Luke is Home

 The Dr.s found no reason to keep Luke in the NICU any longer. At a whooping 5.4lbs, on no major meds.( I have to give him sodium and iron, which both taste horrible, pour little man.), maintaining his temperature in an open crib, and no longer bradying, we are headed home after 37 day in the NICU.  We are so excited to have him home but feel a bit sad that we had to leave Sam behind. Luckily the Dr. okayed it for me to bring Luke back in for feedings with Sam, what a blessing. Hopefully a few more weeks for Sam and we can all be under one roof. That will be a great day. Love ya Luke, glad you are home.

Another One Down, But Who's Counting?

I can't believe another week has passed. I can honestly say it went by really fast. We are happy to say we have hit very few bumps in the road this week either. Luke is now in clothing and in an open crib. Which makes it really nice and easy to hold him! He is so cute and cuddly. He is really close to 4lbs. And is eating just over an oz. every 3 hours. His one set back this week was he was put back on low flow oxygen. Which has help a lot with his saturation levels, it is a bummer to go back, but I am grateful that he is getting what he needs and glad the Dr.s are playing it safe.

As for Sam he is holding his own. He now weighs close to 2lbs2oz. Growing ever day. He is still in an isolate bed. They have stopped humidity in the bed though and he is working on keeping his temperature up so he can too be moved to an open crib. But I think we have some time before we get there. He has had a bit of reflux in the past few days. If he lays on his left side or on his tummy he does much better. He is now eating just over an 1/2 oz. every 3 hours. They have made the feeding last an hour compared to a half an hour to also help with the reflux.

Another new thing both boys are working on is non-nutritional breast feeding. It is just introducing breast feeding to them with out actually feeding them. They both did really well the first two days but have not been overly interested the past few days. It has opened my eyes to see how long it might take to get them nursing. But I am sure it will come. For now I'll just keep pumping and pumping and pumping.

I had a good Twin moment this week. I was holding Luke and he pooped in his diaper so I got up to change him. The nurse asked me if he got any on his clothes and I said,"no." Just as I was switching to a new diaper he pooped again and this time yes it got on his clothes and his blankets and on me. Yikes! Then just as I was done there I turned over to check on Sam and he had puked. Oh boy it is only a glimpses of life with twins.

I feel so blessed to have these twin boys. They make me so happy. It has been hard to leave Jack so much but he has been very patient and understanding. I look at these tiny little boys and wonder what will they become. I feel like they had all odds against them but they have made it out on top. They are slowly showing a bit of personality. I am so grateful we get to hold them and love them it is great bonding time for all of us. It is hard every time I leave them in that sterile room, but I am grateful for the NICU. It is an amazing facility, everyone in there is great. I always feel like my boys are being taken care of.  

One Week Ago

A flood of emotions come to me when I think back to one week ago. Instantly my life was changed forever. I was scared, excited and left with a loss of emotion. Many times throughout the twins pregnancy I had felt that way. Something inside me turns off when I am faced with an emotional issue. Often times people would ask me "how are you doing?", "are you really okay?" And truthfully most of the time I was. I would break down to Shawn at night sometimes but most the time I had a lack of emotion. I knew The Lord was there for me. I prayed a lot. I also know that a lot of prayers were said in our behalf. Thanks.

I was admitted into the hospital on Tuesday the 26th. Because Twin A (that is what he went by at that point. Also another way to unattach me emotionally from the situation) had gained 800 grams in the past 3 weeks. Where Twin B had only gained 60 grams. Of course throwing up a red flag. Dr.s watched closely and monitored heart rates daily. But something inside me just wanted to be done. Not for myself but in fear that if we waited much longer our outcome might not be.... But we kept plugging along trying to find a firm reason for them to be out not in. Friday afternoon I went in for an ultrasound to check the cord doppler. Long story short the blood flow to Baby B was not good. That was the signal we had been waiting for. The next question to arise was vaginal delivery or c-section. We had talked a lot to my Dr. about it but never had a firm answer. Looking at the positive and negatives we chose c-section. They wanted to wait until 6:30 so my lunch would digest. But after putting the babies on the heart monitors they quickly deiced this needs to happen now. Again at that point I was numb to any emotions. At least from the outside I was. Inside I kept thinking what if.... There were so many unknowns and scary maybes that I wasn't sure if I could handle. The operating room was scary and that was when at least some emotions came through. I was alone and afraid of the pain, but most of all I just wanted to skip the next hour and know the end result.

They prepped me, everything went really fast and looking back it was really foggy and cold! I remember the room was freezing. I wanted Shawn there so bad. Finally they let him in and fate was knocking at our door. Tears rolled down my eyes and for the first time in this pregnancy I let my emotions come through. When I heard the first cry, Baby A, I felt a bit of relief especially once they held him up for me to see him. But I knew the scary part was coming next. To my surprise Baby B also cried, not a loud cry but there was noise. But they didn't show him to me. Which scared me. Shawn ran out with the babies and there I laid afraid of what was next.

