Findlay's story

Findlay came into the world on March 1, three weeks early, by C section. My water broke around 3 AM and Euan came home from work and we made our way to the hospital. They pulled him out around 8 AM and the surgeon remarked on his perfectly shaped head and red hair. He was gorgeous, but when the nurses tried to pass a tube down his esophagus it would only go part way down. They instantly took him to the NICU and that was the last I saw of him for what seemed like forever. We later found out that he had type C esophageal atresia with a fistula which meant that his esophagus was not connected to his stomach and instead his stomach was connected to his trachea. Turns out that 1 in 4,000 babies has this but for some reason there is an influx of them in the Sacramento area this Spring, and there happen to have been 5 of them within 3 months. When he was 3 days old he had surgery to disconnect the stomach and the trachea and connect it to the esophagus. The surgery went well and after an excrutiating few days of not being able to hold him, he began his recovery. He was able to go home after 3 weeks in the NICU and finally meet his sisters. Of course, they loved him! He was a great eater and quickly went from his birthweight of 7.7 to 12 pounds by 7 weeks.

Warning: This is a little graphic.

New Slideshow

Well since I' ve been such a slacker with blogging lately, I decided instead of trying to post a bunch of pictures, I would just make a slideshow. It is from Nana and Douglas's visit. Check it out on the right of the blog. Just click on it to watch it full screen. Enjoy.

Christmas

Things have been a bit crazy being pregnant and trying to keep up with the girls. They are such a handful right now. Fiona started climbing out of her crib, which has made bedtime a challenge. They are learning so much right now. Both of them are talking a lot. Fiona is stringing words together, as in "apple juice", "Mommy's cup" and "Isla's owie"(more about that later.) Isla only talks when she feels like it, but her favorite thing to say is, "Up please," which is difficult for me right now when she wants to be held all the time.


The girls were unimpressed with Santa. They didn't want to go anywhere near his lap, and obviously in the end, we ended up holding them.


Christmas was a whirlwind. We went up to Humboldt for a few days. Actually the girls were great on the drive both ways. Isla did throw up on the way home, but it wasn't too traumatic. We spent Christmas Eve in the ER, as Isla stepped on a coaster container and sliced her toe. After 3 hours in the waiting room, it turned out that she needed three stitches. She was a trooper. She actually enjoyed the wait, I think because she had us all to herself since Fiona was home with Grammy and Grandpa. They wrapped her up like a burrito when it was time to give her the shots and the stitches. We had to hold her down, and she just kept saying, "No, no, no, no, no." Poor baby. She gets the stitches out tomorrow. Fiona was pretty shaken up after seeing all the blood and she talks a lot about, "Isla's owie".








The girls got lots of gifts. They got fancy tricycles from Grammy and Grandpa and tons of other toys. They had a great time opening all of their gifts. They also had fun playing with all of their cousins. Here are a few pictures.

Halloween

I know, I know! Better late than never though. Isla and Fiona dressed up twice. The first night they were ladybugs and we went to a party. On Halloween they were polar bears and Nana and I took them trick or treating with Emmerson and co. I thought they may be hesitant to walk up and knock on a stranger's door, but after the initial candy sighting, they were all over it. They didn't actually get to eat the candy, but that didn't seem to matter.

Harvest Fair Fun!

We went to a Harvest Fair in Grass Valley today and the girls had a great time. Here are some pictures from our day.

cupcakes!!!

petting zoo!

Corn maze!

Pictures from Grammy's visit

Grammy came to help out while Euan was away. Here are some pictures from her visit. We took the girls to Funderland, and Emmy came to visit.

These two aren't from her visit but I wanted to add them in.

Daycare

The girls at daycare!

State Fair

We took the babies to the fair last week. They had so much fun. They especially loved the petting zoo and all of the junk food! See Euan feeding them the blue snow cone below. We stayed a little past bedtime and they got a little wild, as you can see in the video. Enjoy.

First Day of Preschool!

Yesterday was the babies first day of preschool/daycare. I found a great in home daycare called Seedlings. She is a credentialed teacher and follows a preschool schedule. She and her two children are also vegetarian!!! It is so nice not to have to worry about what she is feeding them! The first morning they had veggie sausage and eggs! She also has all wooden toys and there are quite a few other kids for them to play with. She told me today that they are super sweet to each other and never fight. She said if they get a toy they take one to the other one too. Great to hear since they have been fighting over toys a lot at home lately. Also, Isla fell and hit her head today and she said that Fiona was really concerned about it and stayed right next to her. Fiona has cried both days when I left but only for a few minutes. Tomorrow I have to get them there at 7:15! We shall see how that goes. Here are some pictures. Of course, the girls wouldn't stand still, so are on the run for most of the pics.

New backpacks from Grammy.

Look at the big girls sitting at the table with no highchairs! Of course, Fiona got up about 12 times to see if I was still there while I filled out the paperwork, but hopefully she will get better.

I know I haven't posted any pictures from their week at Grammy's. That will be tomorrow's project...