halloween

There is a ton of pictures from Halloween, Enjoy!

Delaney's Preschool Class

Delaney had her first school Halloween party, and she loved it. She painted pumpkins, made finger puppets and played pin the nose on the pumpkin. Then they had snack and went trunk or treating. I stayed up last night making owl cupcakes for her class. They were cute, but the lady that made them on TV did a way better job than I. The kids loved them though, that's all that mattered. For her Birthday I made monkey cupcakes....I shoulda stuck with those.

The 1st attempt at an owl...not too bad.

These are all the owls....aren't they a hoot. haha I had to.

This is the monkey cupcake I made for Delaney Birthday Party

Delaney got to dress up for Dance class. It was the first time I've ever seen a tap dancing/ballet skunk. It was too cute!

Sunday night at Church Delaney won the best pumpkin....I drew the picture on and she helped me carve it. So "technically" she did it too. The Awana group did Trunk or treat too. She loves Awana.

Delaney and her "Pumpkin King" crown.

Here are some pictures of our pumpkins from this year. NO STENCILS, I swear, I drew all of them.

The Triplet's Pumpkins

It's supposed to be swaddled babies.

Delaney's cat pumpkin, this is the one she won with

Below is Jonah praying in the whale, I can't get the picture to stay in line....argh.

A Lion and a Lamb

I have pics of the babies I will post sometime this weekend.

delaney and politics

I don't know where this came from, but today Delaney came up to me and asked me this question right out of the blue.

Delaney- Mom who are you boating for John McCain or Delaney or Obama?

Me- speechless

Delaney- Who Mom?

Me- Delaney

Delaney- Thank you. Why are you boating for me?

Me- Because honey I think you could do a better job. And who are you voting for Miss Delaney?

Delaney- John McCain.

Me- why him?

Delaney- because I don't think I like Obama, and I can't boat for myself.

Me- you can vote for yourself.

Delaney- I can?

Me- Yes!

Delaney- Ok I will boat for myself and be a president of the United Steaks!

Me-laughing!!!

I cannot believe that mt 4 yr old is talking politics already. Apparently Greg and I have talked or watched to many debates in front of her. I guess she really does pay attention. After we had our chat she had to call her daddy and ask who he would vote for, then Grandma Maust, then Grandma Hill. Well Greg and Grandma Maust agreed Delaney for President. I guess Grandma Hill doesn't approve, Oh well Delaney guess you can't win them all. You know it kinda burns me that she could just amuse the poor child, my God she's 4. It's not like she really running for president. That's a whole other subject I do not care to touch tonight. SO Goodnight ya'll!

you'll get a laugh outta this

Ok so before you read any further, if you have a weak stomach....stop here.



Today has been one of those busy busy days when you realize its 3:30 and your still in your snowman pants a tshirt. I should start by thanking God that nobody came to the door today. I would have been forced to put my hands over the kids mouths and hide.



It was about 1 am last night when I went to bed. I had a feeling it was just gonna be one of those nights. As I lay in bed praying to God for a good night, I think I hear Dylan. I need to add that when Dylan gets up were up for hours. As I lay there hoping that wasn't him. I hear the same squeak again, now I'm praying for it to be mice that have invaded our house by the hundreds rather then it be Dylan waking.......He went back to sleep....PRAISE GOD!!! I snuggle back in to my nice warm blanket and drift asleep. 2 am and Ava is grunting and growling then screaming or was it Ryan? Yep Ryan's up, he's getting another tooth so he's ticked. Give him a bottle and back to bed. Perfect he went right in, no problems just right back to snoring. Whew, I thought he would be up for awhile. Back to sleep. 3:30 and Ava's up and giggling. Oh no, Give her a bottle extra warm hoping it will knock her out....no such luck. She's up bright eyed and bushy tailed. At this point I am so tired I don't want to deal with getting up and trying to get her back to bed. So I did a big no no and laid her in our bed. Greg's back was to her. So I faced my back toward her too and we all fell right to sleep. 4:30 and I'm karate chopping Greg's alarm clock to the point of no return and it still won't shut off. I give Greg a good chop and he's up and puts on lil pinky finger on it and it stops....WHAT THE HECK, I just beat that thing for 5 mins trying to cover the speakers and he just touches it....no fair. It's ok though because Ava is still asleep. Greg gets up and gets ready for work, because there is no way in you know where he's hitting that snooze button and doing this all over again. He come in to say goodbye I ask him if he'll put Ava back in her crib, so she won't roll out. He performs a few "tests" to see if she's really asleep. Perfect she is. He sneaks into the triplets room puts her in bed walks out closes the door, which decided to squeak the entire way closed this time, takes a deep breath and hopes they stay asleep. No such luck ALL of them wake up, all our hungry. We both feed babies, Ryan goes back to the crib, Dylan to the swing, and Ava to the bouncer seat where she's laughing hysterically at the puppy on top. I grab a pillow and a blanket and head for the couch. Ava's strapped in so I'm out.




