How old is he?

This is most common question we get and the one that is hardest to answer.

First, I understand that when looking at Piper, you can't tell she's a girl. I don't have bows for her to wear (because her head is too big for all the headbands I have), her hair is thinning more and more each day (probably due to said head-sze problem), and we don't wear a lot of pink around here. And, when shes wrapped in a blanket that is a hand-me-down from her cousin Marco (a boy, I'll just make clear), it's no surpirse people assume shes' a male.

Like when she looks like this:

In her sleeping sack, which is blue, but makes her happy just the same.

So she looks like a boy. No big deal. I usually just go with it.

What surprises me is when people (namely doctors and nurses) say "How is Piper doing today? Do you have any concerns for him?"

HIM?

Is "Piper" a gender-nuetral name? I don't think I have ever met a male named Piper (Peter doesn't count). So odd.


Second, I never know how to answer the question about her age without dumping Our Life Story into my answer. If I give her real age (5 months!), it's usually followed by, "Really?! She's so tiny!" "When my kids were that age . . ." I usually give her adjusted age, which only becomes awkward when they have follow up questions like when she was born . . . uh, 5 months ago . . . It's awkward.

2 months old, waiting to leave the NICU.

2 months, adjusted.

Piper's Story

A quick re-cap of who Piper is and why I frequently tell her she's tough as nails.

December 21st we found out at our 20 week ultrasound that our baby girl had spina bifida. Her spine had not closed when it formed. Her brain was being pulled down her spine (called a chairi malformation) and she was most likely leaking spinal fluid. An amniocentesis test confirmed this. We were given three options by our doctor: abort the pregnancy, have surgery in utero or wait until she was born to have surgery to close her spine.

We decided to have in utero surgery, and on Feb 12th, 2013, our unborn child had surgery on her back (through me, I would like it noted) at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). By no small miracle I was able to return home to wait out the rest of my pregnancy in a hospital close to Casey.

March 30, 2013: Meeting Piper for the first time.

Piper being transported to Denver via ambulance. I cried more than she did.

At 30 weeks, Piper was born during an emergency c-section. She was transferred to Denver for evaluation by a team of specialists, and a month later she was able to return to a hosptial closer to us.

After 57 days in the NICU, Piper came home and for the first time we were a family living together. And the adventure hasn't stopped since. And that is why I tell Piper she is as tough as nails.

(And sometimes I throw in, "You get that from your mom.")

The Beginning

As soon as Piper was born, the requests started coming in: "When will you post pictures?" Since I am not very good at even taking pictures, let alone posting them on social media, I decided to start a blog. A place where I can post the few pictures I do have and tell a few stories about our lives to those who care to know.

Piper, a few days old. Weighing in at almost 4 lbs.

And if people want pictures, they can look at this blog whenever they want. And here Piper will be, waiting for them.

And thus I have freed myself of any further obligation to post pictures. Any pictures to follow are an unexpected surprise.