Two Months and a New Audience

Happy two months, Brady and Cohen! I actually started this post on the 24th when they turned 2 months, but with the craziness of life, I'm just getting to it now. Ah well. That's life!

Photo curtesy of Rodney and Brad. Look at those adorable chubby cheeks and baby rolls!

Rodney was in Minnesota a little over a week ago and brought all the frozen milk I had back home for the babies. Since then, with the aid of the supplements and whatever else I'm doing, I'm pumping around 56ish ounces a day. My freezer is getting full again! Yes! 

Even with this pretty decent supply and pumping régime, I have fallen victim to the dreaded clogged milk duct. Ouch! In case you haven't had this interesting experience, it basically feels like a painful bruise in the tissue. Remedies for this include pumping more often, heat compresses to the site, gentle massage while pumping, and making sure the ducts are fully drained with each pumping. Easy, right? Yeah... Just one more thing to add to this crazy life!

Why is life so crazy for me right now, you ask? Well, last week my director at work decided that I would be better used at our newly acquired site, Central Baptist Child Development Center, soon to be renamed SonShine Central. This new school has been in existence for 60 years, however, due to poor choices of their previous director, our organization was asked to take over the school. Hence, the need to get some of our teachers who know the way SonShine operates in to the new center and my new trek to the 'hood.

With learning a new, huge location, students, and staff, it's been so interesting to me to get to know the new area. I've told my coworkers about past ages I've taught and that I'm just back from maternity leave as of two weeks ago. Since they know nothing about me, the whole "delivered twins two months ago" has been a bit of a surprise to many.

I'm still choosing to pump in my car, as it just easier for set up and privacy. Another teacher saw me enter the building after pumping. I was carrying my small cooler with the fresh milk to put in the fridge and she asked if that was my lunch. Nope, not mine, but lunch for the babies! 

My milk transport system, aka milk cooler.

I think most of the Central staff doesn't really know what to think of me. What kind of lady transfers to a new school in the inner city from the 'burbs? And throw in the whole "gave away" two babies and I must be a total lunatic! Like I said, I think I'm regarded as an odd entity to most. I can deal with that. My husband and a coworker said this sounds like a made-for-tv Lifetime movie! "...after delivering twins for a childless couple, the middle class Caucasian woman goes in to an inner city school to help turn it around by using organization, paint, tough love, and stickers." Grab your Kleenex and stay tuned!

Well, until Lifetime, TLC, or Hallmark call me for movie rights to my story, I'll stick to blogging and sharing my story to interested individuals. And what a wonderful story I have to share about two amazing miracles!

Another Critic

I seem to be collecting people who feel its their right to express judgement or criticism toward me regarding surrogacy. Seriously, why is it right to let me know that someone is not supportive of me or of surrogacy in general? You'd think that by this time, after the babies are born and safely in their parent's arms in a far away state, any criticism would be a moot point by now. Apparently, I was mistaken about this. 

Once again, it was someone who is fairly close to me and my family who brought up the subject tonight, and once again, this person decided to tell me that they were against surrogacy and my particular situation. This time, however, the individual decided to involve the kids in the conversation. I don't mean my kids were present as we talked, but more along the lines of "how are you explaining all of this to your children?" and "have you considered what it will be like for the babies (this person refuses to use any names of individuals involved, for some reason) as they grow up? How is this whole situation going to be explained to them?" 

Ah, the questions... I answered my critic's questions honestly. My girls have been involved and have been given age appropriate information as needed or requested. My girls absolutely love Rodney and Brad and think the babies are wonderful. Apparently this individual still believes that if you don't expose your children to non-traditional situations, they don't exist for them. You know, like if we lived in the country or I was sheltering the girls just a bit more they would never need to know what surrogacy is. Yeah... 