I wish I could say that was it but really this is where it all begins.



Ava starts screaming because she has a poopy diaper. I get off the couch in a not so nascar evasive move, land on my knee and hip. I think my leg was caught in the blanket, but at this point I could have tripped over my own feet and not known it. The thud of me falling woke Dylan great huh? I change Ava, set her diaper beside me for a min because Dylan decided to poop too. Change Dylan go to pick up Ava's diaper and its gone.....here's where the panic set in. Where the hell is the diaper. I do a quick look around the room with the only light coming from the TV, I don't see it. Now I'm wondering (because I'm so tired) Did I even change Ava or was it a dream. I flip the light on and see something horrible......

CODE BROWN-CODE BROWN

Ava had pulled the diaper and had her hands all in her poop. I almost throw up it's everywhere on her, in between fingers and all. Needless to say bath time. I get her all cleaned up and go back into the living room where Dylan is screaming in the swing. I put Ava in bouncer and go get Dylan outta the swing....are you kidding me......another

CODE BROWN!

Dirty diaper with a baby sitting in a swing means poop out both side of the diaper and out the top. Gross. At this point it's like 6:30 and 2 babies have already ate and had baths. I just kept thinking I wonder what the rest of the day will be like.



Actually not bad, just busy busy. The phone has rang all morning the babies have been bottomless pits and Delaney has been remarkably good. Ava awakes from her nap I get her a bottle and start to feed her thinking for everything this morning they have been pretty stinkin good. I look over at my lil trouble maker Dylan and he's just chewing on his orange teething ring. Then he turns facing away from me, I do a double check just to make sure still chewing on the orange teething ring....wait that's not a teething ring. Ava's right in the middle of eating so Delaney goes over to see what he's got an orange crayon. Thanks to Delaney. She takes it from him and looks in his mouth no crayon in there, were ok. She gives me the crayon no chunks outta it were good. I finish feeding Ava and take the bottle to the kitchen when from the living room Delaney's yelling...

CODE ORANGE!

What the hell is a code orange....Do I even want to know. I go in and the crayon must have been a bit mushy and smeared across his face. My little Dylan is now an Uumpa Loompa ( I sure hope that's spelled right) He gets cleaned up, no big deal. He'll probably have orange poop later.



Well in other news, Ryan has an appt with a Neurosurgeon at Rainbow Babies on Nov 10th. When I called to make the appt, they asked if I could bring the other 2 so the Dr can compare....Compare what I don't know he's the only one with the problem and the only one who has had a CT Scan. I told her I would bring them as long as I could have an afternoon appt so that I wouldn't be racing to get 3 kids up there by myself. She said sure hows 11? 11 are you kidding me. OK not a problem knowing in the back of my head I will to start getting ready by 6 because I have no clue where this place is and I will get lost a few times on the way there. Hopefully I can talk Greg into taking a vacation day and go with me. Lord knows I don't know if there will be a vacation next yr or not, depends on the kiddos.




I will post more later or tomorrow Greg just got home and I don't want him to see me in my jammies still. Gotta run, Pray the day stays calm and they all sleep tonight!

another nicu follow up

The Trips!

Can you see Ava's teeth???

Getting restless waiting on the Dr.

Ryan, Ava and Dylan. Dylan thinks he's cute!

Those are Ryan's legs, and Ava trying to look innocent after ripping and rolling in the paper off the Dr's table....I love it!

