Home at last...Home at last...Thank God Almighty, we're home at last!!

I had to change the words just a bit from the final words of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I have a dream speech, but it's true...we're home!!

One of Shawna's favorite times of year is the Christmas season and getting the family out and about, enjoying all of the great, family, offerings that the season presents.  Getting home by the holiday's was always something we felt would happen but we were never sure.  So, one of our first activities as a family of 5 was to get out and enjoy the horse/sleigh rides and reindeer downtown Zeeland.

But let me back up.  Our last update had us hanging out in the NICU at CHOP and waiting to finish our checklist for discharge from the hospital.  Kierstyn was doing very well and by Friday night, of the birth, we thought there may be a chance that we'd be discharged on the following day.  Well, that night, KJ's temperature dropped just a touch (enough for some small concern but VERY small concern) which had a few of the doctors wanting us to stay for "a little longer."  Well, the doc that told us that Saturday morning told us that and then jetted away, leaving us (and our now frustrated nurses, as they'd seen KJ for a few days and saw that she was doing great) with a very blurry picture of when we'd be able to come home.  We requested to see that doctor again so we could be given a ballpark figure of when we'd be discharged so that we could figure things out for travel and me getting home for work.  Our NICU nurse (we had many awesome ladies, but one in particular, Katie) really went to bat for us and pulled some strings with a different doctor who was also phenomenal in taking into consideration our distance from home, to get the process going.  Unfortunately, by mid afternoon we still had not been communicated with on discharge.  So, I went back tot he Ronald McDonald House to check out and pack up.  I needed to get back home to work on Monday and Shawna was feeling good enough hanging in Philly a few more days (what's a few more after 101) and possibly flying home or me heading back out to pick them up.  

Frustrated with not knowing a few more answers, I jumped in the car at about 3 and aimed it west on my way home to pick up the boys at John and Janet's and get home by Sunday.  Fortunately, we (Hope) was playing at 3 so I could listen to our game on the radio while I started my journey home.  I was celebrating Ben Gardner's layup at the buzzer of the first half when my phone rang and Shawna's name popped up on my screen (I was now about an hour into the trip home).  "Can you turn the van around?  How far are you?"  This was with a bunch of laughing in the background from our nurse and doctor.  It was determined that there was a very good chance we'd be shipped home the next day so I needed to turn around and head back to CHOP!!!  All good with me if it meant we be on the road home, for good, the next day (personally, I think it was our insurance company wanting to get us off the books and they told CHOP to kick us out!!).  So, one more night in the NICU.  Sunday turned into a long day before discharge as lots of paperwork needed to be done and on a weekend, CHOP is a bit less staffed than on a weekday.  We spend the morning hanging out and waiting (we'd become pretty good at that).

We were finally released around 1 in the afternoon and booked it home, arriving around 2am Monday morning.  KJ was a rockstar traveler....and I say that not because she "sang" and made noise like one, but that we only stopped 3 times and she slept for 99% of the time we were on the road.  The other rockstar was the star of this whole show, Shawna.  Maybe I shouldn't be typing this as it may get her in trouble, but she even drove for about 3 hours!!  

Our arrival so late/early meant we couldn't wake the boys to see their new sister but it sure made it easy to get them out of bed in the morning (many of you parents know the battles with kids in the morning, waking them up before they want to get up) when they knew they'd be able to see KJ.

They were PUMPED....to say the least.  We didn't know how long the excitement of having a new sister would stick around and keep them on their best behavior, but still, into our second week at home, the boys have shown us that KJ is going to be blessed with two great, caring, big brothers.

The much anticipated arrival back home and adjustments back to "life as normal" - whatever normal is - has been an interesting one and at times overwhelming.  We arrived to a house that was decorated beautifully with Christmas cheer and numerous reminders of CHOOSING JOY.  Updates to our house had been made, cleaning had (once again) been taken care of, the fridge and cupboards and been stocked (but the roof still hadn't been redone....c'mon people!!).  We were once again, blown away, by the selfless acts by many people to make our lives and transition home, easier.  The prayers, calls, texts, gifts, cards, etc., keep pouring in to help support us.  We've been left, time and time again, speechless at the incredible people that we are so blessed to have in our lives.

