Good things come in tiny packages

Oh yea, I remember you from inside Mommy's belly....

Multi-tasking again..

1st bath time together

Scheduled c-section....NOT

So....today was my scheduled c-section. I was supposed to start fasting last night and wake up super early to be at the hospital at 5:30am for a 7:30am c-section. Wow! How much does 3 weeks and 5 days make a difference. Our impatient little boys had their own plans and decided to come into the world on July 1st instead. We can't believe it! They surprised us...and it wasn't their 1st surprise. Their 1st one was in December when the embryo split and they became 2 beautiful heartbeats instead of one. We are in for a lifetime of surprises with our 2 little ones. :)

Mommy...the queen of multi-tasking...

Sleepy Jadie

Some of you may think this is "the black smoke" from LOST but we know this to be our little princess Jadie sleeping on Mommy's pillow.

Sleepy heads

First family walk

Strike a pose Gavin...

Family pic....

Here is our 1st family picture, at home.

Passed out after eating.....

Evan

Gavin

Gavin's 1st sponge bath

Wow...twins really do the same things, don't they???

Oh boy, we are in trouble....

The boys 1st babysitter....

We are coming home!

What a day! Brian and I woke up this morning thinking we were going to the hospital to pick up Evan and that Gavin would be a day or so behind. To our pleasant surprise, the hospital called and said that Gavin was ready to come home too!!! How amazing is that? We happily went to the hospital and brought home our 2 sons. Wow....bliss!

Gavin passed his car seat test!

Looks like Gavin is preparing to come home too! He was moved to "ad lib" (on demand) eating today and also passed his car seat test. Way to go Gavin!!!

Family time after the boys ate....

Evan with no feeding tube!

Here is Evan seconds after they took the feeding tube out of his nose. He did cry a bit but I'm sure it was mostly from the tape being pulled off his face. Poor little guy has red marks on his face from where the tape was but that should go away in a couple days.

Another big day for the boys

The boys are doing so well! This morning I was there with my Mom and they told us Evan has now graduated to "ad lib" feeding (which means "on demand") and Gavin has moved to 6 feedings by mouth per day. They both passed their hearing tests today and also got circumcised. Evan is now 5 lbs 1.6 oz and Gavin is 4 lbs 14.7 oz. We were also told that Evan should be able to come home within the next 24-48 hours and that Gavin should only be a few days behind him. Yeah!!! We are SOOO excited to be able to bring them home soon! Reality will certainly hit us soon but we are so ready for it. We've been waiting way too long to have a baby (or shall I say babies) in this house!! :)

Sunday's update

On Sunday Evan weighed 5 lbs and Gavin weighed 4 lbs 12.3 oz. Brian is so excited that Evan is at the 5 lb mark and Gavin isn't too far away. They both did great with their feedings. Evan stayed at 8 feedings by mouth and Gavin stayed at 4. Brian fed Gavin a bottle for the first time and Gavin took it wonderfully. We spent about 4 hours in the morning with them and about 2 at night. The time seems to fly when we are there because we just love spending time with them....telling them stories, kissing them a hundred times, and just plain staring at them.

WVU fan...

Evan passed car seat test!

Brian and I went to the hospital this morning for the 8am and 9am feedings. We got a lot "checked off the list." We watched the CPR and car seat mandatory video's, fed the boys, had Evan take the car seat test, and Gavin took the hearing test. Evan PASSED the 90 minute car seat test! We are so proud! He sat in the car seat, very calmly, and not once did a monitor go off. He must really want to get home. We need to re-do the hearing test for Gavin because the Nurse said the machine wasn't working properly and it was giving her a lot of "feedback." Evan didn't take the hearing test since he was in the car seat. They will both take the hearing test within the next couple days. As for feeding, Evan got 17 cc's from me and Gavin got 31 cc's. They got the balance, to bring them up to 40 cc's, through the tube. They both did well with bottle feedings throughout the night. Evan will stay at 6 feedings by mouth, unless he's awake for the 7th and 8th. If he is the Nurse will attempt to feed him by mouth to bring him up to the max of 8 feedings by mouth per day. Gavin will stay at 4 feedings by mouth because he fell asleep during one of the bottles last night. Hopefully he will move up to 6 tonight or tmr. Evan is now up to 4 lbs 14.5 oz and Gavin is 4 lbs 10.8 oz. We are so, so, so proud of our boys and left the hospital today with smiles on our faces. I've had a few "whiffs of excitement" since we left there at lunch-time. After the hospital we went to Mom's house to pick up the cradle since we are hoping that one, or both, of the boys will be home within the week. We are going back tonight to see them and can't wait!!!!