Ava using Ryan as a pillow, he really didn't like it.

Ryan, Ava & Dylan

3 baby pile up!

Yesterday was the NICU follow up visit. They said the babies look pretty good.

Dylan

wt: 13.3 lbs

ht: 24 1/2"

hc: 17 1/4"

Concerns:

He looks great, main concern is putting weight on.

Ava

wt: 11.3 lbs

ht: 24"

hc: 16 1/4"

Concerns:

Looks good, main concerns is putting weight on & Occupational Therapy for Left Arm and possible Physical Therapy for foot turning inward. They have decided to wait for now, until she is standing. Then they will know if that will be a problem. For now they will just go with the OT, she won't pick up anything with her Left hand. She will pick up with the Right then place in the left.

Ryan

wt: 11.3 lbs

ht: 23 1/2"

hc: 16 1/2"

Concerns:

Ryan has the major red flags for Cerebral Palsy, they can't confirm or deny it for now. They are going to see him up with OT and PT for his low tone and other issues he has going on. He has some small tremors in his chin, that is called overflow. He has had this since he was in the NICU. Basically when he gets a bit overwhelmed his chin will quiver, it's kind of his way to relieve the stress through a tremor in the chin. He should have grown out of this by now, but he still has it. They are calling it Neurological immaturity. Also, they are going to send us to a different Neurosurgeon, one at Rainbow Babies Hospital in Cleveland for a second opinion on his soft spot issues. Ryan still has daily swelling, the Dr is wondering if his developmental delays are coming from the 2 enlarged ventricles in the brain. I am glad they are sending us. We should get a second opinion. I would rather them find something now and help vs waiting til he's even older and theres nothing that we could do. Weight gain is also a major concern for Ryan.

That's all the info we have right now. We'll know more in the next few days. I'll keep ya up to date. Hopefully God will answer another prayer for us and help this lil guy out. I always knew Ry was a bit different, not bad, but something has always been a bit off. I knew it was coming. I'm just glad its not anything worse. They could have said he has cancer or something worse. CP is totally livable. We can handle it, and Ryan is such a fighter!

On another note Dylan and Ryan both got a tooth yesterday!

Tooth Tally

Dylan ~ 2 bottom teeth

Ryan ~ 1 bottom tooth

Ava ~ 2 "big honkin' teefers" on the bottom

(gotta love the 4 yr old vocabulary!)

Just to clarify a post from the other day....

Yes, I was extremely sleep deprived, I was on the verge of a melt down. But I'm OK now. I got some sleep and feel like a whole new woman! I'm sorry if I hurt anyones feelings by anything that I may have wrote...but on the other hand I have just wrote how I felt. I could tell you that everything is fine, were wonderful, never better, we sleep through the night and eat off the clean floors, and have so much help we don't know what to do...but if I said all these things we all know that would be a lie. Now I do know some of you feel bad that you can't come and help during the day, Please don't feel bad. I never meant it that way. I was just extremely tired and venting. Most of you that know me and my sarcasm should understand...And for you that don't get the whole sarcasm, I sure wouldn't read any further...because there will be a whole lot more towards the holidays, especially with family get togethers and Christmas shopping. Did you get it there was a bit there?! =)

Hope you enjoy the pics, they are too cute. I had to throw them all on.

