So Happy Together

Lincoln loves this YouTube clip:

We got a few pictures of the two boys together. They were both awake, but that also means they were both squirmy... hard to get a good shot of both of them! 

Can you tell who is who?

Griffin (left) & Oliver (right)

Some differences:

• Griffin is probably 1/2 lb heavier, round head, chubbier cheeks, a little birth mark on his left calf, round face, short toes.
• Oliver is small-boned, long face, oval head, bigger eyes, long toes.

Besides gaining weight (yay!) there are no changes... Nursing hasn't improved, but that takes time since they are so young. We (meaning me, mostly) are trying to be patient.

Parker's New Bed

We had to kick him out of his crib eventually, but since Griffin & Oliver came earlier than expected, we put Parker on a mattress just like Lincoln (I know, I know... we just haven't gotten around to getting a frame for Lincoln...) earlier than expected. I was a little hesitant to do it, but he LOVES it. He has always loved Lincoln's bed and crawls around on it. Now that he has his own he is excited to lay down to sleep (at least the one time I laid him down...).

Parker & Lincoln at 6am the first morning

 I heard them giggling and 

this is what they were doing.

Parker's 1st naptime on his new bed

(yes, I realize it is blurry, but I am not going to

turn the light on during naptime just to take a picture)

Daddy & Griffin; Babies' Eyes Open

 Jesse with Griffin in the NICU

Griffin (22 days old)

Oliver (22 days old)

They are growing up so fast! Haha... The boys are in open bassinets (goodbye, incubators!), no more respiratory support, and I am beginning to nurse them. Now that their high flow tubes are out, you can finally see their faces!

Their weight today:

Griffin: 2050g (4 lbs 8 oz)

Oliver: 1910g (4 lbs 3 oz)

Better Pictures - 5 days old

The nice nurse in the NICU took some awesome pictures for us when they were 5 days old. They look cute even though they have tons of tubes. Thank you, Amy! 

Griffin

Oliver

Not sure whose feet are whose... but they are both adorable. 

Baby feet are always adorable.

Both babies are still doing well - right on track for their "age". If I had to guess... I would say another 3-4 weeks longer. But it could still be a lot longer than that. Just depends on their progress.

As for Lincoln & Parker... they seem to have forgiven me for leaving so long. Parker still wants "Up!" and is frustrated when I won't (because I can't... for another couple weeks - oh the joys of a c-section...). We will probably have to start all over once the babies come home from the hospital. I guess we'll see when the time comes!

A Couple More Pictures

Oliver - happy to be off high flow air!

8/17 - 1629g - bigger than birth weight (1595g)

Griffin with Mama

High Flow: 4L

8/17 - 1658g - bigger than birth weight (1625g) 

Some Pictures, Baby Names, + Update

Here are some pictures from today. I was able to hold them both at the same time today. :) It is (finally) starting to feel REAL that I have TWO newborns. But... probably not until they are both home with us.

[Changing the pictures to sepia - brownish black & white - made it so the pictures weren't so dark. Flash kinda scares/upsets them. And yes, it was my third arm taking the 3rd picture of all three of us.]

Griffin

 

Oliver

 My first time holding both at once (today)

Griffin (Baby A):

• back under bili lights
• 1 more day of antibiotics (I think)
• on a 6 with his CPAP (down from 8)
• 1440 grams today (down from 1620 grams at birth) but not losing any more the last couple days
• almost off TPN and over to breast milk (he gets about 1/2 oz BM now)

Oliver (Baby B):

• off bili lights
• no more IV, no more TPN
• on a 6 with his CPAP (down from 9)
• 1420 grams today (down from 1595 grams at birth) - today was first day he gained weight
• fed by 100% breast milk (about 1/2 oz)

Middle names aren't final yet, but as you can see we gave our little boys names. I hope you like them. And if you don't - keep it to yourself.  haha...  :)

We brought Lincoln to see the babies for the first time today. It lasted maybe 30 minutes before we needed to leave. Since Parker isn't 2 yet, he can't see them until they are home. But he is not even close to understanding of what is going on, so it isn't a big deal. Lincoln seems to be having a hard time adjusting to me being back home. And Parker gets really frustrated when I won't pick him up (which won't be for another 3+ weeks). But they seem to be doing okay... hopefully they stop being so mad at me by the time the babies come home from the hospital (probably 3-8 weeks??).

My parents arrived here Monday evening. It is so nice to have help with the big boys (and everything else) while Jesse has been at work and I'm recovering from a c-section. My mom will stay here for 2 weeks, but my dad is going back tomorrow. He will come back to visit a couple more days when he comes to pick up my mom.

Welcome, Babies!

Our baby boys arrived Friday, August 3rd @ 29 weeks old (11 weeks early). Their names are undecided at this point (we're working on it...).

*Baby A:

3:10am

3 lbs, 9 oz

37 cm long (~14.6 in)

*Baby B:

3:12am

3 lbs, 8 oz

38 cm long (~15 in)

They arrived via cesarean section unable to breathe, but just a little work from the NICU team and they were stable. 

Currently, they are 

• on CPAP room air (continuous pressure via nasal cannula, room air)
• in incubators (to keep body temperature stable)
• on TPN via IV (basically liquid nutrition into their IVs), and breast milk via oral feeding tube (usually a nasogastric tube, but their noses are full of tubes already)
• on antibiotics as well
• (all other cords are just monitoring heart rhythms, breathing patterns, and oxygen saturation)

We got to hold them for the first time later that evening at 7pm. We will take it one day at a time, so we really don't know how long they will be in the NICU.

Mama is doing great. Already down to 1 Percocet & 800mg ibuprofen (last cesarean, I was still on morphine at this point, then I weaned to 2 Percocet & 800mg ibuprofen, then after being home more than a week, I was at 1 Percocet...)

Baby A

Baby B

(their skin is thin, so it looks really red)

Look at that blonde hair!

Holding Mama's hand

So teeny tiny!!!

(notice my four hospital bracelets...)

What happened?

Thursday morning (Aug 2nd) I woke up with pink-tinged water. During my shower I had contractions every 3-4 minutes (not so relaxing..). Magnesium sulfate (via IV) was started by 10:20am, which gave me a huge headache that lasted ALL day but slowed contractions down to every 10 minutes, then every 15, then every 20-25 minutes. This medication is used for 12 hours, so at about 10:30pm they turned it off. Oh ya... those contractions happening all day...... HURT. Badly.

By 1:30am contractions were coming every 3-5 minutes (and Lortab was not taking the edge off!). I was checked and since my cervix was at 5cm, an ultrasound to determine babies' positions was done. Baby A was still head down, but B was completely breach - meaning cesarean it was. In the next hour I was in the operating room being cut open.

And voila! We have 2 (more) beautiful, healthy baby boys! We are now a family of 6! That was quick!