daddy's can be so funny!

This afternoon Dylan was holding baby Kara while she napped. She was sleeping soundly and Dylan was enjoying the daddy/daughter time. Suddenly Kara started WIDE AWAKE! Her eyes were wide open and she was "YELLING!"

Dylan tried to console her but it was pretty clear what she wanted.

Angela came stumbling out of the bedroom, obviously awakened by the commotion out in the front room.

Dylan turned Kara so she could see her mom and exclaimed excitedly, "Look Kara! It's your mom...and she brought your milk!"

Dylan's hilarious and mother and baby are doing fine.

kara sound asleep 15 minutes later

nothing like warm milk to help you sleep

techie babies

Diana and Angela are sisters. And they live 4200 kilometers apart. (or 2600 miles) That's pretty much all the way across the continent. It means that they see each other occasionally.

Imagine their surprise when they discovered that they would both be mothers for the first time within days of each other! As everyone knows, Logan took the entire situation by surprise arriving 14 weeks early. And even though he was front and center there for a good 93 days (his duration in NICU), my attention did shift to Angela and the anticipated "late" arrival of her little bundle. Each one of my five babies arrived well over due so Angela just hunkered down and set her sights on March 10, (the day her doctor PROMISED she would deliver if there was no baby by then) which would be 8 days past her due date.

But little Kara Rae Morgan "leapt" on to the scene two days early on February 29. A nice surprise for everyone and a noteworthy birthday to enjoy for years to come. I thought to myself, "all my grand-babies are special!"

Thank goodness for technology. Moments after she was born, her entire extended family was aware of her arrival (by phone and text message) and shortly after that, the pictures began arriving by email!!

i love my macbook pro/i-phone/i-pad/etc

BUT i love kara MORE!

I arrived in Ottawa this afternoon just in time for Kara to be wide awake and beautiful! She's absolutely perfect; another little miracle.

kara the cutie; 3 days old

"hello fans"

And then through the miracle of modern technology little Logan and cute Kara were able to meet! It was so fun to face time across borders with the families. First we talked with Nana and Ned in Victoria. Then while Diana and Angela were visiting via face time on the computer, Papa Wally appeared on my i-phone and was able to say "hi" to Logan and Diana through the computer. It was a little bit chaotic there for a few minutes. And Nathan and Katie even made a call.

Dylan looked around the room as everyone was visiting via various forms of technology and exclaimed, "It's just like dinner at Smart's. They are all talking at the same time. Who knew this could happen?"

And it's true. The sisters and the grandparents and "the cousins" were all able to spend some time together this afternoon. Thanks world wide web!

...and then there were 2!!!

Welcome to the world Kara Rae Morgan!

Kara arrived February 29 weighing 6 pounds 12 ounces; a beautiful baby girl for Angela and Dylan.

This is little Logan at about the same size.

so now there are two! Yay!!

And they walked right out of there!

little logan in the lifeship shortly after his arrival

Little Logan was born unexpectedly and quite accidentally on November 20, 2011. That was just 26 and 2/7 weeks gestation and a full 97 days TOO EARLY! I remember sitting with Diana a couple days after Logan arrived and cancelling her up coming dr's appointments and prenatal classes and basically her entire third trimester. She had the cutest little pregnancy journal that she'd been keeping and just like that-BAM- she was done being pregnant! And launched into being worried and anxious and nervous about the fragile little human being struggling to survive in the lifeship at the NICU.

February 20, 2012 was a RED LETTER day! Logan and his parents walked right out of the front doors of the Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel.

dad worked hard to make logan a

special outfit to wear home

3 months or 13 weeks or 93 days in the nicu

no matter how you count it; that's alot of

prayers and sleepless nights

and let's just say

"they lived happily ever after"

There's nothing better than bringing a perfect baby boy home from the hospital. Logan checked out at 6 pounds 5.2 ounces! And he's still growing and it's ALL GOOD!

Let's have one more cheer for the little fighter; "Way to go, Logan!"

And now for Mom and Dad; "Hang in there guys! Enjoy the ride."

resistance is futile

granny and little logan

Everyone knows I'm a low key trekkie. I think Gene Rodenberry was nothing short of genius and he really had a great imagination when it came to the universe and all those alien life forms.

the queen of the borg from

star trek: the next generation

The other day when I arrived at the Lifeship, I was a little surprised to see Logan sporting a new IV connection and it was coming out of his head! As Katie so cleverly explained; the "cranium vein is very pronounced" so it's a good choice when trying to inject medicines intravenouly. ( or assimilate the human beings into the "collective" baha)

...and i couldn't help but think of the borg!

Logan looked like he'd definitely been tampered with. He actually scratched his face until it bled as he was trying to pull out the IV. What a fighter!