shellys soapbox

You know I really don't know how other Moms do it. I don't know if it just because there is 3 or if its just another child in general. I am so wore out. I swear I could sleep for a week and still not be caught up. It's not that is is "hard" work so to say. It's just that theres so much to be done. I am wearing myself trying to keep up with the house, the laundry, the dishes, the cooking, the finances (thanks to the massive amount of hospital bills from the NICU stay) the kids, and myself. See I even forgot about Greg. I swear him and I haven't had a conversation other than about the kids in weeks. Greg and I have been out of the house together for about a total of about 11 hours since they've been home. It stinks that we are finally to the point we can get out of the house with them, but we can't because of RSV season. It just started and already I feel trapped. It's gonna be a long 4 months. I shouldn't complain about how tough it is. God has blessed us so much and how dare I feel this way. I just wish I could be content instead of always feeling overwhelmed. I just feel like I have lost myself. In the last year we have went from a family of 3 that went everywhere and had so much fun. To a family of 6 who is trapped in their home with no time for one another. I haven't been back to work since the babies were born, I would love to just even if it was for an escape-One problem what about a sitter? Nobody has been around enough to know the babies or know how to take care of them....or would be willing. Greg can't do it alone at night? Right not it really is just impossible. When Delaney was born I was so happy, I knew everything about that child, I knew what each cry meant, what each face meant. With the triplets I have no clue I have never really had that one on one with them to know. I feel so horrible because I don't know them and a mom should right? Everyone said it would get easier as they get older, well so far our 3 have proven that theory wrong. They are to the point they need constant attention, now how do I give that to each of them when theres 3 of them and a 4 year old who would like to just have apiece of my time? 2 of them are army crawling but can't sit up, they want to and if they did maybe they could keep themselves entertained. It's almost like their big babies stuck in little baby bodys. And sleeping....wow do I dare touch this subject. In the past 3 nights i have slept about 8 hrs total for the 3 nights, not each night. The babies were all doing so good sleeping through the night 12 hr stretches. It was perfect I could put them all down and then work on the housework til about midnight, then about 1 finally get to bed. No problems then. Now I am so tired at night it seems that just about every night between 3 and 4am I am crying myself to sleep, because I have got nothing done, I'm worried that we won't get up in time to get Delaney to school in time, I think it would just be easier to stay up instead of falling sleep for 20 mins just to be back up with a kid. I just don't know what to do. I'm sick of being so mean and grouchy to Delaney and Greg, but I'm so damn tired I can't think straight!

Oh well I don't mean to rant and rave, I should be happy that we have been so blessed and try to find the silver lining........I just need to get it off my chest so I won't explode! I swear this blog is therapy for me. =)

If you have any suggestions or ideas PLEASE email me or give me a call....At this point I'm open to anything. So for now I'm gonna step off this soap box and get Ryan to stop crying so I can finish folding the 5 baskets of laundry thats sitting on the couch, and try to get it done before the other 2 get up................

whata day

We had such a big day yesterday. First off, still no sleep. Dylan will not sleep. He's up all night! =( We had flu shot appointments, so I called to have Ava & Dylan checked out too. When they woke up they were both tugging at their right ears. Good News no infection. It probably has something to do with the teething. They all have yucky snotty noses, probably from the teething or weather change. Thank goodness their not sick. They all had the 2nd part of the flu shot. Delaney had the flu mist, which was hilarious! She cried so hard before. "i don't want it", "My eyes won't stop tearing up so I can't get it", "Hold on just a minute I have to blow my nose again" She is so dramatic! Well finally she got it, and she was fine. No big deal. She was proud of herself. "I did it, I'm a big girl now" It seriously would have been easier to just give her the darn shot! We all got a good laugh though.

Since we were at the Dr's we had the babies weighed.

Dylan 13 lbs 9 oz.

Ryan 11 lbs 10 oz.

Ava 11 lbs 10.7 oz.

Not too bad. Finally their starting to put the weight on.

Tooth Tally

Dylan 1 almost 2

Ryan 0 but 3 coming in.

Ava 2 big ole teefers!

Anyway after the Dr's appt. We headed home had an early dinner and went to deliver the flower bulbs from Delaney's fund raiser. At our last stop Delaney got to see her buddy charlie! (Charlie is our dog, he living elsewhere due to the babies) Anyway she bent down to give Charlie a big hug and he moved, so she cracked her knee on a bookcase. While she was down the dogs were still excited to see her, she started to cry because of her knee. And the other dog that lives there bit her elbow. Delaney was pretty shook up, she didn't even want to say bye to charlie. When we left she said it hurt deep and her bones hurt. Well needless to say I called Greg and told him to meet me at "One Perkins square" That's pretty bad we know the address to the hospital. I just didn't want to say hospital around her because she would freak out and start crying. So he met me down there.