We come home to our new normal.  With KJ, it will be years of lots of appointments with many different specialists to track her and help to make her life as "normal" as possible.  It started this week with a visit with our family doctor and a checkup with neurology in GR.  Just to preface the medical update, a lot of her future, medically, we won't know about until she keeps getting older and developing (i.e. we won't know the severity of any ambulatory issues until she's at the age when walking would start to occur).  The neuro-doc was encouraged by her development, already, as she weighed in at 5lbs. 11oz., above her birth weight of 5.3!!!  The areas that may be cause for concern and possible shunting in her brain checked out and looked good.  These will be closely monitored for a while to make sure nothing screwy happens, which is always a possibility.  He commented that her scar from the surgery also looks to be in great shape and healing well!!  So far so good!!  We'll be seeing bladder specialists and orthopedics in the next week and are also hoping for good reports from them.  

For those of you that know Shawna, having a 3rd child was not going to slow her down.  Life does seem to be back to normal as I've been able to get back to work, out recruiting (with the boys a little) for Hope, Shawna to the Critter barn with all the kids today (shoot, I got a text picture of them at the movie "The Good Dinosaur" last week....KJ was 9 days old!!!, although it being an empty theatre at 11am Shawna said it was great as the boys could be loud and she could breast feed without any worries!!).

So, long story long, we're home and happy to be here.  Seeing friends and family in the community, at work, at church, basketball games, etc., has been awesome and we can't stress how grateful we are for this.  This is a thank you to you!!  

CHOOSING JOY (as a family from Zeeland...but honestly, missing Philly...a little)

-Jeff

Tik-toc-tik-toc-tik-toc

So, before I get going here, sorry Lions fans.  Oh my.
Next, if you can't look at a sweet little face like this, stop reading, as you'll see plenty of it through this blog.  That's my girl!!

We're even catching nurses from other parts of the NICU popping over just to peek at our little blessing!  Good thing she looks like her mom!!

So, all along, I've tried to tell myself (and Shawna) that if we have a girl I won't give her the "princess treatment" and I've already put my foot down (in my head) to not allow myself to do that.  For example:

-her first car will NOT be a lamborguini (sorry on the spelling)...just a corvette.

-I will NOT pay for a destination wedding in Fiji or any other foreign, exotic island...just Hawaii.

-I will NOT buy 4-6 American Girl dolls for her...only 3.

-I will NOT take her on shopping sprees to the Michigan City Outlets...just the Tanger's in Wayland.

See...I can hold firm and give her equal treatment.  No problem.

Sorry Myles and Peyton, but lil sis may get different treatment than you do....not better, just different, and the sooner you can accept that, the better life will be for you.  Chad and I never fully bought into that and that is why we've suffered for so many years....Kurt, you too?

Speaking of the boys, they've already been awesome as they react to their new baby sister via facetime at both sets of grandparents houses.  They ask to see Baby Kierstyn right away and give some really funny, big brotherly reactions to how "cute" she is and giggle at her.  They even went shopping today with Grandma Janet and picked out a purple (GO CATS...yeah boys...by the way, Northwestern football is 10-2...I think that is a better record than a team over on the east side of the state) outfit and a few toys for Kierstyn.  They're going to be great big bros.  They've also been able to have some fun with the grandparents for (hopefully, well in terms of it being due to us being in Philly) the last time.

On Grandma Sue's 60th birthday, Tuesday, they spent some time at the Old People's Dormitory of Holland, officially known as The Warm Friend, with Great Grandma Dirkse watching the trains that are set up.  They showed us their new Bubble Guppies (???) or Aqua somethings they got at Meijer today during their soccer game at Papa John and Grandma Janet's house...I think they're surviving just fine.  Here comes Detox December.  

Well, back to some details with Kierstyn and Shawna.  Shawna was in some serious pain the day after surgery as initial meds and pain killers wore off and the cramping from breast feeding set in....not to mention the second major surgery on her abs in less than 3 months.  She made it through that day with flying colors and the "You can either throw in the towel or use it to wipe the sweat off of your face" speech from me...just kidding.  One of her/our saving graces was one of the fabulous nurses that we had (we had her after the initial surgery in August as well), Jill.  She is one of the most happy-go-lucky, funny, positive, caring, empathetic people we've experienced in our time in Philly.  She was always so open to how Shawna was feeling and bent over backwards to be creative with pain meds when Shawna was in some serious pain (I got the feeling she broke a few rules, too, to make sure Shawna was feeling okay).  We can't thank her enough.  Each day since has been better and Shawna was officially discharged today!!!  She spent most of the day crib-side with Kierstyn, although she was quite the popular girl today.  She had a hearing test....

look at those cords for her little headphones....no Beats by Dre, but the little babies version.

