Trip to Connecticut for Christmas 07

Well, on Dec 19th, the babies and I flew to CT to spend some time with my family for Christmas. The flight was fairly good, especially as there was an extra seat, which means I could bring on both carseats!

It definitely has been cold up here, but that was to be expected. My parents bought another little heater so we had one for our room (with the babies) which really made it pleasantly warm.

The first few days were full of Christmas shopping, which I was able to do baby free. :0) Then on Christmas Eve, Tycho flew in to meet us since he finished work that day. He arrived about 7pm and we had a delicious Christmas Eve dinner.

On Christmas morning, the babies woke up around 7am as usual. We had the babies open their gifts (well we helped them of course) that morning so they would be awake and not fussy. After opening their gifts, we began getting ready to go to my Aunt Donna's house. Surprisingly, we (meaning Tycho, I, and the babies) were ready quicker than anticipated, so we actually arrived early.

All was going well until we decided to give them a quick bottle before the meal. It was then Tycho discovered that I forgot to pack the bottles. Yikes! Since my aunt lives approx. 30 mins away, it was not beneficial to go back home. Luckily, a CVS (local pharmacy kind of store) was open, so Tycho and I drove their to pick up 2 bottles. By the time we arrived back at my aunt's, everyone was almost done eating. So we ate while some family members feed them their bottles. Then we had our gift exchange which is more a long the lines of a grab bag where you can steal a gift from someone ahead of you or pick a gift that is left. It was fun. After we enjoyed an array of mouth watering desserts. Shortly after that, we journeyed home.

Once home, all of my family still had to wrap the gifts for our family members. This made things a bit crazy because everyone was tired and didn't really want to do it. However, it did get done and we opened our gifts.

The 26th and 27th were full of more shopping, family visits, and packing. Then on the afternoon of the 27th, we headed to the airport around 3:30pm to travel to Holland to see Tycho's family.

I forgot to post important news. Quinn has 2 teeth now. Leyla still does not; although, she seems to be teething again as she constantly is sucking her thumb. She stopped this for awhile. She really only seems to do when her gums are bothering her. Interesting note--they both suck the fingers/thumb on their left hand. Wonder if this means they will be lefties. I find it highly unlikely that both of us being right-handed would have two left-handed children. We will see though.

Leyla still is not crawling yet. Still rocks on all fours quite often; however, she has yet to put it together. Secretly, I am rejoicing over this fact! I hope she does not start crawling til after our holiday travels. Probably unlikely, but this is the season of hope, so I am hoping. :0) My worst nightmare is that she discovers this new talent one of the three days before we are flying...I don't want to think about how pleasant our flight would be then.

For those that do not know, we are heading out next week for a few weeks. I leave on Wed with the babies in tow and head for the cold tundra of CT. Did you see that had 12" of snow this week?! Meanwhile, here in FL, I am relaxing in shorts and a short sleeved shirt. Snow is always pretty at the holidays though, and since I get to see it briefly, and take off, I guess it is a pleasant arrival. Tycho flies into CT (hopefully) on Christmas Eve. Then, the four of us fly out of Hartford on the 27th and head to Holland to see Tycho's family. We will be there til Jan 8th. Then we head back to FL. We will keep you posted on that LONG overseas flight. Can you tell we are worried about it?

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I can't believe it's Dec 6th! This month always flies by. In less than 2 weeks, I will be off to visit my family in CT, and in 3 weeks, to the Netherlands, to visit Tycho's family.

Well, Leyla and Quinn have been sick; however, since getting meds on Monday, they seem to be improving. Hopefully it goes away completely (and stays away!) for a long time.

Leyla has been on her hands and knees and rocking back 'n forth for 2 days now. I have a feeling she will put it all together and crawl any day now. Quinn still likes his surfer dude motion, so I think she will crawl before him.

I found out Tues that our sitter will be unable to watch them next semester for us due to her incredibly busy schedule (the life of a college student). So now I am back to the drawing board. Hoping we find the right person by Jan!