The Dr came in and said 3 stitches. Let me start by saying I have never had stitches, and frankly I don't know if I could have sit and watched her get them. I would don't get me wrong, but I would be queasy for sure. Just when they said stitches Greg said I have to go make a call to check on the babies and give my sis an update. OK Greg, I knew he couldn't watch either. He left, and I swear just as soon as the door closed another Dr came in to look. He gave it a peek and decided no stitches, he didn't want to trap an infection. So they numbed her up, cleaned the wound (that was horrible!) flushed it, put in some meds, and glued her shut with some glue and steri strips. Gave her a mini cast and a treat and we were on our way. I wish it would have been easy, but knowing Miss Drama Queen Delaney, she couldn't go out without a show. She screamed like someone was killing her it took 3 people to hold her down and 1 to do the work. During the process she kept telling the Dr's "guys I'm done, mom can clean it at home" and "guys your hurting me" not to mention "Hey guys I'm gagging"

Drama, Drama, Drama!

Then when it was all finished, she sat up and said "thank you, I'm going home!" It was kinda funny as we were leaving she gave the Delaney wave and said Goodbye to everyone.

Since we were at the hospital we decided to walk past the NICU. We saw a few of our favorite nurses. Delaney stood in the hallway and said "Guess who got bit by a dog, her name is Da Da Da Delaney" Just to get a bit more attention. A friend of mine just had a baby yesterday who was transfered to Children's because of a problem with his heart. So we talked with her husband and father to get a quick update. Poor guy has to have surgery. He weighed 10 lbs 6 oz at birth...ouch. He's gotta look like a moose compared to the other babies there!

Well that was the highlights of the day. Hopefully we've had our fill for a while. I swear Delaney goes to the ER twice a yr. That means we're done for the yr!

Oh I almost forgot Delaney asked me to take pictures for her scrapbook. So she could show her dog bite. I told her I didn't have a camera. She said use your phone, so here are some pictures of Delaney at the ER. Gotta love those dramatic faces.....and the Oscar goes to....

Showing off the bandage

The nurse put a numbing agent and a bandage on.

The bite

Waiting with Papa

The little things that make it all better!

Her mini cast

for your viewing pleasure

Here are some new pics taken today. Enjoy!

Daddy & Ryan aka lil' bundy!

Dylan trying to be cute after he trashed the living room.

Dylan

Ava

Dylan and Ava goofing around!

Ryan trying to pull his socks off using his mouth.

Dylan, Ava & Ryan

*whoops Ava's in a boy sleeper.*

another one tooth wonder

In the words of Delaney...Dylan has a toofer! He has one on the bottom and another one right beside it, it's not in yet but real close.

Saturday morning I woke up a bit queasy, then all the kids woke up sick. yuck. I'm still not sure if they are actually sick or if it's just teething. They all have snotty noses that's it, nothing else. This is the 1st time they have been like this, and let me tell you they don't like it! They just didn't feel good so all they did was cry. When Delaney woke up she had a fever. It was a low fever so I just waited a few hours and checked it again. It was up to 102. I gave her some Tylenol and waited. Her fever would not break, I gave her a bath, I bundled and unbundled her, she took a nap, she was drinking Gatorade and I was pumping the Tylenol in her. Still nothing. She went to bed with the fever. Woke up Sunday morning she felt fine for a few hours then it started all over again. Around 7pm it finally broke and she has been fine since. You would have never known she was sick. I don't know what the heck that was.

The Triplets go Wednesday for the 2nd half of the flu shot, Delaney goes Thursday and Greg & I go Saturday...fun, fun.

Greg and I went to the Signature Chef's Auction tonight. It was so nice to get out of the house. The tickets were $150.00 a seat...crazy huh? Thank goodness a lady of the Nicu gave ours to us. (Thanks Kristie!) The auction was put on by the March of Dimes, to raise money and awareness for prematurity etc. It was sooooo good. A bunch of local fancy restaurants came and made their signature dishes and we got to eat them, yum! Plus open bar and a DJ, fun! They had a big silent auction. Greg and I bid on a train ride with dinner and nutcracker tickets for Delaney and we missed it by 5 bucks =( So we made a nice donation and went home. They raised over 44 thousand dollars...isn't that awesome?!

Other than that theres no new news! I guess no news is good news. I gotta get some new pics up tomorrow. Be watching for them.

name change

The Names have been changed to protect the not so innocent.

