Oh what a night..

You remember that song? "Late December back in '63 what a very special time for me" Well, I was singing that song the other morning for no reason what so ever. I don't even care for it. Cormac hears me and says "Hey, mom, it's 2010 NOT 1963" How on earth did this child realized "'63" meant the year 1963? It totally stumped me for sure. He has only been alive since 2006 so it's not like he knows the years prior. Yet another one I will never understand.

Here is Cormac saying his prayer they say before eating. He was acting a little goofy in it :)




Here is their Pledge. When they say it alone they say it much better but as a group some things get muddled. But all in all pretty darn good.



Here's Cormac just telling a story. Don't mind all the spackle on the walls..we are under construction!



Calleigh is doing much better. Other than the fact that she screams crying every time she goes to the bathroom. I am told this will get better. She has internal stitches causing pain. Along with a killer diaper rash. None like I have ever seen before. It's hard to get out of the house with her because once she does go to the bathroom the best thing is a warm bath. Can't really do that out in public.

Thanks for all the well wishes for Calleigh. She certainly needed them. Our family truly appreciates it.

The whole story...

Here's the deal on Calleigh. Let's start by saying the surgery to reverse her colostomy was a complete success. She is pooping like a champ even though she is not to thrilled about it. Her precious little tush has never been exposed to poop before so to say she has a diaper rash is an understatement. It's a full time job managing her tiney hiney!

Calleigh went into the hospital on Thursday morning. She was not allowed to eat for 24 hours prior to surgery. Yes, you read that correctly. 24 hours. Because the surgery was on her colon it needed to be empty. I also had to give her the drink people take prior to a colonoscopy to totally empty her. Poor little girl. She handled it like a champ. Never cried the entire time. She was allowed apple juice and she loved it. Kept smacking her lips together for more.

The surgery took about 3 1/2 hours. When I saw her after surgery she was already off the vent and just receiving Oxygen. Perfect. She was brought to the PICU for recovery. By Friday, she was so swollen with fluids she was unrecognizable. Between the IV fluids and the after effects if colon surgery (lots of fluids) she could not even open her eyes from so much Edema. By Saturday, she was worse and her breathing started to be labored. At one point on Saturday she stopped breathing because she just couldn't get air. They bagged her twice to bring her back. The worst day of my life. The fear you feel cannot be put into words. It changes you forever. Not sure I will ever recover from seeing every doctor and nurse from the whole unit around my daugter's bedside trying to get her to breathe. Hopefully, I will never see it again. There was talk of intubating her but they wanted to avoid it if possible. The thought process was once she started passing all the fluids her swelling would go down and she would be back to her old self. She was taking long to expel the extra fluids. By Sunday they gave her a dose of Lasix. Within hours of the shot she looked almost back to normal. By the end of the days she was opening her eyes. She was still on the CPAP machine to help her breathe.

She still had not eaten at this point or pooped. Boy, were we waiting for poop. I never knew one could be so excited for poop! Of course, I came home for about an hour on Monday and she pooped while Frank was there! By Monday night they let me try and feed her 2 oz of food. We put her on just a nasal cannula of Oxygen while she ate and she held her own. By Tuesday morning she was only on the cannula and they took her off completely to see how she did. Well, she did fine and after 24 hours of no apnea episodes we were allowed to come home on Wednedday.

We have been home since Wednesday afternoon and the boys are just starting to get over the fact I was gone for so many days. They keep asking me if I am leaving again. Colin at one point cried to me and said "you and Calleigh can't stay at the hospital forever". It was a tough week for the whole family.

On a happier note the boys think it's wonderful Calleigh poop now come out of her hiney! The fact that my three kids all said to me on different occasions "is Calleigh done with her surgery? Is her stoma gone? Does she poop like us now?" Is comical and sad at the same time. I wish they didn't need to know all those words but am so happy they have such advanced language :) Not many three year olds use the words "colostomy reversal", "stoma", "surgery" . And they actually understand the words. They know their meaning.

So, that's the whole saga. Now we are just in recovery mode.

