So much excitment, so little time....

It's been an exciting week around the Cole household.
"I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it , I'm about about to lose control and I think I like it!"
Last weekend I was asked by a friend of my who writes for Baby Talk Magazine to write a blurp in a book that they are coming out with. Yes, BTM is coming out with a book, and I am going to be in it! Well, actually my youngest set of twins will be in it. How cool is that??? The chapter that I will be in is about children with special needs. Here is what will be published:

"Our second set of twins (that's right, we have two sets of two!) were born via c-section at 31 weeks. Our daughter came home after 26 days and our son was in for 40. I must admit, they were the longest 40 days of my life.

After being home for a couple of months, we noticed that our daughter's head was growing oddly. It was off the newborn growth chart. Our Pediatrician was concerned and ordered x-rays, CT scans and an MRI. After a few days we had learned that our daughter had sagittal synostosis - early fusion of her sagittal sutures [of the skull]. My husband and I desperately tried to learn everything that we could about this defect. Everything that we read pointed to surgery as the only fix.

We were sent to Children's hospital - 2 hours from our home, to meet with a neurosurgeon and a cranial facial surgeon. We were told that they would have to open her skull up, remove and reshape the pieces, and place it all back together with plates and screws. We were scared to death.

About a month later, our pediatrician noticed that our son's head was also growing to fast. Once again our pediatrician ordered x-rays, CT scans, and an MRI. The results came back that he too had craniosynostosis. But oddly enough he had sagittal and metopic synostosis. We were told that it is pretty rare to have two sutures fused. Knowing what we did from his sister's appointments, my husband and I were devastated. My husband and I could not believe it. How could both of our babies need need the same surgeries? And how do we explain this to their 3-year-old brother and sister? Thank goodness we have family close by. Our oldest kids pretty much moved in with my parents during the surgeries.

Our daughter's surgery came first. We packed up, moved into the Ronald McDonlad house, and kept in contact with our family and friends via phone, email and the caring bridge site we had set up for her. As a mother, I've learned that the hardest thing in life to do is to hand your child over to a surgical team. I could only hope that they understood how special their patient was. As we sat in the waiting room waiting for hourly updates, all we could do was to hope and pray that everything went smoothly. I kept thinking to myself, "they are not operating on an arm or a leg, they are taking the top of my daughter's skull off to repair it". All I could do was sit and cry. After seven hours of surgery, our daughter looked wonderful. We saw her in passing to the PICU. She was so beautiful. We spent a long four days in the hospital and then we were on our way home. The second hardest thing as a parent is to help one child recover while preparing yourself for you next child's surgery. My husband and I were both physically and emotionally drained.

One month later, we once again moved into the Ronald McDonald house and tried to mentally prepare ourselves for surgery. We handed our son over with tears in our eyes, and hoped that the surgeons would do as good of a job as they did with our daughter. Seven hours later we saw him in passing and he looked wonderful. Our doctors were terrific. Four days later we were on our way home, where we had two lonely 3-year-olds.

Recovery was a battle, but both babies survived it like champs. We are still making our two-hour trips to Children's to see our doctors, but things are looking pretty good. Only time will tell how well their heads will heal and if they will need any other treatment." --Cindy, Appleton, Wisconsin

I was told that the book will either come out later this fall or early next year.

As I sat here last night trying to catch up on all the blogs I normally read, I noticed that quiet a few of them including my girlfriend Molly, have been nominated of an award. How fun is that! Congrats everyone! While you guys are getting the goods, I am being nominated for the "Bad mother of the year" award.