The post from the other day was talking about a grocery store that I had a tiff with, we'll call it "Big Bird" from now on. Well they have employees who sit and type in the company's name all day and see what kind of feedback is out there. Well needless to say they stumbled across my blog. So Big Birds corporate sent it to the local store manager and from there I received an email. So Greg called and talked to him. Come to find out they can not fix the "gas bonuses" (had to change that name too) So instead they apologized and are sending us a gift card to fix the mistake. I'm happy that they fixed the problem. I think that is awesome that they have that type of operation, to actually go out of their way to insure customer service. Now if they could just do something about those darn store employees =)

On another note,

Greg's Dad - Howard celebrated his 66th Birthday yesterday, Happy Birthday Howard. Yesterday was also his last day of radiation. He goes back in January for another blood test to see if it has worked. Lets all pray it did.

Over the weekend I was a bit lazy with the laundry, which put me a few days behind. Our wonderful hunk of junk 5 yr old washer decided to kick the bucket. Nice huh? Well it went out on Wednesday. Today is Friday and I think I'm going to have to go to the parents house to do some laundry. Ava's diaper leaked through the night. So her sheet and mattress pad is soaked. I rinsed them out and have them loaded to take over there, that stunk because she got up at 4:30 am and I couldn't put her back to bed. Now she's sitting in the bouncer seat still going strong at 7am. I can tell it's going to be another one of those days.

Like the bruise in the middle of her forehead...ouch!

Delaney had her 1st field trip Wednesday. We went to Walsh Farm. Greg took the day off work and we took all the kiddos. Which sounded like a good idea at first. It was going to be our last big outing before RSV lock down. Not so much....on our way there it started pouring down the rain. Greg took the babies into their barn and I took Delaney through the field trip. It was fun, eventually the rain cleared and the kids could come out and play.

Dylan in the pumpkin

I figured during the day it wouldn't be too bad with all the questions and shock of seeing 3 babies at the same time. Yeah right. One of the older ladies was so rude, she just kept drilling me about the babies and why they are so small for being 10 months old, blah blah blah. I explained that they were 4 months early, weighed just over a pound, that they are technically only 6 months old. Do you know what she said? "Why don't you just people that their 6 months old, wouldn't that be easier?" Wanna hear my answer. "Well if people weren't so stinkin nosey in the first place I wouldn't have to tell them anything". I don't owe anyone an explanation about my children. She didn't even get it.

Ryan in the pumpkin

While we were there we met Delaney's partner in crime. Wow those girls are wild! It's nice to see her play with kids her own age and listen to how they talk to each other. I swear they think their little adults. She had so much fun and so did the rest of us!

Ava in the pumpkin

We're on lock down now for RSV season. I will make sure to keep the blog up to date with pictures too. I can't believe they are 10 months! Two more months and they will be 1. And to answer a few Birthday questions....No we will not be having a birthday party. Due to the severe risk of RSV we have decided to not take a chance. I know some of you are hurt and upset about this, but we are thankful to see them turn 1 and we want to make sure they can see 2 and so on. Since Ryan was the last to come home on May 7, I think we will have a belated Birthday party then. To celebrate their birthday along with 1 yr home! It will be past RSV season so we can all breathe a little easier. I would feel horrible if they came down with something I could have prevented. So yes I will be the Nazi Mom for the next few months, but we can all agree that the babies health is far too precious for us to risk it being selfish. We love you all and I promise you will be seeing tons of pictures and videos to make up for the winter months. See Ya in the Spring!!!

Sorry this is so long, I just had a lot to say =) Love ya'll!

RSV

Dear Family and Friends,

We’re writing regarding a very important matter: RSV. For those of you who plan to visit us over the next few months, and even if you are not, please take a few minutes to read this letter.