But the IV antibiotics have done the trick and Logan is definitely on the upswing. Go Logan!

logan sleeping like a log after his

afternoon bottle; just a trooper.

Logan's doing well. He's moving out of the lifeship and heading for the mothership in the very near future! And we couldn't be more pleased.

what a difference a day makes...

So Logan had a couple of crappy days. The surgery was tough enough but then developing an infection was definitely a BIG step backwards.

But there is a funny story about "the surgery team". These guys really are a TEAM. They travel around the hospital together and sort of march in unison as they go. They wear matching uniforms (you know, the surgical scrubs-not the cute scrubs) and carry notes everywhere they go.

The day after the surgery, "the team" came by to check on Logan. "He looks great," they beamed. "We did a great job!" (Smiles and high fives all around.)

The next day, it was pretty clear that Logan wasn't feeling well. He was uncomfortable and those private parts (below the diaper line) were SWELLING... Logan's nurse suggested we call the surgeons back. They arrived and promptly dismissed our concerns. "I'm confident it's irritation from the diaper..." said the captain with a smile as his team nodded conclusively. "He'll be fine."

The nurse winked at Diana as the team marched away. "They'll be back. They won't want Little Logan to mess up their statistics."

By Sunday night things were definitely deteriorating. Logan was swollen right out of his diaper and not happy about eating or sleeping or anything... (RED, HOT, SWOLLEN, ROCK HARD and SORE) The team conceded that it could be an infection and perhaps a broad spectrum antibiotic might be in order. That meant an IV. Then came the morphine, the feeding tube and the really, terrible, horrible day that put everyone on edge- (including the team).

By Tuesday night the repair and the cranial IV had provided some relief. The team all nodded in agreement that Logan was on the mend and they had, in fact, done another awesome job. "Hey but wait a minute," Diana exclaimed plaintively. "You're the ones that thought it was diaper rash. Don't be so smug." The captain replied smugly,"Oh, I'm sure it was initially. But he's doing great now. No worries."And the team marched off to deal with another pressing surgical matter while Diana sat shaking her head and muttering something like, "sure Dude; diaper rash; whatever."

BUT what a difference a day makes! (and broad spectrum antibiotics, combined with draining and irrigating the wound). Logan was feeling so good by Wednesday morning that the feeding tube was removed and his regular bottle feeding resumed. He slept well and cooed appropriately for all the caregivers to enjoy. The neonatoligist came by this afternoon and said, "That's how he's supposed to look. Good job, Logan. You'll be outa here in no time."

(unless of course there's another little hiccup)

little logan looking a little more like himself this afternoon

little logan enjoying some cuddles

logan drank his whole bottle and passed out

for almost a full four hour nap;perfect

we were almost out the door....

Last week Thursday Logan underwent a "little procedure" to get him all ready to go home. He had a couple of little hernias that needed repair before he could leave the hospital. Now I say the hernias were little because Logan is little but the fact is that they were humongous and needed to be repaired before he could go home. The surgery team assured us it was a very simple, run-of-the-mill, "ho-hum" operation. "We do this all the time on tiny babies; there's NOTHING to worry about."

As we were learning about the procedure, the surgeons explained how particularly uncomplicated and low risk the whole operation was. It was going to be "in and out" just like the burger.

Then it would be a day to get feeling better, a day to do the carseat challenge (that's when the preemies prove they can sit in a car seat and breathe at the same time) and the next day was the trip HOME. It was an exciting time and Logan was doing so well. No tubes, leads or wires anywhere and feeding from a bottle just like a regular baby boy.

little logan looking awesome and

ready to go home....

little logan chowing down

logan: the master of "suck, swallow and breathe"

Oh right, and the surgeon mentioned that there was like a 1% risk of complications but not to worry because it was just 1%. Diana looked at me and muttered something like, "yup, there's a 1% chance of going into preterm labor at 26 weeks....don't talk to me about 1%"

And then they wheeled Logan down to the operating room......

Today is Tuesday; the day we were supposed to bring Logan home. We're huddled around the lifeship watching Logan enjoy some IV antibiotics, a little morphine and the occasional tylenol. The surgery team came by this morning and repaired the repair; drained, irrigated and packed the infected incisions. AND assured us he's on the mend.

logan with the crazy IV in his head...

that's right; IV in the head

all his viens are blown from all the previous iv's

...and one more go with the feeding tube since he's feeling so sick

afternoon nap with the feeding tube and IV

but feeling better by the minute

The infection was a 1% speed bump and Logan refuses to be bumped so we've got a new schedule and we're sticking to it!

A five day course of antibiotics, the car seat challenge and then HOME!!

Go Logan, you little CHAMP!