Our whole family is struggling with a cold, but my husband has had it the worst. He has been taking everything in sight, but nothing has been helping. He has kept a bottle of CVS brand of Nighttime cold/flu on his night stand to help him sleep at night. WELL..... I found Cooper in there Wednesday afternoon drinking the half of bottle that was left. "OH MY GOD", How did he get the top open? What's the number for poison control? How much did he really drink?? How in the HELL did he get the top open?? So much for child proof tops.
As I am frantically running around trying to figure out who to call first - Cooper is laughing hysterically. I call poison control, they tell me he has a toxic level of Tylenol and I should take him to the ER. Do I take all 4 kids? Do I call Matt? My parents??? I finally decide on my parents, they rush over and alcohol boy and I run to Children's hospital - 20 miles away. We arrive, they sat us in the waiting room and that's where we stayed for an hour and a half before we were even called in. At this point Cooper is off the walls...I'm thinking to myself, "this crap makes me fall asleep, Why is he so hyper? "Because dummy that what one of the other active ingredients does to babies". So now I have a hyper -alcoholic. Lovely. Did I mention I had a hysterectomy just 2.5 weeks ago and I am only up to lifting 12 lbs? And Cooper is....25. Right on. We finally get called in, and they tell us they will draw his blood 4 hours from the time he drank it. Well, he drank it at 4:30, so I have to sit with this crazy drunk until 8:30 before anything can happen. Once again - Right on! For having a toxic level, they sure didn't move to fast. I think they were all entertained with him to be honest. Not so funny when you own him. A few hours later, they remembered where they put us and they drew his blood, which was not so pleasant , but they got it done.
5 hours later we were cleared to leave and I figure out how he got the top opened. Put the top in your mouth, bite down and turn the bottle!

CVS- May I suggest giving your bottles to babies to try out your "child proof tops"?

Oh what to do?

If you remember a couple of post back I had mentioned that I was trying to figure out what to do with my 4 yr olds next year - school wise.
We had just finished the testing for title 1 for Keegan. Well, today we received the letter that he has been excepted into the program. YEA! Except now I am not to sure what to do with Riley. Do I keep her in the same school where she is board out of her mind? Do I pay for her to go to a nice preschool? I just don't know.
How will they do without each other? I guess I am not so worried about her, but I know Keegan is going to be devastated with out her. He is the sensitive one. I think it is going to be hard.

Tonight at dinner we were discussing this topic a bit. I asked Keegan how he would feel if he went to a different school than Riley. He said no, "I want to be with Riley, I will miss her." Riley chimes in and says," Yea, He'll miss me." That goes to show me that she won't have a problem without him. LOL.
I just don't know. I thought it would be easier once I found out if he was accepted or not, but it isn't any easier. It breaks my heart knowing that they will be separated for the first time. I know in the long run it will be good for Keegan, but the transition will be hard - on all of us I'm sure.

So, until then....I will have to sit and ponder what I will do with Riley next school year.

Thunder Thigh Thursday

Ok, I know I said I was going to wait a bit to post a TTT blog, but it has been so good, I couldn't pass it by. I started just a few days ago with riding a stationary bike very slowly for about 20 minutes and I have been back to the fitness center to walk slowly on the treadmill. It has obviously been a good thing - my scale was very good to me this morning. I am now down a total of 78 lbs! YAHOOOOO!

So - that's it. That's all I have to report today. We are off to the lake today for the weekend. Should be fun!

CT results

Carson did very well yesterday with her CT scan. It kills me though, that they had to put an IV in and sedate her for a 45 sec. scan. She did great though. Only issue we had was that the nurses had to try twice to get the IV in. She wasn't so happy about that, but we made it through.

Results - Dr. Jensen was great. He stayed in the room the entire time she was having the CT done and he was the first person she saw when she woke up. She gave hime a great big smile. It was cute. I knew in my heart that it was either going to come back saying there was nothing wrong, or somthing seriously wrong. Dr. Jensen told me that there was nothing seriously wrong. BUT he didn't say she was absolutly fine either. So - here is sit with unknown answers. Is there something a little bit wrong??? There wasn't even an explaination for why her head is so bumpy. He does know that he doesn't like the fact that she is banging right where her plates are in her head. So - I guess I will sit and wait to see what happends in the next few months.
We are going to try to give her some Ibuprofen at night for a couple of weeks to see if that will calm her banging down. Maybe she has a headache??? I don't know.

Well, we will post again if something else comes up.
Thanks

Head Banging is for Rock Stars - Not babies.

