August was supposed to be calm

      Remember how I said that July was supposed to be the busy month and we'd relax right into August? Jokes on me; as they say, best laid plans.

      The first week of August greeted us with a double case of hand, foot and mouth disease. It's basically the most contagious virus on the planet so there really is no telling where they picked it up (and were generous enough to pass it to each other). Also lucky for us, there is a super strain of this virus going around Saint Louis and it's not just on the hands, feet, and mouth it's EVERYWHERE. So here we were with two absolutely miserable babies and two parents that were terrified that we were going to get it too (happy birthday, Bryan lol) Apparently when adults get it badly enough you can lose your fingernails! We didn't leave the house for about 5 days, but I'd say the first three days were the worse. No one was sleeping or eating and no amount of Tylenol seemed to help.

The HFM delayed Bradley's surgery from Monday to Thursday, which brought another trip to the OR and overnight hospital stay. He did so great this time! The anesthesiologist was very conservative and treated him as locally as he could without having to give him a bunch of narcotics, which I greatly appreciate. He was also very impressed with his lungs! Said they were much stronger than typical "24-weeker lungs" go, Bradley, go! In typical Bradley fashion however, the hernia was not filled with intestine like a typical hernia, it was fluid from his shunt that hadn't been absorbed. I promise I couldn't make this up if I tried! Dr. Smyth was able to join Dr. Warner in the OR and they checked the placement of the shunt and repaired the defects in the abdominal wall. He has healed beautifully from the surgery, and now we just wait and see to make sure the function of the shunt isn't compromised (fluid not absorbing correctly and then backing up from his belly to his ventricle). He's doing great so far, but we go back Friday for an MRI and to visit with Dr. Smyth just to make sure. 

We met with the doctors today about getting B fitted with a helmet- hopefully to help shape that precious noggin! We should be getting it next Friday and will have it wrapped like a Blues helmet, Bryan's idea, of course =) He did great sitting still for the imaging needed this morning, look at him with the "sock" on his head! 

Joel is doing great! His personality is so funny and he's exploring more everyday. He is growing like a weed and his new favorite place to be is under the couch or practicing his crawling stance. It still makes my head hurt to realize they're big enough to be crawling, Mama isn't ready, but it's so cool. Can't believe they'll be 11 months old tomorrow- let the baby-proofing begin!

Emily

Not our first rodeo

Can anyone believe that it's already August?? I cannot wrap my head around the fact that the summer is already winding down. We successfully finished our wild July that was filled with nothing short of 3245 doctor visits and therapy appointments. It just happened that July was Joel's sixth month home from the NICU and Bradley's third  which meant everyone under the sun was ready for a follow up. Don't get me wrong, happy follow-ups are great, but running in a million directions for a month straight was exhausting.  Luckily this guy (and his brother) are great travelers and are happy to sit in their car seats and wait our turn.

The boys have been doing great playing and growing this month! They recovered from their colds and Bradley re-gained all of the weight (0.6oz) that he lost while they were sick. It may not seem like much, but for a micro-preemie guy that doesn't have a big reserve, we need every last ounce to stick with him. Joel is so close to sitting all on his own, and is rolling all over the place...God help us all when they're both mobile. 

However, we did find out that Bradley will be heading back to SLCH next Monday for one more stay at our pretend vacation home. The hernia on his left side has gotten much worse, and Dr. Warner thinks is best to fix it sooner rather than later. The plan will be to have the surgery Monday and stay over night; fingers crossed it's an uncomplicated (successful!) procedure and he will bounce back quickly as he always has. The same-day surgery nurse called today and asked us to come in for a tour of the 6th floor (surgical floor) so we can feel acclimated and make sure we know where to go on Monday morning. Good jokes, nice lady on the phone, this is his 11th surgical procedure- we basically have our own parking spot =)

Emily