A Month!

I know, I'm a total slacker. My energy levels have been low lately and updating this blog unfortunately falls off the list.

Bennett and I spend the last week in Great Falls which was not the most enjoyable trip I have ever taken. My mother was of course crazy busy and rarely around. I guess I should have expected that since my Grandmother is out of town. Bernie was in Boise and I left the structure Bennett is used to at our house. He would not sleep in the pack and play that Mel nicely let us borrow and so he slept with me the entire time. It was nice cuddling with him, but I'm not used to such inturrupted sleep. He was all over the place kicking me in the head on the hour it seemed. Now we're having a hard time getting him back in the crib at home. Lesson learned.

We did have some fun, lest the world think I do nothing but complain. I got to spend time with Amy, Melanie, Gwendolyn, Heather, and Marlena. Gwendolyn is such a cute and happy baby. She smiled every time I looked at her. Bennett has too many choices in the world. I also got to eat all of the food I miss in Great Falls.

Heather is going to stop by and spend a night or two with us on her way down to Texas. We will definitely make a stop at the New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Collins for some fresh Fat Tire.

My dad's talking about moving into Park Manor before the end of the year as he doesn't think he can do another winter alone in the house. I hope he is serious about the move because it is becoming a need. He had to put his dog down recently because he couldn't take care of him anymore (and he was very old). So now he is really alone in the house. I plan to take him for a tour in June when we are there. And maybe get an application filled out...but that might be a bit optimistic.

We are all sick around here at the moment with a head cold. Let's hope to have those cleared up soon. It was 80 degrees already today and I hate to miss a nice day because I don't feel well.

Potty Training

That should probably be in quotes because I don't think much training will be going on for some time. But, we are trying to get the potty introduced with Bennett. My feeling is the earlier he is familiar with it, the better. One of the mom's in the Meetup group I am in has a son that is a month younger than Bennett. They have consistently been putting him on the toilet since he was 7 months old and he has no problem going on it. She told me that they were really committed one day last week and put him on every 90 minutes. His diaper was dry all day.

I am not that into it at this point. I just want to get him used to the idea. He is already obsessed with the regular toilet. I got him his own a couple of weeks ago and have had him sit on it before baths. No pushing. I just set him down and he gets off when he wants (with lots of praise when he sits of course). He has been playing with it constantly and sitting on it for longer periods of time. Today I got him up from his nap and put him straight on it and voila! There was pee...a very exciting development.

Ok, I suppose that is enough potty talk for one day. Happy Sunday.

There are flowers coming up in my garden

And that excites me very much. In reality there have been flowers somehow surviving out there for an entire year but now the lilies are coming up. It's a sure sign of spring. Hopefully I plan the veggies a little better this year. Last year there was too much planted in the plot and we had lettuce heads that were over 5 feet tall.

Mr. Bennett has been a very busy bee lately. He's walking all over the place and getting into trouble at every turn. Last night he ran straight for the TV and fell face first into the glass shelf on the entertainment center. He hit his head harder than he ever has before. There was a bleeding gash and it swelled up badly. Bernie was at work so I decided to take him to the immediate care. There was nothing wrong, but I don't think I would have slept wondering if he had a concussion or something. I'm sure it was the first of many many injuries. Mommy is just not ready for all of that.

Bernie is going to Boise at the end of March. I decided I didn't want to hang out alone for the week so I am taking Bennett up to Great Falls for a visit. I'm sort of looking forward to it. My mom is going to be very busy working and I don't want to be stranded at her house so I am in the process of trying to find a car to borrow. I hope to get more excited as the trip approaches.

I got my money back for the bootleg Beatles box set. The company never game me my money back but Amazon did. So consider this an official recommendation to do business with them. They treated me well and did the right thing.

Thank you goes out to Kristen and her sister Jaren for their contributions to the March for Dimes. Your generosity is amazing and very much appreciated.

Myles

Myles was the first preemie I "met" after we brought Bennett home. For the first month or so after he was born, I couldn't face any information about PE or preemies. It was so hard. But then I found Myles and his family and I started to realize how lucky we had been. Myles was born at 26 weeks due to preeclampsia. He lived for over three weeks. His parents faced many reproductive challenges including IVF and multiple misscarriages. They finally decided to pursue surrogacy and recently became parents to two beautiful twin boys, Liam and Silas. They were also preemies, born at about 34 weeks I believe. They are doing well and got to come home on Friday. Now Myles has two little brothers to watch over.

His story is included in a video on the sidebar. Make sure you have some tissues handy.

http://www.myjourneytomylesandbeyond.blogspot.com/

Courage after a loss

Many of the families I follow have lost a baby. Some of them try again while others do not. What they all have in common is the fear of going through it again, especially if they have had preeclampsia. The risks includes the mother as well as the baby. Jamie is a woman who is facing the risks again. She and her husband lost their baby boy Vincent at 22 weeks due to preeclampsia. They decided to try again and are currently 30 weeks pregnant with a second little boy. Jamie has been fighting the beginning symptoms of PE as well as gestational diabetes for a number of weeks now. She was again admitted to the hospital last night with likely PE. The doctors are hoping they can hold out a few more weeks, but must carefully balance Jamie's health as well as the baby's. Please send her some good vibes.

http://definingme-ramblingsofaneurotic.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow will be the final post on the subject of premature birth. You should check it out because you will meet the bravest family I have ever seen. Their story is the fist one I came across after Bennett and I return again and again to silently cheer them on.

Another Perspective

Preemies, especially micro-preemies present ethical issues to parents as well as the medical community. Babies born before 23 weeks have virtually zero chance of survival and those born between 23-26 weeks have low survival rates. Disability rates for all preemies is higher, but very high with babies born so early. There are questions surrounding too much intervention and the pain which these babies go through in order to survive. Some people are also concerned about the cost of these medically complicated babies. If Bennett's hospital stay (relatively uncomplicated) of 32 days cost almost $400,000, imagine the cost for a much smaller baby who needs many medical interventions and stays 100 days or more. It is uncomfortable to think of these issues, they cause dissonance in my own brain. I'm not sure where I stand on resuscitation before a certain number of weeks. Where do you draw the line? How much do these babies suffer? What would I do if faced with that situation? The answers are unclear for me.

The Preemie Experiment was created to educate the world about the long-term effects of prematurity. The posts are written by a woman who has two preemies (25 weeker and 34 weeker). She tackles these complicated ethical issues, although answers are difficult to come by. The comments on some of the posts are quite heated. I uncomfortably visit this site to learn from this experienced community and clarify my own values.

http://thepreemieexperiment.blogspot.com/

Loss

There are a number of blogs that I am following right now that feature brave families who have lost a baby after a premature birth. That all of these families lost their babies as a result of preeclampsia just shows my biased point of view. Premature births happen for many reasons and often the reason cannot be pinned down. A woman goes into labor early, it can't be stopped, and a preemie is born.

Ashley and her husband Chris had their son Nolan very early, 26 weeks I believe (forgive me Ashley, if I am wrong) due to preeclampsia. He fought a brave battle, but ultimately lost. If you have the time, check out his video on her sidebar and meet little Nolan.

http://rubybaby09.blogspot.com/