Eight

Eight years ago today, Jeff and I became husband and wife. I may no longer have the rainbow and fairy tale ideals of my youth, but I do know that Jeff and I were made for one another. We balance one another out in so many ways. I'm extroverted, while he leans more toward the introverted side. I'm impulsive, where he thinks things through and isn't ruled by his emotions. I sometimes live in a fantasy world, while he is more of a realist. We've been through a lot these past eight years. Probably more than most couples go through in a marriage as young as ours. Looking back, we so easily could be divorced or at the very least, at one another's throats, after what we've endured. The key, though, is that we've endured. We've faced every challenge as a united front. From his business partnership crumbling, to suffering the losses of five special grandparents, to struggling through the challenge of self-employment, and the biggest of them all, the premature birth of Cadence and Madeline, we've managed to continue that balance. Throughout the entirety of Cadie and Maddie's hospital stays, Jeff was a rock. He never waivered, though I know he had to have been suffering inside. I, on the other hand, was an emotional mess, save for one moment. I don't remember the details, though I'm sure we'd been presented with another decision or another setback, but for that one moment, Jeff was the one who broke down. And what was I? I, for once, was the rock. Balance. In the presence of all the wonderful things that make up our marriage -- laughter, affection, admiration, respect, generosity -- balance is what holds our marriage strongly together, never wavering no matter what we face. And, it's why I know we will have many more years of marriage to enjoy. Eight is just the beginning.

Full of It

Fair warning. For some of you, this post may contain way too much information, but when I started this blog, it was with the purpose of documenting the girls' lives; so, document, I must!

For the past couple of months, Madeline has had "poop problems". She does fine with peeing in the potty and knows when she needs to poop, so it isn't a conceptual issue. She has, however, had severe difficulty sitting on the potty and actually doing the #2 deed. Instead, she hides or squats down and grabs her knees and gets really quiet. If you ask if her if she needs to go potty, she says, "No, I'm just resting". Very quickly, I learned the translation for this statement was, "Yes, I'm going right now. But no force of nature, even one divine, is going to get me on that toilet". I've tried everything; rewards, guilt in the form of claiming that she must not be a big girl if she can't poop on the potty, adjusting her milk and water intakes as suggested by her pediatrician. Nothing helped. She still would complain that she needed to go "poop" to which I would find a smear (sometimes large, sometimes small, but never a turd) of poop on her panties. There were days we would go through 8 pairs of big girl panties. I almost put her back in pull-ups, but determined it would be more cost effective to have to wash multiple pairs of poopy panties than go through multiple pairs of pull-ups in one day. I began to get very frustrated.

So, today I took Madeline in to see Dr. Mayberry to confront her poop dilemma. I explained our issue, then Dr. Mayberry did a physical exam. She had her lay down, then felt her tummy. She looked up at me and said, "Come feel this". To be quite honest, I didn't feel what she was talking about, but I also don't know what it's supposed to feel like! Apparently, though, Madeline is backed up pretty severely. She showed me on her belly just how far she is backed up which measured about five inches. It looks as though Miss Madeline has been holding on to her stool. I expected a nutritional problem to be the explanation, but leave it to Madeline to be stubborn about her poop. That child will take control any way she can; she is extremely hard-headed and is determined to do things her own way.

Dr. Mayberry laid out a plan of action to flush Madeline out, then address the behavioral issue that is behind (no pun intended) the issue. She prescribed an over-the-counter laxative that I'm supposed to give her with juice or water until she is on the verge of diarrhea. Once her system is flushed, the laxative will be weaned. The only explanation I can think of for her holding on to her stool is that she went through a string of about three or four bad bouts of tummy troubles a few months back, resulting in some severe rashes on her bottom. Her skin is extremely sensitive, so her rashes are at least double the intensity of regular rashes. Maybe she associated that pain with pooping and is scared to go anymore? Bottom line, though, is I am supposed to make sure Madeline sits on the potty at least twice a day (preferably after breakfast and dinner), and encourage her to poop. Dr. Mayberry said it may take time for her bottom hole to retract to a normal size so that she senses she needs to go to the bathroom before a large amount has built up. Hopefully, within a couple of weeks, she'll be back on track.

Now, I can't believe I just wrote a post about my daughter's bowel movements. I am sure she is going to SO appreciate this when she gets older. At least, though, I will have proof that, at one point in her life, she really was full of it!

HSM Anonymous

You all may have heard of a little Disney movie franchise called, "High School Musical". Well, the girls have now, too. I've always been a sucker for movies like that, so when the third installment came out, I added it to my Netflix thinking it would be a harmless one to watch with the girls. What I didn't realize was that three year old girls are, apparently, not immune to the HSM addiction. Now, I've become an enabler to a habit they just can't seem to kick. They love that stuff!

Initially, I recorded the first two when they aired on the Disney channel, but I got tired of having to fast forward through commercials. Plus, the last five minutes of the second movie were cut off in the recording, so every time we watched it, I was met with tear-filled eyes and cries of, "Why did you turn it off, Mommy?" Finally, I broke down and bought the three pack of all three movies through Amazon. And, boy, have I gotten my money's worth.

At first, I was horrified that my three-year-old's had been tainted by the teeny bopper phenomenon. Then, I realized they're drawn to the catchy tunes, the energetic dancing, and the overall good feel of the movies, not the dreaminess of Troy. In fact, their just now getting to where they remember character names, and we're at least 20 viewings into this! They're doing a pretty good job at memorizing songs, though. They love to run around the living room singing, "What Time is It?", "High School Musical", and they're favorite, "Fabulous".

