What A Journey

Tonight, to fight off the boredom, I went back into our blog archive and read the boys' story, from the day they were born until shortly after we brought them home. What a blast from the past! Here are some of the things that struck me:

• The boys were tiny. And by tiny, I mean TIIIIIIIIIINY. No two ways around it.
• Ridiculous as it might seem, I still feel a touch of guilt when I look back at the pictures of the boys right after they were born. They were so tiny, so helpless, so...not ready to be out in the world yet. I would have withstood twice as much pain as I was already in, if it had meant being able to keep them inside me just a while longer.
• And yet, despite that, here wasn't a single day that I posted anything negative about the boys' development in the NICU. Every single day was something positive. Really and truly, they did nothing but improve and never once had those backslide days that we were warned about. What a miracle!
• It's easy to forget just how much went into getting them ready to come home, and how much exhaustion we experienced.
• For example, I had pretty much forgotten the nights after we brought the boys home, when neither of them would sleep unless they were in their carseats and we took shifts sitting up with them all night in their nursery. Thank goodness for Hulu!
• Or as another example, I think I had repressed the memory of the nights we spent with the boys in the room-in rooms in the NICU. I shudder to remember those nights. If I never have to go through that again, it will be too soon. Needless to say, having the boys sleeping in a seperate room is a gooood thing...they're noisy little sleepers!
• We have it SO easy now! I don't think either Nathan or I have come close to the complete meltdowns that we had early on after bringing the boys home. And a big part of that, I believe, is the fact that the boys are still sleeping 7-9 hours every night, non-stop. It's heaven, I tell you. Heaven.
• There has been no greater adventure in my life than being Levi and Asher's mommy. And it's just beginning!

I just realized that I haven't posted any updates on Asher's hearing. Since writing that initial post, we've noticed Asher reacting to other things, but they usually have to be pretty loud. We're wondering if perhaps his ears are slightly plugged with wax, as both he and Levi produce a TON of wax on a daily basis. I did call their doctor and talked to the nurse, who asked if we'd be ok with the staff nurse, our friend Jacque, taking a look at him when we take the boys in for their Synagis appointment in a few days. Since another couple of days really isn't going to make any difference, we figured that would be just fine. So we'll keep you posted on that!

The only other thing I have to say:

Thank goodness my shift is over in an hour!