March for Babies

As we approach September, we are only about 50 days away from a very important event that is special to our family- the March of Dimes- March for Babies. This is an annual fundraiser/walk to help raise money for the March of Dimes. The March of Dimes is committed to helping find cause/cures for premature babies. The research that they have done has helped so many babies survive and we couldn't be more thankful for their continued philanthropy and dedication to the cause.

We feel so blessed to have Robinson in our lives. We feel committed to helping the March of Dimes so that hopefully another family might not have to experience the roller coaster of prematurity. This last year and has been both so rewarding, but also so terrifying at times. It has made us stronger and closer as a family and we are so grateful for all of the obstacles that Robinson has overcome.

There is a link over to the side of this blog. If you feel that you would like to make a donation in Robinson's honor, we thank you. All you have to do is click on his picture and it will take you to our donation page. Please feel free to pass along to family and friends. We will be walking on Oct. 24th. If anybody would like to join our team and walk with us that morning, please just email me and I'll let you know the specifics.

I normally do not feel comfortable asking for donations, however, this is truly a unique not for profit organization and I BELIEVE in everything that they are trying to accomplish. Thanks in advance for listening and always supporting our family. We truly could not have made it through this last year without the love and support of our family and friends!

1st Haircut

Robinson had his 1st haircut on Sunday, Aug. 23rd. We drove down to Rosemary's and she was kind enough to cut his hair for us. Rosemary is my brother's mother in law (aka Rachelle's mom ) :) She has done our family's hair for years and also did my hair for my wedding. She was so patient with Robinson and did a fantastic job. Robinson behaved really well- he just kept turning around wondering what she was doing back there! haha


He is officially walking, although only a few steps at a time. I'm hoping to get a video this weekend. His vocabulary is really expanding too. He now says "dada", "mama", "hey", "uh oh", and "dog"...he's also starting to say "no."- this should be fun :)

Enjoy the pictures from his haircut, and yes, I saved a curl of hair for the baby book...

We were cracking up at his facial expressions..

Look at all of that hair- we were OVER due for a hair cut, but Mommy just kept putting it off

The finished product. He looks so grown up!

Another Child? Adopt? Or One and Done??

This is sort of a Robinson related post in that the question of whether he will have a sibling has become a serious discussion. We basically have three options:

1. Have no more children and let Robinson be an only child

2. Adopt

3. Try to have another child- biologically

This is a very hard and serious discussion for Rian and I. The only reason I feel the need to blog about said subject is that I know other preemie and PreE/HELLP mothers who read my blog and you find strength, solace and justification sometimes in reading the thoughts of others.

I don't necessarily mind the thought of Robinson being an only child except that I had always hoped for a large family. Rian and I had always said definitely 2, maybe 3 children. We both come from families of 3 and have greatly enjoyed having siblings and large Holiday family gatherings. I feel like I would be depriving Robinson of the joy of having a brother and/or a sister. My brothers have brought so much fun and laughter in my life and I can not imagine a day without them...I would love for Robinson to feel that bond as well.

Adoption is a definite option. International adoption has become somewhat more difficult in recent years. Guatemala is not accepting any applications and Russia and China are accepting very few. Domestic adoption is an excellent option. There is always the cost involved, but there are thousands of children in this world that need good, loving homes and we feel like we have a lot of love to give. It makes no difference to me whether the child comes from my belly or someone else because they will most definitely be in my heart from the very first day.