I know a lot of parents cringe at the thought of listening to any of the movies even one more time, but I can't help myself; I love it. And I don't think the girls are going to grow tired of it any time soon. Just this evening, Cadie confessed to me, "I love that Troy boy". Then again, she loves nearly everyone.

I'm Outta Here

As much as I've enjoyed using Blogger, I've accepted that I'm a Xanga girl at heart. I started the girls' blog on Xanga, and I've decided that's where I need to continue it. There's just too much history. So, starting today, I'm headed outta here and back to Xanga. Check it out here.

We're Here to Pump, You Up

The past couple of days have been pretty quiet. The girls looked wonderful this evening. Cadie is getting seventeen ml's of milk and she weighs two pounds, thirteen ounces. Maddie is getting fourteen ml's and is now a two pounder! We're starting to see a little more fullness in her cheeks. She is also responding really well to the steroids. They were able to drop her bpm (breaths per minute) rate and her oxygen percentage has been as low as 21% (room air). There still isn't an order for Cadie to receive steroids, so she may get by without them. We talked with Cadie's nurse about Kangaroo Care. We were surprised to hear that she thinks Cadie might be ready as soon as this week. Because they respond so well, they like to start Kangaroo Care as early as possible. We will have to see what the policy is of the girls' new neonatologist. Dr. K has gone to Hillcrest Medical Center for the summer, so we have a new doctor, Dr. Lawson. I'm a little nervous about them getting a new doctor. What if he has a completely different way of doing things? None of that matters, though, as long as the girls are getting the best possible care.

Three Year Check-up

The girls had their three year check-up today. It was so nice, taking them in for their appointment, without the anxiety of impending shots or fear. They were actually excited about it, the little social butterflies that they are.

We played in the exam room for what felt like hours – Maddie slid behind my back while standing on the chair and played with my hair, then Cadie took her turn, and tortured me while she “fixed” my hair.

Dr. Mayberry came in and made the comment that I’ve been thinking for weeks now: “Are they really three?” She continued on with the explanation that she thought surely the information was wrong. I’ve said it over and over, but it seems like just yesterday we had their 2nd birthday party. I’m getting old.

Cadie and Maddie were very cooperative when it came to the measurements. It’s amazing how much can change in just six months. This time October, they both were bawling as they laid on the exam table. This year, they were thrilled to see the squiggly lines on the paper indicating just how tall they’ve gotten. I love it.

Dr. Mayberry was very pleased to see that the girls are continuing on a steady growth curve; they’re even on the charts for both height and weight. Cadie is 38 inches tall and weighs 26 lbs. 7 oz. Maddie is 37 inches tall and weighs 26 lbs. 8 oz. Cadie has been about an inch taller for ages now, and Maddie always weighs just a tad more. So that puts Cadie in the 75th percentile for height, 10th percentile for weight, and Maddie in the 65th percentile for height and 10th percentile for weight. They’re obviously still small for their age, but as long as they continue to follow a steady growth pattern Dr. Mayberry is happy and so am I.

Before we left, the girls were even brave enough to perform a few tricks. Maddie proudly said her Pledge of Allegiance. That’s right…I said PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. Both girls know it now. They can even wrap their little mouths around the word “indivisible”. I’m so proud! Then, Cadie followed up with a beautiful rendition of the Alphabet Song. Maddie’s taken to singing it with an impressive (a word I’m sure only a mother would use) falsetto, so it was a good thing Cadie performed a solo. And the grand finale? Maddie performed what she calls her “best trick” – a trick she does with her tummy that I’m not sure can be described with words. I need to get it on video…

The best news of the whole visit? The girls don’t have to go back until they’re 4. I imagine that’s probably typical for most kids, but that’s a pretty big deal for Cadie and Maddie. They’ve had routine check-ups at least every six months since they were born to monitor their development and growth. We must be doing something right!

March for Babies 2009

It's that time of year again. Our family team, the Patton Preemies, will once again be participating in the March of Dimes annual event, March for Babies, on Saturday, April 25th. This year, the event is going to be downtown. Our team will be there in full force with an expected 40+ people walking as part of our team. Many of you know that this event --as well as the March of Dimes -- is very near to our hearts, so we would love for you to join us and show your support!

If you can't attend, but would love to support us in another way, please consider making a donation to our team. You can do so HERE. I know times are tough financially for most people, so even if you can only give $5, your donation WILL make a difference. We've set our family team goal at $6,000. We've currently raised $3,755, so we will still have a ways to go before Monday, April 20th.

If you've just recently had a baby or know someone who has, think of how different your life would be if that baby was still in the hospital, fighting for life every day. That was our reality three years ago. Each day brought new struggles, but also new successes. We didn't know if we would ever bring the girls home. I wasn't even brave enough to take the tags off of any of their new clothes or the bedding for their cribs until days before we brought them home for fear that we wouldn't. The March of Dimes is a HUGE part of the reason the girls are alive and well today, as well as hundreds of thousands of other babies around the world. Who knows what other discoveries there are to be made to help other babies like Cadence and Madeline? The only way we will ever know is if we continue to fund research that makes a difference.

Thank you all for your support over the past three years. We formed our team just two weeks after the girls were born in 2006. Since then, we've raised nearly $22,000 as a family team! Our success is due to the continued generosity and support you've shown our family and we'll never be able to fully express our gratitude.

Thank You!