Duke ICN Reunion

Zachary and I attended our first ICN reunion on Saturday. I was really hoping to see his primary nurse, but either she was off or sleeping off the night shift she had just finished. Hopefully we'll catch her the next time we're at Duke. It was wonderful seeing all of our old nurses and ICN roomies. We still keep in touch with a couple of the families, but seeing them in person again was icing on the cake. There were families among families among more families there. Big Bird and Elmo made guest appearances too! I'm happy to report that all of our friends are doing well and thriving. I got to love on each of the LB triplets and of course Mr. Gavin. Zachary pulled out his tricks and impressed. We got to see all of the doctors we've come to love and trust our baby's lives with.

As I was driving down 147 deja vu kicked in. I have traveled down that stretch of highway more times than I ever care to. I've parked in that parking deck more times than I ever care to and I've definitely walked the tunnel far more times than I ever want to in my natural life. I cannot tell you how thrilled, elated, excited (fill in your happy word) I am that I no longer have to take a slight right off the elevator on the 5th floor, down a short corridor into the ICN where I can still hear Patrick (oh you sweet and wonderful man!) say, "Nurse for Perry. Can Mom come back?" Thank you JESUS we're home healthy and happy!

I do look forward to next year's reunion. I'm sure I'll still feel the same way about 147, the parking garage, the tunnel and so on. I will be forever grateful to the nurses and doctors who took superb care of my little guy. Lord knows we prayed over them enough. Thankfully those prayers were heard.

Until next time Duke ICN, take care of those babies so we can marvel over how wonderful they are doing next year at this time.

PS. Baby Bryce was born at a whopping 1 lb 1 oz (which means he was oz at one point in time) last year. He is now a happy 15 lb boy and cute on top of that! Way to go Bryce!

I didn't get this baby's name, but her family traveled 150 miles each time they came to visit. Hopefully the Ronald McDonald house hooked them up, but 150 MILES!

Picture to follow. I've got to download them.

1 Year Later

It was exactly one year that Baby Boy Perry and I were admitted to Duke. I wrote this shortly after we made it safely to our home away from home. It's hard to believe a whole year has passed. In some ways the year was extremely slow and in others it flew by in jet speed style. I can remember sitting in my doctor's office listening to her tell me what was going on and what exactly the outcome would be for Baby Boy Perry. She was very blunt, which I appreciated, but it stung like a thousand bee stings. She gave him little to no chance of survival if he was born any time soon. Thankfully someone bigger and better was in complete control. Today, I have a fantastically beautiful, happy (oh so happy!) and wonderful son. He has in his short (almost 11 months) of life defied many odds.

Zachary Ryan, I love you more than you will ever know. There is no way you will be able to comprehend my love for you. We stuck it out and came out on top! We're still on a roll and I love it.

Love,
Mommy

PS. You're really making me nervous with the sounds of da da. Can it, brother! Ma ma better roll off that tongue first!

Boston Bound

This past weekend Robbie and I went to Boston for a little time away. Normally we'd go somewhere beachy, but I had a business trip in Boston on Monday and Tuesday, so we made a weekend of it. We arrived Friday night (after a plane delay at RDU) famished. Starving. Hungry. We arrived at our hotel around 9:45/10:00pm. We learned that our hotel was one of the sites for the "craigslist killer". Comforting. Anywho... we dropped our mess off in the room (27th floor with a fantabulous view) and headed out for Newbury Street. Newbury Street is home to many upscale stores and some pretty good eats. We decided on Stephanie's on Newbury and we got to eat outside amongst the tree lit street. It was really nice. Robbie dined on a pork chop and I had their mac and cheese. Both meals were great! It hit the spot. We also had their cheesecake, which really made my mouth and tummy happy. We crashed shortly after dinner.

