Pictures!

Family of 4!

Quick photo op after dinner with our great friends - is it possible to have 5 kids under the age of 3 to look at the camera at the same time?

I swear, he looks about 3 months old already!

My kiddos vegging out after Cata got 3 stitches

She's going to be a good big sister - she just LOVES looking at him.

3 weeks

3 weeks ago today I was in labor and Tomas was ready to join us. Kevin and I have reflected back on that day several times - reflected on bringing another child into this world, reflected on finally meeting Tomas, and reflected on the scary events of that day that could have taken our lives. We had our OB visit this week and were able to talk through the events of the day with her. I will never forget when she said to me in the OR - this is your miracle baby. It was not until talking through what happened with her that it truly registered that it is a miracle that we are both alive and healthy.
January 24th started early for me as contractions woke me up around 5am. Contractions were progressing through the morning, getting closer together and stronger. Kevin and I were excited to know that the day had finally arrived. Then suddenly I got a pain that I will never forget. That was my uterus rupturing. It took us about an hour to get to the hospital because I was not able to move. Kevin practically carried me to the car as I felt so weak I could not even open my eyes. I just kept saying to Kevin "I'm going to die". Once at the hospital, we were blessed to have a fabulous nurse in the assessment area who took one look at me and immediately took me to a L&D room, got the OB on the phone, the monitors on me, and an IV in. Within 15 minute the OB arrived and was telling me we were headed to the OR for a c-section.
Once in the OR, she made a skin incision and saw Tomas' head right there - with my uterus ruptured he was floating out. As our OB said - there was someone else looking over us because of all the things that happened right to give us the outcome we had. Somehow Tomas was kept tucked in my uterus enough so that my uterus did not get the message that he had been delivered. Had my uterus felt he had been delivered, it would have released certain hormones that trigger the placenta to be delivered. Since this did not happen, my uterus kept contracting, the placenta stayed attached, giving Tomas oxygenated blood. Also, because Tomas was partly out, but still being held in, this put enough pressure on my uterus to prevent significant bleeding. There were a lot of miracles here that we are so thankful for, especially this one:

Two weeks

Another week has flown by. Tomas is growing. He weighed in at 10lbs 11oz at his 2 week well child check! I don't know what it is about my kids, they just thrive on milk. I had a nurse ask me if I have fortified milk - haha, I guess so. Tomas is much more alert, with longer awake periods. He is looking around and exploring the world (or whatever he is able to see at this point). He is quite an eater but does let me get some sleep. He loves being held and will wake up when he is placed anywhere but in someones arms.
Catalina is getting used to having Tomas around. She doesn't cry anymore when he makes any sort of noise. She even smiles at him! She likes to walk up to his car seat if he is in there and rock it. She also likes to walk by and touch him when he is in her reach. We are all happy to see her adjusting. She started in a new school program last week and seems to be doing really well there. She has a one-on-one aid and I think she is just loving the constant attention.

One week

Time flies. Tomas is already more than a week old and still looks like a 2-3 month old :) Life is much easier with just one child, but we are adjusting! Cata is the one having the hardest time adjusting. She has had so much change recently - I really feel bad for her. First she spent the night at one of our friend's house when I had to stay overnight in the hospital. Then my mom arrived for 2 1/2 weeks. During that time I went to the hospital and had a 4 day stay. Cata was really unsettled during those days and was even more unhappy when she came to visit in the hospital. She wouldn't look at me and was just fussy. It broke my heart. Even worse is that because of the c-section, I can't pick her up. That has been the hardest part for me, not being able to comfort her like I normally would. Then we came home from the hospital and she was a doll for 2 days - she even was smling at Tomas! It was amazing - I thought we just blew by that whole adjustment period. WRONG. By Thursday she noticed something was different and she has been irritable and sad. Friday my mom left, my sister Alicia arrived, and my in-laws arrived. More change. Then Sunday Alicia left. This has been hard.
Little Tomas is doing quite well. In his one week of life he has changed already. His face has changed from the swollen post-delivery look, to something very similar to Cata's baby face. He eats like a champ, even going 3-4 hours between feeds! He is more alert now and spends time with his eyes open looking around, especially if there is a face close by to stare at. So here are the pictures from week 1:

Our first moments together - Daddy cuddling Tomas

Day 2!_______ Cata a bit skeptical about big T ______ Eyes open


Abuela + Tomas_____ Family of 4! _________ Daddy + Tomas

Big sister Cata

I think I have a picture taken 2 years ago that looks identical to the one on the left!