As I sit here writing this entry - I can't help to wonder what it is about babies who head bang. I know - It's never a good sign when your child head bangs, but for what reason? Head aches? Fluid on the brain?
I hope to have answers to these question for Carson tomorrow. Yes, Carson has been head banging on the end of her crib, with blocks that she plays with and even in her high chair. What could be causing this? She never head banged before the surgery and now.... all the time - especially when she is in her crib. I talked with Dr. Jensen Sunday afternoon, who spoke with Dr. Kaufman - our neurosurgeon - and they both agreed that Carson needs to have a CT scan done. Tuesday evening we will be in Milwaukee for the CT - Dr. Jensen will wait with us and hopefully give us some answers to Carson's head banging. I am a bit nervous knowing that they could find nothing - which won't help our situation, and still leave a bunch of questions, or they could find something. Which would help us understand what is going on, but could possibly lead to more surgeries. Let me tell you - You damned if you do and you are damned if you don't.
I will post results of the scan as soon as I get home.
Please keep our little girl in your prayers.

Thanks.

Project "Empty Pumpkin" is complete

It's been just about a week now since project "Empty Pumpkin" has happend.

I am actually feeling pretty good. Except- someone forgot to tell me how bad the gas pains hurt after they deflate you. With having experienced both this laparoscopic surgery and a C-section; I would of asked for a section in a heart beat. If I had known how bad my back would ache, how bad my shoulders would hurt and especially how hard it would to breath the first couple of night - I would of demanded a c-section. Crazy? I know. But your pain would have been centralized at least. They tell you to get up and walk, walk, walk. Well, I have done my fair share of walking and I still have a tinge of gas left in these poor aching shoulders of mine. Hopefully by the weekend it will be gone!

Other wise I am feeling fine. I just have to keep reminding myself that I may feel good, but I am not heeled and not to go crazy with everything. I have had tons of help with the 4 kids and it has been wonderful. It has given me every second I have to get my strength and energy back. Thanks mom and dad for all your help this past week!!!!

As for the lovely side effect of Menopause, I think I started them on Tuesday. It is just like being pregnant again. I'm hot, I'm cold, I'm Hot, I'm Cold..... Nothing that has been life threatening though. So far I am handling it well and I think I will wait a few more weeks before I see what estrogen options I should play with first. If this is really it - It's not as bad as I had imagined. It's worth not ever having to worry about a period again!!

And for the weight loss - honestly I haven't though about it much lately. I am at a 70 lb loss, and that is good enough for me at this point. I can't exercise so it is pretty much useless for me to think I will still be able to lose weight. So, I will start up again when I am able to walk more then 4 laps around my house with out stopping. That would be a good start, right?

So until then, you will find me resting my sore body on either my bed or the couch.

Happy menstrating! :)

Dun dun dunnnnnnn

Unexpectedly we had a pretty good trip to Milwaukee. Our appointment went as well as could be.
First, have I told you all how GREAT our Cranial Facial doc is???? He is THE BOMB and I think he has a crush on Carson! We were checking in at the front desk and he walked by and said, " There are my little Twinkies". Carson looked at him and she just screamed and started to laugh - like she remembered him or something. Then we get called into the room and the two of them start playing around together. He made the comment - "That's my favorite Carson Mary - she's my favorite patient". It was very cute.
Ok, enough soap opera - on to the appointment. Cooper passed with flying colors. Dr. Jensen was actually very impressed with the shape of Cooper's head. Carson wasn't far behind. I expressed my feeling about her lumpy and bumpy head and the only real place he had some concern was the bump at the top of the head - only because he didn't know what was causing it. The rest of her head doesn't bother him at all.
So, they will go back in August and have their CT's repeated. Hopefully we will get better answers for all the lumps and bumps then. Until then - I will quietly sit here at home worrying about why hers looks so much different than his. That's a mothers job, Right?

As for the Thunder Thigh Thursday - I hit the 71 lb goal today! After fasting and the other "crap" I've had to do, I'm sure I will hit the original goal of 75 lbs by tomorrow morning. YEA! So, we'll see.

