Strange Times

We went to the doctor today and found out all kinds of interesting information. First, as if f being 14 weeks premature wasn't enough, it turns out Clara is also going through puberty. Clara has an increased level of estrogen (something that can happen to any baby but is fairly common in preemies) and, as a result, is starting to have some swelling in her chest area. Her face is also spotted with baby acne. It doesn't show up well in the picure below, but even though it is referred to as "baby acne", these are the kind of zits that will make her not want to go out in public in 12-14 years. When you combine those things with the fact she doesn't do anything we tell her and likes to sleep all day, Clara is 5 lb, 10oz teenager. The doctor said the swelling in her chest and the baby acne will go away, so hopefully we won't have to confront these issues again until she is middle school.

Seriously Mom and Dad, get out of my room!

Second, the doctor told us that we need to have "skin-to-skin" contact with the kids, especially while they're feeding. We knew this was important from our time in the NICU, but didn't know it was something we still needed to be doing. With one child this would probably look sweet and wonderful. With two kids it looks a little like a Roman bath house. Thank goodness no one was around to take pictures.

Although, if you visited our house right now you might not notice the two of us. Some of our friends ordered dinner and had it delivered to us tonight. When the delivery man walked in his eyes immediately widened and his head drew back as he took in the scene of what used to be our living room. After doing a 180 degree scan he looked at Chris and expressed with shock and amazement, "oh wow, there are babies everywhere!" We think he half-expected to see a TLC camera crew pop out from behind the door. Imagine what he would've thought if he had arrived about 25 minutes earlier.

The one bit of negative new from the day is the doctor thought Clara might have a hernia. We'll get that checked out next week and watch it closely. The doctor also recommended going back to feeding Clara and Wilson every three hours. This might not seem like such a big deal, but they had recently worked up to getting food every four hours. Adding two more feedings (or four more feedings depending how you look at it) significantly cuts back our already dwindling sleep time. Oh well, if it will help Clara and Wilson grow, we'll feed every hour and not complain . . . at least for a few more weeks. The joy of having them both home still trumps any negative feelings or sleep deprivation. We'll ride those emotions as long as we can.  

When the Saints Go Marching In

After 99 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Clara Marie McGarvey came home on Saturday. Since nothing about this experience has been normal, we decided simply bringing Clara home in customary fashion would not be appropriate. Instead we threw a Homecoming Parade in which Clara and Wilson were the Grand Marshals (yes, they were the only float, but they were still the Grand Marshals). What actually happened surpassed our wildest expectations and will forever be one of the happiest days of our life.

For us, the parade started at Kosair Children's Hospital. We had been full or part-time residents there for 109 days (including the days Chris was hospitalized after her water broke) and grew close to several of the wonderful people who work there. In one of the more touching gestures of the day, a neonatologist who has shepherded our kids toward recovery since the delivery room asked to carry Clara to the car.

We drove home and parked the car one block away so the parade attendees wouldn't see the parade "float" until we were closer. We loaded Clara and Wilson into their double stroller, pressed "play" on the ipod system we put underneath the stroller, and rolled down the street with Lady GaGa's "Born this Way" blasting from the happiest double stroller in the world.  

We quickly rounded the corner onto our street but were not prepared for what we saw. Thirty or more of our friends and family were lining the sidewalk holding balloons and cheering for Clara and Wilson. We threw out candy, kleenex and hand sanitizer before taking the star attractions out of their stroller to meet those in attendance. 

The parade was wonderful and reminded us once again how lucky we are to have so many wonderful people holding us up and helping us through this experience. We've stated this numerous times before but can't say it enough; none of us - Chris, Morgan, Clara, or Wilson - would have made it to this point without your love, prayers, and support.  Thank you!

Of course, now that the kids are home, the parade is over and the party has started. These two night owls are a bunch of fun and we look forward to continue telling their story. We'll have more tomorrow (hopefully) on what it is like having all four of us under the same roof (here is a one word hint: crazy). We also have two doctor's appointments this week, one with the pediatrician and our first follow up with the neonatologists, and will let you know how those go. However, it is now time for the midnight feeding.

PS - We tried to insert video from our friend Bailey of the Homecoming Parade but we keep getting a message that an "error" occurred while trying to process our video. It plays on our our computer so we're sure it's our fault and will try to get that fixed as well.

Delay of Game

Clara's arrival at home is a wonderful miracle, but we're quickly discovering 1 + 1 doesn't always equal two . . . especially if you're adding how many newborn babies live under your roof. The option for the double team is out of our play book and we are scrambling in man-to-man coverage. We apologize for not posting more pictures and stories from Clara's homecoming and promise to remedy that soon. We do want to share those memories with you and will hopefully have something up tomorrow. In the meantime, rest assured we're enjoying all the fun of being new parents.

Chris actually left Morgan alone with Clara and Wilson to go to the grocery.
All hell broke loose while she was away and this was the scene she was greeted
with when she got back home.

The Fab Four

Love you forever and forever

Love you with all my heart

Love you whenever we're together

Love you when we're apart

And when at last I find you

Our song will fill the air

Sing it loud so I can hear you

Make it easy to be near you

For the things you do endear me to you

Oh you know I will.

In the car with two babies! Headed home to the homecoming parade!

In the car with two babies! Headed home to the homecoming parade!

In the car on the way to the hospital!! Sitting in the backseat between two car seat bases- I barely fit!