As for Brady and Cohen, I told the critic that as far as I know, when they ask they will be given age appropriate information regarding their birth, they will hopefully know me and understand my role in their arrival, and as for their upbringing, well, that is for their parents to decide and of which I have full confidence that Brad and Rodney will do their absolute best, like most parents would. I don't see how the small fact of not birthing ones own child would play into being a sub-par parent... If anyone can explain that to me, I would love to have help understanding that one. And this critic is in favor of adoption, so the whole not the birth parent argument really isn't a valid one, if you ask me. Is it just because the embryos were created in a lab rather than the old fashioned way? I think that just opens up a whole other can of worms... Is it because I'm not married to the babies' father? (seriously, can of worms opening... I'll stop hypothesizing now.)

My favorite part of the whole conversation was "I'm not judging, I'm just trying to understand how you could be a part of something like this." Hmm, I think I need to send this person the definition of "judging." 

The conversation ended with "how are you doing since they took the babies and went home?" (emphasis on the "took.")  My response was something along the lines of "I'm doing really well! The first couple days were tough, of course, but I still keep in touch with all of them and seeing pictures of the babies helps. I've been busy and I miss being able to just meet for dinner and to chat, but I can always text and say hi. Things are good! I'm excited to go visit them in the near future!" (Shawn and I are making plans for a long weekend visit.) "Oh, and I'm going to be a surrogate again!" (Not today, sometime after I'm all healed and Shawn and I are ready to talk about the process again.)

With that proclamation, the subject was changed and our conversation was essentially over. 

I'm all for questions, but the tone and the thoughts behind the questions kind of steer how I will answer the questions. If someone really is curious, of course I answer their questions candidly and honestly. If someone is being judgmental or just nosey, my flippant, sarcastic responses come out. That's just me. 

I feel sorry for this critic. I had guessed their response was going to be something like this, which is why I chose not to be too involved with them this past year. Honestly, I tried to surround myself with positive people who would be my support and cheering section throughout this journey, which is why I didn't associate with them much as of late. I really am okay with people not agreeing with my decision. This isn't for everyone. I totally get that. But, because of this person's attitude and words, they are missing out on sharing some really awesome events in the lives of my family. Seriously, how much better can life get than seeing two adorable miracles! 

(Thanks for the pic, Rodney!)

         

A Quick Visit

Friday morning Rodney and I were texting back and forth and he mentioned that he needed to come up here this weekend. So, Saturday afternoon, the girls and I picked him up from the airport and spent some time with him. I had two very excited little girls! 

The girls love going to the park, so we drove to one of their favorites, "Chutes and Ladders" for some play time. As we were walking toward the play area, Natalie was already trying to talk Rodney into climbing the structure with her. Thankfully, this park allows and encourages adult participation, and Rodney was game, so off and up the two of them went! 

After a couple of hours of play, we all went to the MOA for dinner. Shawn was working and he was able to take his lunch break while we were there. We all enjoyed a good visit over dinner. 

It was so nice to see Rodney. Annalies said that she hasn't seen Rodney in "a very long time!" I reminded both of them that actually, Rodney, Brad and the babies have been gone for less than two weeks. (Natalie didn't believe me.) But, I agree, it does feel like it has been a very long time! 

I did tease that the reason Rodney wanted to make the trip was so he could get a night of uninterrupted sleep without having to wake every couple of hours to feed Brady or Cohen. :-) I remember being a new parent and not getting much sleep. I can totally relate to thinking I would give almost anything for just 8 hours in a row of sleep! (actually, I was saying that just a few months ago. Between getting up for the bathroom or one of my kids needing something, 8 hours was a far away dream!)

Before Rodney began the drive home, he stopped over to our house for another quick visit. I was able to send with him two coolers full of frozen milk. I think the 1200 ounces, give or take, will tide them over for a little while. If not, well, there's more where all of that came from! 

