nicu – Our Special Kind of Life

Gracie’s Coming Home, Tell The World I’m Coming Home! 3/17/2015!

Posted on March 17, 2020March 17, 2020 by Rick Garcia

Happy Tuesday everybody! I hope you are all doing well and doing your best to keep your social distancing. The quicker we all do our part the quicker we all rage. I’ll leave it at that as I’m not going to let what’s going on in the world impact today!

Today and every 3/17 we celebrate Gracie girl coming home after ~4 months in the NICU. She came home 1 day before her original due date of 3/18. Think about that, she was supposed to be born on 3/18/2015 but was almost 4 months old when she came home, crazy, a miracle baby. It was a bitter sweet day back in 2015! After 107 days in the NICU, one of our prayers were answered and we were able to bring home one of our baby girls, Gracie. She has some Irish in her so may the luck of the Irish be with her on St.Patricks day and forever. However, it was a bitter sweet day, since we didn’t get to leave with Olivia and the girls were separated for the first time in their life. Talk about mixed emotions, I get teary eyed just thinking about it. On one hand we got to take home Gracie but on the other hand we were leaving Olivia behind. That was tough, we were almost complete. When we got home, we made sure Gracie was situated and introduced her to Bossman our family pitty. After a few hours of loving on Gracie, Meggy went back to the NICU that night to spend time with Olivia, tough!

I still remember that morning of pickup like it was yesterday. We didn’t believe it until we actually got her in the car as we were told a handful of times leading up to that day that today is the day, only to be told sorry she had a bad day or something came up and she can’t go home with us. Talk about gut punches and pure disappointment. I remember we were cautiously optimistic she would come home that day. It was a chilly, overcast day but it was such a beautiful day as one of our girls was coming HOME! We even laid out her outfit the night before, which I’m sure Meg went back and forth to make sure her girl looked good!

We had Gracie girls outfit ready to go! We had it all covered as we dreamed of this day and it was finally happening!

You can imagine the pure joy we felt when they said it is really happening, let’s get ready to discharge her! We didn’t taker her home right away as we wanted to spend some time with Olivia as well and then we went over all the paper work and what she was coming home with. She came home with some medicine, a feeding tube and she needed to see the audiologist again soon but we are blessed and grateful to have one of our nuggets home as we patiently waited for our family and household to be complete. These are some pics of the pickup.

That’s why Meghan and I love St Patrick’s Day, it’s a day we celebrate Gracie. Here are some pics of my Gracie girl! She is full of life! She is like daddy and is always looking for the party and planning the next one even during the current fiesta! Gracie, I fell in love with you at first sight, you were the cutest lil peanut I have ever seen. I was soooo scared for you but look at you now, you are going to pre-k, you are playing soccer, playing t-ball, making new friends, running, laughing, smiling, and just living! You bring so much joy, love and your personality fits just right in with all of us and our crazy and goofy home. Gracie you are so smart, so funny, so silly, so athletic, so beautiful, so perfect! Every day is a great day and I love how you wake up every day with a huge smile and I then thank God for that moment I have with you every morning. We love you more than you’ll ever know and we are so proud of how far you have come. Love you Gracie girl!

I challenge whoever reads this to never give up hope, we can all do our part to get through what is going on in the world. It will get better, keep the faith, be a good person and good things will happen. This helped us 5 years ago and I hope it helps you today. Be a good neighbor, I had a buddy yesterday text me and he said hey I’m going to the store do you need anything? I said, actually I do. He got me some stuff I needed and I really appreciated it. He knows about Olivia and how concerned we are and how serious we are taking social distancing, it was such a nice gesture. Even better, I sent him money and he said “I’m not taking your money, bro!” How about that? I won’t forget that and that is a good example of helping each other out during these weird times. Check on your friends and family, grab your kids, give them a hug, laugh, cry and enjoy today! May God Bless you and your family.

Cheers,

Rick

#GirlDad

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Rick Garcia

Happy Friday followers! I was going to have Meghan share a post as we like to alternate so you can read both perspectives navigating our special kind of life but then a special memory popped up. I often get flack for posting photos on Facebook but I always tell people, I don’t do it for likes, I do it for a repository of memories and a location to house some precious photos and moments. The memories section comes through yet again! This weekend I will be the one writing as I will follow suite to what Kobe mentioned in an interview in which he said “Girls are the best…Just be grateful that you have been given that gift because girls are amazing”. If you haven’t seen the interview, do yourself a favor and take 3 minutes to listen and watch it. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q570KiV_IFk

I feel you Kobe, as a girl dad, I know what you meant! The crazy part is our doctor once told us we were going to have at least 1 boy after looking at the ultrasound, therefore, you can imagine the shock I was in when a week later the nurse said congrats you are having two girls lol. Man, I am so happy that doctor was wrong, I love being a girl Dad!