Gavin staring at Mommy

Update

Tuesday 7/12 - Evan 4 lbs 9.3 oz and Gavin 4 lbs 5.4 oz
As for breastfeeding, Evan got 7 cc's at both our day and night feedings and Gavin got nothing both times. Whatever they didn't get from me was fed to them through a tube.

Wed 7/13 - Evan 4 lbs 9.8 oz and Gavin 4 lbs 6.1 0z
Evan got 16 cc's during the day breastfeed and 25 cc's at night. Gavin only got 1 cc during the day but 30 cc's during the night. The nurse introduced a bottle to each of them during the middle of the night to make it 3 feedings by mouth. Evan did complete the full bottle so he moved to 4 feedings by mouth but Gavin got 10 cc's and will stay at 3 feedings by mouth.

Thurs 7/14 - Evan 4 lbs 12.5 oz and Gavin 4 lbs 7.6 oz
Evan got 31 cc's during the day breastfeed but only 6 cc's at night. Gavin got 18 cc's during the day and 23 cc's at night. Evan did complete the 2 bottle feeds so he's now moved to 6 feedings by mouth and Gavin completed the 1 bottle so he's moving to 4 feedings by mouth.

Friday 7/15 - Evan 4 lbs 12.7 oz and Gavin 4 lbs 8.4 oz
Evan got 17 cc's and Gavin got 2 cc's during the day breastfeed. Neither of them got anything at from me at the night breastfeed....they decided to sleep on me instead. When I was visiting them in the afternoon the Nurse told me that I could bring in the car seat for Evan. I could NOT wait to tell Brian. It's such a good sign! It doesn't mean that he'll come home tmr...just that we can "see the light at the end of the tunnel." He will need to complete 6 feedings by mouth and then 8. After he completes the 8 he will move to "ad lib" eating which means the baby wakes up and crys to eat. We can't wait to see how they both did with the feedings tonight to see if they have progressed on.

Family time....the best!

Evan chillin during diaper change

Open cribs!!!

When I walked into the boys room today I was immediately shocked to see that they were in open cribs!!! I couldn't believe it! I thought we'd have another couple of days until this was accomplished. The nurse walked in and she said she had just switched them over about an hour before I got there. She said that we'll have to keep them bundled up to keep them nice and toasty in order to maintain their temps. I was so excited and called Brian. He said "shut up!" He was SO happy and asked me to email him pictures right away. I tried to breastfeed them today but both boys slept on me the whole time. Hopefully they will be awake tonight and willing to eat. I asked the nurse what they weighed last night and they did both go up. Evan was 4 9.7 and Gavin was 4 4.1, which means they are both almost back up to their birth weight. Ahhh! Things are looking SO good with them. We can now just focus on feeding on their own, without the tube.

My first Mommy of twins panic

The other day I was changing Gavin's diaper and I heard Evan crying and then his monitors going off. I turned around and he had thrown up all over himself. I had Gavin's isolette open, with a diaper change in progress but wanted to clean up Evan. Brian was downstairs getting coffee and the nurse was in another room. So, I assessed and thought Evan needed me more. I closed up Gavin's isolette and went over to clean up Evan and calm him down so that his monitors would calm down. Minutes later Brian and the nurse walked in...whew...my 1st of MANY panic moments to come.

Gavin

Evan

Info from last night

At our visit last night the boys isolettes were lowered down. Evan was at 28.1 and Gavin was at 28.7. We tried to breastfeed again and the boys did well. Evan got 10 cc's from me and Gavin got 16 cc's. Evan's normal feeding is 38 cc's and Gavin's is 34 cc's. This means that they got some from me and then got the difference in formula. This is totally fine with us! We were just so proud of them for getting food from me at all. We will continue to keep trying. They are doing amazingly well and we are excited about that.

Evan sticking his tongue out at Daddy

Gavin passed out on Daddy after working hard to feed from Mommy

Being patient

The boys are doing great! They are increasing their body weights each night and maintaining their body temps well. The nurses are slowly but surely lowering the temps in the isolettes. As of earlier today Evan's isolette was 28.6 and Gavin's was 29.1. They need to be at 27 in order to get them out and into an open crib. This will be awesome when this happens because we will be able to hold them longer than an hour at a time since they won't have to go back into an isolette. We are hoping in the next few days they will be able to come out. The other challenge we need to face is feeding on their own. Today was the 1st time we tried breastfeeding without the tube feed. The nurse weighed each boy and then I tried to feed them for 20 minutes. She weighed them after to see if they got anything. Both boys were lazy today and fell asleep on me so I knew they really didn't get anything. So after we tried we put them on the tube feeding. It'll take some time and the nurses keep reminding us that they are young and don't really know what to do yet. I told the boys it was ok and that "practice makes perfect." I'm hoping they are more awake tonight when I see them and are willing to feed from me, even if it's a little bit. I'm ok with it because I feel that we are almost there with the open crib and then we can spend all our focus on feeding. We can be patient.