Then, she had an MRI that lasted a few hours to assess her brain/ventricles and her spine.  Results of that will help determine whether shunts are needed but we won't know on those until tomorrow (well, today, as I see it's now past midnight).  She also got her first pieces of equipment to help correct some ambulatory issues that she'll have.  The people in pediatrics made some custom bright orange and green splints for her legs....oh yeah.  We won't have her casted to correct her bi-lateral club feet until we get back to Michigan (see pics).

That will be quite a process but we'll make our way through the process...I've thought maybe her theme song should be "We Be Clubbin'" by Ice Cube!!  

She's been nursing from Shawna likes she's never ate before (well, she really hasn't) and that has been huge.  They've stopped doing ultrasounds on her bladder as she seems to be successfully and fully emptying her bladder on her own, not that she'll have control over it, which is a big deal for spina bifida babies!!  So, all in all, we're getting great reports on her progress on her way to discharge.  We've experienced some awesome nurses, as well, in the NICU.  The people, once again, continue to make our experience at CHOP the best that the circumstances could allow for.  

We've been asked many times when we'll be discharged and our best answer is..."yes."  So, we have no idea.  We still need to take an infant CPR course but will complete that today (Friday), Kierstyn has passed everything that we've received results for, and it looks like the path is getting shorter as we are encouraged to overhear some nurses talk about in the next few days while a few others have made comments about "by Christmas" or "in the next 5 weeks" to which I though Shawna was going to deck the doctor with an upper cut (that doc had NO idea this was a 37 week mom/baby...total assessing the situation, not the patient).  So, we don't know and are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.  What we do know is it will be a bittersweet departure, whenever that does happen, as we've met so many unbelievable people throughout this journey, that do amazing things.  Just a quick example for those of you who have followed the blog, I mentioned a LONG time ago a couple from West Virginia who we were staying at the Holiday Inn in Chestnut Hill with who's daughter was going to be born with only 1 functioning lung and it was only functioning at 25% and was given a 5% chance of survival...guess who's in the NICU room/area right next to us...them, and when I asked the mother today how the daughter was doing (she was born a month or so ago) her eyes lit up and she gave me a two thumbs up....ARE YOU KIDDING ME...?  The medical personnel at CHOP do amazing things and we feel so blessed to be under their care.  Just to give you a quick pic of the NICU room that Kierstyn is in, and you can't see it all, as their are chairs/lazyboy style for us....

The amount of cords and monitor on or by Kierstyn are VERY precautionary, as they're just monitoring her lungs and heart but are really of little concern.  I think the nurses that have been assigned to her are on quite a bit of a break to what they're used to (although they do have to deal with Shawna and I).  I think Kierstyn may be the healthiest baby in the NICU as there are some pretty nasty situations that we're witnessing.  I'm amazed by the spunkiness, laughter, smiles, positive attitudes of the nurses in the NICU as they, day after day, deal with very dreary issues and life and death situations that don't always turn out well.  Unbelievable.  

We have had heavy hearts, ourselves, though, in the past few days for one of my players at Hope, Steve Wittenbach, as his mother lost her lengthy battle with cancer on Sunday.  The funeral for Deborah was today.  Please keep the Wittenbach's in your thoughts and prayers.  Amazingly, I am so fortunate to have the chance to be around unbelievable young men at Hope.  When I called Steve Sunday evening, his first question to me right away was asking how Shawna was doing.  Really, from a 22 year old kid who just lost his mother, he was showing concern for my wife.  Thanks, Witt.  You're the man.  Hang in there!!

Another shout out needs to go to the Penn Basketball coaching staff.  They've opened up their doors to me to come to any and all practices that I can as their gym is just a two minute walk from CHOP.  Each time I go, they all call me by name, ask how Shawna is doing, and have shown great support and compassion to me.  This is D1 basketball we're talking about.  They've got much bigger fish to fry than to go above and beyond to accommodate a small D111 school's assistant coach, but they have.  Go Quakers!!  I have the utmost respect for them and the type of program they run.  I'll never, in all of my coaching days in the future, forget their welcoming of me as they know what the real priorities are.  

Well, time for bed.  I'm hoping Shawna is catching some crib-side sleep at CHOP with Kierstyn as I made it back to the PRMH to get some laundry and school work done.  Still loving Philly but hoping to be home ASAP!  The clock is ticking....tik, toc, tik, toc.  