Milk production is still going well. I've been pumping around 64 oz a day right now, but I was encouraged to add a supplement to my diet to attempt to increase that a bit. Last week I started with a tea three times a day, this week I was to add fenugreek supplements to my diet. So, they were started today. I'm amused by these little capsules. According to various literature, the side effects of this particular supplement are "maple syrup smelling." You read that right, I may start smelling like maple syrup. Of all the side effects in the world, I think I can deal with smelling like maple syrup! I did warn Rodney about this particular side effect. It is possible that the babies might smell like maple syrup as well. So other than not wanting pancakes for a while, I'm not seeing much of a downside to this supplement! Since I've only had a couple of doses of the fenugreek, I'm not seeing a change in my production yet. I'm going to be watching over the next week or so to see if anything changes. 

It was so very nice to have a visit with Rodney. I was definitely able to deal with today's goodbye much better than the last time they left the state. Yeah, last time was really not pretty...  

Shawn and I are trying to work out the logistics of a possible trip at the end of July/early August. Hopefully things will work out for Shawn to be able to go to his conference and then we would spend a few days with their family after he's done geeking out. If not, I will find some other way to go visit. :-) 

Today, we sent Rodney on his way with lots of hugs and instructions to give Brad and the boys hugs, too. Just thinking about the wonderful, small miracles he has waiting for him back home makes me smile. 

Back to Work

Today is officially my second day back at work since having the babies. I'm amused that word got out yesterday that I'm back and today I've had many coworkers and parents stop and ask about the babies. I'm amazed at some of the questions people have had - good questions and I welcome their questions, but wow. I wasn't prepared for some of them! Of course I can be just a tad smart-alec-y and I do love messing with people a bit. :-) Here's a sample of some of the questions and my responses:

-"How do you know who each baby belongs to?" That's easy. Brady and Cohen each belong to Brad and Rodney. (Yes, I know what they are trying to ask, but I'm going to make them work for it!)

-"Why 'Brady' and 'Cohen'?" Because 'Baby #1' and 'Baby #2' were already taken. (This from a parent of children with rather "unique" names.)

-"You are pumping for the babies? How do you get the milk all of the way to them each day?" I don't. I have something like 800 ounces frozen in my freezers and I overnight it to them when they need it. Even when they were here in the Twin Cities I didn't deliver daily after their first week. Every couple of days was sufficient to meet their needs.

I freeze the milk in the little freezer. Then, I put the frozen milk in the big bags and finally put the bags in the deep freezer. They are easier to sort and then ship for me.

-"Do they (Brad and Rodney) want more kids?" I think what they want right now is sleep. Other than looking forward to the day they can get 6 hours in a row of uninterrupted sleep, I don't think they are contemplating more kids just yet. 

-"How's the pumping?" Great. Milk is still being produced, I'm giving various supplements a whirl on the advice of a lactation consultant (I know I can keep up with one baby, I'm hoping to keep up with two). I'm fearing my pump may be starting to slow down as every once in a while I have lighter suction from it. I'm really hoping it's going to make it. If not, I believe my insurance should cover another one. Hmm, maybe I should preemptively get the other one from my insurance. I'd hate to have my pump go on me when I really need it. Ouch!

-"What's it like giving birth to two babies?" A lot like giving birth to one and then doing it all again. This is usually followed by "Would you have twins again?" Technically, I don't have twins now, so... (Insert pause here) And, no, I'm not going to intentionally get pregnant with twins again.

I'm so glad my students' parents and coworkers know me. I love that they feel comfortable enough with me to ask questions. The one question I've been getting a lot from pretty much everyone is "do you miss them?" Well, yes, of course I miss them, but I am so glad with how things are right now. Brad and Rodney have the family they've wanted. My family has some amazing friends to visit in a state that's warmer than Minnesota (seriously, when are we going to get some nice weather around here!). How can I be anything but happy with the way things are for all of us? Who am I to question small miracles?

The Road to Normal and Laws

I found something rather interesting today. Two years ago on March 24th, 2012, I contacted IARC and requested information on becoming a surrogate. I had a phone interview on the 25th and was emailed information on the 26th. It's incredible all that has happened during this time! Wow! What a crazy coincidence!

