Happy-Supposed-To-Be-First-Birthday

Well folks..........




Being 16 Months Old is Tough Work



• Today is the day Conner and Kaylee were supposed to be born. Soooooooo, lets all sing "Happy-Supposed-To-Be-First-Birthday" to them :)



Our Angel Kaylee, 7/21/10



8 Months In / 8 Months Out

Today it has been 8 months since we brought our little miracle home from the hospital.  Conner has now officially spent the same number of days home as he did in the hospital - well I suppose it's a little off seeing we had several overnight outpatient visits and several long days in Rochester - buy hey, who's counting. 

It just makes me think back to the night we brought him home.  All the emotions that were present that evening.  EXCITMENT that we finally were all sleeping under the same roof in the same house as a family.  COMFORT of being about to sleep in our own bed again.  Being NERVOUS about remembering to give Conner all his medications and get his feedings started.  FEAR of doing something wrong or ending up back in the hospital.  ANXIETY about having to give Conner shots every day.  OPTIMISM of watching Conner finally begin to be a baby and not a patient.  SADNESS of leaving behind all our new friends in the NICU - nurses, doctors, and other families that became part of our family and helped us through some hard times.  JOY in finally getting to put our son to sleep and not have to leave.  LOVE for our family and GRIEF for the daughter we did not get to bring home with us.  We learned a lot those 8 months in the hospital, more than anyone wants to have to learn, and we have learned even more the past 8 months that we have been home.  Our joruney is only starting and I can't wait to see where it takes us.....

how can you not love that smile

Not so scary this Halloween

For those of you who remember, last Halloween was pretty scary for us all.  It was Oct 27, 2010 that Conner gave everyone a scare.  Not to any fault of his own, Conner spent Halloween last year with the scariest costume ever - his belly was cut open, there were lines and tubes everywhere, and candy was the least of our concerns.....



One of the less graphic pictures



Now, Halloween 2011, we have quite the turnaround.  This Halloween was as it should be.  There were pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns, candy and trick-or-treaters, scary movies, and one really cute Cat in The Hat - granted the hat is a little big, but we made due.  What a miracle!

Dad & Conner
Havin Fun!



The Pumpkin to the left was going to be Conner costume last year





Darn Hat!



15 months

Well, I went in for my 15 month check up last week.  I was feelin pretty good about thing, but they took my weight and I had to cringe......  Only 17.5 lbs.  Insert sad face here.  I was really feelin like I was gonna hit 20 lbs AND I think my parents thought I was finally gonna hit the growth charts.  No such luck.  I'm thinkin its cause I'm throwin up so much, not keepin my calories down so to speak.  My head circumference inched up to 38 cm and, on the bright side, my length jumped up to 28 in.  Still sittin at the 0% for all categories, but who really cares.  So I still have some work to go, well maybe more than just some.  Oh well.  Speaking of working, I am still waiting for my teeth to show up.  I am very close, my mom keeps sayin she can see 2 little buds (whatever that means). 

I also have some more appointments up in Rochester coming up.  This Thursday my mom and grandma are gonna take me up for an impedance probe/EGD study - I guess we have to stay over night, so dad is joining us Friday for the results.  I have to "go under" for the procedure, not looking forward to that one bit.  Can't wait till I can stop going up there, no offence.  My mom keeps saying "soon we'll be done" but then something comes up.  At least I'm not up there every other week any more.  So maybe she does know what she's talkin about.  That's all for now... oh wait, for all you MN fans.... GO PACK!  HEHEHE :)

Pumpkins, and Apples, and Hay, Oh My!

 

 Conner had a Grand Ol' Time at the Apple/Pumpkin Patch with his Buddy!

 More to come once the pumpkins get carved.....

                                                                                                                                                         

Bye Bye Bye Bye

So, yesterday Conner had his last helmet visit up at Mayo.  Yes, you read that correct.  He is done with the helmet.  I will not miss the stinky head, the painful bumps into our faces when we are holding him, the velcro sticking to ever surface he was set on, or the weird looks when we are out in public.  I will kinda miss the cuteness of it, as Conner wore that helmet well.  Anywho, scratch one more thing off his list!






September 2011

Hey People,

A lot has been goin down since the last time I wrote on here.  Not sure where to start, so I guess I'll just start with my Sleep Study.  First of all, don't know they call it a sleep study.  I don't think either me or my mom got any sleep.  I was having a ball when we first got there, but once they glued all those metal things to my head, I freeked out (for several hours).  I was trying to pull off as much of the stuff as I could but they kept putting it all back on.  So eventually I threw up, and then gave up.  My mom stayed with me in the hospital - as only one parent could bunk in.  My dad stayed in a hotel with some of my FL fam - they were visiting, but I'll get to that in a min.  The next day my mom and dad went to get the results that just said I did eventually sleep, I stop breathing every now and then, I have restless leg syndrome (my mom didn't know kids could get that - they gave me iron drops to help get rid of it), and drop my oxygen level a little lower than they would like to see.  Overall, not a normal test, but not terribly abnormal either.  Go figure.  Now we wait for more doctors to schedule more tests to try to continue to figure stuff out.  My mom gets pretty upset about all the waiting in between stuff.  I guess I do too, cause I just wanna stop throwing up so much. 



Me and Grandma Shay



Now back to my FL family.  My Grandma Shay came to visit with my Aunt Christa - she left the boys at home for this trip.  Which is kinda a bummer cause I would have liked to meet my cousins, they are kinda my age.  But we'll save that for another trip.  It was still nice to see Grandma and Christa, I last saw them when I was in a box in the hospital, so I don't really remember it to well.  I was only 3lbs the last time she held me, so she had her work cut out for her this time! We hung out with the Shay's all weekend long, had dinners together, went bowling (well, I just watched), went shopping, visited people, played cards (again, I just watched/slept) and went to my appointments up at Mayo. 



My cousins - Bell and Carter  



And, the last thing I'm gonna write about tonight (cause my mom wants me to go to sleep) is DAYCARE. I started going to day care 1-2 times a week.  It was kinda fun and scary at the same time.  There are other kids there, and it can get kinda loud at times, but it is fun hangin with people my own age.  The ladies that watch me are pretty nice.  My mom had to teach them my feeding stuff - they are still learning and had to call my mom 3 times the first day I was there.  But it is getting better each time I go.  I think I caught a cold, cause I have been more stuffy than usual the last week - I mean, stuffy like sneezing snotts out left and right.  There were even a few nights that I could breath and so decided that my parents shouldn't get any sleep.  I cried a lot and threw up a lot.  But I am feeling better now cause I am sleeping through the night again, for the most part. 



Well, I think I am going to call it a night.  I have to get up early to decide if I want to wear Badger Stuff, Packer Stuff, or Brewer Stuff to daycare tomorrow!!!!  GO WI TEAMS! 

Lots of Love, Conner Shay :)

  p.s. Rose, my mom and dad said that you would be proud to hear this - my new fav sound that just makes me crack up is the clanging of silverware on glasses/plates.

p.s.s.  In September we celebrated my parents 5th wedding anniversary.  We went out to dinner and then a movie as a family.  It was my first time to a movie, and truthfully, I slept through most of it.  But my parents were smart and sat in the back so they could do deep knee bends if I started to fuss.  And.... it was my mom's Golden Birthday! And both of my Grandma's had Birthdays too, but my mom said I can't say how old they turned.  So we'll leave it at that.  G'night