Wow! Hard to believe it is the first week of December already. I remember at the beginning of the 2007, when I was placed on bedrest, I thought that this year would drag on. Looking back though, it has flown by! I think having kids makes you even more aware of time and age, especially when they are young and constantly changing.

This week we set up our Christmas decorations, partly because we need to enjoy them before we leave and partly to create our Christmas card pics. I do not think Quinn & Leyla enjoyed it much, but at least we have a few decent ones.



Today is my grandfather's 87th birthday. It's amazing! I believe my family in CT is going to visit him for a lunch today.

Unfortunately, I think Quinn & Leyla are both getting their first cold. Their nose has been quite running, which I thought was due to teething; however, today a cough has started, so I am thinking it's a cold. I hope tomorrow to get into the ped's office to have them checked out.

Yesterday and today Quinn sat up for 20+ mins at a time, so it seems like he really can sit and play now. Leyla does not seem very interested in it though. She will sit for a few secs and then fling herself backwards.

Thanksgiving 2007

Well, I flew up to CT to see family for Thanksgiving on Mon 11/19. The flight up proved a little difficult. Leyla was uncomfortable no matter whether I set her in the carseat or in my arms. I do not know if it is because she is teething, wanting to move around, or something else. Hopefully the flight to Holland at the end of Dec will not prove too difficult; although, I am a little worried now.
The weather fluctuated quite a bit while we were there. It snowed on Tues. Snow is fun and pretty especially when it is light snow as this was (maybe 2"). Then Thanksgiving day was in the high 50's. Very pleasant. We even took a walk that day. Then the rest of the week was freezing cold again. Brr!
It was great seeing the family. Everyone, of course, was amazed at much bigger and more interactive they are. It is shocking how quickly they grow and change. My brothers are becoming a bit more helpful with them; however, they have a ways to go before they have their own kids, I think. ;) My cousin, Heather, and her husband Karl watched them Friday while we went shopping.
Thanksgiving day was the typical festivities. Lots of great food, family time, etc. A very enjoyable day. Leyla and Quinn did better than I anticipated, especially since it was later in the day, which is normally their worst time.
On Sun night, we watched the Patriots close game with Eagles. Luckily, the Pats prevailed. I am sure that is because we dressed Leyla and Quinn in Pats outfits earlier that day. ;)
Mon 11/26 we returned home to FL. It's definitely nice to sleep in my own bed and be in the warm weather. A few short weeks and we will be back up there again though.

6 month pedi appt

We had our 6 mo (really 6.5 mo) appt yesterday (11/6) w/ the new pediatrician. We really liked the office and her. The office was beautifully decorated and we only waited about 5 mins to get in. :0) In addition, the dr was really informative and spent prob 20-25 mins just talking about their development, growth, and what to expect in the next few months. They had 3 immunization shots too. Leyla weighed in at 15lb 10oz, 26.5 inches long, and 16.75 inches head circum. Quinn weighed in at 18lbs, 27.25 inches, and 17 3/8 head circum. They both fell into the 50% for weight, 75% for length, and 50% for head circum, since boys and girls have different growth scales/charts. They are definitely teething and the teeth could come threw any day now; however, she said they may trick us and be another 2 months. We'll see. We really hope they do not crawl soon, but I am getting worried. They both do a face down (army) crawl of sorts. In addition, Leyla rolls ACROSS the room (literally) in about 1 min or less. Can't leave her on the floor unattended anymore.

Haven't posted in awhile...update part 4..October...6months!

Both Tycho and I think we will enjoy it better when they can talk and walk, well particularly Tycho. Don't get me wrong...we are loving being parents...the little munkins bring such sweet moments, but they do bring their share of difficult ones too. I don't think I ever really comprehended how difficult being a parent would be. Nothing like reality to bring it to light...LOL. I worry that when they can talk/walk we might be in for the hardest time.

