The first day of the rest of our lives...

It was supposed to be a very special moment. My life with Chris was about to change. Unfortunately, when you have a baby/babies at 26 weeks, it's far from a special moment. You are wondering if they will survive the first night & what kinds of disabilities they might face in the future.

Jack Avery was born first at 4:25am. He weighed 1lb 14oz and was not much longer than a ruler. Aiden Garnett was born second, also at 4:25am and he weighed 2lbs 1oz. Ella Elisabeth was born at 4:26am and weighed 1lb 15oz.

I can remember the first night like it was yesterday. A nurse came into our room to wake up Chris. The boys were in stable but critical condition but Ella was having a hard time responding. They had maxed out her ventilator settings and she was still struggling. They asked Chris if he should wake me up so I could come down and finally see my babies (translation: see Ella in case she didn't make it through the night). I remember the first time "scrubbing in" at the NICU and being wheeled over to their isolettes. They were so small. Like baby birds that had fallen from the tree way too soon. No one could open their eyes yet and you could pretty much see through their skin. Why was this happening to my children? What did our family do to deserve all of this?

Throughout the next several days, it seemed like our world was collapsing. This family we always wanted to have was slipping away from us. All three babies required PDA ligation surgery along with several blood transfusions the first couple of weeks. Then it happened. We were hit with the news that Jack had a grade 3 brain bleed. What did this mean? How would this change his life? About a week later, more bad news...Jack now had a grade 3 and grade 4 brain bleed....AND...Aiden had a grade 4 bleed on one side. I cried harder than I ever had that evening. These two baby birds were not only still fighting for their life but their life would be forever changed if they survived. Children with grade 4 brain bleeds are at high risk for cerebral palsy, mental retardation and several other disabilities. But what would it mean for Jack & Aiden?

By the end of June, Jack had developed hydrocephalous and the doctors recommended a VP shunt to help drain the excess fluid that was building up in his head. The idea made me nauseas. But we needed to do what was best and we moved forward with the surgery. Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. Not only did Jack need one shunt but he needed TWO. The neurosurgeon explained how rare this was...practically no one has two shunts. But Jack's head was not getting better. In fact, his whole left side of his brain was starting to push into the right side. They transported him to MCV and the 2nd surgery was done. I now had two children in Henrico Doctors and one at MCV.

The days turned into weeks; the weeks into months. Jacks head continued to heal and Aiden & Ella continued to grow stronger. After 184 days, Jack was discharged from the hospital and a whole new journey began. Aiden came home 10 days later and Ella finally completed our family on September 17, 2009.

But it was just the beginning...