YOU KNOW....CHOOSING JOY

-Jeff

We're overJOYed

So this was how our morning began....well, it actually began at the Ronald McDonald House around 5 as we got up to get ready to arrive at the hospital promptly at 6 so that we could get all of the pre-op procedures going.  We'd been told that Monday mornings are a little unpredictable and that there is a weekly staff meeting to go over the schedule for the week and such, but that Shawna would probably be in the OR by 9 (see bottom of the top 3 pics...yes, she's still very pregnant - 37 weeks AND 1 DAY - take that spina bifida - and the clock definitely reads 10:20).  So we sat and waited, with quick pop ins by nurses checking in on us.  Originally a short wait was OK with me as I finally had to turn off my Peyton Manningless Broncos take the New England Patriots into overtime last night so I was excited to get a chance to watch SportsCenter and see the highlights of our win and then get a chance to watch my new favorite show, Live with Kelley and Michael which is on at 9, but all of that was hoping we'd be getting taken to the OR in the 9 o'clock hour....as Lou Corso says on College GameDay..."Not so fast my friend."
Finally at about 10:30, two nurses came in and explained that one of the mothers down the hall was having some serious issues and was in need of a transport from CHOP to one of Penn's medical facilities down the street...not good.  So, it was explained to us that most of the medical personnel that we needed were a bit preoccupied and that it could be 30 minutes or 3 hours...so we started CHOOSING JOY.  The frustrating part was that they apologized to both of us and said they'd make it up to us as best they could with food vouchers to the cafeteria for me or other handouts like that (Hello, I'm not the one who's been in Philly for the past 100 days and very limited in what I could go out and do physically and I'm not the one in need of food as it's my wife who has not had anything to eat since 6pm the night before and is hungry enough to eat the **** off a skunk).
Fortunately, it was about 20 minutes later they came in and said they couldn't transport (I shouldn't say fortunately but you know what I meant) the other patient for about an hour and a half so they'd get our section going and that's what happened.
They took Shawna away and allowed me to mentally and physically prepare!!!

Good thing I didn't go premed.  Not only would I have no idea what I'd be doing but I can't even dress the part.  I was escorted into the OR to find Shawna laid out on the operating table with her arms stretched out and strapped down like they were worried that she'd start swing or try to perform the surgery on herself.  Everything seemed to go smoothly and after about 45 minutes we could hear the first cries of our gorgeous new baby girl, Kierstyn Joy Carlson!  It was amazing to be in the OR knowing what they were doing yet all the medical staff was so comforting and at ease, just going about it as normal as I clip my fingernails (doesn't everyone have their quarks?  I cut my finger/toe nails about once a day...TMI?).  She came out 5lbs. 3oz. which I thought was a good size for a 37 weeker, and then remembered Peyton was 8.10 and Myles wasn't much smaller (oh Shawna, bless your heart and other parts!!).  KJC's lungs were not a concern of any of ours as she let the world know she was out and alive (I was going to say kicking, but that darn spina bifida may not allow for any kicking until we work with some physical therapists!!).

So the initial checks on vitals were done and all looked great.  They took Kierstyn to the NICU for more observations but quickly informed us that they were going to allow her to come up and try to breast feed with Shawna.  That was a HUGE positive surprise to us as we thought we'd be going down to the NICU to feed.  The nurses with us were also a little surprised that they allowed her to come up to us for an HOUR so soon (hopefully good foreshadowing for things to come!!).  This also gave us some more time to hold our new bundle of JOY.  And again, they brought her back up for a second feeding!!!  This is quite a rarity for spina bifida babies so soon after the CSection.

This evening Shawna and I made our way down to the NICU for Shawna to spend some more skin-on-skin time with Kierstyn and feed her...which she did for almost an hour!  Way to go Girl....if she keeps feeding like that, look out Peyton and Myles, little sis may be the family protector!!!  Better not try to borrow any of her skirts!!  Speaking of Peyton and Myles, we got the chance to facetime with them tonight and they were excited to see their new baby sister.  They shipped home with John and Janet on Saturday after spending Thanksgiving week out here with us.  Kurt, Catie, Shane, and Nolan also made the trip out to visit us for Thanksgiving where we were able to celebrate Kurts birthday at the Holiday Inn Cherry Hill (yes, that's like the third or fourth bday we've celebrated there).  The boys love the hotel in Cherry Hill because of the "hot tub" (the pool there is about 85 degrees, thank goodness, and they call it a big hot tub).

