Avery's Adventure

Time for the March of Dimes March for Babies walk!
March of Dimes helped us so much when each of our daughters were born early. They have weekly family support meetings where each family gets to talk about their experience. Tim and I didn't talk much at the meetings but I really feel like hearing everyone's story helped us and made us feel like part of a club..a club that nobody wishes on their worst enemy but it helped us to know that people understood our situation. I don't think you really understand how difficult it is until you are in the same type of situation.

March of Dimes actually helped develop surfactant therapy. Most preemie lungs don't develop enough surfactant (a protein that keeps small air sacs in the lungs from collapsing) and then are in respiratory distress when born. Because of March of Dimes, when my membranes ruptured with Reagan at 32 weeks, I was able to get shots that helped out her lungs greatly. She didn't even need any oxygen throughout her nicu stay. We weren't as lucky with Avery because she came so unexpectedly at 25 weeks. When she was born, she was on a ventilator for two weeks and then every kind of breathing machine you can imagine. She was on a ventilator, oscillator, cpap and everything in between.

I want to thank everyone who has donated so far. I have raised $440 which is amazing because my initial goal was $200. I am really hoping to bring the kids to the walk this year. I have never brought them because it seems every year it is cold, rainy, or cold and rainy. I'm not sure why they have it at the end of April (with unpredictable Cleveland weather) when they are dealing with a bunch of immuno-compromised preemies. If the weather is good, Tim, the girls and Tim's sister Terri will do the walk with me. If the weather is bad, Tim will stay home with the girls and Terri and I will do the walk. Thanks Terri!! We really appreciate it!

If you want to find out more about my fundraising and team, please click HERE

Avery was born at 25 weeks 6 days
1 lbs 8oz 12.5 inches long
(due to placenta abruption)

Reagan was born (after 3 weeks of hospital bed rest and 2 weeks of home bed rest) and PPROM (Preterm premature rupture of the membranes) at 32 weeks 1 day
3 lbs 11 oz and 18inches long (a great length for a 32 weeker!)

I bought this shirt because it describes everything perfectly....

Here are some of my favorite Avery pics from the nicu:

the day she was born

These are from two weeks after Avery's birth

Not sure how she felt this was comfortable

Throwing up gang signs at 2 weeks old

After a few weeks old, she is still this small

Peek - a - boo

a few weeks after being born...kangarooing

First time she wore clothes...they matched her hair

Our baby shower after we already gave birth to Avery

Some pics from Reagan's birth and time in the nicu. Some of my favorite pics...She was always super smiley. She loved to smile

First time Avery met her little sister. She actually blew Reagan a kiss and Reagan looked like she blew her a kiss back. Click the You Tube lvideo link, its so cute!!!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJYJ1ohWDf8

This was my abosulte favorite photo while Reagan was in the nicu. Avery was so excited to hold her. She loved it. And she is an amazing big sister still today

We hated her apnea monitor but were excited to bring her home. If it meant on an apnea monitor, we were ok with that

Avery loved her sister so much and still does...

In January I was changing Reagan's diaper and I heard Avery screaming in her room. I went in there and she is standing on her bed, crying with her hands dripping with blood. She pointed at a broken nightlight on the ground. I scooped her up and ran to the bathroom to rinse out her cut. The bleeding just would not stop. I definitely thought she needed stitches. I put a washcloth on it and applied pressure. There was no way I could get both kids in the car and keep applying pressure to Avery's cut. Tim was still working so I called him and told him he needed to come home. He called his mom and she came over to watch Reagan so we both could go to the ER with Avery. We went to the ER and they cleaned up her cut and got an Xray to make sure there wasn't any glass stuck in there. Luckily there wasn't any glass and they ended up gluing the cut on her finger shut.

This past month has been rough with all of the sickness.
Avery had a random fever on and off for a week. She was acting normal but missed a lot of school.

Reagan wasn't feeling well and had a fever so we took her to Express Care and they swabbed her for the flu. The next day we got the call confirming she had influenza A. They prescribed her liquid Tamiflu. No pharmacies in the area had it in stock so I finally found it near my work (which is about 35 minutes from my house). $150 later, Reagan had her medicine. My insurance is amazing but it didn't cover the prescription.

A few days later I wasn't feeling well and Avery and I both had a fever. We both got swabbed for the flu and Avery was diagnosed with an ear infection. The next day we got the call saying Avery's flu swab was negative and mine was positive. My local pharmacy had the generic pill form of Tamiflu. $107 later, I had my medicine.

