2 For Team Lopez!: Flashback post

Showing posts with label Flashback post. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Throwback Tuesday - It's a Flashback Post Kind of Day

It's been a tiring couple of days, and frankly, I have nothing in this head of mine. Instead I thought I'd do a re-share what I wrote during a time when I did have something clever in my mind. I originally wrote this post way back in September 2012. :)

Original Post from September 7, 2012 (link here)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The boys have had me read If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff, many times this week. So, I decided to do what all mothers do when they have a story cycling around their brains for days on end--I created my own version. Lol.

No? People don't do that? Really? Ahem.

So, here is my feeble attempt at humoring ~~myself~~ my children. :-)

~~~

...based on the book If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff

If You Give a Kid a Toy

If you give a kid a toy, he'll ask for some batteries to make it play.

When you go to get him the batteries, he'll be sad when you don't have enough.

His crying will give you a headache, so you'll have to take him to the store.

He'll want to ride in the cart and hold on to your phone. Then he'll ask for everything he sees, especially anything sugary. He'll start throwing things into the basket, but the pile will get too tall and fall out onto the floor.

He'll remember the phone and decide he needs to ask Siri for help. He'll tell her "help me clean," but she'll misunderstand what he says. Instead, she'll suggest a search for "bean."

Hearing that, he'll decide he needs to go to a farm. Where he'll pick some berries. And play in the dirt. He might even pick a tomato to give to his brother. After the farm, he'll want to go clean off in the pool. When you get there, he'll jump in. He'll swim far out to the middle of the water. Soon, he'll want you to rescue him.

He'll notice the slide, which will remind him of the park. He'll ask you to take him there. First he'll climb the rock wall. Then he'll swing on the swings. He might even try to ride the dinosaur.

When his tummy rumbles, he'll ask you to leave. On the way home, you'll pass by the store. You'll help him pick up the pile of items on the floor. He'll race you to the car.

At home, he'll try to help you unload. There's a good chance he might drop a bag on the ground. Seeing the bag will remind him of the batteries. He'll probably ask you for some.

And chances are,

if you give him some batteries,

he'll need a toy to put them in.

Monday, November 17, 2014

World Prematurity Day

This post was first published November 17, 2011...

~~~

Today we are purple.

Purple to honor all of the millions of babies worldwide who were born too soon.

Purple to honor the fight of those babies and their families for survival.

Purple to honor those babies who can fight no more.

Today we are purple to honor those we love who have been touched by prematurity.

Today I was purple to honor our super boys, Shawn and Jason.

I will forever be amazed by the strength and determination our two boys showed in the early days of their lives (and continue to show today). They endured more in those months than many people ever experience in their entire lives. It seemed like every complication possible was thrown their way, but together they conquered the NICU.

They captured the hearts of everyone who worked with them. (I think they still do. :) )

Our guys survived and thrive.

We are the lucky ones.

---

Born at 28 weeks and 3 days, our guys were not even 3 pounds and about as long as a Barbie doll. (As tiny as they were, they were huge for their gestation.)

Shortly after the boys were born. This is Isaac's ring.
It would have easily slid all the way up to their armpits.

Isaac's ring on a foot.

A little hand barely able to hold daddy's thumb.

A small round band aid to protect a delicate knee
(their knees were so delicate that the skin would
get raw when they'd lay on their bellies)

Our guys were tiny but mighty.

Shawn, Baby A:

The first time I was able to see Shawn.
I didn't even get to see him in the delivery room.

Shawn - not even a week old.

Holding Shawn for the first time. I am so grateful to
our respiratory therapist who made this happen.

Shawn in his first clothes.
They were preemie size and still swam on him for weeks.

Mommy and daddy with Shawn.

Shawn in December 2007

Jason, Baby B:

Meeting Jason for the first time. I was given a brief glimpse
of Jason in the operating room, but they held him up for me for literally a second.

Mommy and daddy with Jason

Jason under the Billi lights for jaundice.

Holding Jason for the first time.
He was on a ventilator to help him breathe.

Daddy with Jason

Jason in December 2007

Our first picture as a family of 4 (and the first time I'd held both boys together).
December 2007

---

They had a rough start, but our super boys are strong, smart, determined, and funny.

We are the lucky ones -- I hold that knowledge in my heart -- because our boys are here with us.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Flashback Post - The Boys Have Nipples

Tomorrow, November 17, is World Prematurity Day. It's a day set aside to focus everyone’s attention on the global problem of premature birth.

I don't know whether I'll post something on the boys' blog to commemorate World Prematurity Day on the actual day tomorrow. Part of the reason is because we have never left prematurity behind us as we continue to live with the ramifications of the boys' early birth. It's also because at this point in our lives, I'm not really sure what I can say that I haven't already said before. Prematurity sucks; it's as simple as that.

Tonight, instead of trying to come up with something new, I'm reposting something I wrote back when we were in the thick of NICU life. I wrote this post back on December 8, 2007. The boys were 43 days old and still 6 weeks away from their due date.

~~~

The Boys Have Nipples

Okay, okay. Don't laugh. I know you may think that this is a strange topic for a post. But, I have to tell you that I was seriously wondering if the boys would have nipples. When they were first born, we looked and looked for nipples. They didn't have them. Really. I was a little freaked by it if you want to know the truth.

I started to wonder what their lives would be like nipple-less. Would they be ridiculed in the locker room? Would they have body issues and become male anorexics? Maybe they would try to overcompensate for the lack of nipples with freakishly large steroid-induced muscles? Would they be forced to live a life in the circus because of their unusual condition?

Chandler from "Friends" came to mind. If Chandler was ridiculed for having three nipples, surely the boys would face horrendous taunting for having none.

(A mother has to think of these things you know.)

Imagine my relief when the smallest hint of nipples started showing late last week. And now I am happy to say that today my boys have pencil eraser sized areolas/nipples! They are so cute. (Is "cute" the correct word to use to describe nipples?) Whew. Crisis averted!

~~~

When I originally wrote that post, the boys had been transferred from our local NICU to a bigger teaching hospital in Los Angeles. We made the daily 70 miles trek (each way) to visit them while they waited for their first surgeries. It was a hard, hard time for us. The tone of this post is light, but in reality, things were scary and overwhelming and had both Isaac and I nearly at our breaking.

I participate in these awareness days because I want people to know that prematurity is more than a baby born small, and prematurity doesn't necessarily "go away" when the baby reaches their due date. Or when a child turns 2. Or 5. Or ever for some kids.

It IS a big deal.