Quick update

We are home and Calleigh is doing well. We wound up in the hospital longer than expected and things got a little scary for a while. I will give the whole scoop when I have more time. As you can imagine it has been a long week for our whole family. The boys were upset Calleigh and I were gone so long and their routine was a little screwed up. Luckily, kids are resilient. Today, they are their usual selves raising hell and up to crazy stuff. All while mommy is working on about 6 hours sleep in a week.........

Pray for Calleigh

Calleigh is having her surgery today at 11:45am. Please keep her in your prayers. She has been such a trooper the past 24 hours. I can't believe she has yet to cry and has not been allowed to have any food for 20 hours. She has had pedialyte and apparently likes it. SHe smacks her little lips together when you take out the bottle. So cute. She even drank the yucky drink she had to drink to empty out her colon. Three does at over 4 oz a piece. God love her!

I am hoping all goes smoothly and she will be rid of her colostomy bag as of today. She is such a little ray of sunshine and we are so blessed to have her.

Alexander Graham Bell 2010 Convention

Any of my fellow moms to deaf/hoh planning on attending the convention? I was thinking of trying to get there in June. It's in Florida this year. I have never attended but am particularly interested in receiving their Parent Advocacy Training. It sounds like a wonderful opportunity. I was thinking it would be a wonderful opportunity to meet some of my blogger friends in person. They also have classes for the kids so a great opportunity for the kids to be around others who are in the same or similar situation.

If you are interested in going maybe we could coordinate a group so we will know some others when we arrive.

Imaginations

Three year olds have a very powerful tool. It's their own little minds. Their ability to use their imaginations is endless if given the opportunity. On days when we are home all day it would be easier to just put the TV on all day but who says things should be easy? I like to see what they come up with on their own. Knowing I won't put on the TV they just go off on their own and play. They don't need fancy toys or electronics. They just need themselves. (well, and a few props!)

Today, I listened as Princess Ariel(Cormac dressed in his Ariel costume) turned Colin into Prince Charming and Ciaran was Prince Ciaran. They played for over an hour running from room to room. (or castle to castle) The two Princes built castles out of blankets and chairs. Ciaran told Cormac (ariel) "I love you so much, Princess Ariel" to which he repsonded "I love you too can we live in a castle together with Prince Charming (Colin). The language being used between the three of them was astounding. Words I didn't know they knew. They worked/played together so nicely. At some point Ciaran was no longer a Prince and Princess Ariel rescued Prince Charming from "danger". Cormac used the words rescue and danger.

I just love it. I love how they play nice together. I love how they use their words and challenge their minds. I love watching the stories unfold in their little heads.

Every night at bed time we all go into their room. Everyone takes a turn telling their own story. I can remember a time when I thought this would never happen for Cormac. I remember being told how important it was for him to be able to follow a sequence of events (first this happened, then this happened and next this happened) This was hard for him at first. But the detailed stories told at bed time show me he fully understands how to tell a story. How it should have a beginning middle and an end. They all do this. They all tell similar stories. Usually, some one is in some sort of "scary forest or something" and then saved by a Super Hero. The stories get more detailed and complicated each night. Last night, I actually had to cut Cormac off because he just kept telling another story and was cleary just trying to avoid sleeping! I couldn't believe my own words when I said "Cormac, you can't tell anymore stories. You have to STOP talking and go to sleep!" Really, did I just tell him to STOP???? What has happened? The world must be upside down! But yes, I did tell him to stop. He proceeded to tell me "I was the most beautiful princess mommy in the whole wide world. He also told me I had beautiful hair and was his favorite person" For some reason I didn't tell him to stop talking then......

A tea kettle

Today I put on the tea kettle. I was up in my room with Cormac and he was wathcing TV. We live in a split level house. We were in last bedroom upstairs. The kitchen is down the hall and down 5 stairs. He says "oh, mommy, the tea is ready. I hear the kettle". Still can't believe what he hears. And trust me it was NOT quiet in our house.

Ok, while I am writing this Cormac just said "Mommy, you're a maniac!" Don't know what he is talking about!