Peyton did make the comment to Ms. Jen today at daycare that he wished it was a boy, but he'll get over it as he very big-brotherly said "goodbye Kierstyn, my sister" on facetime tonight.
After sending the boys home on Saturday, we tried to enjoy our last 48 hours of time together in Philly by getting out to eat and a few local eating holes and spent some time at LOVE Park where they set up an open air Christmas market with little vendor shops.  It was fun to spend some time just the two of us as we prepared to be blessed with Kierstyn.
So, we're down to our final few days in Philly before we return for Detox December (that's what we're referring December to for our family as we detox back to reality...that is a good thing).  Shawna will be discharged from CHOP on Thursday but Kierstyn's discharge is all dependent on a ton of different variables.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be back to Zeeland by the weekend (I reminded her that we...Hope...have a game Friday night and Saturday afternoon) and she could get to watch these studs play this weekend if she cooperates and gets out of here soon!!!

What a bunch of studs....her first 15 or so boyfriends!!

Can't wait to get up in the middle of the night to help keep our Princess happy and fed!!

CHOOSING JOY (even though I/we still have yet to see those food vouchers!!)

-Jeff

So Much To Be Thankful For!

We are looking forward to spending our Thanksgiving in Philadelphia, although we'd obviously rather be back in West Michigan.  Shawna's family is headed out for the long weekend for the holiday and to celebrate her brother, Kurt's, birthday.  Funny, this is the 4th birthday we'll celebrate at the Holiday Inn in Cherry Hill, NJ (Kurt, John, Shawna, and me...they are staying there which is fabulous....great pool, and one last chance for us to get back to ONE of our places of extended residency on this journey).  As you can see in the pic below from the last week that Janet was out here with the boys and Shawna, fall in Philly is beautiful and the forecast for tomorrow and Friday is in the mid-60's!!!  Yee-haw!!  A bit nicer than the 6 inches of the snow that I departed from Sunday morning at Midway International Airport in Chicago.  

 After a week at home without the boys, I was ready to get back out to Philly, but not after a weekend spent in balmy northern Wisconsin with my second family, the Hope Men's Basketball team.  We had a great start to the season with wins at the University of Wisconsin LaCrosse and the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point (the defending national champions).  I hate being away from my family but if I had to choose one other group of people to be with, this group of coaches and unbelievable young men would be right at the top of my list.  Good luck this weekend, guys, v. Aquinas College and Cornerstone University.
Speaking of "other"families and more folks to be thankful for during this holiday season, I need to recognize my co-workers at Zeeland West High School.  I shouldn't just limit it to my school as the support we've received from all of the Zeeland Public Schools and the Zeeland community has been tremendous and this whole odyssey would not have been possible without their support.  It turns out that the West Michigan Ronald McDonald Housewww.rmhwesternmichigan.org/ was doing a fund raiser by selling Ronald McDonald red and white striped socks.  Well, one of my colleagues and great friend, Hannah Stein, caught wind of it and found a television news clip and made Colleen Johnson, my principal aware of it and they spear headed a drive at ZW for the staff to all purchase the socks as they knew that we were reaping the benefits of the Ronald McDonald House program in Philadelphia.  Check out this pic!!!

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/article/20151122/NEWS/151129885/13406/NEWS

Every single staff member bought a pair as well as many of the students!  I cannot be more blessed and thankful to work with a group of people that not only work extremely hard at their trades, but care for students more than outsiders will ever know, and care about and support each other as they have Shawna, the boys, and me.  Funny that last spring in my speech to the graduating class, one of my key points was to surround themselves with incredible people because life is much easier and more fun if you can do that....case in point!!  Actually, I'm not quite sure if everyone bought the socks in support of the RMH's, our family, or because Colleen said they could wear jeans if they did (FYI, if you ever need teachers to do something a little above and beyond, just allow them to wear jeans for a day at school....for some reason, we love that except for Nate VanPutten, who I teach next to, who, in my 9 years at Zeeland I've never seen wear jeans....c'mon Putty).  And Go DUX this weekend as the football team, under the leadership of an unbelievable coaching staff, has, once again, made it to the state finals!!!
CHOP moved up Shawna's weekly appointment to Monday of this week as her amniotic fluid levels have been a little low (not sure if that's how you spell it, and a quick disclaimer - if any of the medical terms or explanations seem fuzzy, just ask Shawna for a bit more clarification...she may as well add an MD to her name after this...not that I'm not paying attention but I'll blame my lack of precision and knowledge on terms and definitions of the medical stuff on the fact that 1) I'm a man and we just don't always pay attention to detail as we should...I'll admit it.  2) In many of the meetings/ultrasounds I've been trying to keep a 4 and 2 year old monsters from checking each others heart rates, opening and closing the cool foot pedal hazardous waste baskets, playing with IV hookups, or anything else they can get their hands on in a hospital room....I mean, a kids paradise of cool things to play with, right!!  The medical staff mentioned to Shawna that if her fluid levels were still a bit low this week, they may go ahead and proceed with the CSection as they have no concerns about the baby's health if she did need to deliver early (ha, early, Shawna KO'd the odds and has made it 36.5 weeks!!).  The ultra sound actually showed her fluid levels went up over the past week from 8.8 to 9 (see Shawna, I do pay SOME attention to the details) so they are holding off on the CSection until the 37 week mark.  Shawna completed all of the pre-op work and signed the consent papers!  Last few day for us playing man to man (boy to boy) defense as we'll have to implement our zone defense soon!  Never my favorite style of play, but we'll have to get used to being outnumbered for, oh, the next 18 years or so.  Last night at dinner we did finally realize we should probably decide on a definite boy and girl name....suggestions?

