Anybody Out There

Dad has been very busy now that two kids are home. Grammy helps out. This has made some time to update everyone on the status. How about adding some comments using the link on the lower right of each post so everyone knows who's listening? This will help Dad figure out how much time he should spend.

Our First Road Trip

Mommy wants a side-by-side stroller in addition to the front-back stroller we borrowed. Dad wants a side-by-side stroller that converts from stroller to jogging stroller to bike trailer. Dad convinced mommy that the family should go to REI to check it out.

The family loaded into the Highlander and headed down to Northridge. Northridge takes about 45 minutes to get to on a normal day. The babies were changed and fed before so that the trip could be completed before their next meal.

Dad drove slower and more carefully than ever. Mom told dad that a recent study found that people who text while driving lose 91% of their ability to control a vehicle. Driving with the handset is illegal in California, but texting is still acceptable. Mom and Dad concluded that everyone was texting on the way to REI. It was not rush hour yet, but the traffic was dense. The 23 Freeway has 4 lanes, densly packed, all driving 70-80 miles per hour. The only thing that slows California traffic is moisture. A light rain has the same effect as 1" flakes falling on 3" of slush and snow in other state. The roads were clear today.

A Toyota Camry cut across three lanes to make the exit about 4 cars in front of us. He must have been texting his girlfriend. A large man in a white conversion van tailgated the car in front of him. He started to change lanes into the Highlander in the second lane. Luckily he swerved back into the first lane. He must have been texting his boss.

Dad could see a small pick-up hauling 2 mattresses tied in with a single rope across the back. The pick-up was in the 3rd lane. The mattress was fluttering in the wind at 70 mph when it lifted up, teetered, and flipped over the rope. Luckily it stayed in the 3rd lane. Daddy was tempted to see the impact, but kept his eyes on the road. Daddy started to write the blog "The Brown families first close c..." when the second mattress flipped loose and into the second lane. It was about 4 car-lengths ahead when it bounces from the lower right corner back toward lane 3. Mommy screamed, Age slept, and Bree slept. Dad started to move into the 1st lane when the mattress bounced on the lower left corner back into the second lane toward the first lane. Mommy screamed louder and higher pitch as her babies lives flashed before her eyes. Age and Bree slept, and dad turned back straight down the second lane directly toward the mattress . The mattress was centered directly in front and was starting to fold lengthwise when the Highlander hit it at 70 mph, then it disappeared with the sound of a huge sock sucked up a giant industrial vacuum cleaner. The un-phased Highlander with Brown family continued up the hill at 70 mpg. Mom was histerical and Dad turned from survival mode to husband comforting mode. Dad looked left as the fat man that was texting his boss earlier gave the thumbs up.

The family plugged on anyway and somewhat successfully completed the trip. Mom was back to normal when we arrived at REI, just in time to reject the stroller/trailer for general use. Dad has to take a few weeks to justify the stroller for his own personal use.

The Family Comes Home

Aegean finally graduated from the NICU to join his sister and parents. We were trained to use the portable heart and breathing monitor before leaving. We learned that we will need the monitor for at least 1 month and likely up to 3 months.

We were expecting heart rate dips after experiencing several in the NICU. His apnea/bradycardia had improved significantly over the last 2 days in the NICU. We thought we were in the clear.

We haven't had a meal without a dip since he got home. We feel pretty comfortable with the alarms after all of the practice in the NICU.

We are happy to have the family together, and we are already comfortable with the monitor. Laura finally cut the bracelets (one for each child) from my wrist...

Four Generations

Four generations of Evans sat on the couch today. Great grandparents Helen held Cambria for most of the visit. Less gave advice. Mitch and Laura took them to visit Aegean in the hospital. Lynn was out to visit Cambria earlier this week. Grammy is also out to visit for 3 weeks to help take care of the babies.

Tube Free and Grandpa Mitch

Aegean took all of his food from the bottle on Monday and Tuesday. Dr. Mah finally approved removal of the feeding tube. He is happily free of any tubes or IVs. We took his first picture without tubes since his birthday 4 weeks ago.

Aegean continues to have occasional apnea and bradycardia. Dr. Mah will monitor him over the weekend. He recommends sending Aegean home with the heart rate, breathing rate, and oxygen saturation monitors if everything is stable. He said that we can take care of him just as well as the NICU nurses can. I hope he is right. We will plan for a tentative graduation on Tuesday next week. That is good timing because Grammy will be arriving on Tuesday too.

Grandpa Mitch visited Aegean and Cambria today. Mommy and Grandpa Mitch seemed to think Cambria's gas was histerical. Apparently the babies didn't escape this Brown Family Curse. That didn't stop Grandpa Mitch from helping change diapers. We hope he will bring Great Grandparents Helen and Less to see them this weekend!

Daddy has been looking forward to his 1 week of paternity leave as soon as Aegean comes home. He followed a tip today and found out that Amgen pays for 1 week per child within 30 days. Two times the babies = two times the diapers = 2 times the time off. Daddy gets 2 weeks off to spend with the babies - Daddy is happy!