Hi,
I'm Lisa, Mom to make a wish kid Ashley age 5 and Jessica her twin sister and Christopher age 8. Last time I was on his board I was gatherig valuable information or our Disney World trip for Sept. 2008.
After trying to concieve for 4 years and using ovulation meds we switched to injectables and got Topher and then tried for number two for a year and then did injectables and IUI's and after 3 misscarriges... Finally I was Pregnant
Not just one with Twins
When I was pregnant with my girls I was high risk and had many ultrasounds and not one caught anything.
Ashley was born with Apert Syndrome. You can see her pics at www.apert.org/bock . She just finished her 18th surgery and has more to go.
You can read more about Apert at www.apert.org.
Apert is fairly rare only occurring in 1 in 160,000 to 200,000 births
I'll go back and see how to post pictures. We are now waiting to see what dates we will be going on the cruise..Can't wait .... Would LOVE some tips and advise..
Than you
UGH I just typed Ashley's whole story and the computer lost it
Anyway..It was horrible not to be able to enjoy the birth of my twins. Both were born and taken to the NICU..C-section and 35 weeks gestation. My Son had been an emergency C-section (Meconium pneumonia).
Ash actually got to come home with me from the hospital but Jessica had to stay for 11 days. My son stayed for 11 days after his birth too.
I treated Ashley like a doll for the first month of her life, until I met another child with Apert. She had 9 surgeries that year. Jessica stopped breastfeeding because I was away from her too much. Christopher started having huge temper tantrums. My house has been chaos to say the least. With all the therapies, etc...We live in Houston and travel to Dallas for all Dr. appointments and surgeries because that is the place to be when you have Apert.
Ash has:
Sleep apnea..Obstructive and Central, Hydrocephalus, Chiari Malformation, Fused skull sutures at birth, fused fingers and toes, PDA, retruded midface, sub mucosal cleft palate with bifid uvula, constant Sinus infections, Asthma and a severe allergy to gelatin.
She has had 18 surgeries..
Some of these below were combined so to try to limit the number of surgeries she will have in her lifetime.
2 cranial remoldelings, 1 orbital advancement, endoscopic 3rd ventriculostomy, external Ventrical drain, VP Shunt, 3 strabismus surgeries, 2 sets of ear tubes, 2 tonsil removals (Yes they did grow back, 6 finger separations with skin grafts, 1st stage toe separartion with skin grafts, sinus surgery.
More surgeries this year will be 2nd stage toe release and RED Midface advancement.
She was very delayed..even more noticeable having a twin sister..not able to hold up her head that first year of life, not sitting up until 18 months, crawling at 20 months, not having any teeth until 24 months, not walking until 3 years old and still isn't potty trained. I feel like I have missed out on so much with my girls. I hate to say it but the first two years of their lives I was in survival mode. I wish I could go back and redo it and enjoy it more
Our family is so looking forward to getting away and being able to create some happy memories
I'm Lisa, Mom to make a wish kid Ashley age 5 and Jessica her twin sister and Christopher age 8. Last time I was on his board I was gatherig valuable information or our Disney World trip for Sept. 2008.
After trying to concieve for 4 years and using ovulation meds we switched to injectables and got Topher and then tried for number two for a year and then did injectables and IUI's and after 3 misscarriges... Finally I was Pregnant
Not just one with Twins When I was pregnant with my girls I was high risk and had many ultrasounds and not one caught anything.
Ashley was born with Apert Syndrome. You can see her pics at www.apert.org/bock . She just finished her 18th surgery and has more to go.
You can read more about Apert at www.apert.org.
Apert is fairly rare only occurring in 1 in 160,000 to 200,000 births
I'll go back and see how to post pictures. We are now waiting to see what dates we will be going on the cruise..Can't wait .... Would LOVE some tips and advise..
Than you
UGH I just typed Ashley's whole story and the computer lost it
Anyway..It was horrible not to be able to enjoy the birth of my twins. Both were born and taken to the NICU..C-section and 35 weeks gestation. My Son had been an emergency C-section (Meconium pneumonia).
Ash actually got to come home with me from the hospital but Jessica had to stay for 11 days. My son stayed for 11 days after his birth too.
I treated Ashley like a doll for the first month of her life, until I met another child with Apert. She had 9 surgeries that year. Jessica stopped breastfeeding because I was away from her too much. Christopher started having huge temper tantrums. My house has been chaos to say the least. With all the therapies, etc...We live in Houston and travel to Dallas for all Dr. appointments and surgeries because that is the place to be when you have Apert.
Ash has:
Sleep apnea..Obstructive and Central, Hydrocephalus, Chiari Malformation, Fused skull sutures at birth, fused fingers and toes, PDA, retruded midface, sub mucosal cleft palate with bifid uvula, constant Sinus infections, Asthma and a severe allergy to gelatin.
She has had 18 surgeries..
Some of these below were combined so to try to limit the number of surgeries she will have in her lifetime.
2 cranial remoldelings, 1 orbital advancement, endoscopic 3rd ventriculostomy, external Ventrical drain, VP Shunt, 3 strabismus surgeries, 2 sets of ear tubes, 2 tonsil removals (Yes they did grow back
, 6 finger separations with skin grafts, 1st stage toe separartion with skin grafts, sinus surgery.More surgeries this year will be 2nd stage toe release and RED Midface advancement.
She was very delayed..even more noticeable having a twin sister..not able to hold up her head that first year of life, not sitting up until 18 months, crawling at 20 months, not having any teeth until 24 months, not walking until 3 years old and still isn't potty trained. I feel like I have missed out on so much with my girls. I hate to say it but the first two years of their lives I was in survival mode. I wish I could go back and redo it and enjoy it more
Our family is so looking forward to getting away and being able to create some happy memories
My twins were born at 32 weeks, so we had a bunch of NICU experience, but thankfully now they are both well. 
I know some chapters offer it and some don't. Maybe you can tack on a night once you get back into port and go? I do know some chapters will let you extend the trip on your own dime and still pay for the return flight, might be something to think about. 
Your family is so sweet. I'm curious, since your kids are older than my Tessa (4), how do the siblings handle having a sister with fairly severe needs? My oldest "looks" like a typical 8 yr old, but it is obvious to see that she is not, and yet my youngest has yet to ask why. She kind of treats her like a younger sibling or just does her own thing. With the Wish Trip coming up I have mentioned a few things to her about Phoebe being "different" (no mention of life threatening conditions, I think she would assume it means impending death). I hope you don't mind my asking, but I am trying to be prepared to help her understand her sister.