Avery had a dentist appointment this week. We had to hold her down and the dentist and hygienists had to pry open her mouth. After awhile she calmed down and started following directions from the dentist. They cleaned and examined her teeth. Avery has one tooth where the crown is failing and she will need to get that tooth removed. The dentist asked if she has any surgeries coming up in the next 4-6 months because they can coordinate with that. We told them we don't see anything coming up in the near future because she just got new ear tubes placed in the past 6 months. We do have an appointment with ENT next week so we will see how they are holding up. I asked the dentist what happens if she doesn't have surgery coming up. Do they just numb the area and pull it out? She said since its Avery (and has had a lot of dental surgeries in the past and is fearful of the dentist) they would use IV sedation.

We also haven't had any luck with things happening at our house. Two weeks ago our refrigerator stopped working. It is only about 2.5 years old. Luckily we have an old fridge that came with our old house. It is 22 years old and still works. But let me tell you, it is not fun going out in the cold garage in the middle of the night to get a bottle when Reagan wakes up. We called a refrigerator repair man. He took it apart and said its definitely not working. He said since its so new, we should call the manufacturer and they should be able to cover it under the warranty. The only issue is that we have to find our receipt to prove we are the original owners of the refrigerator. So far we continue to use the fridge in the garage because we have yet to find the receipt.

I woke up last Saturday to a bunch of water in the basement. Luckily it was only on the unfinished side and not the side where we just put down new flooring. Turns out our hot water tank was leaking all over. We cleaned everything up and then Tim installed a tankless water heater. I am thinking next week, maybe the furnace will stop working :)

We went two nights ago to build a bear. The kids have been through some stressful times and sickness so I wanted to do something fun for them. Reagan picked out some ugly pink bear and Avery wanted Skye from Paw Patrol. I was surprised Avery was as into it as she was. She picked out and kissed the heart that went inside hers and Reagan's stuffed animal but she didnt want to push her foot on the pedal to fill the animals with stuffing. She ended up really liking her dog though. When we were leaving the mall, a crown fell off of her tooth! Of course it couldn't have been the one that they are going to pull anyway. It was her back, top left tooth and the one they need to pull is her right, top, front tooth. Luckily I was able to save the crown so I am hoping they just have to glue it back in for now. She keeps pointing to the tooth that they need to pull so I am guessing we will need to get it pulled sooner than later because it now seems to be bothering her.
Hoping next month is a little more uneventful.

Momma and Chewie and Joe Joe

Me and Ray Ray

Daddy and I getting ready to play in the snow!

Pushing Daddy down the snow slide he made

Momma told me to get ready to go to the mall...this is how i dressed.. in my hat and sunglasses

Chewie, Joe, Reagan and I all sharing the couch

Hanging out with Aria, my BFF..she is about to be a big sister to a little sister! I cant wait to give her tips!

Ouch! This is when I injured my hand and had to get a xray and then have my cut glued shut!

Ouch!

The day Daddy made my and Reagan's hair the same

I used to fit into these pants! They are preemie sized

Size 12 months vs. preemie

Even though Reagan had the flu, she was in good spirits at the doctors

Hanging out with my other bff

Getting ready for bed

How cute is my hair?!?!

Momma was excited that RayRay wanted to cuddle

Daddy put an air mattress in my room! We were going to have a camp out...but then didnt...decided to jump on it instead.

Momma told me to get ready to go to the store.. notice my water shoes!!

Fun with Momma and snap chat filters...

Yuck, we got a lot of snow the one day!

We did the doggie DNA test and this is what Chewie is!

This is what Joe is! Apparently half pure bred German Sheperd! He is also half crazy!! :)

Joe (and Reagan) are huge!

Cheese!

Reagan loved carrying an apple around the one day

We decorated a Valentines Day card for Daddy...

Look at all the candy I got from school and daycare for Valentine's day!

We got these presents from Momma and Daddy

Reagan is eating the valentine's lip sucker I got!. She loves it!

The dogs made this present for daddy.. Chewie's foot print is on the left and Joes' is on the right..

Sorry this is upside down but it says " From our fingers (paws) to our toes, Our love for you grows and grows. Love Avery, Reagan, Chewie and Joe.... If you flip the pic around, my foot is first and Reagan's is second....though her foot is getting huge!

Daddy got Momma some cute pics of us for Valentine's day and a frame she can put whatever she wants in..

Reagan loves to wear Momma's sunglasses

This was the last time Momma could carry Chewie and Joe! They were about 9 weeks (chewie 2008) and 11 weeks old (Joe 2017) at the time..We just had our Joe Anniversary!!.. We have had him a year on Feb 18 and the cats still hate him ...lol. Medes has actually been the best with him so far. Momma thinks he will calm down eventually.

The one day I decided to feed my doll...ignore the fact she is naked. For some reason, I always take off their clothes.

Momma, me and Reagan have matching leggings... we don't know where Reagan's leggings are :(
Momma says she might have to get 3 new pairs of leggings because she wants us all to match at some point.