So, we'll be shipping the boys home with John and Janet this weekend.  It's their last few days (hopefully) at the RMH and will be bittersweet sending them off.  It's kind of the first part of our move back home but they've come to have so much fun here playing with each other (they've become best buddies through this journey, and often refer to each other as "Buddy"), and experiencing so many cool things such as a great halloween, guest pets coming in often, the Philadelphia Flyers players and their sorority sister-looking wives (great story to go with that if you ever have a few free minutes), air hockey in the basement, bus tours of the city and other museums, etc.  It won't be their last time in Philadelphia as we've grown very fond of this magnificent city and are thankful for all that is has offered us and made us feel at home over the past 3 months, and will definitely be making trips back...shoot, it's only a 12 hour drive (another great anecdote about travel involving something we've come to discover about most folks not from the midwest and their travel habits if you ever have a few minutes).  Hopes are that Shawna will be discharged from the hospital late next week with baby soon to follow.  The next post should have some pics of our beautiful new blessing!
BTD (Back To Diapers!! - thanks, Myles, for potty training this fall and allowing us a few weeks of being diaperless, for the most part)

From Philly with much to be Thankful for -

CHOOSING JOY

-Jeff

BTW, Northwestern is 9-2 if anybody cares...no big deal.

Home Stretch

 Oh yeah....the City of Brotherly Love.  Chad, don't you think we got along that well at that age?  Well, as you can see November in Philly is pretty nice in terms of the weather.

2 More Weeks of Philly on the wall, 2 more weeks of Philly....take one down, pass it around......
Yes.  The home stretch.  We hit 35 weeks yesterday and have shifted our energy from some nervousness about the whole scenario and the development of #3 to now (each day is just icing on the cake) excitement for the birth of our blessing!!  The goal is still the full 37 weeks and, if you couldn't tell from Shawna's last blog, Shawna is so competitive that she is doing everything in her power (not sure what that may be) to keep Baby C at bay!!

This past week was the last week that the boys and I were all home together.  After another uneventful drive home, we survived a few speed bumps here in Zeeland but survived!!  I'm thinking about patenting a "Dad's Travel Survival Kit - For Dad's Stupid Enough to Travel Significant Distance's with Kids Under the Age of 5".
Here is what would be on the list:
1. Diapers - Yes, for the kids, even if they are potty trained because if they're in the groove watching Paw Patrol or Blaze (or whatever keeps them happy), you don't want to have to stop.  They can also be used by the Dad for the same reasons....basically, if the kids are happy, it's not worth stopping to empty your bowels.
2. A car/portable DVD player....a good DVD can be like ridelin for kids....keeps them calm and under control, at least if they can agree on the DVD to watch.
3. Toys, but small and not too many and more importantly, two of all of them (or as many as you have kids because as all of you parents know, if one kid has it, the other one(s) want it).
4. Second pair of clothes/pajamas.  I learned this from the mistake of not having a second pair on one of our road trips to Philadelphia where Myles, who seems to be "firsty" (thirsty, struggles with the "t" "h" sound) all of the time leaked through his diaper and went enough that he had to sit in a small resevoir of urine that build up in his car seat.  Oooops.
5. Snacks - Anything you think they might want.  It's really all about survive and advance so don't feel bad about giving your kids only candy and sugared up drinks.  Oh well.  No need to stress out about screaming kids in a car or on an airplane by trying to force them to eat apple slices and carrots!  Skittles, chips, vanilla wafers, graham crackers, fruit snacks, Starbursts, M&M's, pop, juice bags (Capri Suns), Oreo's, chocolate chip anything, granola bars, etc.  You fill in the blanks with what you think you're kids like or have even the slightest chance of asking for.  The trip home last week saw us go through a whole box of fruit snacks, a family size bag of Sun Chips (blue bag, Peyton ONLY likes those), two bags of Skittles, one box of Capri Suns plus two we had left over from another box, and a few other treats.  Way to go Dad!!
I still have some work to do to improve the survival kit but I think it's coming along!!