Weights:
Fri - Evan 4 4.6 and Gavin 4 1.6
Sat - Evan 4 5.7 and Gavin 4 2.0

1 week old

We can't believe it....the boys are now 1 week old. It's been a whirlwind the past week and a half. They are progressing nicely and are just the 2 most handsome little ones in the world. It's only been a week but it's hard to imagine life without them. We are looking forward to a lifetime of love and happiness with our sons.

Real clothes!

Evan

Gavin

Update on the boys

The boys are doing so well and we are so proud of them. Neither one of them have the IV's anymore so that's one less wire on them. They had ultra sounds on their heads yesterday and I was told today that they look normal, so no more follow-up on that needed. Evan's red blood cells are doing well, and due to this he is still a tad behind on the amount of food as compared to Gavin but not by much. On 7/5 their weights were 4.2 (Evan) and 3.153 (Gavin). 7/6 they were 4.4 (Evan) and 3.152 (Gavin). Last night they both went up. Evan was 4.46 and Gavin was 4.06 The nurses all seem to be very happy with how their weights are moving. The nurses are now fortifying my breast milk with some extra calories to help "bulk" up the boys. Last night a twin room opened up so we got to move in there! It was awesome! It was the 1st time that all four of us were in the same room together. Brian and I didn't feel rushed to finish up with one of them to move into the next room. Instead we stayed in one room for 2 1/2 hours with both of them. They are doing well with their temperature's so the Nurses are slowly lowering the temps in the isolette in hopes that they can be in an open crib sometime soon. Being that the temps are getting lowered we were given the "ok" to put real clothes on them. This was such cool news. We need to work on their feedings. They are still getting fed through the tube with formula and my breast milk mixed in. We need them to either be full breast fed or be able to eat from a bottle. We'll keep you posted on this. They are doing so good and we enjoy every minute we spend with them.

Gavin and Daddy

Pics with the isolette open

Evan

Gavin

What a difference since last week

Wow...this time last week I had been admitted to the hospital, spent all day in a Labor & Delivery room and then moved to the High Risk wing to "wait it out." Now...this week...we have 2 beautiful son's and are overjoyed with happiness. I do have memories of the Labor but they are starting to fade.....since it was all worth it's while.

Happy 4th of July!

Evan

Evan

Evan

Evan

Gavin

Gavin

Today we had more visitors lined up so we spent time with each of them and the boys. One of the times we were there the Nurse Practitioner let us know that Evan's bloodwork came back with a high red blood cell count. She said this means he has a lot of blood and it affects his digestion. They will keep him on the same amount of food instead of increasing it to see how he makes out with the digestion. We will check up on this later. One of the times we were there nurse Reggie showed us how she was using my couple of drops of pumped milk with the boys. She showed us with Gavin. She put it on a q-tip and wiped it on his gums and in the corners of his mouth. She said this gives him my anti-bodies so every drop counts. Gavin loved it! His eyes opened and eyebrows went up. He started to suck on the q-tip. So cute! Brian and I felt so good about this. We later watched her do it with Evan and he reacted the same way. I was excited to realize that my drops of milk are actually being put to use. After all our visitors left, Brian and I went outside to sit by the fountain...this was the 1st time I was outside in a week and it felt great! It was only for 20 minutes or so but so worth it! We grabbed a snack at the caf and then headed to the NICU for the 8pm and 9pm feedings. Gavin was 1st and it was bath-time for him so we watched Nancy give him one while he cried. She showed us how they do it...I'm hoping this means we will be allowed to do it on our own soon. She weighed him and he is now 4 lbs, which is to be expected...babies go down in weight before they go back up. We then did breast and skin to skin time. He wasn't totally into the breast like he was last night so after the food part I moved him to skin to skin and we cuddled. It was awesome. I feel like the boys give me energy when I hold them like that. Brian and I talked to him and he opened his eyes to "listen." Again we watched more fireworks...so yet another memory for our first couple nights with them. We said good night to Gavin and went to Evan's room. Evan had a bath late last night so he wasn't due but she did weigh him and he was 4 lbs 4 oz...also down...but ok. Brian asked to hold him a few minutes before he did breast and skin to skin with me. Brian was in heaven and did tear up a bit. It was precious for me to see. Evan latched on to me right away and took the whole feeding that way but then got tired so we did skin to skin and cuddled. We said good night and put him to bed. Until tmr...