Siblings visit :-)

Ok so... The C-Section/Recovery story is going to have to wait till the next (?) post. Haha. I don't really feel like typing it all out, but have some cute pictures of Miriam, Dylan and Lydia visiting our twins :-)
 We try to come often with the kids (so far it's worked out everyday) They love coming :-) The first time Dylan walked into the NICU his eyes went super wide and said "Look at ALL the babies!!" haha! he thought we could go see all of them... He ADORES babies, likes to know what they like, likes to hold them, makes sure they are warm, fed, and happy :-)  I love it!  Miriam loves babies as well, but she doesn't voice her adoration quite as much haha! But she listens very closely to what the nurse says. Miriam could probably stand by them for hours and not be bored, I'm sure she will be a BIG help when they come home :-)  Lydia just giggles haha!

Enjoy the pictures :-)

The family den at the hospital, just outside the NICU.  It is really nice to have this room so we can come over lunch and we have somewhere to eat, and we also don't have the kids running around the NICU if we stay for a bit :-P It's also great for when lots of ppl come at the same time, then we can just take a few in at a time (the NICU has a limit on how many ppl can come in at a time as well) 

The sitting area in the family den.

Little kitchen area.

Ian under the 'Billi' light :-)  The only one in our family that has done any 'suntanning' this year haha :-) his incubator bed is nice and warm, and he is getting some 'sun' lol

Ryan - Just finished a feed (through the tube)  Although he hasn't reached his birth weight yet, he is looking so much older :-)

Auntie Nicole finally gets to hold one of the twins (Ryan) :-)

Auntie Nicole holding Ryan

Mommy with Ryan

Big sister Miriam adoring her little brother (Ryan)

Yay! Miriam and Dylan finally get to hold Ryan :-) 

Awww!  (Ryan)

(Ryan)

(Ryan)

Ian didn't get quite as much attention this visit cuz he was 'suntanning' :-)  Maybe tonight when Daddy and Mommy come then he can come out for a bit :-)

Daddy needs a turn :-)

Ryan really doesn't like that tube in his nose :-( The had to re tape it again. :-( Hopefully soon he won't need it :-)

Ryan

Ryan needs a diaper change 

Little stinker opens his eyes fairly often :-) (Ian does too :-)  )

Now our 'middle child' needs to have a look :-) she loves these little boys, she often giggles and points the whole time she is in there :-)

Ian and Ryan are born!

  Two tiny little miracles were born on Friday August 23, 2013
                                     We are so in love! 

                               Ian Thomas 2lbs 11oz (8:28pm) 
                                                                 ~aka Repete~
                                                And
                           Ryan Christopher 4lbs 6oz (8:31pm)
                                                                   ~aka Pete~


                                  Ok, so we'll start with Ian first just cuz he's older ;-)

Daddy holding Ian for the first time :-)

Ian is sooo tiny! This picture is little Ian by Auntie Nicole's hand (and she has small hands...)

-Was on CPAP machine till Saturday morning. (CPAP was to keep their lungs inflated because they were a little too sticky)
-Is in an incubator bed to keep his body at a normal temperature.
-Needs an IV for fluids, and for some fat and vitamins. The IV is inserted in his umbilical cord because his hand are much to tiny (awww! He so little!)
-Had a tube in his mouth going to his stomach for taking air out of his stomach (Some of the air from the CPAP machine ended up in his stomach) He now has a tube in his nose instead, and they use that for feeding.
-Is on breast milk (mostly mine... had a few feedings from the 'milk bank' (modern wet nurse? lol but all the milk from the 'bank' is tested and pasteurized, so not quite as good as my milk, but better than formula - formula is hard for the babies to digest). I had been pumping some colostrum, and they were swabbing the boys mouths with it, or if there was enough they put a little in a syringe and slowly put in the boy's mouths, the antibodies from my milk protects the boys from getting sick, even if they aren't getting full feeds of my milk. Now my milk is coming in, they are almost exclusively on my milk :-)