Every other week home has, for the most part been smooth, but this whole journey has thrown curve balls at us so I wasn't surprised that our last week home, just the boys, involved a few unforeseen happenings.  1) Sunday night, as we're just about to go to bed, Myles thought it would be a good idea to see how I would handle our first emergency room visit for an injury by jumping off his bed and kissing the corner of the book stand next to his bed with his head.  Peyton actually cried harder as the BANG from the incident scared him.  So, a quick phone call to Uncle Chad at 9:30 to come and stay with Peyton and get him to bed allowed the Myles man and me to go get him fixed up.  Fortunately the cut was deep enough that it hardly bled, but did produce.....

Way to go Myles.

Oh Myles....a tough week.  The flu bug happened to sweep through our daycare as well and we thought we were in the clear until Myles upchucked a bit Wednesday afternoon.  Thanks for cleaning up, Grandma Sue.  What would we do without Grandma's?!  Fortunately, it didn't last long and he was back to his normal self by Wednesday night.

The rest of the week went smoothly and the boys grew more and more excited with each day as they knew if they were good boys, they'd be able to fly on some airplanes on Saturday to go back to Philly and see Mommy and Grandma Janet.

Both flights went well on Saturday, even with the first flight placing the two boys in a row by themselves (see above pic).  Thank goodness it only takes 28 minutes to get from Grand Rapids to Chicago by plane!!

A lengthy layover in Chicago allowed me to feed the boys some more extremely healthy McDonald's...once again, whatever keeps them happy!!

Another successful flight from Chicago to Philly ensued with Myles taking full advantage of the dark cabin and flying through the dark skies, catching up on a SORELY needed nap for all of us!!

 We were thrilled to see Grandma Janet and Mommy pull up to the airport to pick us up!

 After about a 12 hour stay, I woke up the next morning to catch some flights back to Grand Rapids for my LAST week home before #3 arrives.  It was really tough leaving the boys and Shawna and now empathize even more with her for all of the times she's had to say goodbye to her 2 dearest possessions (yes, I realize I'm #3, at best, on that list and not going up any time soon with the baby on the way....sorry Jade - our chocolate lab - I may not let you return to Zeeland as that would push me to #5).

Texting with Janet yesterday once I got home I jokingly told her I didn't know what to do with myself as it was my first time at home without the boys.  Her response was "RELAX because you won't be able to for the next 18 years!!!"  Oh boy, probably so true!  Although, it's been 32 years for her with Shawna and not being able to relax as marrying me probably has kept her on edge for Shawna and these past couple of months have had no relaxing affect on anyone involved!!
Needless to say, all is good.  Now the anticipation for our third little blessing.  Oh yeah, you can all wish Shawna good luck this Thursday evening as she's been asked to speak at a 5k fundraiser about her/our experience with CHOP and the PRMH!!  Go get 'em dear.  A new career?  Public speaking?
As always...

CHOOSING JOY

-Jeff

34 weeks, 4 days and still chugging along

This past weekend was another switch & visitor weekend.  Switch weekends and visitors coming always make the time go faster.  It was sad to see the boys go home but they will be back out this weekend so I don't have to do the two week stretch again.  Peyton & Myles are really excited about coming back out on an airplane.  They are becoming quite the travelers and know how to navigate airline security with the best of them.  Jeff is doing a quick turnaround and flying back home Sunday.  He's traveling with the Hope basketball team to Wisconsin in a week and half and then coming out here afterwards until the baby is born.  I'm hoping for a happy husband with two wins in Wisconsin, Go HOPE!

My Aunt Peggy and cousin Linsey came to visit this weekend.  They helped my mom drive out and my mom said it was the fastest 12 hours in the car.  They even missed a highway in Philadelphia due to either talking or my mom crocheting and not navigating.  Either way, it was fun to have Peggy & Linsey here.  A special shout out to Peggy, this is her second time visiting me in my second home!  This time we were able to get out and about.  The first time she visited me I was only 1.5 weeks out of surgery and not very mobile.  My mom and I had been itching to visit Chestnut Hill so we thought this would be the perfect time with our visitors.  Chestnut Hill is a cute little corner in the north part of Philly.  It has lots of different shops and fun taverns.  The mainstreet is cobblestone like much of Philadelphia along with still operating street cars.  Very cute town, very New England.