Today, I’d like to focus on my Gracie girl. The photo below was 5 years ago and my Gracie girl was 2 months old and until that day, I only saw her through her incubator. Can you imagine having twin girls born and the only way to see them is essentially through a glass window?! I was scared to even try to grab their hands through the incubator as their immune system was basically non existent and this was peak time when every day they fought for their lives. I would love to go visit them but I remember being extremely nervous walking up to the NICU afraid of what the doctors and nurses would say. It was the worst roller coaster of emotions. As you can see in the photo below, I look mentally and physically exhausted. Meanwhile, my girls were fighting for their lives so I had to stay strong, strong for the girls but also for Meg. I still remember the first moment I got to hold Gracie like it was yesterday. I was able to do Kangooring, for those that don’t know what that is, it is where where the premature baby is placed in an upright position on your chest allowing tummy to tummy contact. The baby’s head is turned so that its ear is positioned above the heart. I never heard of that until that day. Hearing and feeling her heartbeat and warmth was the best feeling in the world. I wanted to hold her for as long as I can as I didn’t know the next time I would be able to hold her. I kept talking to my Gracie and would say breathe with me sweetheart, breathe with me and daddy loves you over and over again.

I was told how important kangaroo care is for premature babies as it has been shown to help them regulate their body temperature (preemies need help maintaining body heat because they have little body fat). Furthermore, it helps them feel less pain and stress during medical procedures, such as blood draws. Lord knows they got plenty of blood draws and medical procedures, smh. It also helps them gain weight. Talk about the best winning scenario ever. After learning all of this, I said can we do this every day and they said as long as they are healthy and having a good day. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to kangaroo care that much and I had to wait even longer to hold Olivia for the first time. However, this day was a good day. I will never forget this moment, she was soooo little, she had the prettiest eyes, she was perfect, she’s my Gracie girl.

If you have a baby in the NICU, kangaroo away and stay strong and positive. Pray, cry, ask questions and never give up because your baby will never quit! Also, if you feel like you are missing out on having a boy, be grateful you have healthy kids and instead of wishing for a boy or girl, wish for a full term pregnancy and a healthy baby and that mama bear is healthy. That is what is important. Kobe also said; “I would have 5 more girls if I could, I am a Girl Dad!” I feel you Mamba, I love my son to the moon and back and I also love my girls and I love being a #GirlDad!

Gracie Girl – isms

Posted on January 24, 2020January 24, 2020 by Meghan Garcia

I need to take a minute to talk about my sweet baby girl, Grace. She was the first born of the twins, only by two minutes, but has absolutely taken on the role as the older, protective big sis. Gracie Girl, as we call her, is one of the most kind-hearted, fearless, playful, outgoing, loving kids I have ever met. While Olivia will melt your heart with her beautiful smile, Gracie will swoon you with her highly contagious laugh!

Grace has always been on the go, even in the NICU. She would always amaze the doctors and nurses by hitting all her milestones either ahead of schedule or bypass them together and move on to the next goal, which ultimately helped her leave the NICU one day before her actual due date. For an extreme preemie that is basically unheard of. They said she was setting new standards for all the babies in the NICU. While Grace did come home early and with minimal equipment or issues, she did have some bad days too in the hospital. Ugh, I specifically remember after her first eye surgery, we were there to be with her and she stopped breathing, she turned blue and needed to be resuscitated in front of Rick and I. Talk about an intense, scary situation and something that unfortunately I will never be able to forget. However, it is moments like these and those when she did great that make me cherish every single moment I get to spend with my beautiful Gracie.

For those who know Gracie now-a-days, know how fearless and fun-loving she is. Always ready for ‘what’s next!’ and spontaneous howling, especially at people she likes most. She is also known for her love of all things pink and dresses, but at the same time has the same amount of love for dirt and rough play. Last weekend after Ricky Bear’s basketball game and after we went out to a late lunch with a big group, Gracie proceeded to invite the entire team over for a party at our house. Trust me I am just as worried (as everyone who’s reading this) for her later teenage years…my little party planner!

So what prompt me to write about my Gracie Girl tonight? It was my 20 minute school pick up conversation I had with her while I was in the car today. Parents to little girls will understand just how many questions and words can stumble out of a 5 year old, but no one will actually prepare you for it. One other thing that you will also need to know about Grace is that she has an extremely great vocabulary, however her speech is slightly behind it and can sometimes be difficult to understand her. We call Ricky Bear her interpreter, ha! Anyways, put the 5 million questions, the way she talks, her beautiful little voice and that giggle together – what do you get? You get Gracie Girl – isms. Here is a 2 min snippet of what y’all missed in my car today…

“I really, really want to go back to Disney World Mom! Like tomorrow and all my friends have to go too.”

“When is it Easter, already?! Is it on Friday or a Sunday again I can’t remember? Is it in like 4 days?”

“I want to go on boat, when can we go on a boat again?! You promised we can go on it today.”

“Addy is my cat, not yours. Just so you know.”

(Randomly starts singing Jingle Bells – yes, it is January)

“When I get older I want a rainbow car.”

“Hey Mom, guess what it’s not froggy outside anymore!”

This literally will go on all day if you just pay attention or strike up a conversation with her and I absolutely love it! Trust me, I know first hand what it is like to have a strong willed, vocal, outgoing little kid and how tiring it can be. So any time I start to feel frustrated or just want silence, I remember how much of a little fighter she was way back when and think to myself how beyond blessed am I to be able to have these wonderful non-sensical little conversations with a little person who’s brain just will not stop thinking! I hope my Gracie Girl never changes and continues with all of her little -isms for as long as possible.