                                                     Now on to our youngest ;-) Ryan

Mommy holding Ryan for the first time :-)

Little Ryan by Mommy's hand :-) 

                                           
-Was on CPAP machine till Saturday morning. (Same as Ian)
-Was in an incubator bed to keep his body at a normal temperature. On Sunday afternoon he graduated to an open air bed. He is doing quite well, although he does need an extra blanket. :-)
-Needs an IV just for fluids. His IV is inserted into his hand :-)
-Had a tube in his mouth going to his stomach (same reason as Ian) But Ryan pulled his out haha! Then they put it in his nose... and he pulled it out again. The nurse put it back in again, but with extra tape... he'll have a hard time getting that one out haha!
-Is on breast milk, Same as Ian... The only thing is that Ryan is a bit heavier than Ian, so he normally wouldn't qualify to get milk from the 'milk bank' because of his weight. Buuut because Ian qualifies, than so does Ryan because he is a twin. :-D (don't know why that matters, but I'm glad Ryan doesn't have to go on formula... cuz that could potentially have increased his time at the NICU just because formula is harder for their little bodies to digest. They feed both boys through the tube in their nose, and every so often the nurses increase the amount of milk per feed, the more milk added the less fluids etc. they receive from the IV :-) So hopefully soon Ryan can go off his IV. Ian has to fatten up a little so it'll be a little bit before he's off :-) I haven't tried nursing or even bottle feeding either of them yet, but hopefully soon.

For those of you interested in how I've been doing with my milk supply/pumps etc. - I was hand expressing, then I used the hospital pumps (they are great) and right now I'm using my hand pump at home... the hand pump takes a while though. Thankfully the social worker from the NICU explained to us that if we get a prescription from the dr. for a breast pump,(because our babies are in the NICU) then it will most likely be covered by Matthew's work benefits plan (which it is) - A prescription for a breast pump? Yup Mommy's milk is that important especially to preemies!  Matthew went out and bought me a Medela double electric pump today :-) YAY! I feel so spoiled! We would never have been able to afford such a nice one! I haven't been able to try it out yet cuz it has to charge for 24hrs before using. :-) But apparently it's very similar to the hospital pumps, and has lots of fun little options :-D  My milk came in on Sunday afternoon, and has been increasing ever since :-D Yay!


Next post I'll write a little about my last few days at the hospital and how the C-section went :-) Recovery so far has been much better than I expected, although I have a bunch of bruising - probably because I was walking a bunch, and going back and forth from my room to the NICU and back, getting pumping gear, walking to the sink to wash the pumping gear etc. I feel good though :-) And even though I had my C-Section on Friday at 8pm my dr. discharged me on Sunday afternoon (thankfully! I missed my kids at home, being at home, making my own schedule, my own bed, my own shower... I probably can go on forever haha!)

This Friday?! :-D

Just a quick update on what's new here at the hospital... My last update was quite wordy anyway :-P

- NST's have gone great - save one that was a little concerning - had to call the dr. down, but then Repete recovered :-) Since then things have gone well. :-D

- I can't believe I'm 33+4 today! Getting so close to 34wks!

- Sunday 1/2 day pass was fantastic! Went home, checked out the progress on the bathroom! Looks great!! only a few more things to do :-D .  Church. Then picked up a few chick flicks and a meal from my SIL :-D  Then home to pick up supper. Then back to the hospital for a picnic with hubby and the kids in my hospital room again. Then the In-laws showed up for a visit. :-D Great day all in all.

- Yesterday hubby came in the eve for a visit before going grocery shopping (heart) Love him!