I really want to start some sort of group for parents of kids with implants. I just don't know where to start. I talk to lots of moms of newly diagnosed kids who are sent my way from NYU or Summit Speech School. I would love to be in contact with parents of kids who are older than Cormac so I can have an idea of what to expect. I really don't have any free time but I would make the time to socialize with other families like us. It doesn't have to be anything all the time. Maybe a bimonthly get together for anyone who can make it. Just to bounce ideas off each other. Talk about our kids educations and what their school districts are like. Anyone have any suggestions on how to start it? Where to begin? I am in Northern NJ.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. We had the best Christmas yet. The kids were thrilled. New Years Eve is no biggie to us. It's always been amateur night so we never really got into it. Frank and I did stay up for the New Year but it was only because I got up to feed Calleigh at 11:30pm. Other than that we probably would have slept through it!

Calleigh's surgery is rescheduled for January 14th. I am hoping it goes off this time. Let's hope the other three monkeys stay germ free and don't bring home any yuckies from preschool this week. I am tempted to keep them home but they have been on Christmas break and we ALL need them to go back to school. :)

I am hating winter right about now. It is so cold and there is nothing to do with the kids. I hate being home all day with them because they get bored.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE LAWRENCE FAMILY!

We hope you all have a happy, healthy and safe Holiday Season.

Love,

The Lawrence Family

(This was our Christmas card picture this year)

No Surgery

Calleigh's surgery did not take place on Monday. She is fine and dandy but my pediatrician and surgeon have decided they want it performed at a different hospital. Fine by me. So, we will wait until after the holidays. I was reminded today by a friend that I did not update the blog! The holidays are quickly approaching and as you can imagine we are super busy. Everyone is great and looking forward to the bearded man's arrival.

We had a major milestone.....BIG BOY BEDS!!! Today is our first day in them. So far, so good. They took a two hour nap this afternoon and are asleep already for the night and have been for a while. They were totally excited. I was strangely saddened by this event. Seems to be the end of such a major part of our lives. Taking down those three cribs seemed like saying good bye to my babies. I took some pics and videos and will post soon.

Twinkle Twinkle

Here is Cormac singing "twinkle twinkle" with some brothers playing "backup" (LOL). He is 3 years 8 months old. His hearing age is 2 years 5 months. He did this on his own. GOt his own props and everything!



Here he is singing the same song in October of 2008. So he was 2 years 5 months and hearing age of 1 year 3 months.



After I recorded him singing the other day I remembered the video of him from about a year ago. I wanted to compare the two. I thought he sang it awesome a year ago...but the new video just amazes me. He says it all so clearly. Even the consanants in the middle of the words (like the word wonder).

Calleigh meets the MAN himself (Santa)!

Well another trip to the mall to see the big guy with hopes Calleigh would be awake. She was awake and the boys were thrilled as well. Another successful visit with Santa.

Christmas is coming

I started this post right around Thanksgiving and never remembered to finish and publish it. The words that surround Holidays are so awesome. In normal conversations my children used the word waddle (as in on a Turkey's neck!),pilgrims, indians and teepee. I was quickly told that a Teepee was a kind of house an Indian lived in. We also used the word Feast. Celebration is another word coming up in our talks. I am in awe of all the words my kids know. I can't believe how much they over hear and are able to repeat. (not always so good :) ) Cormac also can do this and picks up tons of incidental language. A big worry of us moms to kids with hearing loss. He seems to know lots of words that are not "taught" to him. Music to my ears!

I have to tell this story because it was so hilarious. We were playing in the play kitchen. We made menus and the boys were taking my order. It was a great time. They told me all the things they wanted to serve. We had a food menu and a dessert menu. I laminated them. The boys deicided to name their restaurant "THe Lawrence Brothers Diner", cute right? Well, about an hour later, Cormac walks up to me hands me a menu and says "Hey Mommy, What do you want from "The Lawrence Brothers Vaginer"! Oh, how I laughed.

We had our fist snowfall this weekend. It was beautiful and the boys were just in awe. We were out later than normal at my sister's house and when we got him it was dark and they were running on the lawn yelling "I LOVE SNOW". It was only about 2-3 inches so not much but I thought to myself, how wonderful it is to look at the world through the eyes of a three year old. When's the last time I just thought "wow, look how beautiful the snow is" without thinking in the back of my head, "ugh, snow, now starts the mess. The shoveling. All the yucky stuff that goes along with it" Oh, to be three again and so unaware of the real world! I wish I could bottle their enthusiasm for life.







