It is February 27, and Lena is in surgery as I type this. Last time Lena had shunt surgery, she was just a little baby and took it all in stride pretty well. She’d been through so many surgeries that she’d become a little trooper at the process.

It’s been over a year since she needed shunt surgery, and today she was one terrified little girl. She had to be intubated before the surgery, and didn’t understand why she couldn’t talk or call out to her Mommy or even cry. Just big alligator tears with no sound to go with them and that horrible scary thing in her throat.

The doctors are going to put in an external shunt, and then she’ll have to stay in the hospital for 4 days to be sure there is no infection. If her tests are clear of infection in 4 days, she will go back into surgery to have a new shunt inserted. If there is infection, she’ll have to stay in longer. Either way, there’s another surgery before she can go back home.

Kassie is at home with her Nana and Poppa. Daddy will be coming home for the night, but she’s one confused little girl because her mommy and sister left and didn’t come home all day, not even for bedtime.

If you could say a little prayer or think good thoughts for Lena, Kassie and their Mommy, it would be very appreciated. Right now, they would appreciate all the sunshine, hugs or prayers you can send them.

P.S. I’ll update when I hear back from Korrina post surgery.

Lena ripped the paper!!!

Glamour Girl!

Sitting with her singin puppy!

I was trying to get a picture of her playing with the ornaments but she saw me. (Yes, we do put 2 socks on her in the morning)

Baking cookies with Aunty Leah!

Hugs for Papa!

Lena the sitting machine. Yes, she will be an independant sitter Shelley (our PT) says. Yeah Lena!

WOW! I can hardly believe that they are two years old already. It is really interesting how time flies, yet in some circumstances it seems to stand still. When we were in the NICU I could not wait for the days to go by the time just seemed to drag on and on. Now I wish I could find a way to slow down the clock, they are growing so so so fast. Every day I look at them and I can not believe how big they are. It is truly sad that my memories of our time in the NICU and this time last year when Lena was so sick are so crisp and vivid, right down to the colors in the room, the noise, the sounds even the nurses faces. Yet, the memories of the good times, the best times are so fleeting. I wish that I could some how reverse this scenario and bottle up these wonderful times, categorize them by age, so that I can bring them out when I need them and take in all in again. But I can not.

This is why I keep this blog so that I can go back to the good times and the bad times, year after year and remember. I guess that means I need to be more diligent in my blogging too. Ahh the constant battle to balance the many aspects of our very busy lives. I can not believe that over a  year has gone by.

The girls are changing and growing at an alarming rate. At our last weigh in Lena was 77cm or 30.3 inches tall and weighed 9.32kg or 20lbs 8 oz and Kassie was 81cm or 31.9 inches tall and weighed 10.5kg or 23lbs 3oz.  Both girls have really developed very unique little (big) toddler personalities.

Lena is quiet, reserved and generally more passive than Kassie. Lena loves to laugh and smile, she is ALWAYS happy. When she is not happy she is either VERY tired or we know something is wrong.  She loves to be tickled and giggles and giggles and giggles. Her laugh is infectious and heart warming, she makes everyone smile. Physically Lena is making leaps and bounds. She has really taken off in the past 6 months or so. She is developing better fine motor control and likes to target and grab anything. She wants to feed herself and is getting better at getting the spoon to her mouth (after hitting her hair, eyes, cheeks etc.) She has also started to eat cracker type foods and cheerios. Yeah Lena!

Like her sister, Lenais developing a mischievous side, hers is more sneaky than Kassie’s though.  She loves to grab things off the kitchen counter next to her high chair when I am not looking. She is really coming along in her gross motor deveolpment too, making some serious progress sitting. She can now sit unassisted for several minutes (2+). Her success really depends on the tone in her hamstrings though. If it is too high she has trouble maintaining the position. She has also learned that there is always something to lean back on so she often leans backward so we are trying to teach her to lean forward when sitting, she is starting to figure it out. When she forgets it’s game over.

Lena is going to be the singer in our family, though she is the quieter of the two, letting her sister babble on and on and on, when Lena is alone with us or Kassie has a moment of silence, she loves to sing her little heart out always with a humungous smile. Our one huge hurdle is having trouble gaining weight, the gap that once was very small between the two girls is widening every time we go for a weigh in. Funny thing is, Lena eats fairly well most of the time and Kassie, who is having no problems in the growth department is a picky toddler who eats sporadically.  Go figure.

Though when Lena eats she eats relatively well, we are still having trouble getting past the pureed foods and I count calories for her daily because she just can not gain weight lately. There are never enough calories and with our diet obsessed world it is getting harder and harder to find nutritious, high calorie foods. I used to think her feeding troubles revolved around a swallowing issue but after two feeding clinics and a swallow study that has been ruled out. For awhile we were all puzzled. She can chew, she takes bits of crackers and graham cookies but she won’t eat anything else solid and I can not put anything into her mouth, if I do get it in it comes right back out. So after many tears, much frustration and thoughts of a g-tube (when eating is good it is good when it is bad, it is really bad). I have come to the conclusion that most of Lena’s feeding issues are sensory. She has major facial texture issues and is very particular about what is put in her mouth (she can put almost anything in there but we can not. Fluid intake has also become a worry. She refuses a bottle if she is upright, she will only use a bottle laying down with her head raised. She will take small sips out of a plastic juice box but it is not enough. Consequently she also has poop issues. The life of a micro-preemie is NEVER dull, but it’s worth every minute.