- Today has been quite exciting so far lol.
Rebekah txted me and asked if I wanted pizza for lunch and coffee. I said yup  then Linda txts me and says she can come...do I want coffee? lol I chose and ice cap instead. (She also brought me a muffin :-) ) Then just after both of them said they are coming, a nurse peeks her head in my door and says the porter (guy who takes me where i need to go) is here to take me to my ultrasound... What ultrasound? Shoot! Are you sure 'I' need an ultrasound... not someone else? Nope it's me... I txt bekah and Linda and say I now might be in an ultrasound when they come. (and twins take a while...) I got the nurses to send Linda +kids downstairs - They did and then they had to wait in the waiting room till the ultrasound was done :-S Bekah came just after them and for some reason the nurses didn't send her downstairs  I wanted her to see the babies too... bummer. Anyway, then after the tech was done, she called Lin and the kids to come in to see the twins on the ultrasound  After talking to the dr (who apparently booked the ultrasound) We all headed upstairs to find Bekah.  Then we visited in my room  and I drank lots of caffeinated beverages, had a muffin  and after they left I ate my super yummy Famoso pizza for lunch YUMMM! :-)  
That was more excitement than I've had for 2 weeks  The timing sure could have been better! but then again I'm sure Josh didn't mind seeing the twins  Since he won't be allowed to see them till they get out of the hospital (no kids under 12 allowed in the NICU unless they are siblings).

- The last thing to update you all on is that the C-Section is booked for this Friday :-) So this week, Lord Willing, we will get to hold our little twins :-D 

 So excited.. and yet nervous.. I haven't been told a time yet, so I'm not sure if it's in the morning or afternoon. and if there are emergencies they go before me (obviously). It's nice to know there is an end and it's pretty close! I'm REALLY starting to miss home (and my bed!) :-S 

Hope you are all having a fantastic week so far :-) I'll probably update you all after our boys are born :-D 

1st Blog Post from the Hospital...

I was admitted in the hospital on Thursday so that the dr’s can monitor our twins closely – My dr. tried to get home care for me (someone comes to my house every day to monitor the twins), but she wasn’t able to get it (not enough room in the program? I don’t know.) Bummer, that would have been so nice J Oh well. I’m here in the hospital having 2 NST’s a day.

  Matthew’s Uncle, Aunt and cousin came for a quick visit on Friday, and on Saturday Matthew, Nicole and the kids popped by We hung out in my room for a bit, walked around the hospital, showed the kids where the NICU is, walked through an outside garden, and headed back to my room. J

Yesterday I got a  ½ day pass so I could go to church in the afternoon. It was so nice to get out of the hospital for a bit and do something ‘normal’  I had to be back in the hospital by 6 so after church we headed home, made some supper, put the kids pj’s on, and headed to the hospital to have a picnic in Mommy’s hospital room. Matthew and the kids stayed till a little after 8. Matthew’s parents came by for a visit as well last night.

 While the kids where here I needed my second NST for the day so the kids got to see how they do the Non-Stress Test – They had lots of questions. Miriam was wondering if they did the C-Section in my room… lol and if she could please watch!... I explained that they do the operation in an operating room, and that there would be lots of blood and it would be yucky. That didn’t seem to faze her at all, she still wanted to go watch :-P haha! She sounds so much like me haha - I already watched a C-Section of 32wk old twins on youtube just to know a little more about it :-P (I’ve also read quite a bit, but nothing beats seeing it – I wonder if they will let me watch my own? On a screen? I dunno) After all that, Miriam didn’t think it was fair that Daddy could be there and she wasn’t allowed :-P   

Dylan thought that because we could hear the babies so clearly through the NST machine, that the babies could hear him through the machine as well… so he was talking to the machine for a few mins before I realized what he was doing. I explained to him that the babies can hear him better if he’s closer to Mommy’s tummy. Also, at one point we could hear that Pete had the hiccups, after we heard him hiccupping for a min or so Dylan tried to grab my water bottle, I told him to ask Daddy for his water bottle cuz he isn’t supposed to touch mine… so Dylan asked Matthew, then I asked Dylan what he wanted it for, he said to me “I wanted to give you some water cuz Pete has the hiccups.” Awwww! Trying to look after his little brothers already – that boy is so cute!