Sunday we had breakfast at Ronald McDonald House and then headed to IKEA.  Yes, this was my third time visiting IKEA but the first time going to the IKEA in Conshohocken.  This lovely city has two IKEAS!  Also, when you have lots of time and a wheelchair, IKEA is the perfect place to slowly browse and have a cheap lunch.  And in keeping with the Choosing Joy theme, IKEA and its organizing also makes me feel Joyful as I love organizing!  We attempted to show Peg & Linsey Fabric Row but it was closed on Sunday.  Since we were in the South Philly area we hit up Pat & Genos.  Actually, we just had Geno's and then headed to Cafe Crema for cannolis.  Marc Damstra, every time I have a Philly cheesesteak, I think about how I could ship you one without it getting soggy.  I have yet to come up with a way, let me know if think of a clever shipping method!  I told Julie she should take one home on the plane to you.  After our dinner Peg & Linsey had to head back to the mitten state.  Its always hard when visitors leave but at least now I can say, see you in a few weeks!  Thanks for visiting me Peg & Linsey, it warms my heart to have such a supportive family.  Love you gals.

In keeping with our Choosing Joy theme, I need to show some love to the Ronald McDonald House.  There are families here who are dealing with some extremely scary situations for their children.  There are kids here who are enduring chemotherapy & radiation on a daily basis.  There are children with half of hearts, parents of children born at 26 weeks, the list goes on.  You would think it is a depressing place and yet I have never met a more positive and encouraging group of people.  Everyone is so open and encouraging to each and every situation.  Its like having your own personal cheering section.  I wish all parenting situations, athletic events, or just life in general would be such a positive and supportive place.  With that being said, our local Ronald McDonald is having a fundraiser and selling socks for $5 through November 22, you can read about the local fundraiser here.  If you need some stocking stuffers this year please consider the stripe socks and if you take a picture make sure to use the hashtag #GetYourSocksOn.  Six months ago Jeff and I would have never thought we would be needing the services of the Ronald McDonald House.  My how things can change in a short amount of time.  The Ronald McDonald House will always have a special place in our hearts and we look forward to getting involved with our local RMH in the near future.

34 weeks

We've made it farther than than 50% of the moms who have Fetal Surgery!  Woo hoo, I've been a little competitive about making it to the 34 week mark.  I've been considering my rehab from Fetal Surgery as a race and I need to beat at least half of the moms.  I really want to make it to 37 weeks as only 30% of the moms make it to their scheduled c - section but I am so anxious to be back home. This weeks appointment included my final two consults before delivery, lactation and the director of the Neonatal Unit.  The lactation consultant told me my jobs after birth are to rest, eat and nurse.  She gave me a list of jobs for Jeff, see below.  Ten steps for working a hospital grade breast pump.  Lets hope he can figure it out!

Things are looking good, I've been instructed to start chugging water as my amniotic fluid levels are on the low side of normal.  If my levels get too low I'll probably be admitted and given an IV.  I really don't want to hang out in the hospital for the next 2.5 weeks so I'll be chugging water like its my job.  Plus Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and I'm guessing the Ronald McDonald House does it up right.

My consult with the Neonatal Director went over all of the tests that will be done on our baby before discharge.  If the baby is stable post-op I will be able to try nursing in the OR.  If not the baby gets shipped down to the NICU on the second floor.  Since we are at a Children's Hospital there isn't a nursery for healthy babies and this is one of the only Children's Hospital that has a delivery unit for mothers.  At least we will be in the same hospital, just four floors apart.  The NICU will be doing daily ultrasounds on the bladder, kidneys & brain.  The baby will have an MRI, a consult with Orthopedics, Neuro, Urology & Physical Therapy.  I've heard that CHOP is very cautious to discharge so if we make it to 37 weeks we are anticipating a 5-7 day stay afterwards if everything goes well.  If the baby has any apnea or bradychardia events then we will be here longer (lets hope that doesn't happen!)

Hope everyone in Michigan is surviving the wind storm.  I'm guessing a few of our sandbox toys are now in our neighbors yard along with a few shingles.

Choosing Joy from Philly,
Shawna