Cole gets the green light!

We've had another busy week and it has been all about Cole!  He had his Early Intervention appointment last week followed by a meeting with Loudoun County for his intake to determine if he is eligible for public preschool next Fall.  The appointment went well and resulted in a plan for the next few months.  We will have two evaluations prior to his eligibility meeting on May 6th.  He will meet with a vision specialist and an OT in March to determine what delays he has and whether specialists in a classroom setting could help better prepare him for Kindergarten. 

I was asked to speak at the INOVA Fairfax Hospital March of Dimes Kickoff event.  Although the story is still difficult to share, I do think it gets easier each time.  As I looked across the room of 100 people I knew nurses from several departments of the hospital from my numerous stays there.  Not only Cole in the NICU, but Reagan in the PICU and my stay on the HRP floor.  The resounding message was, "it DOES make a difference when you raise money for the March of Dimes.  My family and my children are a living testament."  We were also invited to the official March of Dimes Kickoff at Nationals Park President's Club.  It was great seeing so many sponsors and supporters gathered to help babies. 

Many families who have babies living in the NICU have received a blanket from Peg Brown.  Although I never met her, you can see the blanket she made for Cole when he was in the hospital.  She donated 1,000 blankets to babies in need since 1994 and estimated it took about 10 hours to make each blanket.  Unfortunately she died of cancer last week.  What a wonderful legacy she has left behind with so many families, including our own.  Our prayers go out to her family.

We love keeping in touch with the nurses and doctors who have taken such amazing care of our babies.  Thank goodness for Facebook!  We were able to meet with one of Cole's nurses from the NICU today.  She hasn't changed a bit, but he's growing like a weed!  We enjoyed having lunch with Stephanie.  Sweet Water is becoming a bit of a tradition for us.

We also had an appointment with Cole's neurologist today, Dr. Lavenstein.  He is very pleased with Cole's progress.  He is finally 23 pounds!  Dr. Lavenstein gave us a green light to take a year off until his next appointment!  I remember getting that green light for Reagan and thinking, "this is finally behind us".  It was such a huge relief feeling like she was stable enough to not walk through the revolving door at the Children's outpatient center.  Of course it was only a few months after that appointment that she started having seizures again.  I asked if Cole had a higher probability of seizures as his brain develops and he said, "of course, he has a foreign object in his brain."  It's always in those moments that I marvel at how much I want to forget.  How much I want the past to be just that - the past.  And then I realize, this isn't a skinned knee or a broken arm.  There will never be a moment where I will be able to say, "this is finally behind us."  And so we carry on, loving our little ones more with every day and being thankful for every day that there isn't something wrong.  And with that, we start planning for March....which is all about Reagan!

We don't have another doctor's appointment for two months.  As you know, we do have 12 therapy appointments for Reagan at UVA in March, and two evaluations and one therapy session for Cole.  I look forward to sending updates from Charlottesville where Reagan and I are "going on vacation."  Not exactly the beach or Disney, but I'm getting her excited none-the-less!