A story of infertility, treatment, pregnancy complications, and the future.

My story is not a typical one but it is not entirely unique either. It has taken me many years to share my story because as you will find it contains stories of pain and hardship with a silver lining to the cloud. Many of my friends and family have encouraged me to tell this story so that it may help others who relate to all or part of it. Part of my hesitation comes from wanting my story to give families that can relate hope but fear that some may gain false hope based on my story because as I said it is not typical. I know how it feels to scour the internet for any and all information that might give me the answer I was looking for. It is my intent that this story will be read from the beginning to the end.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Month Two

The 2nd month in the NICU started off with some good and some bad. Alaric came off the oscillator and moved onto the ventilator. This was the first time I heard my son cry. While many parents would not cherish this moment I did. I cried after being able to hear his little voice for the first time. Both babies had follow ups on their hearts. Phyllis got sick and had to have an x-ray. The x-ray showed a problem with her bowel. She would not be able to eat and would need some treatment to avoid Necrotizing Enterocolitis.

They were more tolerant of being touched at this point so for the first time an exam was done on my son to check on his hands and feet. Because he had gone almost 5 weeks with no amniotic fluid he was in fact born with one of his feet turned in. The good news was he was born so early that we would be able to fix it with long term physical therapy. We now knew that he would be able to walk.

 A few days later both babies smiled for the first time. It is heartwarming to know your baby is in pain but still see that they are happy.
 Alaric
Phyllis
We celebrated Thanksgiving.
 Alaric
Phyllis

At the end of the month both babies had eye exams to check for Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). The exams showed everything was fine but they would continue to have these exams about every other week.

During the beginning of December the babies started doing much better they were moved on to CPAP. They got to start wearing clothes.
 Alaric
Phyllis

On the 3rd of December the babies were moved out of their isolettes and into cribs. This was the best day. Now that they were in cribs we could pick them up and hold them any time we wanted. It had been nearly 2 months and we finally had some control over their care.

Alaric
Phyllis

Right before they turned 2 months old Phyllis began to do really well and was removed from oxygen support. She was now breathing on her own and could learn to eat. It was at this point we started the long process of teaching her how to breastfeed and how to use a bottle.
Phyllis off Oxygen!

They also got to have their first baths.
Alaric
 Phyllis

This was our last full month in the NICU. Many great strides were made and it felt more like we were parents. We were finally moving towards going home.
Alaric
Phyllis

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