Luckily a really nice guy sensed my fear and went out and came back and said all is well with Baby B also. It was over, well... kind of. The next few hours were blurry. Luckily Shawn took lot of pictures. Shawn kept me updated. What a relief it was to hear they were breathing room air and not on a ventilator. He kept telling me everything is fine, they are doing great.  I tried in the middle of the night to go and see them but I was to weak and sick to my stomach. A think around 6 I had the strength to get down to the NICU. I have to admit I had very little emotion the first time I saw Luke and Sam. It was like I was looking at someone elses babies. Not really being able to hold them and nurse them or have any form of bonding is hard. And also to have a nurse hovering over you, it is just a weird experience. (I don't feel that way now though, they are mine and I can't get enough of them.)

The past week has been challenging with recovery. But these babies are amazing. I am sure there will be bumps in the road. But so far our prayers have been answered. They have there Cpaps off. Which makes them so much more comfortable and cuter. They are on high flow and close to being moved to low flow.  They have the umbilical lines out now, they are only being fed through a tube from their mouths to their tummies.  Nearly all of their nutrition is mothers milk (which in now my milk, there is a lot of pumping going on at this house. Jack thinks it is sweet that his Mom knows how to make babies and milk :)) Speaking of Jack, he was able to come and see his little brothers for the first time on Sunday. He was very sweet and loved holding Sam's hand. He was also was so interested in which baby was A and B and loves that there is a small one and a big one!They have lost weight for most of the week but on Thursday Luke was up 65 grams and Sam 55 grams. Which is amazing. My favorite part is that we get to hold them. I love that it is the one thing that pulls us apart from the nurses. I feel like it is the best bonding thing we can do right now. We hold them skin to skin, bare chest to bare chest. On Thursday I was able to hold them together. I think all three of us loved it.

The care that Luke and Sam get is amazing. Every nurse has been outstanding. I love to watch them take care of my babies they are all great and loving. They are also great at helping us heal and feel at peace. The Dr.s are so confident in everything they do. Everyone makes us feel special and loved there. Everyday at "rounds" (where they tell us the updates on both babies in the past 24 hours) they all praise the boys. They think that Sam is a "champ" for his size he is making improvements in leaps and bounds. It has been a hard, yet an amazing experience. I wouldn't change it for anything. I feel the love of my Heavenly Father everyday. I know that these two boy were supposed to come to our family. I know they will be strong, brave little boys who will teach me more than I will ever be able to teach them. They make me realize the importance of being a mother. I feel overwhelmed sometimes at the role I have been given. My boys mean everything to me. Last thing is I have to give a lot of credit to Shawn for being an amazing Dad and husband. He has kept us all moving forward. He has been my anchor this past week and the love he has for all three boys is amazing. I am aware that the road ahead is long but I look forward to it.

Fourth of JULY

Even though the Holiday was suppose to be spent on bed rest we did our best to have fun. Thanks to good Friends, Neighbors, and Family it was a great Fourth Of July. 

Family Night = Bat House

Shawn couldn't be more proud of his little son hard at work building a bat house!!!! I love simple moments like this. If only it wouldn't have been 110 degrees and I wasn't way fat, pregnant. That made it not so fun :) 

It's a Birthday Bash

Jacks Fourth Birthday celebrations lasted for over a week. Starting with a pirate party with cousins Boston and Jocelyn and friend Sadie (who couldn't make it to the "Mario Party") Jack won a pirate cake at Lin's earlier that day so we went with the theme.

 Shawn got to pick out Jack"s birthday gift from us. It has been quite the hit. Watch out!!! The flower pot is not the only thing he has run into. I have a pretty good bruise on my leg and we have a few added dents here and there. I have to say he improves daily and has managed to only roll it once, luckily it was on the grass and there was a little girl on the back to break his fall, so no permanent harm done.

Jack still needs a nap nearly everyday, or he falls asleep during dinner. As you can see he didn't get one on his Birthday. Silly Jack.

 The Mario party was a blast. The favorite level/game was Bowser's Throw Down. Thanks to our surprise guests Mario, Luigi, Bowser1 and 2 and Princess Peach.

Thanks to the help of my creative Mother-in-Law and Mom the cake was darling and hats were classic.

Here are some of the cute little guests that came to the party!

Happy Fourth Birthday to my favorite 4 year old in the world. You make everyday an adventure. I love being your Mom and am so grateful we get to spend everyday  with each other. Thanks for being the person you are, I hope you never ever ever change. Never forget how much we love you.

Thank Heavens for this Man

 Yesterday was just one of those days!!!! A super embarrassing/painful thing happened to me. I won't explain (because it is too embarrassing) but there is a  huge gash on my leg/knee/foot, and it kills to walk. But that is not what my post is about. What I wanted to post about was how awesome Shawn is. You know you have a good husband when he repaints your skinned up toe nail polish and buys you flowers to make you feel better. Maybe he is just making up for not answering his phone when I needed more than ever. But in our every days lives Shawn does not get the credit for all he does for Jack and me. He is an amazing husband and father who puts us first in every way, shape, and form. And even if I am a nag often, I love him and couldn't live one day without him.