Regarding food, originally at my 2 mo. ped appt, she told me at 4mo. we would discuss cereal. Then at the 4 mo. she said some new research came out indicating it was better to wait longer...She suggested we hold off on cereal til 5 mos and food til 6 mos. At 1 wk shy of 5 mo. we introduced cereal. They did 1 tbsp. of that for just a week. Then I decided "Forget it...I am reading about all these other moms giving food at 4mos...I am going to introduce it slowly." So a few days after 5 mos. I introduced some fruit (same kind for a whole week) with the cereal. I did it during the daytime hours so I could observe if they had a neg. reaction to it. Then the next week I tried two other kinds of fruit. Then the next week I introduced veggie (again same kind a few days in a row) and cereal in the evening. Now that is our routine. They each have 1tbsp of cereal and share a stage 1 pack of fruit/veggie (although they don't always eat the whole thing). So far, so good. Leyla is a better eater than Quinn. He enjoys rolling it around in his mouth and kind of spitting it back out. I decided after a few days of this, maybe it would help if gravity was on his side. So I feed Leyla in the take-along swing and Quinn on his back on the floor. It works much better! It is a messy process though. ;)

This is what our schedule looks like most days:
7-7:15am bottle
8:15-8:30am cereal/fruit
8:45 morning jog
9:00-10:00 nap
10:45-11am bottle
12:15-1:45 nap
2:30-3pm bottle
4:30-5:00pm (somewhere in there) cereal/veggie/couple ounces
5:00pm evening walk
6:00pm every other night bath/pajamas
6:30pm bottle and bed shortly thereafter

Haven't posted in awhile...update part 3..September...the move to FL

Written beginning of October...
We are progressing here...
1) Closed on our house here in Riverview, FL (about 20 mins SE of the tampa airport) on 9/11. We are basically unpacked, wall hangings up (finally!), and finishing the "little" things. We love the house! Our view is amazing! We almost have to pinch ourselves sometime to believe it is ours. However, I think of how HUGE our mortgage pay is each month and remind itself it is. LOL

2) Leyla (first) & Quinn (about 5 days later) started rolling over from back to tummy about 2-3 wks ago. Now they are "worming" (esp Quinn) across the comforter on the floor. I fear they will be crawling soon. I was really hoping that wouldn't happen til at least 9 months.

3) Can't remember if I wrote about their sleeping habits...shortly before moving, then went to hell for a week while we stayed with ours in the moving process, then went back to this once we moved in our house. :) They usually go to bed around 7pm and often sleep through til 6:15/7/7:30 without a peep. Leyla usually wakes around 6:30 and Quinn around 7:30 but sometimes she is later and he sometimes is earlier (though he almost never wakes before 7am). It is amazing! Now, naps are another story. They take them but they don't last long and I couldn't tell you set times they nap every day. Working on that...hope to get that under control soon!

4) Finally bought another car...yeah! No more 2 door car w/ 2 infant carriers! We bought another Saturn but a station wagon. It is a 2003, LW300 version (so lots of upgrades!). It is really nice and makes driving around with them SO much more pleasant.

5) Working from home with the virtual school has been a challenge, to say the least! I feel like my entire day (from 6/7am to 10/11pm) is consumed with either caring for a baby or doing work. Often times, I go to bed feeling very behind on my work which is stressful and frustrating. It has been especially difficult the weeks Tycho is gone. Luckily we finally found someone to come in and help 2-3 afternoons a week. She is 21 years old, college student, married, very mature. She is coming on Tues, Thurs, and some Fris from 3-6. It's only been a week so far, but it is heavenly! I am here too but working in my bedroom with the door shut.

Type in this URL to view a slideshow of our move and my staff conference in Sept.
http://www.rockyou.com/show_my_gallery.php?source=ppsl&instanceid=85841389

Haven't posted in awhile...update part 2..August

Written 9/4...