Christmas is quickly approaching. We have had three visits to Santa so far and the requests are still the same. I am so happy no one is afraid of Santa. They are in love with him. Another holiday and tons of language! Tree lighting, tinsel, trimming the tree, decorations, lights, garland, mistletoe, jolly. THe words are endless. Not to mention snow, flurries, flakes, blizzard, storm. All the weather words of the season.

We went to the tree lighting in town last night. It was the first time we made it to it since we lived here. Fun and short. Good for us with the four kids. Just enough to get them excited and happy but not cold and complaining!



Calleigh is having surgery to reverse her colostomy on Monday (12/14) so keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I am terrified and thrilled at the same moment. To have her without the colostomy is going to be wonderful. But sending her in for a pretty complicated, several hour long surgery, well is scares the shit out of me. Not to mention she can't eat after Saturday at midnight, yes SATURDAY, and her surgery isn't until Monday morning. I also have to empty her colon on Sunday so she will be have to drink somthing similar to what people drink before a colonoscopy. This poor little girl has no idea why I will be torturing her. SHe will be starving and miserable. We can give her pedialyte. But that is all. It took us forever to get the little bugger to 13 pounds and she will probably lose it all after this experience. She will be in the hosptial 3-5 days depending on her recovery. KNowing Calleigh and her track record, she will be in 6 days! Let's hope not but if you remember she didn't want to leave the NICU.

We were at the mall for haircuts two weeks ago. I had no idea Santa was there already. We were not dressed or anything but they were so excited I couldn't pass up the opportunity! I think it's the cutest. Colin is actually wearing two of the same feet Spiderman snowboots! Poor Calleigh was passed out in the stroller and I didn't want to torture her and wake her up. I will take her again another day. I am sure the boys will go back to see Santa. And what did they ask for?

Colin: A truck with a grabber.
Ciaran: A truck with a shovel.
Cormac: A boy castle and a jewelry box!

Thankful....

Calleigh and my nephew, Gavin. He's only 5 WEEKS old. Calleigh is 5 months!


The boys being themselves


Daddy LOVES his lil girl


The whole Lawrence Family



The kids have been talking about what they are Thankful for since Thanksgiving. We get the usual Mommy, Daddy, Duke and they name each other. Yesterday things changed.

Cormac: I am thankful for Tinkerbell
Colin: I am thankful for Snow White
Ciaran: I am thankful for the mean queen!

If you knew my kids in real life you would really get how hard I laughed at Ciaran. He is the funniest kid and always on the other side. Not one to conform. I think I spit soda out of my nose when he said it.

Cormac starts his new IEP this week. I am a little nervous about the whole thing. I tend to second guess myself when making such huge decisions. He is doing awesome and I just want that to continue. I need that to continue. Yesterday, he said a 20 word sentence. Every night before bed he tells us a story he makes up out of his little head. He can read two stories out of the Disney book (well, he memorized them). I rarely have to ask him to repeat himself but more importantly strangers don't have to ask him to repeat himself. Sure, he has a ways to go but most people say they understand him the best of the three kids. Ironic.

He is sporting his new Skinits on his implants. Totally love them.



Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for in our lives. I decided to make a much better effort to be thankful every day instead of just one day a year.

I must add, I am so THANKFUL for Advanced Bionics and the genius' who forever changed our lives.

Thanksgiving Feast

Today was The Thanksgiving Feast at the boys' preschool. It was by far one of the cutest things I have ever witnessed. They learned 4 songs and performed them all. All the songs had hand motions that went along. They were dressed in their indian vests, necklaces and head pieces. All of which they made themselves. (see picture at top of blog) They also made Teepee place settings which they proudly told me "were houses for Indians".

They then enjoyed a feast of turkey shaped turkey sandwiches, stuffing, jello, yogurt and a few other treats. It was so cute and fun.

