Annie & Stewart Allen

Home is where the babies are...

and it is no longer the hospital!


Exit from the hospital was an order of magnitude less dramatic than entry for Annie and Stewart. Stewart arrived home Saturday April 29th just before lunch.



Annie's arrival home was delayed as she continued to experience some periods of Apnea and Bradycardia during feedings. She would have to wait to come home until they all went away.

Although he missed his sister, Stewart seized the opportunity to go ahead and "mark his territory". On his very first diaper change Stewart was able to precisely target the corner of the dining room, drenching Mom's fancy dining room curtains.


Mom and dad were thrilled at the spectacle, deltighted to see Stewart's plumbing working so vigorously.

Here is Stewart all cranked up before diaper peel and bath time in his nursery with a proud momma and papa.



Tuesday May 9th was Annie's day to come home. Here she is all primped up posing in front of the WakeMed ICN's aquarium on the way out the door...




With both of them home we have been working hard to establish some manageable routines as we all settle in with eachother. Aimee's parents, Les and BJ, are staying with us these first few weeks and are an enormous help as they provide support and a helping hand wherever needed.


Here some other peaks at our first week together:









Perfect, Sweet, Little babies!

As is standard for these type of situations mom and dad get little rest at night as we are awakened by hungry cries ready for a nighttime feed. Nevertheless, this "standardness" is something we embrace and revere considering everything Annie and Stewart have been through. One of their ICN nurses, Mary Jo, summed up the sentiment appropriately:

Carl: The rumor is they'll be going home soon. We've seen some extremely difficult situations develop with other babies as rather nasty complications arose, for no rhyme or reason. We've dodged some bullets.

Mary Jo: No. You've dodged cannonballs!


They did dodge cannonballs, but with help from some extremely special individuals who deserve to be canonized for the work they have chosen to do, all the staff who make the world go round at WakeMed's ICN. With technology, know-how, love, care, manners, and grace they saved our children's lives. As routine to them as they made it appear to us they saved them, and by our account approximately 40+ other children during our stay.

Current mainstream psycho-babble has popularized the notion of "defining moments", identifying them and choosing to define your life by them in a positive or negative way. The experience we've had certainly qualifies as one. We will not be leading our lives the same way after all this.

We mentioned in our first post at how supportive Annie and Stewart's care was, that they had a will and spark to live within them and just needed a properly positioned nudge and tug in the right spot at the right time to help them along their way.

Aimee and I got the same things from all of you over these past 3 months. A kind word here, a meal dropped off their, tons of gifts for Annie and Stewart, TV cameras with corporate sponsors at one of Aimee's baby showers. For cryin' out loud someone (we still don't know who yet ;-) anonymously cut our grass one week. Unbelievable.

Two things:

1. When Annie and Stewart were first born there were two primary focal points that defined success for them and the ICN team: working lungs and working guts (food in and food out). What joyful celebration ensued when we got the all clear at each successful stage as they worked through their issues. What is the point? Annie and Stewart taught us that if you're breathing and your tummy is working then rejoice, you are having an outstanding day. Everything else beyond this that is granted unto you is a miracle of abundance that you should reverently acknowledge as such.

2. If you are able to grasp the abundance you have in the fact that you even exist, the most beautiful expression of that realization is to go and do something for someone else. Serve someone, anyone, in anyway you can find, even if they don't appreciate it or know it was you lending a hand. We have experienced an outpouring of love, support, and affection that comes from people behaving this way. The most frightening, grueling, and stressful period of our lives was transformed into a season of hope, laughter, and restoration because people served us. Love is a verb. Find a subject for it. We have two new ones to focus on at home and are eager to teach them the lessons you taught us these past several months.

Thank you for the food.
Thank you for the gifts.
Thank you for the thoughts.
Thank you for the laughter.
Thank you for hoping, praying, and loving.

See you soon!

Love Annie, Stewart, Aimee, Carl, and Zorro