Time flies and yet goes really slowly. I know the 1st two months I was so sleep deprived that I really had lost all awareness of time. Looking back, I am not sure how I/we survived those first two to three months. Luckily, we had a lot of help for the month of July (so 2.5 to 3.5 months). Then, since we have been back home (so basically from beg of August til now), the sleep situation has improved. Phew! From about Aug 1st to Aug 27th, we would put them to bed between 6:30-7:30pm and they would wake up once a night each (usually between 11:30pm and 1:30am), take a bottle, and go back to sleep til 6am. Definitely made life a bit easier and I felt like I had a little time to myself at night (from about 7pm to whenever I went to bed). Then the beg. of last week, they seemed to drop that night feeding, and started sleeping from when we put them down at 7-7:30pm until 6am, and if we are really lucky 6:30 or 7am. Leyla has done it consisently for a week, and Quinn did 5 nights and had two nights mixed in there of still waking up for a bottle. I hope this is not a fluke, and that this is here to stay. I could definitely get used to this!

In addition, we rec'd two offers on our house on the same day, after months of nothing! They both came in Sat, Aug 4th, and we countered both of them. They accepted the better one on Sun, Aug 5th. Since then it has been a whirlwind of activity. We were suppose to close on this house here in Vegas this past Friday, Aug 31st, but things got complicated last week. Of course. When has anything been uncomplicated this past year of my life?! The buyer (a man) rec'd deployment papers to go to Iraq sometime in the next 3 months; therefore, he wanted to change the loan to be in his name and his girlfriend's name. This meant a new contract, which was completed and given to their lender last Tues the 28th. I guess it was too little time for them to create new loan docs by Fri. supposedly they will come in today; however, it is already 1:30pm here so I am becoming quite doubtful of that. We will see. Meanwhile, we were scheduled to close our house in FL tomorrow, Sept 5th, so needless to say, that is postponed too. I just want all of this to be done, papers signed, and us moved soon! We have been completely packed up for over a week now. We are eating off paper and plastic. What fun!

Well, at their 4 mo check up last week, Quinn weighed 15 lbs and was 24" and Leyla weighed 12lb 3 ozs and was 23.5". I don't think anyone would every guess Quinn was a preemie! How much does Edward weigh? Do you have the 2 mo appt and shots next week?

Haven't posted in awhile...update part 1..end of June/July

Written beg. of August...
This summer has flown by, and we have become quite the travelers. I flew to CT with the twins (by myself!) at the beg. of July. Then I flew to FL (again by myself) to meet Tycho. I had training there. Then we left (this time together. Phew!) from Orlando to go to The Netherlands to visit his family. We were there for 2 weeks and came back to FL for a few days to hang out with our friends. I then flew back (again by myself) to Vegas. I would def. saw I am comfortable flying by myself with them now. ;) Needless to say, it's been crazy for us, but lots of fun too.

June 21st

Quinn and Leyla had their two month pedi appt today. :) Quinn weighed 10lbs 7ozs and Leyla weighed 8lbs 11ozs. They were similar in length, with Quinn measuring 21.5" and Leyla 21". Then came the fun part (not really-LOL)---the shots! They each had three shots (immunizations) which made them scream. "Not fun," they wailed. After those, they slept most of the day with bouts of fussiness here and there. Then, the three of us ventured out to eat with two of my friends. Of course, they were perfect angels there! ;) Why can't it be like that at home? I wonder.

June 17th Father's Day

Luckily, Tycho was able to be with Quinn and Leyla a little today before leaving for his week of work, which is training this week. Now, he is gone and I will be taking care of them myself this week. Again, I hope I make it to Sat! Luckily, some friends have offered to help watch them.

Today, we journeyed to Erin's house for a barbeque. Quinn and Leyla slept a vast majority of the time and were well-behaved when awake (little crying). Why can't they be that way at our house? ;)

June 16th

We ventured out with the two of them to a restaurant today (first time); however, the place is in walking distance to our house and very casual. They did great though. They basically slept the entire time! Why can't they do that at home?