Here is some video of the songs. The boys are not all together. Cormac is 4th or 5th from the right and Colin is three more to the right. Ciaran is standing right next to Colin. They are all wearing the same pants and sneakers if you look.








This last video is of Cormac. Last Easter I bought them the book Tough Chicks. Thought it was fitting for Easter since it's about a bunch of chicks. It has become one of their favorite books. Ciaran really loves it. But Cormac thinks this one part is funny and he quotes it all the time. Tonight I caught it on video.

Things I learned since becoming a mother......

Silence REALLY is golden!

A Mom is their child's best advocate. You need to be their voice until they are old enough to speak for themselves. NO ONE else makes your child their priority so you better make sure you do.

A minute can seem like an hour but a year goes by in the blink of an eye.

Don't sweat the small stuff.

It could always be worse.

It's OK to just lay on the floor or in bed and cuddle and not worry about the house, the laundry, or anything.

Children really do like a schedule and organization. It makes them feel more secure.

A child's taste for food literally changes from day to day. DOn't think because he at a ham sandwich yesterday he might ACTUALLY eat a ham sandwich tomorrow!

There is nothing sweeter than hearing your child tell you that you are his best friend.

Boys really do learn to wrestle on their own even if they NEVER witnessed it in their lives. And their favorite move is by far the clothesline to the neck!

Children are more resilient than I ever knew. They are tougher than you think but they also have very strong feelings that can get hurt.

They always like other kids toys better.

Nothing is sweeter than walking into your babies room in them morning to see that first smile of the morning when they see your face! I was just reminded of that one thanks to Calleigh.

Dirt, dirt, dirt. Boys = dirt.

Imaginations are a funny thing.

You never knew how much you could love until you had a child.

There are times you think, what was I thinking??? It could be for many reasons but at some point you do think that to yourself.

You will at some point say many things you thought you would never say and on occasions you will ACTUALLY sound just like your mother!

Men just do things differently. It might not be your way but if it gets the job done, don't complain.

You can unload a dishwasher in the time it takes to make toast.

When you have triplets your head does strange things. You start to count in 3's. You are always doing a mental count, 1 coat, 2 coats, 3 coats, 6 socks, 6 shoes. You get the idea.

People have lots of opinions and most of them don't really matter :)


Love has no limits. Love is unconditional. The love of a child changes you forever

Ok, let me know what you have learned. Post a comment.

Cornucopia

The other day we are driving down the street. From the third row I hear Cormac, "Hey Mommy, look, there is a cornucopia on that flag on the house". I was thinking how on earth does this child know the word cornucopia. I say "What's a cornucopia?" He says "It's like a empty shell and you put fruit in it". Really a good description I thought. Mind blowing for me for some reason. I ask "how do you know what a cornucopia is?" He doesn't answer so I pry further. "did miss Velsor teach you?" "Nope" Did Mrs Trackim teach you?" "Nope" (they are two preschool teachers") THen it hits me it HAD to be Miss Cole (Nicole, his teacher of the deaf. Only she would think to teach such a big word to a three year old!) And yes, it was Miss Cole. I told this to a few people and some of them didn't even know what it was! Then I learned it is sometimes called the "horn of plenty". I didn't know that so we both learned something new.

And I had to share this about Cormac's ability to hear in not so ideal situations. We were driving yesterday. He was once again in the third row because Colin has been a seat hog and stealing the second row too much. We had the CD player on playing Metallica per their request. I had the GPS hooked up on the front windshield. I had the volume turned to about half way maybe a little lower. From the back while listening to Metallica Cormac says "The man said to make a right turn ahead!" I cracked up. I am starting to think that sometimes I cut him slack when he doesn't hear me but he might actually just be ignoring me!!!

Oh, and here is one that I still haven't figured out. Cormac didnt want to get in his car seat after school. Of course, I made him. He was a little mad. So he says to me "Mommy, you're an instrument!" Well, I nearly wet my pants. He said it with such a tone I knew he was angry but Lord only knows what he actually meant. I mean, he knows the word instrument and can name instruments so I know that is not what he meant but man, I laughed for days over that comment. I am still trying to figure out what he really meant call me. SOmeone suggested he meant to call me a "tool" but that is not an expression he would have even overheard in our house because was don't use it. Now, if he called me a "jackass" I would have known where he got it from. (call me guilty!) When Colin stubbed his toe and said "jesus christ" well it had Frank written all over it. SO what do you think he meant to call me?

