Thanks by the Letters: S

Smiles!!!

I just love seeing my babies smile. Ella smiles and those blue eyes just twinkle. Alex is usually hamming it up or sticking out his tongue... but Max's smiles just light up the room. Look at this boy! It's a thrill to see him so happy and silly after all he's been through. He deserves to have this much fun!!!



Surgeons:

I can't leave out these medical marvels. We were lucky enough to have two wonderful surgeons on "Team Max" during his NICU stay.

Dr. Miller was the surgeon who swooped in and repaired his PDA (heart valve) when he was just a few days old. He had to tell us if something went wrong with this surgery, it would be catastrophic and Max would not survive. We were terrified and I can't imagine saying that over and over every day. He came out with THRILLING news. Max's blood pressure had improved dramatically from the surgery, and he was doing even better than expected. I guess that makes it all worth it...

Dr. Schropp, was like a myth for weeks for me. He was consulted on the phone when Max was 5 days old and needed the emergency drain in his abdomen to drain poop from inside his belly. He apparently saw Max several time... but we never met him. We waited the 6 weeks, and when the drain worked, but the bowel didn't heal, the doctors told us we'd need another surgery. Call me protective, but I was INSISTING I needed to see and speak to and ask questions of this mystery man. I had 3 pages... 23 questions and follow-ups to ask... and Dr. Schropp made time to come in and meet with both Troy and I one evening, after surgeries. It was about 6 p.m. and I"m sure he was ready to go home... but he sat there with the nurse and NNP and let me ask everything on my list. He had answers and sometimes they were scary, often it was, "I won't know until we get in there and see the damage." But he talked us through everything and when we were done, I knew this was the next step in saving Max. We'd tried everything else... the option now was to find out what damage had been done to his bowel and fix it, or let him continue to go with out food and starve to death. I told Dr. Schropp, "I realize you do these surgeries all the time, and it's no big deal... but I only have 1 baby in the NICU and for me, it's HUGE! I've done my research and my job in learning all I can about what's happening and what we can do. Now I'm handing it over to you, and I want my boy back when you're done." Dr. Schropp operated on Max 3 times after that, exploring his bowel and creating and ostomy.... then reversing that ostomy when the bowel had healed, and finally to repair his double hernias and preform his circumcision. We saw him just once after leaving the NICU. When he saw how Max had grown, how happy and healthy he looked, how Max SMILED at him, he was overcome. He kept telling all the residents and nurses "You have no idea how sick this baby was. It's a miracle to see him like this!" I was so happy to have him see Max this way, after all his wonderful work to save Max's life.

Starbucks:

What can I say... I could not have survived with out my non-fat chai latte and a slice of pumpkin bread.

Sarah:

We love miss Sarah! She's our favorite nurse/babysitter/friend. She came to stay with the kids several times, she cleaned, took them on play dates to movies and Deanna Rose and more and rarely let me pay her! She taught the infant CPR class Troy and I had to take before Max came home, and guess what... she's the only sitter I've left Max with so far... so we can go to events at Ella's school and keep him from the germs. We love you Sarah and we are so blessed to have you with our children!

Shannon:

The unsung hero of Max's donated breast milk. Shannon is Nicole's wonderful husband and he is Lilli and Addilyn's Daddy. When Nicole and Shannon brought the milk up to the NICU for us, it was only the second time we'd seen him, but he was so comfortable with us, and more importantly, with Max. It had to be so hard for them to be back in that room, where Lilli had spent so many days, and we all shared a moment, knowing how much we'd been through, how hard this is when you're living it 24/7 and how, but for the grace of God, we could have been in their shoes.

Nicole and I were both in tears of course... and Shannon broke down too. It was wonderful to see and I think it helped Troy to finally let go and cry with us. He hadn't cried with me. He would cry in the car while running errands or in the shower... but for all of us to cry together... knowing we had all lived this nightmare in the NICU... was so important for Troy and I. Troy is always the strong one, "the Rock" but sometimes, I needed him to help me by showing his emotions too. I felt like I was all over the place... and I needed to know that his was riding the same roller coaster and that once in awhile... he'd plummet.

Thank you Shannon for being man enough to cry with us and show us that when it comes to your baby, it's okay to be as emotional as you want. Thank you for supporting Nicole for all those weeks while she was pumping and caring for Lilli. Thank you for agreeing to the donation and for helping to get those 4 coolers to us. You're a wonderful Daddy and we can't wait to meet your beautiful daughter next year!