Saturday morning we woke up to beautiful skies and a little bit of heat (low 70's). We knew we wanted to see all of the city. Robbie hooked us up with the Trolly Tour (yes, we acted like tourists). The nice thing about the trolly was we got dropped off at different spots and were able to walk around at our leisure and then catch the next trolly. The biggest action taking place in Boston was the pride parade. Lord have mercy! It was something to behold. We did quite a bit of people watching that's for sure. That night for dinner we headed down to North End. I received quite a few recommendations on where to eat. We decided on Strega. It did not disappoint. I had lobster stuffed ravioli with crab meat in a pink sauce. Holy moly it was delicious! We decided against dessert and trekked our way back to the hotel. Day 2 came to an end and we crashed.

Sunday the skies were cloudy and the weather was chilly. Robbie and I ate brunch before he headed back to the metropolis of FV. I was sad to see him leave. I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. I ended up walking to the mall and scouring all of their stores. I didn't buy anything simply because I couldn't afford the tax on some of the clothing items. Sheesh! I did, however, purchase one of the books in the Twilight series. We've seen Twilight. Really good movie. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I picked up New Moon and could not put it down. I stayed up until 12:30 a.m. or so reading. I finished the book yesterday and picked up Eclipse. I'm halfway through with Eclipse Guess I better get the next one today. So Sunday was spent reading, exercising and just enjoying a little bit of freedom. No kids, no hubs. I dined at Cheesecake Factory all by myself and it was nice. I read and ate. Good stuff!

Monday morning rolled around and I had clients to see. I got to navigate my way through the train system. I met up with my manager and we tackled my Boston clients in one day. We took it by storm. That night we dined at McCormick and Scmick's. Food was good, service was abysmal. Right off the bat our server got an attitude because we didn't order a $14.00 mojito. Seriously? Get over it! We did order dessert, which was delicious. I got crab legs that were Y to the UMMY. I miss good crab legs. Got back to the room, worked some and then devoted the next 4 hours to reading. I didn't go to bed until 1:30 a.m.

Tuesday, my last day in the city. We met with another client all day. It was a good meeting, but oh so tiring. At this point all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around my 2 cute monkeys. It's been 4 days since I've seen them. I was due many hugs and kisses. The boys did not disappoint when I rolled in the house at 8:30pm. Andrew was waiting for me in the garage. This is what he said to me, "AHHHH I'm Wolverine! Ooooh Mommy I missed you (followed by lots of kisses and hugs). Mommy you're so pretty. I love you." The best homecoming ever! I get upstairs to see my other boys. Robbie and Zachary are playing. I call out to Zachary and he immediately starts giggling. Robbie puts him down and he cannot crawl over to me fast enough. He crawls in my arms and loves on me for a good 30 minutes. Oh my goodness! I missed that little man so! His newly acquired skill... clapping.

I'm glad to be home. There are days when I think I'd love to live in another state. I know now that is not the case. I am home. I am where I belong. I love the hustle and bustle of a big city. I wouldn't mind public transportation (not the DATA bus), but I love the ease of home. I love our accents and the fact we pronounce our "R's". I love the weather we have. I love blazing hot weather and the summer nights we have. I love that sometimes we get snow and that winter could actually be cool instead of cold. I love sweet tea and hush puppies. They don't grasp the concept up north. I love home.

Early Arrival

Welcome little Nate! Jill and Chad Goodrich welcomed Nathaniel (Nate) Bryan Goodrich on June 7th at 8:38pm. Nate decided to be an early bird and arrive 11 weeks early (29 weeks 1 day). He came in at a fighting 3.8lbs and 15 3/4 inches. Mom and baby are doing well. Please pray for Nate, his doctors and nurses, and his mommy and daddy. Thankfully he is breathing on his own. Pray he continues to do so and his feeds go well.

If you'd like to check up on Nate click here.

Give Away

I love when people give me stuff. It's wonderful! Precious and Pink is hosting a giveaway this week. She is giving away a Scout Junque Trunk in black and white. What a fantastic way to stay organized. Check out her blog and enter to win the Scout Junque Trunk.