Not sure if my husband will post a surgery update tomorrow, but he may email a few of you. Butterflies are starting to set, but I am sure things will go fine.

Thanks to all of you who have offered to help with my kids and meals. It means a lot to us.

Thanks

A possibility lingering in the air......

I can not believe that Cooper and Carson have hit there 6 month post op appointment already for their heads. It is truly amazing how fast time has gone and how much these kids have grown.
Tomorrow we head to Children's hospital to meet with our cranial facial surgeon. It is going to be exciting to see what come of it. Cooper is looking better and better everyday. He has actually passed up Carson in the whole standing/creeping/walking category. Who would have thought that 2 months ago. It has been fun to watch this little 3lb 13 oz baby turn into a fun little boy.
Carson on other hand is starting to give me an ulcer I think. I worry about this girls head everyday. I believe - now remember, I am only the parent, I have no experience with this head remodeling jazz, but I believe her head is headed in the wrong direction - again.


She now has a good size "bone" bump on the top of her head. That was never there before. Should it be????

The ridge that she had on the side of her head in November has grown. It is now wider and it is also on both sides of her head, not just the right side. Should this be there?

She is also having issues with "bossing" in the back of her head. Prior to surgery, she had a bit of it in the front, but not much in the back. What is with this?????

Here are the pictures (not to gross anyone out or anything) from prior to surgery and after.

And now here are the pictures from today. "Bossing" out the back.
I know that there is a possibility that when we get to the hospital tomorrow that they may tell me that she may need to be fixed again. What happened? Why has Coops turned out so nice and round and Carson is so misshaped???? I don't know if I have it in my heart to go through this again.

I will blog again after we get home tomorrow.

Please keep them in your prayers.

Pre op Friday

This morning I had my pre op appointment with my Ob/Gyn. Things went well. Once again he tried to talk me out of removing my ovaries. He feels just my uterus would be enough. I disagreed. Besides the bleeding issues - my problem is the poly cystic ovaries. So you might as well just take it all. With removing all of it, 85% of my poly cystic issues will be gone. I may not have to be on metformin which would be 4 less pills I'd have to take a day. Yippee!

We talked a bit about which hormone therapy would be best for me, but I guess it will all be trial and error once that comes to light. They though about 1 week after surgery I would start having hot flashes and night sweats. At that point we will figure out which will be best for me. I go into surgery on the 9th early in the morning and will be there over night. As Dr. Kaldas puts it, he doesn't want me to become a "human trampoline". Which is fine with me!!!!

Thunder Thigh Thursday

Well, Things have not gone as planned this week - I must admit. I don't know what's going on with my body at this point. I believe it is rebelling against diet and exercise. I am have not lost any weight this week. I am thinking my muscle mass has caught up with me. I have not changed my diet - except for going out with the couples from the twins club last Thursday night. But other than that... I'm not sure. I have done MORE exercising this past week thanks to the bazillion inches of snow we got - I shoveled both of our driveways TWICE in 2 days. I just don't get it. So I am thinking trying to get to 75lbs maybe a lost cause btwn now and next Friday considering I am still at 68lbs. Oh well. However close I get will be less than I am today. We'll just go for that. I have been noticing that I still have been dropping inches around my waist. I will not mention my weight at this point in the game but I will give you an idea of where my waist started and where I am today. I started out with a 49 inch waist ( Ok, go ahead and pick up your jaw) and I am now a 35.5 inch waist. OH DR. OZ WOULD BE SO PROUD OF ME! Only 3 more inches until I am in the safe zone!

I am a bit nervous for surgery next week. Not so much for the surgery itself - but for the fact of putting weight back on. I have been researching and reading a lot of info from women who have gone through surgical menopause and most of then had mentioned some weight gain. I do not feel I have lost enough to be ok with even a 5 lb gain. I'm stressin' and maybe that's why my body has been rebelling.

On that note...I need to go shovel off the deck before our next blizzard comes tonight. They are calling for another 8 - 10 inches on top of the foot we already have. UGH! It's March - NO MORE SNOW!