Anyway, just some tidbits on Cormac's progress I want to make sure to remember. I got to speak to a Mom yesterday who is just starting the journey with her daughter. I loved talking with her and feel so lucky I (well really Cormac but I share his story for him at this point) can help ease someone's worries even if it's just the tiniest bit. It is such a scary place to be and I know it meant a lot to talk to someone who had been there and done that before Cormac had his surgery.

I have a ton of videos from Disney I still need to upload but it takes time.....something I don't really have much of lately.

Vacation, hotel, lobby, kingdom, road trip, stilts, float(as in a parade). Just some of the many words we learned on our vacation. There are tons more but I can't remember. All I do remember is there were lots of conversations going on in the car and on the trip. Even some phrases like "Mommy, I need you to pull over so I can go potty!". Colin came out with a good line. He had stickers on his arm and was wearing nothing else running around naked. He gets all serious and says "mommy, can you take these stickers off so I can be more naked?" Too funny.

Mainly, we just had a lot of fun but when you are a Mom to a deaf child every experience takes on a different meaning. It's a way of life. Everything is about noticing learning opportunites. It's also about making sure he is able to hear in lots of different situations. Fireworks and COrmac do not agree. He can't get his magnets off fast enough! He was so excited to see the "castle" and then they set off fireworks and he said "I don't like the castle and more!" Well, I explained to him they don't always have fireworks and he came around.

We have hit a stage of TONS of questions. Mostly "what is a .....? And Why?. It love it. It makes for so much conversation. I really love when I hear the boys having their own coversations. I worried for so long Cormac would never be part of those discussions. But he is. He is always part of it. Just last night he says to me "Hey, Mommy, both my implants are not working. I need some new batteries". He speaks so clearly now. Frank didn't see him for a week and swears his language got better in seven days. I love that he is now telling us about his implants. He tells us when one isn't working. I am guessing his implants beep before the batteries die because he will often tell me at the end of the day "my left or right (yes, he knows left and right) is beeping. I change the batterey and it's better. Soon he will be changing the batteries himself.

We are in a good place with Cormac. With continued support from a Teacher of the Deaf I have no doubt he will continue to progress. I always fear he will regress if we don't stay on top of things.

Ok, somehow I got off topic! Here are some pics.

 
 
 
 

At the parade in Majic Kingdom. The last thing of the day. Ciaran only made it half way through
 

Pirates in Training
 
 
 

The Lego Store

 

Cormac seeing his first Princess
 
 

This is how we got them around the hotels. They loved riding the luggage carts

 

 
 
 
 

They read the maps wherever we went and decided what they wanted to see....

 
 
 
 

The face painting was a huge hit. Two scary dinosaurs and a super hero.

 
 
 
 

WE'RE BAAAACK!

After 1,100 miles (each way) in the truck with three three year olds and a now 5 month old we are back. Everyone says "was it worth it?" I think Colin summed it up best. As we were driving and got to Disney he saw the the arch with the characters and the welcome sign and he says out of the back seat "Look, Mommy, we finally made it here". He said it with such joy in his voice it was soooo worth it!

The looks on three three year olds faces when they saw the "castle" and realized they were there was priceless. Watching them meet Mickey, Goofy, Pluto and all the other characters was beyond words. Cormac's reaction to meeting the princess' well can't really be put into words. Let alone when he saw Ariel!

I have tons of pictures and lots of video clips to upload. But first I have to unpack and get organized. I have tons to catch up on.

And I never realized how a vacation could be such a wonderful language opportunity. We learned tons of new words. It provoked TONS of questions from all the boys and just a lot to talk about.

Stay tuned for the pics...

Super Heros!

Before I leave for Disney thought I would leave you with these pictures. The boys picked out their costumes for the first time this year. They also picked out Calleigh's costume. I thought they did a find job. They are and always will be my lil heros!