The week, so far, has been long for me. The guys and the babies have been home for three days now. It's a bit odd to not have everyone just a short drive away. On Tuesday I found myself with a few spare hours to kill around my 6 week follow up appointment and my initial thought was to go visit the babies. Reality quickly took over as I realized they are no longer in their apartment or in the hospital. 

At my last OB visit for this pregnancy, I'm pleased to say that my doctor has confirmed that I am healing quite nicely from the births. She talked with me a bit about future pregnancies and what they would look like. It sounds like any future pregnancies will require some form of progesterone weekly from the 16 week mark, a bit of early checking for dilation and/or effacement, and I'm probably looking at a c-section. She is recommending that I don't intentionally carry twins again and has given me the green light for another pregnancy. Yeah!

This does not mean I have contacted the agency already with a request of them to match me again. Obviously, my body is still trying to fully recover from the bedrest and surgery. I'd like to think that I'm bouncing back pretty well, overall. I've lost all of the baby weight. I'm working on toning and getting my energy back. I'm still tired at the end of the day and really enjoy any naps I can sneak in.

Shawn is supportive of me being a surrogate again. It was a good experience for our family and he knows how much it meant to me to be able to help make a family for another. Obviously, he wants to make sure I am healthy before we go again, but he has agreed with me that in time we will try again.

So, that's good news. Health is always good. 

Tuesday afternoon I met the Attorney at the Capitol again. This time our agenda was to meet with a few Senators and Representatives and talk with them for a few minutes about the potential bills. 

Here's what I've surmised about the political system in the U.S.: it's a pain in the keester. This week both the senate and house are in full session. In theory, all of the bills that made it through different committees should be making their way to the floors to be voted on. Should they pass those votes, then they go to the govenor. Right now, our bills aren't exactly headed to the floors. They are stalled as the authors and the lobbyists are trying to see if they can either a) tack our bill on to another bill and then the floors can just make a big vote on similar bills all packaged together, or b) send just the small bills to the floors and have them vote on those.

I'm kind of disappointed that there is a major potential to just send the small bills to the floors. To refresh your memory, the small bill is just the intent of parentage part. Any individual with the intent of parentage may appear in court, regardless of their genetic ties.

Don't get me wrong, I think this is an important thing to have pass. However, this still does nothing to help the surrogate during the court process. Other surrogates will have to appear in court and give up their parental rights when they aren't the parents in the first place. And it doesn't fix the egg and embryo part of the law, either. 

Back to Tuesday. We met the lobbyist and talked about our game plan for the day. She gave us a list of individuals we should try to talk with and see where they are on the bills. She gave us a list of 4 senators and 3 representatives from both parties. I'm happy to report that the Attorney and I talked with each of the people she recommended and a couple more. All but one heartily said that yes, they will back this bill. One requested additional information to fully understand it, and the one who didn't say he could completely back it said that he'd be interested in reading about it if we would send him the information. It wasn't a no, but it wasn't a yes, either. 

I really enjoyed myself on Tuesday. I don't think that everyone believed it when the attorney told them I had twins six weeks ago. I had a couple people glance at me with a look that said "yeah, right." Of course, I would then pull up a pic of the boys from last week and that seemed to help their disbelief. I was able to tell my story several times and we would explain why this bill ment so much to me. They could see for themselves that I'm not what they may have heard about a steriotypical surrogate. 

I'm still praying this bill will pass all the way to the Govenor's desk. I'd love to see the WHOLE bill pass, but I'm realistic enough to know that probably isn't going to happen. 

After a very busy Monday and Tuesday, Annalies and I mostly stayed home Wednesday. Which was great because I went back to work today! I was planning on going back next Monday, but when I picked up Annalies on Tuesday after I was done at the Capitol the director talked with me about filling in for a couple of staff people today and tomorrow. Ah, yes. She caught me in a moment of weakness when I was tired. Of course I said yes.

Today was busy. They had me in the Infant 2 room. These are babies who are being spoon fed baby foods and are somewhere between independent sitter and almost walking. They still need a lot of help, but definitely not as much as a newborn or those in Infant 1. 

