Well, it's been almost a month since these pictures were taken, but I'm really so proud of Nolan I can't help but post them...better late than never. Actually, there are quite a few things that Nolan and I did in the weeks preceding the babies' arrival that I have yet to post about. Even if it takes me a few months, I will continue to post about them because they were such special times for us. Before we left for Missouri I was on bed rest and felt like I didn't have much quality time with Nolan. When I got to St. Louis and the doctor here said I could be OFF bed rest, I took full advantage and loved having some final one on one time with my little man. After his class ended my parents treated him to two weeks of Little Gym camp. Little did we know how well the timing would work out. We had him in two days a week and each day was 3 hours. The first week of his camp ended up being the first week the babies were here so we were so grateful that he had something extra special! The camps were awesome, as well, and Nolan got to make fun crafts and burn lots and lots of energy. For anyone with a Little Gym near them with young kids I highly recommend giving it a try...you can even try a class for free! This is how the kids got around, in a "train":
On the bars:
Anyway, when we got to St. Louis I really wanted to get Nolan involved with something that let him be around kids his age and that was something just for him. Something to look forward to and that had nothing to do with his momma having babies!! I heard about Little Gym from my friend Dawn (through her blog) and since there is literally down the road from Grandma & Grandpa M's house, we checked it out. Nolan was able to enroll in a class and I was amazed at how quickly he caught up with the rest of the kiddos, how well he kept up and how well he listened and participated. He immediately loved it and looked forward to "Little Gym" every week. The final class was the first week of June and his instructor, Mr. Mark, told parents to invite grandparents and friends to watch them. We were invited inside with the kids to see close up what they had learned and had lots of photo opportunities. Much to my dismay, when Nolan saw both sets of grandparents, myself and his cousin Maddie inside he was NOT very willing to participate (at first). I was so frustrated because being the humble mother I am, had bragged up and down about how well he was doing. But he just sat next to me pouting for the first 10 minutes. At last (and after some tears on my part...we'll blame the twin hormones) Nolan snapped out of it and joined his classmates for some fun and showed us his stuff. These pictures are from that day!
I had to include this picture of Nolan on the balance beam because you'll notice my dad in the background chasing Nolan to tickle him. Yes, even during a gymnastics event, my dad is out to tickle.
All the kiddos with their medals:
I know I'm backtracking here, but before time gets away from me too much, I want to record the boys' birth story. We had a scheduled c-section for June 22nd, which was nice because I knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel and because I knew Brian would be there with me. Brian actually had a TDY in St. Louis from June 8-11th at Boeing, so he was in town that week, staying through the weekend. We had joked that it would be nice if the babies would arrive during that time, but it still was a bit on the early side and we never really thought that would happen. Friday morning we made it to the doctors' by 8 am and we were very excited to have an ultrasound, see the babies and see how they were doing with weight gain. They had been growing so fantastically up till this point, we weren't all that worried. We knew "B" was smaller, but he always consistently grew. Well, not this time. The measurements came back with some not-so-great news. Baby B had barely grown at all, and they were estimating he measured only 4 lbs 9 oz compared to his brother, who was now a whopping 7 lbs 8 oz and had grown about 2 lbs since in the last month. I was immediately upset and I think part of me knew what was coming, but more than anything I just kept wondering if this meant that something terrible was happening to our Baby B. The doctor came in to explain that most likely his placenta was just not working anymore. And dropped the bomb...we'd be meeting the babies today. As soon as she left the room I burst into tears, completely angry at myself that the last night before the babies came we spent apart from Nolan. Looking back later, I realize it all happened as it should, but in that moment, I was heart broken and filled with guilt. And so so scared. So that is the birth story and how our beautiful twin boys' came into the world a few weeks earlier than we all expected. I was very sad to be finished being pregnant, but so overjoyed to meet my sons and for all the big and small miracles that have followed their sweet little lives. I can't wait to live out the adventures and fun that our three little guys have in store for us. We truly are blessed beyond our wildest imaginations!!!
Here's me after getting into my gown, in total shock that this is my last pregnancy photo. 36 1/2 weeks. Still hard to believe my sweet baby boys were living inside of my belly!! Brian preparing to join me in surgery! Dr. McHotDaddy:
You really can't see Daniel in this picture, but that's kind of how I felt! They wheeled him immediately to Children's hospital. On the way, they saw our parents and did stop so they could get to see their new grandson!
With Nolan it seemed like labor moved at a snails pace. I was in labor for 16 hours before he made his debut. Of course, c-sections are much different, but we were still shocked when they told us that around 1 we would have the c-section. They kept asking what the last thing I ate was, since I was having surgery, and I had to confess that it was, of all things, a cookie. For some reason I was really embarrassed about this. I had eaten a very healthy breakfast, but Brian had put a cookie in my purse for a treat later and when I went scrounging in my purse after the ultrasound the cookie was like a prize! But then I had to tell every single doctor that my last "meal" was a cookie I devoured at 9 am. Lovely! Anyway, before we knew it, it was time. The epidural was not nearly as bad as I had dreaded. In fact the IV I had put in my hand was WAY worse. After my epidural was complete and the curtain was in place, they led Brian in. And minutes later we heard Joseph's cry! Then a bit later we heard (though not as loudly), Daniel. I should add that in the craziness of it all, Brian got messed up and switched the names, telling the nurses Daniel was Baby A and vice versa. So from day one, we already were getting the confused!! I barely got to glimpse at each baby and that was extremely frustrating. Not only did I want to see them, I wanted to hold them!! And snuggle them. And love on them. But I had to be stitched up, I suppose. As far as the surgery, I felt nothing, nada. Not even when they said I would feel pressure, I didn't feel anything...that all came later and still is sore today. But worth it! Time was kind of fuzzy, but I would say it was about an hour or so before I was back in my room and they were giving me Joseph. It was so surreal. I was unable to meet Daniel until the next day when I could feel my legs again and sit in a wheel chair and be wheeled to him. For those of you not from St. Louis, I delivered the babies at one hospital, and the Children's hospital is literally next door, and there is access by walk ways. Daniel was taken to Children's immediately after birth. It was so strange that our parents and even Nolan were able to see Daniel before I was able to. I was also so glad to see Nolan that night when he came for a visit. I cried upon seeing his little face light up when he saw me. Concern passed over his face when he saw me in bed, probably not looking my best. He immediately climbed into bed with me for a kiss and to snuggle and I just can't express the beauty of that moment.
