We have a lot to be thankful here, in the D&L household. Thanksgiving last year was a very scary, overwhelming day for us. I was supposed to be pregnant, but we had two very tiny babies in the hospital. We didn't know what their outcomes would be and what our lives would be like one year later.
This picture was taken November 21, 2007, the day before Thanksgiving. I am holding Leo, I believe for the first time ever. Well, successfully. I had tried to hold him a few days prior but it was a frightening disaster. When I tried to hold him before, Leo had several major oxygen desaturations that caused his alarms to go off, and the nurse whisked him away and put him back in his isolette. In this photo, Matt and I are holding feeding syringes that piped milk through the boys' noses and directly into their stomachs, via nasogastric tubes.
A few days after this photo was taken, we had a long conversation with one of Drake and Leo's neonatologists, Dr. Rommes. In the course of that conversation that kind, gentle man told us "Hasn't anybody told you? These kids aren't going to die on you." No, nobody had told us. With those 8 words, we finally knew that some day, we would be able to take our children home and that Drake and Leo would grow up and become men.
On this Thanksgiving, Matt and I are thankful for the huge medical team that gave Drake and Leo a chance: my perinatologists and their army of nurses and ultrasound technicians, the neonatologists (special NICU pediatricians), and the NICU nurses who never left our sons' bedsides. Thank you, from the bottoms of our hearts. Because of your care our sons not only have a chance at life, but a long, healthy, and normal life.
We are also thankful of all of our friends and family that supported us so lovingly through the most terrifying and difficult period of our lives. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We love each and every one of you.
But today we are most thankful for the two little heroes that we live with. Leo and Drake, you are the strongest, most amazing people that we have ever met. We are incredibly lucky to have you in our lives.
In this photo, Drake is standing on his tippy-toes and Leo is about to cruise around the corner of the coffee table.
In this photo, Drake is wearing one white sock.
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