Regaining a Voice

I did lose my voice at one point in the past few months, but this really more about the fact that I haven't posted since early December. Things have been rather hectic and while I've had a lot going on in my life and a lot to think about, there hasn't really been an easy way to put it down in words. As my family and I seem to be coming to the end of the road (even if this is more like a long on-ramp to a major highway), I think I actually have cogent and interesting things to say about this experience.

So, I think I'll start blogging again. I should start with a bit of a recap and an update as to where we are at this juncture. For the few readers that I do have, some of this may be old news. Just over four months ago, my wife and I were living our life and happily waiting for the arrival of our second child. But, not long after Thanksgiving, we found out a number of things that changed our expectations and plans dramatically. First, we found out we were having twins, something I like to refer to as the "buy one, get one free" sales event. Second, we found out they were monoamniotic, meaning that it was a hig-risk pregnancy and that the suggested course of action was for Audrey to be admitted to the hospital at 24 weeks. And, third, we found out that one of the twins had a congenital heart defect known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.

At 24 weeks, Audrey entered the hospital and I took over manning the fort, so to speak. It was like being a single dad except that I went to the hospital almost every day to visit my wife. There were a lot of ups and downs - regarding the surgery for one of the twins, our son's behavior through all of this, handling my workload - but we made it to 35 weeks and our babies were delivered by c-section.

So, we welcomed Naomi and Eva into the world by having them admitted to the NICU. While premature, they were both of decent size. And, Naomi has already come home (more on her and getting her home in an upcoming post). Eva is still in the NICU awaiting surgery for her heart condition. That should be happening this week and we hope that she will be coming home in a few weeks.

So, that is the short version of where we are at. Long version and lots more to come.