If having a biological child were easily predictable, this would probably be our go to option. However, I just had my yearly physical with my OBGYN. My blood pressure was great 120/70 (and we all know how anxious I get at the doctor). I still am about 30 pounds overweight, which is difficult for me. They did A TON of bloodwork (4 vials!) and everything seems in order except my hormones are still kind of out of whack. My liver enzymes are finally back in the norm, etc. My doctor said that the hormones are probably delaying the weight loss and just to keep at it and it would come off. The good news is that I had lost ~15 pounds from my appt in Feb. so at least it IS coming off- although it's slower than molasses. My point of all of this is, it has taken me a loooong time to bounce back from PreE and HELLP. Much longer than it should have been. I probably pushed myself too hard at first. I was back at work 1.5 weeks after being discharged from the hospital and then would spend a couple of hours every night at the NICU and longer on the weekends plus wake up in the middle of the night to call the NICU and check on Robinson. It has obviously taken a physical and emotional toll on me. I honestly do not know if I can go through it again. If I were to get pregnant, I have about 75% chance of the PreE recurring. With my first time happening at 26 weeks, it's a toss up about how much further I could go. Most of the time, the onset is later, but seriously, later than 26 weeks could be 30 weeks- STILL very premature with lots of NICU time, etc. Not to mention, that I would be older. My blood pressure took almost a year to go down and I'm still on very low dose beta blocker. I don't want to end up with chronic hypertension or worse- I could have a stroke if it got high enough. I have Robinson and Rian to think about now that I'm aware of what could happen. Also, I would most likely be put on some form of bed rest- especially if I make it to the 3rd trimester. How am I supposed to be on bed rest with a toddler that is as active as my little man- there is no way. Plus, if we have NICU time again, that's time at night and on the weekends when one of us would be away from Robinson. I'm babbling, I know...I just need to get some of these thoughts out of my head. I'm having nightmares again- Robinson's 1st birthday was hard on me. It brought back a lot of memories and issues that I hadn't really dealt with before and I really don't know if I could handle them again. I'm a ball of anxiety just thinking about the situation.

So, as you could probably guess, we are leaning towards domestic adoption right now. We will revisit the subject next Spring- hopefully once I have lost this weight (being overweight increases the chances of recurrence) and get back to healthy again. I want to be off all medications and still not having any issues before I begin the thought process again. Although there is a part of me that truly believes this is God's will. I don't know that we would have thought about adoption had my pregnancy gone so well. Maybe this is God's way of pointing us in the direction of a child that needs us and that we need as well. I have dreams lately of a me running to try to protect a child that I can never find- maybe God is just showing me the right path.

And so to bring a little smile to your face...the latest picture of our little man- he is a handsome little guy!!

12 Month Appointment/Professional Pictures

Once again, I find myself apologizing for not updating the blog in a while! Robinson becomes more mobile each and every day and it doesn't leave a lot of computer time. haha Plus, we've been trying to get out the house as much as possible and we don't really have a lot of down time. Mommy is exhausted.. :)

We had Robinson's 12 month well baby check a couple of weeks ago. He was 22 pounds, 29 3/4 inches long and his head circumference was 46 cm. This puts him in the 50th percentile!!! woohoo...His pediatrician is beyond impressed with him and she told me to stop stressing about his weight- his good! This really was great news because at his 9 month appt, he was in the 30th percentile so he's jumped up quite a bit. That's huge news, especially for a preemie. Usually once they get on the charts, they are still on the lower end for a few years.

Developmentally, he continues to amaze us. He can stand un assisted now; cruises with just one hand lightly touching things and can take 2-3 steps all by himself! So I guess, technically he's walking, but I think it's more official when he can take several steps on his own- he's very close though.

Eating is going well. We started whole milk. He likes it, but prefers it in a sippy cup- won't drink it in a bottle (who would've thought). He gets milk in the morning and night now and then 1-2 more bottles of formula depending on how hungry he is. We still do a mix of table food/puree food, but he's getting much better. Breakfast is yogurt and oatmeal, or a blueberry waffle with pieces of banana. Lunch is cheese (his new favorite food) with some deli meat, and dinner is usually whatever we are having- he loves Mexican food! He still doesn't eat large quantities of table food, so I supplement with the purees for nutrition since he doesn't drink a lot of formula anymore. He loves a juice box and is so cute drinking out to the straw. I find that they are much more travel friendly and I can get them in little 4 ounce quantities instead of trying to carry several sippy cups around.

He communicates more now too. He says 'da da' and looks at Rian, so we think he realizes what he says. He goes "oh" and "hey"...and if he notices you aren't paying attention to him, he'll walk over to you and put his face in your face and say "HEY"...it's hilarious! He's quite funny and we think he's going to have a good sense of humor.

Here are some professional pictures that we had taken of Robinson a few weeks ago. They turned out really well and his facial expressions just crack us up! Rian says he gets that from me!


ENJOY!!