Holidays as a family of 5!

Holidays

We are starting to get the hang of having all three. After Amber recovered from gallbladder surgery it wasn't too long that Christmas was here. We probably had more fun this holiday than our kids, Thanksgiving we stayed home and cooked the whole meal by ourselves. It was fun. Carleigh helped and enjoyed having us both home together.
We made toffee for friends and went around and delivered it to get out of the house all together. Getting out at night and looking at lights was a big hit with Carleigh, and the boys really like the car.
Christmas was so exciting. We had great friends to celebrate the holidays and the boys being home. We both argeed that this was the best Chistmas in a long time.

OH DOCTOR APOINTMENTS

We thought is was hard to advocate for the boys when the were in the hospital it is even harder going to all the different doctors. When Brody came home he had 5 appointments set up for us when we discharged from UCD. When Drew was discharged he had 7-8 that we had to set up ourselves. This is when having a HMO became a problem. REFERRALS SUCK. We also had to switch Pediatricians during this time. Traveling to hospitals was so hard but this became a whole new type of hard. No sleep didn't help. Amber had her gallblader removed in December just to add to 2009 year of the hospital.
Each doctors appointment they keep getting better and better. They are so impressed with both boys progress.

There is was many times that we never thought that we would see the day.

Drew is home!!!! He is amazing! He came home on November 4th 2009. He came home with no medical assistance. No oxygen. No medications. No feeding tubes. I think we have a little over achiever on our hands. He will be missed at UCD. Drew Lane gave a lot of families hope and doctors and nurses as well. He beat all odds for sure.
When Amber was on hospitalized bed rest the NICU doctors came and saw us and handed us a sheet of odds. Along with that sheet they gave us a list of things that micropreemies may be facing. Honestly I think that Drew had the majority of the medical problem that were on that list. It was so bad at one point that Doctors and nurses discussed having us make a choice to discontinuing care. For those of you that can't fathom what that means it means stop all cares and let him pass. In the moment it felt like they were pushing us in a certain direction. Overall we felt that decision wasn't up to us. If he couldn't fight anymore he could leave on his own. Drew fought so hard to be here and we fought with him all the way. We discussed this with each other and we always knew that we wanted him we just didn't know how much he wanted us. After 138 days of fighting he was able to come home and be a baby and not a patient.

When Drew came home he had a very hard time adjusting. He may have been on full feed (with a bottle) for a little over a week and wasn't very good at eating. Honestly he still isn't very good. He only gained 4 ounces in the first month. Drew also had a hard time being unswaddled. We think that is because of his low weight and body temperature. Open spaces were difficult for Drew. He was in a isolette for a long time because he had the stoma and didn't wear clothes. Having all three under one roof was what we had been asking for and wishing for months. Finally!
Drew has had this little smile with of coures his little dimple through out the whole time. He is a surviver. Drew has made it through pre-term labor, emergency c-section, being intibated, out of the delivery room, PICC lines, spontaneous perforation in his intestines, heart surgery (PDA), stoma, infections, blockages, chest tube,fluid on the lung,head being tapped over 30 times, countless Brady's, Shunt, many breathing systems and so much more. Watch out world!