I'm able to do most of what I need to do to function in this classroom, but as I still have a weight restriction and anxiety when lifting from the floor, I mostly figured out various work arounds. Thankfully there was another adult in the room with me and the 7 babies, so she was able to pick them up from the floor for me. Once they were anywhere but the floor, I was good to go. I'm back again tomorrow in the same room, so we will see how day #2 goes!

Like I said, it's been a long week for me. I find myself catching little things that remind me of Brady and Cohen or Brad and Rodney. A few things have been: last night I stumbled across Rocco's Pizza about 2 miles away; Natalie was reading a story about "Nate's inner tube"; while at the Capitol I happen to notice one of the senators had his necktie knotted in a half Windsor knot; another baby wearing the red and white striped outfit. Like I said, they aren't big things, just little things I notice as I'm going along with my days. 

I promise I'm not as sappy as I was a few days ago. I get that I still am dealing with hormones and emotions. It's just nice to run across small reminders that make me smile.

It is time for me to wrap this up. It's pumping time and then bed for this lady. I try to get in one pumping session before bed and then I have been sleeping about 5-6 hours before I need to get up again. 

Oh, I should share a quick funny kid-ism. Natalie, my six year old, says that I pump from my "milk holders." Annalies, my almost three-year-old says that I use my pumpers to get the milk. (And yes, both of them have been told technical names for body parts, but both seem to have adopted their own slang!)

Good night, world. Take care of the small miracles.

6 Weeks, Discharged, and Good Bye

This post really should be divided into two parts. Here's the first part: Happy six weeks, Brady and Cohen! 

It's been a very busy day for the boys. After a rocky weekend, medically speaking, Cohen has finally been sprung from the hospital! 

Now that Cohen is discharged from the hospital, we took the opportunity to visit the agency and many of the people who helped us all. Many of the people Brad, Rodney, and I have worked with these past 13 + months were there today to meet the boys and wish them luck with their family and their travels. 

With Cohen's discharge from the hospital, Brad and Rodney decided that it was time to go back home. That being said, they decided to purchase tickets and just fly home instead of drive. This would get them home faster and hopefully be less hassle with two small babies. And this is where the sucky part comes in. Forgive me for the extremely unedited, emotional second half of this entry. 

Ugh, this really sucks. Now that I've stopped crying I can see enough to write, I said goodbye to the guys tonight. The morons who insist that surrogacy is purely a business transaction, i.e. "renting my uterus," or think that the only reason I did any of this was for money have absolutely no flipping clue about what happened today or the emotional part of surrogacy. The fact that I had to say goodbye to two dear friends and their miraculous babies is proof that this was way more than baby trafficking or "the baby business."

Yes, I know we all will see each other again. Shawn and I will hopefully go down to see them in their home sometime late summer/early fall. I hope that I will be able to be there for the babies' first birthday in 10 1/2 months. If everything continues to fall in place, I hope they all can come up next year when I direct my first show and they all can see Jesus Christ Superstar (in the works for next April). See, I do know that we will see each other again.

Please don't misunderstand me. I am so glad that I was able to be a help with their family. Rodney and Brad are wonderful parents to Brady and Cohen. The smiles on their faces are so big and have been amazing to see... to know that I played a part in their joy, in helping them know the blessings of having children of their own is wonderful to me. 

I am so proud of all that I've done: that I was able to give myself a freaking huge daily injection for months on end, that my body was able to handle a bevy of different medications, and then safely carry two babies for 32 weeks and bring them safely into this world. Seriously, I'm pretty much in awe of all of that. 

I really enjoyed the whole process and the past 10 months in particular. I'm not a huge fan of all of the paperwork but I'm so glad it was there for all of us. I loved the time being pregnant with all of its ups and downs, loved most of the reactions from people, and loved being able to tell people that I was a surrogate carrying for another couple. It's been amazing to see the babies with their very different personalities outside of me, and honestly, the best part has been watching Brad and Rodney with their sons. I really have loved this journey.