Lydia just thought all the buttons were so cool – and SLIDING bathroom door was so fun. (We put a chair in front of it so the kids would leave it alone :-P) Lydia thought pretending to sleep on Mommy’s bed was fun, and standing on the windowsill and looking down was also a hoot. She probably spent ½ of the time by the window. We are on the third floor, so we know Lydia isn’t afraid of heights (none of my kids are)  

 Anyway, on to an update on the twins. So far the NST’s (non-stress tests) have all been good, save the one I had this morning… both babies were moving around quite a bit, and then Repete’s heart rate dropped for a tiny bit, they left me on the monitor for a while to see if it would do that again, but it didn’t. Both babies are moving around and seem to be happy. Yay! The dr. said that any sign of stress they will likely send me straight to the OR for a C-Section. :-S   (still nervous about the recovery/ driving back and forth to see my babies at the hospital, I don’t think I’ll be ready for that no matter how much I read)

My next ultrasound is on Wednesday. We’ll see how the babies are doing and if Repete has grown. If things look too risky to leave them in any longer then off to the OR we go… :-S Most of the dr’s I’ve talked to are fairly sure these babies will want to come out sooner than later – but I’m still hoping to hit 34 weeks, even if I have to be bored in the hospital for 2 weeks, the longer they are in me the less time in the NICU hopefully.

 I talked with the NICU dr. for a little bit yesterday. He came by to chat a little about what normally happens in the NICU, some of the problems our babies could have when they come out etc. He said if I make it to 33/34 it’s likely that Pete may not have to spend any time in the NICU, he said from the ultrasounds things look really good. He said Repete also looks really good as far as he can see, except for his size, so he’ll probably need to be in the NICU to grow.  I’m thinking having one in the NICU and one out is going to be more of a challenge than both in the NICU, or both out :-S Hopefully Repete (and Pete?) only have to be in for a short time.  

Not much else happening around here. I’m sitting around in my hospital room, cross-stitching, reading, watching movies, browsing the internet… (yay! Internet in my room! :-D ) Otherwise I am allowed to walk around, but there are only so many times you can walk around the hospital in a day before that gets pretty boring too.. lol.  And now my nurse advised me not to walk around too much cuz Repete is quite low now… :-S

I wanted to mention two SUPERHERO’S in my life right now:

First of all there’s SUPERDAD! 

 Working full time, finishing a bathroom reno, visiting his wife in the hospital. He tries to get home in time to make supper and get the kids in bed so Nicole doesn’t get burnt out in a few days :-P ) Matthew also set up some WIFI for me, and he’s been able to visit me everyday. He brings me some home cooked meals, and snacks just in case I get a yucky meal :-P (the meals here have all been pretty good so far) He also brings me things from home that I forgot – razor, belt, travel mug (filled with coffee) etc. and takes home the books that I’ve read. With Matthew doing all this and more really takes a load off my shoulders! And I haven’t heard him complain about it yet – I LOVE HIM!

Second is SUPERAUNTIE (SUPERSISTER? SUPERNICOLE?) Otherwise known as ‘Nanny Nicole’ :-D  

She really is amazing. She’s up before Matthew leaves for work, takes care of the kids, and takes care of the house – cleaning, laundry etc. She really is amazing! The kids love her and it’s so nice that the kids can stay home and have a somewhat normal routine. THANK – YOU SO MUCH NICOLE! Taking care of 3 little kids and a house is no easy thing – and for a 16yr old auntie, it really is a SUPER POWER! 

Although Nicole is doing an amazing job I’m sure If anyone would like to help out she wouldn’t turn you away. Here is a little list of things I’m sure she’d love help with :-D You can phone the house to talk to Nicole, or txt/facebook/email me and I’ll txt her to see what times work etc.

- You could go visit her so she isn’t too bored/get burnt out too quick

- Come by and help out with some chores

- Take one or more of the kids for an hour or so – playdate, to the park?

