7.24.16

First Swim.

First Friend’s Birthday Party.

First NICU Development Clinic Follow Up.

First Month with Nanny.

First Taste of Solid Food.

Spoiler Alert….ALL HAVE BEEN BIG THUMBS UP!

 

Summer has been our season.  We are healthy (except for Frank–casual ACL tear over the 4th weekend but on the mend after emergency surgery!), we are growing (some of us would like to forget what carbs taste like but no man left behind–the family of preemies that gains together stays together!) and most importantly we are all so happy.  Life is good.

 

First Swim

Our memories of every Summer come with the visual of (Great) Grandma Jane’s pool.  It’s been a staple in all our childhoods and has been the home to most of our birthday celebrations and the parade route of one very special hat party.  It’s the location we envisioned having our own children spend their Summer afternoons.  And for our new, small family — this was the Summer.  Jack took his first swim and for once we didn’t think ‘what’s his Oxygen saturation’….’how’s his coloring’….’how long have we been holding him upright’…’did we pack the medication’…’when is that specialist appointment’…it all washed away.  We watched our baby squeal with delight and slap around with uncertainty.  Like a regular baby.  It’s all we have wanted this entire time– to feel what others get to feel and experience the joy of it all without the crashing fear.  It’s a first memory of Jack’s that will be in our hearts forever.  Another beautiful memory tied to this pool.  A pool unknowingly built to fit into their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren’s happiest summer memories.

 

First Friend’s Birthday Party

The NICU is a remarkable place that we hope none of you get to experience.  Miracles are grown daily, life saving procedures happen before lunch breaks and bonds are formed between Professionals and Parents that are stronger than can be put down in words.  In one of our first posts on this blog we mentioned a couple, Stephanie & Craig, the parents to the incredible Anna Grace.  They were introduced to us as a “great resource” from the nurses but quickly became the life raft we gripped onto to get us through the first choppy waters.  It’s easy to see why Anna chose these two as her parents.  Anna, Stephanie and Craig have been leading the way for us all Post NICU and have paved the most incredible path these past 12months leading right up to Anna’s birth day.  Witnessing the three of them blow out her first birthday candle is nothing short of a miracle.  We couldn’t help but get emotional amongst their circle of family and friends — how did we get so lucky?  Lucky to have met this family and lucky to have these little miracle babies on the other side.   And to sweet little Anna – Happy 1st Birthday!  You were right on time to light the world up just a wee bit more.  Keep shining so bright.  XO.

 

First NICU Development Clinic Follow Up

The NICU will follow Jack through his adolescence to monitor his progress across all areas.  This week marked his first post-NICU follow up with all the Specialists and it was great!  A highlight was the mini waiting room reunion with two other NICU families following up with their babies as well.  The recap: Jack is hitting all his adjusted (4 month old) milestones and we got the green light to start solids from our Feeding Specialist (let the games begin Frank(our dog)!  After leaving clinic follow up, we walked across to Winthrop Hospital for the first time since discharge to see our favorite NICU family.  It was like going home.  The same doors we walked through for five months, the same smiling faces at the front desk, the same overcrowded board of babies names currently on the floor, the same heroes in scrubs.  It was our home for the first half of this year and it will always be home, strangely.  We will be back again soon to see as many more family members as we can — we have a lot of Fall celebrations coming up!

 

First Month with Nanny

We feel as if we struck gold finding Jack’s Nanny and the true testament is each morning when she walks through the front door he starts kicking his legs and panting from excitement.  And that’s just Jack! Frank is doing back flips for a new friend.  We have gotten into a nice rhythm of organized chaos in the morning before she arrives and then we rush off to the city.  The moment we are all back under one roof at the end of the day is what it’s all about.  It’s giggles, kisses, singing, dancing, more kisses.  It may be condensed but the time is anything but wasted.

 

First Taste of Solid Food

Frank has been training for this moment all his life.  The chance to snag a dropped piece of food is his reason for living.  Here we go big guy!  The first spoon feeding went as I’m sure most first time parents goes — lots of set up, super messy, very exciting, cartoon like demonstration of how to move the food, perplexed baby, desperate dog.  We can’t wait to do it again tomorrow!

 

This is our Summer of Firsts but of all the Firsts by far the best is….Our First Summer with a baby.