After all of that has been said, I know there are people who still think the reason this is tough on me is because I "gave up" the children. That isn't the case at all. They never were mine to give up. My children are right where they are supposed to be, upstairs in their beds in my home. Brady and Cohen are right where they are supposed to be, too. I am guessing that right now they are meeting their dogs and cats and getting a tour of their home before being put to sleep in their new cribs. This is how its supposed to be. 

Even though this is how its supposed to be, it doesn't mean I'm not allowed to miss them. I'm going to miss their friendship and company. I'm going to miss snuggles with the tiny boys. I'm going to miss seeing them every couple of days. I'm going to miss seeing them play with my girls. It's their friendship I'm going to miss. 

So, all of that said, this really is the final page to this journey. I'm still pumping milk for the boys (oops, I forgot to ship it tonight! I guess it will have to go tomorrow.) Tomorrow is my last official OB appointment of this pregnancy and I am sure everything will be fine. This chapter of my surrogacy journey will end and other chapters will begin. 

My advocating for surrogacy legislation is still in full swing (I am going to the Minnesota Capitol tomorrow to talk with a couple of Representatives), and in a year or so, I may be talking with the Agency about another surrogacy journey. We will see!

I'm so excited for their family and all of their new adventures they are going to have. I feel so blessed to have been a part of a miracle or two. 

Spending Time with Cohen

This morning I visited the hospital for a couple of hours. I had asked Rodney if he minded if I visited Cohen before they arrived for their morning visit. (I'm usually a morning person and they are still trying to work on the schedule of a newborn.)

When I arrived, Cohen was just starting to move around a bit, so I took the opportunity to hold him while he was waking up.

After a little while he was getting fussy, so  the nurse brought in some milk for him. To my surprise, she handed me the bottle and encouraged me to feed him.

Before I sound all wimpy and stuff, yes, I have given a bottle to many babies. However, Brady and Cohen require pacing with their feedings and I haven't given them a bottle yet. Brad told me a few days ago that Cohen was doing a fabulous job with his feedings, so that helped take some of the pressure off. Also, with just the two of us and the nurse, I was able to concentrate more on Cohen and how he was taking the bottle.

I'm glad to say that Cohen did really well and finished his bottle for me in less than 20 minutes. After he finished his bottle, I got some more snuggles in before I had to leave. 

It was so nice to spend some time with small miracles!

Pictures, Fun Visits, and a Setback

Say cheese! Today was the babies' first photo shoot! The hospital has a photographer that comes to the babies' room and takes their first itty bitty pics. The babies are itty bitty, not the pics. :-) It was fun to be there for the pictures. Having been through the whole process of taking newborn pictures, I know that it can either be a lot of fun with a content baby or a very trying time with cranky baby. Remember, we are dealing with two babies here, so it could have gone either way. I am happy to report that both of the little guys cooperated with the pics and they turned out great! I'm not going to post any of their pics here. I want Brad and Rodney to be able to share them as they see fit.

With a weekend coming up and Cohen's possible discharge (more about that later) I asked the guys if they would like me to call Dr Wagner and see if she could come over to the hospital for a visit and a picture. I had to laugh at the clinic receptionist's response to my phone call. Here's a bit of how that all transpired: 
AJ (the receptionist): Clinic Sofia, how may I help you?
Me: Hi, AJ, this is Shawnee (And yes, I have talked with her so many times I know her voice. It goes both ways, she knows me as well). I have a strange question for you. The babies I had a month ago are hopefully going to go home soon. One of them was discharged last week, the other will hopefully get to be discharged tomorrow. This means the babies will then go home to Oklahoma sometime over the weekend. My question is this, is there any way Dr Wagner could come over to the NICU so we all could get a quick picture with her before they leave the state?
AJ: (long pause)?You want who to do what?
Me: I want Dr Wagner to come over to the NICU for a quick visit with the babies and a picture if she has any time available today or tomorrow.
AJ: Hmm, I've never heard this question before. Most people just bring the babies in at their six week visit.
Me: Well, if they go home over the weekend, that won't work for us. My appointment is on Tuesday and they will be in Oklahoma by then. 
AJ: Let me talk with Dr Wagner's nurse and I will get back with you. 