- Bring a meal

So it seems with all this time on my hands, I’ve gotten carried away and written a super long post :-S 

I’ll leave you all with a list of a few things I’ve been really thankful for lately.

-SUPERDAD!

-SUPERAUNTIE!

-Fantastic nurses! (even changed my mattress at 10pm because there was a really horrible lump I couldn’t get away from, no matter how I slept)

-Fairly good hospital food

-Able to walk around

-Visitors

-All my meals made/brought to me, no dishes, sheets changed for me, room cleaned for me J

-Air conditioning

-Books, internet/laptop, dvd’s, magazines,

-My own clothes

-No IV (yet)

-Healthy babies (as far as we can see)

-My own room, with my own bathroom, and my own shower.

-A window

-Friends, family, and church family.

Thanks again, for all your support and prayers! 

More Hospital Time...

Update on my ultrasound/steroids this morning:

Things look good, both babies grew about 2 weeks worth in two weeks :-) That puts Repete at just over 2lbs and Pete at just about 4lbs (still a 46% discordance). Blood flows look good in the heart/cord/brain - no reverse flow :-)
Pretty much the same stuff we have been seeing for the past two weeks. The difference today is that I'm (almost) 32 weeks (Friday). Because it is likely these babies come out in a week or two, I had a steroid shot to help the babies lungs develop/help the babies breathe after they are born. I have another shot tomorrow. They don't usually do these shots after 34 weeks of pregnancy (babies are usually fine if delivered after that).
Now that I am (almost) 32 weeks, my OB and the Dr at the hospital recommend daily monitoring... they tried to get me home care (a nurse comes to my house and does daily monitoring) but, there isn't room for me - and they have tightened up the rules a little because of the demand for home care (that what my dr. said) So, after my second steroid shot tomorrow my dr. said they will admit me so they can keep a close eye on the babies (make sure there is no sign of stress on the babies). (Royal Alex)
I REALLY REALLY don't want to stay at the hospital buuuut, it is better for the babies if they are closely monitored.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to be fairly bored during my hospital stay... I'll take books and cross-stitching but if anyone wants to come visit me, I'm sure I'll welcome visitors :-D Just text/facebook first just to make sure I'm in my room and not having an ultrasound downstairs or something. (if  you don't have my cell number you can call my house and get it from my sister, or facebook me - I get messages and notifications on my cell.)

When will we deliver?? Don't know yet - the earliest being Friday this week (hopefully not) because then the steroids will have had time to kick in :-) The dr. today said delivery will likely happen anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks from now... (32 - 34 wks) But despite what the Dr. thinks, I'm still secretly hoping to make it to 35 weeks... :-D
From what I gather, if delivered at 32-34 weeks the babies could be in the NICU anywhere from 2 weeks to 8 weeks (or more if there are major complications) About a month is normal though. There are also fantastic stories of people getting to go home with their babies if delivered at 34 weeks or later :-D  I'm hoping for that - although very unlikely, cuz Repete is so small... he possibly will have to stay in the NICU longer than Pete as a feeder/grower. I've heard that at this point every day inside is worth 2 days in the NICU, the longer inside me the better - as long as everything stays stable.


I think that's about all the news I have today - I'll try find wifi at the hospital and keep you all updated - and if I can't find it at the hospital I know there is a mcdonalds right outside the hospital so maybe they'll let me have an hour pass or something and let me go there - I'm going to try to get a 'pass' on Sunday and hopefully make it one service - I'm pretty sure from here on I'll be missing quite a bit of church :-( I always find Sundays such an  uplifting and encouraging day...Even if it's my busiest day of the week - with 3 kids, having to dress up/look nice, 2 services at nap times, etc. Sunday is NOT a day of 'rest' - but it is still so great to be 'fed' every week and meet with the church family :-D

Thank you all so much for all your love, support and prayers!

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”

Lamentations 3:22-24