Kassie is definitely not quiet, she loves to be heard and makes sure that she is the center of attention at all times. Lena is not allowed to have any attention, Kassie gets very upset and jealous, great fun. She “talks” constantly, though she still speaks in her own language that we have dubbed “Kassie-ese” . Her language is full of bugahhs and beedahs and ohhbadahs. Oh and when she really wants attention… mom-mom. She may not talk but she understands everything and is very emotional. If she knows you are upset she gets upset.

Kassie is going to be in the spot light when she grows up. She is such a ham. She loved to play dress up with Lorraine, our ECIP worker, when she brought over some pretty princess clothes, necklaces and funny noses. She thought it was great to see herself all pretty in the mirror. We had to buy her some pretties and a crown. When the camera comes out she is right there. When the camcorder comes out, she stops whatever it was that was cute she was doing to make sure you are taping her. Too funny. On a daily basis she has to have attention at all times or she gets quite upset. She is very social and needs to be around people at all times, if you leave the room, look out, its tantrum time. As first it was cute, now … not so much.

Kassie also has quite a unique sense of humor and a one of a kind personality, she could be a comedian. She catches on to jokes very quickly and loves to be funny and make people laugh. She thinks it’s hilarious when someone says OUCH!, she loves to pull off socks, hers, yours whatever. Kassie loves to play peek a boo, in fact it is a sure fire way to distract her when she gets upset.  She has a huge infectious smile with an adorable deep dimple on the left side (one comes out on the right too if the smile is large enough) when she knows she has been funny or when she has done something good. Its all about the praise these days.

Physically Kassie has been amazing in the last few months. She has taken off like crazy. She is now a bum scooter and travels all over the house sliding aroundon her bottom. Kassie still refuses to stand on her feet and bear and weight through them in an upright position. She used to not put weight through them at all though, but since the bum scooting she has had to learn to push with her feet which forces her to apply pressure. She also uses the right side of her body more spontaneously now (more the foot than the hand but progress is progress), as well as on demand.  Yeah Kassie!

The girls are both finally both stable enough that I can put them both in the tub rings so they can safely have baths together. Lena bears the brunt of Kassie’s incessant splashing but I think she likes it; she’s starting to get her back a little.  They are growing up too fast.

Today we made a special trip to the Doctor’s office, for a photo shoot. Late last week our fabulous family doctor, Dr. Alanna Danilkewich,  called and asked if I would mind bringing the girls into the office to have thier picture taken for an advertisement.

Dr. Danilkewich works out of the Department of Family Medicine at the College of Medicine , University of Saskatchewan. They are recruiting new physicians to teach at the college. She thought of us when she was asked to have a young patient volunteer to be the “patient” in the advertisement. So there you have it … we are going to be famous.  I am not sure exactly were the photos will be used to advertise but the photographer said that the last time she took a photo like this the College used it “everywhere” . I guess we will see how it turns out. Regardless, we had fun.

On a side note, Dr. Danilkewich really warmed my heart today. When she introduced us to the photographer and the two residents that were with us, she raved about the girls like my parents do. She told everyone how they are miracles and have really beaten the odds, all the while beaming with pride.  

This summer Papa bought a buch of exotic chickens and other birds to come and live at our acerage. This little silkie chicken wasn’t big enough to live with the other chickens yet so he stayed inside with us for awhile. Silkie chickens are unique in several ways; they do not have normal feathers, theirs look like hair, they are also very docile chickens, they like to be handled and can make very good pets.

The girls really liked Peeper. However, after several attempts to intigrate him with the rest of the chickens (he escaped several times) we brought him back to the house seemingly healthy and he died while we were asleep, not sure why. He is now resting in our strawberry patch.

However, we will have to find more silkie chickens, the girls thought he was great. In fact it has come to our attention this summer that they love to be around all animals. Kassie gets very excited and vocal when she is around anything four legged, furry or feathered and Lena gives the biggest and best smiles to the animals. Both of the girls love to touch them. I am so gald they are not afraid, animals can be so therapeutic.

Getting ready to get pretties in our ears:

The piercer is great (she is the one that did my nose). I wouldn’t go to anyone else. She is a dental hygenist and is great about sterilization. After doing some reading I would never get pierced or let anyone close to me get pierced with a gun again. They are bad news.

Anyways the girls did great and they look extra adorable with thier big girl earrings though Papa is not happy with me, he thinks I should have waited (until they were old enough to be really scared and only let me do one).

(the purple is a stain from the marker she used to mark the spot, it will wear off)

They have grown, changed and excelled in so many ways this summer it is just amazing. They seem to impress us with something new or improved almost every day. I promise I will put together a full summary soon. I have so many summer pictures to share.

Oh, Aunty Leah, its time for a visit again, Kassie won’t keep her glasses on again.