I thought the whole conversation was funny. You may have had to hear her confused tone to really get the chuckle out of it. 

Anyway, Dr Wagner was able to come over during lunch to say hi and to see the babies again. It was nice to see her and to let her see the babies. Of course, we grabbed a pic with her as well. 

The "Dream Team: Minnesota." Brady is in blue, Cohen in the white.

She appropriately ooh'd and ahh'd over the boys and wished the new family well. She's been great through the entire pregnancy and was amazing during the labor and delivery. I'm very thankful she was on our side through this journey. 

I'm going to side track away from today's events for just a moment and share some happy pics from last night. We invited Brady over to his first dinner party and he kindly asked his dads to drive. After everyone with teeth enjoyed food and Brady had a nap, it was baby holding time! Shawn held Brady for the first time. He had a couple of opportunities to hold the boys while I was in the hospital and when we would go to the hospital to visit, but the small size of the boys and all of their tubes and wires was a little intimidating.

I have been reminding Shawn that our Natalie was smaller when she was born than where the boys are now. Funny how you forget how small your own children were when you are holding someone else's child! It's always nice to see your husband holding a baby, right? :-)

Of course, our girls were begging to hold Brady as well. Of course, they were well supervised and they both did a great job being gentle while holding Brady. 

Natalie was so proud to hold Brady! She loves babies and was glad she was finally allowed to touch him. Natalie had visited the hospital just a few times and was then given instructions to look but not touch. As Natalie was holding Brady, Annalies started asking "How about me?" She wanted to hold him, too. 

 As you can see, Annalies was ecstatic that she was finally allowed to touch Brady. These past 5 1/2 weeks she has accompanied me to the hospital several times a week but she hasn't been allowed to come in to the NICU and see the babies (Hospital policy that children under 5 are not allowed in the NICU). She's mostly been okay with this as Rodney would spend some time with her in the waiting room. There were a few days that she was not happy she wasn't able to go back to where the boys were, but it was because she was just anxious to see them out of my tummy. Since Brady has been out of the hospital, Annalies has seen Brady a few times in his car seat, but I've encouraged her not to touch Brady, just talk with him. Last night may have been her dream come true by actually touching Brady. It was a really nice night for all of us. 

So, back to today. After Sunday's little setback with Cohen, we all knew that he was going to be in the hospital for another 5ish days. He hasn't had any more of his apnea issues since the episode last Sunday. That being said, we all were anticipating his release tomorrow. However, today the doctor came in to talk with Brad and Rodney about Cohen's progress. Let's just say that the news she gave was not what anyone was expecting to hear. Basically, she said that Cohen needs to mature a bit more regarding his feedings and that he will be in the hospital a few more days. 

Rough, right? Little Cohen is doing really well, over all. He had his NG tube removed yesterday and looks so adorable without it! 

Cohen, tube-less!

So, even though Brad, Rodney, Shawn, and I were all anticipating Cohen's release from the NICU tomorrow and their family moving back home sometime over the weekend, plans all are being revised. Shawn and I are waiting to see what will go on with their family and then see where we can help them out. As I have said to a number of people, I am not planning on going back to work until they are all safely back at their home (no offense, SonShine, but I'm not in a big rush to go back to work).

 We all will make the best of the situation. Rodney said today that he is willing to stay as long as he needs if it means the boys are healthy. Brad, unfortunately, does have obligations at home and work that he is trying to figure out, one way or another. I've told them that I am more than willing to assist with whatever they need during this crazy time until Cohen can break out of the hospital and go home. 

That's the latest with the boys. It was a fun day with the boys, despite the unfortunate news from the doctor. I enjoyed snuggling Brady for a big chunk of the day as well, and spending time with Cohen, Rodney, and Brad is always a lot of fun. I really love spending time with small miracles!