14 Years

Giancarlo & Vincenzo

January 1993

14 Years ago today we lost our little Gino to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). So every year I try to get the word out there that SIDS deaths still occur & what things we can do to prevent SIDS. Because SIDS is still basically the death of an infant under 1 years old for unknown causes, there is no 100% cure for these occurances. However, there are preventative measures you can take. Never place an infant to sleep on their stomach(edited. Thanks for the heads up Frank!!). Do not overdress your baby. Blanket sleepers are great and keep baby warm all night. Do not allow ANYONE to smoke around your baby. Second hand smoke can not only cause SIDS but numerous other health problems. This includes people smoking around you when you are pregnant. If you'd like more information on the research & other information regarding SIDS & their Back To Sleep Campaign, check out the SIDS Alliance website at http://www.sidsalliance.org/.

While the incidents of SIDS deaths has dropped dramatically in the years since we lost Gino, no cure has been found. Just a couple of weeks ago I read in the newspaper about a 5 month old boy whose parents were both EMT's & the baby died from SIDS. So this can happen to anyone. I long for the day when we finally find a cure for this & parents can comfortably put their babies to sleep without any worries.

On a happy note, the twins are doing great & actually taking bottles now. I can't believe just 8 days ago I was still pregnant. It is amazing how quickly & unexpectedly life changes. My kids are adjusting to a mom who is mobile now. The pneumonia had me laid out for a few days so Jim was taking care of them & I must say, he was quite the trooper. It truly made me realize how very much I need him & proved that when the going gets tough I can count on him to take care of all of us. Anyone who knows me knows I am not a big whiner but can I just say, pneumonia brought out a side of me Jim has never seen. Being married 8 years, this guy has rarely seen me vulnerable but boy, he knew something was wrong when all I could do was cry about how I felt like I was dying. Obviously not your everyday run of the mill cold makes you feel like death warmed over. Word of advice: if you ever get a cold & you DO feel like you're dying, go to the doctor. Immediately. Because that is exactly how you feel with pneumonia. Horrible worst thing I've ever had. Giving birth was actually a piece of cake compared to having that. Seriously.

Ok, wahhwahhwahh I had pneumonia. And I haven't cropped in weeks so I am suffering some serious withdrawals. Hopefully I can crop this weekend. I need to create something!!!

And on an even happier note, Jim went to the audiologist today & they said he is a candidate for the cochlear implant! We are very excited & I am soooo looking forward to him being able to hear better. The technology has improved a lot since they first introduced the cochlear so there is a higher rate of success. This is something we have been talking about for years & it looks like it might finally happen. Yay! No more yelling, no more of my friends hearing me say 'Which phone are you on???' because he doesn't use the 'deaf' phone that he can actually hear on because he's stubborn. Ain't technology great??

Alrighty, I know it's only Wednesday but it's looking like this is going to be a gorgeous weekend AND St. Patty's Day. So go out, enjoy that weather, put on your bit of green & have a Guiness for ol' St. Pat.

Special Delivery!

Yes I know it's been weeks since I've posted but I have a perfectly good excuse. Two, to be exact.

Welcome to the world Milo Holden and his beautiful sister............

Kaylee Dietrich!

These sweet little angels arrived a little earlier than we expected. I managed to make it to 32 1/2 weeks but they came out perfect. It was a helluva whirlwind but we are all grateful that they were healthy. Make a long story short, I got that horrible cold that everyone has & it lasted about a week, went away for a few days & then came back with a vengence. I was literally like, oh my God I am dying. But typical me, I thought it was just a really bad cold until Monday, March 5th when Jim was like, yeah something isn't right because I've never seen you this sick. So I went to my regular prenatal appointment where they promptly sent me to the hospital. An hour later I was told that we were delivering babies that night & guess what? I had pneumonia!!! Needless to say, I was in shock. And worried about how this all was affecting the babies. So I called Daddies & Nancie & before I knew it everyone was here & we were waiting for those babies to join us. The staff at John Muir was beyond amazing. Everything went quickly & smoothly & I had an extremely comfortable labor & delivery. Milo was born at 10:39pm & Kaylee was born at 10:45pm. I am still amazed at how perfectly beautiful they are & that they are healthy being born so early. Truly a blessing.

On the home front, we finally moved. We are getting settled into our new house & love the extra space. The boys love all the extra room & Gavin has taken to running around the huge island in the kitchen doing laps before bed. The move went pretty smoothly & Jim was a real trooper with me basically telling him where to put stuff. This will be our first weekend without having to do anything so we are going to just relax & enjoy the new house.

So life will slowly get back to normal. I'm going to get my butt back in shape, get aquainted with our new locale & enjoy this beautiful weather. Who could believe it was snowing & raining out here a couple of weeks ago? I love this weather & am dying to get the kids out to the park.

Hope everyone is doing well & having a great week. Go outside & enjoy this Spring weather!