We want to start by saying thank you for the outpouring of support we have received from everyone. So many people have done so much for us, and every bit of help we have received truly is appreciated. We are experiencing the biggest challenge of our lives, and we’re lucky to be surrounded by so many family members and friends who have shown us so much love and support. We’d also like to share an important topic that we recently discussed with our babies’ pediatrician. If you are not aware of RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, you are among the majority. Most people have not heard of RSV, even though nearly every child has had the virus by age two. For full-term babies, RSV typically is not any worse than a common cold, but for preemies, the virus can be quite different. Babies born earlier than 36 weeks are at the highest risk for serious complications like pneumonia, bronchiolitis, and other sometimes fatal complications. Our babies were born premature, are multiples, and had very low birth weights; these are among the highest risk factors for contracting RSV and developing serious complications.

This website offers a great visual comparison of a preemie’s lungs compared to the lungs of a full-term baby:

http://www.preemiecare.org/LungsTrees03-4.pdf

Preventing the spread of RSV is very difficult. Thus, we must be vigilant about keeping our children safe during RSV season (October through April). The virus is spread through physical contact, in the air via a cough or sneeze, or by touching an infected object. The virus can live as long as six hours on hands and up to twelve hours on objects, and it spreads very easily, especially from child to child. Studies have also shown that infants pose an even higher risk of spreading RSV to others. You may ask, “Can’t they fight it off and build up their immune system? Kids need to get sick, right?” The simple answer is NO. Since our babies were pre-term, they did not acquire the necessary immunities to fight off infection. If they contract RSV, they could be hospitalized and develop serious complications or death.

We’ll be asking our visitors to follow a few guidelines to help prevent the babies from contracting RSV or any other illness.

We ask that all visitors do the following:

1. When you arrive, please wash your hands and use hand-sanitizer as needed before touching the babies.

2. Please get a flu shot.

3. Please refrain from coming over if you are currently sick and have not been symptom-free for at least 5 days, if you live with someone who is sick, or have been in close contact with someone who is sick.

4. If you smoke, we ask that you change your clothing and refrain from smoking prior to visiting, as a preemie’s lungs are very sensitive to smoke. Most RSV sites recommend against passive smoke exposure

5. If you are parents to a baby or toddler, please refrain from bringing them to our house during RSV season.

Unfortunately we will not be attending many events during RSV season. Our goal is to make it through this and the next RSV seasons without the babies contracting RSV or any other serious illness. Their lungs are still very fragile until they are 2-years-old.

Please understand that this letter is not meant to offend anyone, just simply to provide an explanation. We hope you understand, and we appreciate your help keeping our babies safe. We are also providing several resources with additional information about RSV below.

http://www.preemiecare.org/rsv_resourceshtm.htm http://www.preemiecare.org/rsvfaq.htm http://www.preemiecare.org/rsv2.htm http://www.mostonline.org/preemieBB/viewforum.php?f=82

With Much Love,

The Hill Family

i got it out for a certain grocery store

Oh I am so mad.

Greg and I went to "Big Bird" last night to buy baby food. Well needless to say we spent a lot of money in formula. We always go to "Big Bird" to buy it so that way we get the fuel perks. Last night when we got there we realized that we left the "Big Bird" card at home. Greg goes up to the the counter and waits on the cashier. The cashier looks at us standing there and turns to continue her conversation with another employee. Well we waited for about 5 mins (no lie, I was pissed to say the least) When she finally comes over she's mad at us because we interrupted her conversation. She gets Greg's ID and looks up the #, which is taking forever. She tells us it's because he has a common name. OK I'll give her that, but why didn't she just put in the drivers license #? She gives us a temporary card. We buy the things we need. She rings us up and tells us we have .60 cents off. Well a few days before we had 1.35. So if we didn't use it, where is it? I go home and look up our points on their website and realize that cranky old lady wrote down the wrong #!!!


So I called tonight, the girl told me that Customer Service is closed call back tomorrow and talk to them to see if they can fix it. But in her "professional opinion" there is nothing they can do, nor will they let me use the # they put it on because it's not OUR card. I'm not sure why I'm so mad, but darn it. That's the whole reason we go there is for the "gas bonuses" I buy all our groceries somewhere else, unless they have a good sale. I purposely go to "Big Bird" to buy formula and baby food just for those fuel perks. You figure $1000.00 a month in baby food and formula, that really adds up and helps with gas. I swear to you I think I may explode tomorrow if they don't fix it!!! Arghhh!

I swear it's always something!