as a NICU parent, I would have told them to do anything they could to save my babies, no matter what. And they did. I now have my two little miracles, one of which that they didn't think would make it. I look at him in amazement today at how far he has come. They are thriving now.

I'll never be able to thank the doctors, nurses and staff enough, who cared for my kids 24/7 and brought them into this world. And I'm sure Amellia's Mom is saying the same thing!

The best kind of laundry!

We say we hate doing laundry? I'll fill my laundry basket with this kind of laundry any day!

Gus won't take NO for an answer...

In an effort to keep Gus out of the baby seat, I put one of thier learning balls in the seat when the kids aren't in it. Apparently he is still finding space for himself, despite that the ball takes up almost the entire seat. Can you see the ball under him? Stubborn little guy isn't he? He's obviously uncomfortable but he's trying to prove his point...

Enough said...

Dilemma...

I looked over at JD this afternoon after hearing him wimpering quietly next to me - he couldn't figure out how to solve this problem...poor kid. The photo cracks me up - if this is our worst problem of the day, we all should consider ourselves lucky!