Not sure what to think... This about sums up how Cata is feeling :(

Some shots from Big T's one week birthday :)
Do you think he's singing?



We have seen a few smiles from Cata, and this one was for Tia Alicia

2008 in review

I swear I will post pictures of Tomas later today or tomorrow!
This is a little late, but I am just finding the time to reflect on 2008. It was a busy year with lots of change. 2008 started off well with a nice 2 week vacation to DC and to Chile. It was a special trip to bring Catalina to meet my grandma, aunt, uncle, and cousins in Chile. Unfortunately Cata brough a stomach bug with her to Chile and she spent the whole vacation sick. The other sad part about that special trip is that is when she lost her verbal language. She had 6 precious words before we left for that trip and she came home with none.
The winter dragged on, I was working hard, and Kevin was still traveling for work, but April brought a great change for our family life - Kevin took a job at Target headquarters so he would not be traveling anymore! We got to celebrate with friends as we spent time with our best friends from med school in Denver and then went to Aspen to see one of my best friends from childhood. It was amazing to be with close friends again and to be able to share fun times with our children.
The winter finally turned to spring and summer and we got to enjoy the outdoors and the lakes. Cata had her Early Intervention (EI) eval in June and we went to a new pediatrician for her 18 month visit. Both of those were hard - the pediatrician was as concerned as I was about Cata so we were launching into a work up and the EI eval put on paper what I had feared, Cata was significantly delayed globally. The summer was a blur of test and doctors visits. At the end of the summer, burned out from working crazy hours and trying to keep up with everything, I took a leave of absence from work. We enjoyed one amazing week of me being home with Catalina, seeing some progress (she started walking!), we were so hopeful until the dreaded phone call on September 3rd that changed our lives. Rett Syndrome walked into our home.
Rett brought us a lot of sadness but has also had many positives. We were flooded by emails, calls, and letters from friends and family. We are blessed to have so much support. We were also so thankful to have the charitable support of so many friends - over $23,000 has been donated to Rett Syndrome research in honor of Catalina. The generosity of everyone has been overwhelming. The other positive that has come of Rett Syndrome is the group of wonderful families that we have met. They have provided support and showed us that life goes on and can be so full of love and happiness.
The fall flew by. We spent lots of time with new friends, went to DC for Thanksgiving, went to Alabama to see the Rett specialist, enjoyed our first Christmas without either of our families and rang in the new year with our dear friends and their family. Overall it was a busy, challenging year but we are thankful for all that we have been given and for another wonderful year in our lives.
Here is a summary of photos from 2008. Many have been on the blog before and others didn't make it.

Introducing...

Tomas Joseph Coloton

January 24, 2009
9 lbs 4.7 oz
22 inches

I guess our deliveries are not meant to be uneventful. After developing a paralyzing pain while still at home, we eventually were able to get me to the car and into the hospital. The hospital was wonderful at getting me seen and evaluated promptly and I was in the OR for a cesarean section within a very short time. As it turns out, my uterus had ruptured. We had a wonderful OB who was able to get Tomas out quickly and repaired my uterus. Kevin was amazing during all of this. I really couldn't have asked for more from him. Fortunately we are all three doing very well and looking forward to heading home after a few days of IV antibiotics.

January already?

I cannot believe it is already January 19th for many reasons, but especially since Cata has been sick since December 20th! Something about being around other kids, it has been one thing after another. We had a quick stomach bug fly through the house last week that landed me in the hospital for a night and as we got over that one Cata developed a new cough which has now turned into ANOTHER stomach bug! So anyway, I guess I have been too busy changing sheets, washing clothes, and trying to keep Cata hydrated to post :) And really, besides Cata being sick for the last month, not much new is going on. Abuela arrived last week for a nice 2.5 week visit which has been great. She was a little shocked by the 20 degrees below zero that she got to experience on her first 2 days here, but fortunately we are experiencing a nice heat wave with highs almost in the 20s!
So one thing that did happen is that we received a beautiful gift from my friend Laurie. She had this bow made for Catalina. It is special because it is a ribbon for Rett Syndrome awareness. On the bottle cap is a lavender ribbon and says "Care and Cure". She worked with Holly who owns Kick Ass Bows (see link on right) to make this special bow. We love it! Thank you Laurie and Holly!!

I guess I can't post without a picture of our little one! Despite being sick,

she still manages to smile through it