We don't have very much time to post too many pictures, but hopefully these will hold you all over and explain why have little to no time...Daniel has been discharged and is with us! We were told it could be mid-week, but didn't really believe it and then while Brian was visiting yesterday they said, "Are you ready to take him home?" Crazy! So here we are! Daniel still has a feeding tube, so we have to offer him a bottle at each feeding for 20-30 minutes. He usually takes between 5 and 15 ml. After 30 minutes, we give the rest of the milk into his tube. We are praying his strength will grow and his ability to suck will take off. We are praying also he puts on weight after his surgery (remember, he didn't have milk for over 5 days of his new little life, poor guy)! Joseph is doing great and eats ALL THE TIME. I call him my chunka chunka! Nolan never ate this much, so its really bizarre to me, but I don't mind at all! Nolan is very excited, maybe too excited and wants to be involved with everything. This afternoon he came running into the kitchen to gleefully tell me, "Mommy, Jofes peed on me! And he peed on Daddy, too! That's so funny!"
Brian and I are a tired pair, but feel blessed beyond words and continue to be grateful for your thoughts, prayers, and love.
Our three boys! Joseph, Nolan and Daniel. Doesn't it look like Joseph and Daniel are waving?
The twins are doing great, but unfortunately as of Saturday afternoon they are both at Children's hospital. That's right Joseph missed his brother so much he decided he wanted to be close to him. They are both on the same floor and about 4 doors down from each other.
After Joseph's 2 day check-up (2 days out of the hospital) his Bilirubin level (Jaundice) was 13.8 and his 4 day check up it was 16. This alone was not huge deal, but in addition he was very lethargic for an entire day and did not want to wake up to eat and would even sleep through diaper changes. We along with the Doc were very worried so he wanted us to go to the ER at Children's to get him checked out and also try to get his numbers back down. Full term babies are considered high anywhere between 12-18, but since he was born at 36 weeks it is even more of a concern.
They ran a lot of tests for infections and so far they have all came back negative. They started an IV with some antibiotics to be safe and flushed his system with fluids. His number is now 12 and so far we have not had to put him under the lights. We will have the remaining test results back on Monday (22 Jun) and if everything looks good, Joseph (and Sam who has stayed with him) will get to leave the hospital.
Daniel is almost completely off of oxygen. They removed his breathing machine on Friday and gave him a feeding tube so he can start getting breast milk. He has most of his tubes and wires off and they expect him to transfer out of the ICU on Monday. His Jaundice levels are also high and they have put him in the lighted blanket to bring them down. If he continues to improve, we are told he might be released within the next 7 days.
Hi everyone! First of all, Brian and I both apologize for the lack of blog updates. It's been brought to my attention that because we left the last update somewhat open, we have some worried folks. We're so so sorry, and did not intend for that to happen. The same day of Daniel's surgery, we brought Joseph "home" to Grandma and Pa Pa's. As you can imagine, with a newborn, a 3 year old and visiting Daniel in between, we barely have time to eat...and lets not even get into time for showers. Ha! (kidding).
Anyway, Daniel is doing fantastic!!!! He stopped losing blood so quickly later in the day the same day as his surgery. He responded well to everything and this morning they were able to close his chest!! We thought it would be a couple more days, but he was doing so well they did it today. They kept him in his room (less stress than transporting to another floor), closed off his entire ward and sewed him up. It's so amazing they can do all this. Since we've left Tuesday I have yet to see him, but Brian's been up there and tells him how much I love him. I can't drive yet, so Brian and I both have to go to the hospital together, which means leaving Joseph and I think I'm going to gather the courage today or tomorrow. Either way I feel guilty being away from one of my babies, so its kind of a lose-lose. But we're praying we'll all be together very soon. Very soon, I'll try to get some pictures up. We have some cute ones of Nolan holding Joseph, who is over the moon for his brother and keeps asking when Daniel is coming home. He is definitely a bit jealous, but so far is nothing but sweet to Joseph. Maybe not quiet, but sweet!
We just met with the surgeon and everything went well. Daniel's vessels were re-routed and his heart is pumping better than expected. Unfortunately, he is loosing more blood than they would like so he is currently in limbo status. They will see how he is in a few hours and if the bleeding doesn't' slow down, they will have to do something about it. If it does slow, he will remain for 48 to72 hours before they close his chest back up. They do this because there's a lot of swelling and so little room. It is a little hard to imagine, but our little guy has a "seal" over his chest (like medical saran wrap).