June 9th

Forgot to post earlier...
Well, I am still alive, but barely. These two days make me wonder how I will manage a week by myself! I have had 6 hours total sleep for the last two days. I'm living on caffiene! So happy that Tycho returns today!

June 6th

Forgot to post earlier...
Hard to believe this was their due date! I cannot imagine how big they would have been if they had been born now. Nor can I imagine how insane I would have been if I was still in the hospital. ;) They are doing well and growing quite a bit. My mom came in town this week to help me take care of them since my husband is gone flying this week. She leaves tomorrow though for my cousin's wedding, so I will have two days to take care of them all by myself. Let's see if I still alive Sat! ;)

May 27th update

We bought a digital scale today and decided to weigh them. We weiged them just after changing their diaper, so we think it is fairly accurate--probably more accurate than the pediatrician's office that weighed them with their soaked, poopy-filled diaper and clothes on. Tycho first weighed himself and then stepped on with one of them. We calculated the difference and came up with the following weights:
Quinn is currently 7lbs. 9ozs. and Leyla is 7lbs. even. They definitely seem bigger to me, but on the other hand, it's probably hard to grasp their size since birth since we have seen them every day. Hard to believe they are now about the size (maybe a few ozs less) of an "average" newborn.
Also, hard to believe that as of today, they have been home 2 weeks. Time flies!

May 24th update--1st walk

The weather was finally cool enough for us to take them on their first walk. The outdoor sun and breeze were a pleasant respite from our indoor days of late. Both Quinn and Leyla were fast asleep during the entire walk. It's a shame it's so hot here; otherwise I would walk them a lot more. I'm sure early, early morning hours would be tolerable, but I still trying to catch a few more zzz's then as they have us up half the night with fussing. ;) I look forward to the day that ends.

May 17th: 1st peditrician appt.

Well, things have definitely gotten busier now that we have them home. Luckily, they still sleep quite a bit, but Leyla has become more fussy with each passing day. The night feedings are definitely the hardest, as we are both exhausted.

Tycho's mom arrived yesterday afternoon from Holland, and my mom left late last night to return home in time for my brother Luke's graduation from college this Friday and Saturday. The extra help from both of them has been great. I'm sure both moms secretly wish we had triplets, so everyone would constantly have a baby to hold. I'm really enjoying the help and almost feel guilty that we (I) have so much help right now. I'm trying to soak it in though because in mid June I will experience my 1st week of no help--including no husband around for the week. Yikes!

Anyway, today was their 1st appt. with the peditrician. Except for a LONG wait, it went well. Quinn weighs 6lbs. 14ozs. and Leyla weighs 6lbs. 6ozs. They both had their onesies and diapers on, so they are prob. a few ozs. less in reality. They both look great and everything else was going well according to the dr. We will go back at the 2 month mark for their immunizations.

A Very Happy Mother's Day :0)

Home at last! Home at last! Thank God Almighty we are home at last! (Sound familiar?)

Seriously, we were able to bring Quinn and Leyla home this morning. We arrived there at 8 a.m. to feed, change them, and go over their discharge orders. We left the hospital with our two beautiful babies around 9:45 a.m. It was the happiest moment I've had in the last three weeks. After the many complications of the pregnancy and 3 weeks of worrying and visiting them in the Special Care Nursery, it all finally felt over. I am so relieved to have my two precious babies at home with us. Tycho and I have spent much of the day just staring at them. They definitely have us mesmerized. This is definitely the best Mother's Day present anyone could ask for.

May 11th

I really hope I am not speaking prematurely here, but it seems the "light bulb" has finally gone on. They are both taking the bottle much better. Quinn actually has been become an insane guzzler. Leyla is more like the turtle in "The Tortoise and the Hare" but she gets the job done. Yesterday they started taking all feedings by bottle. If that continues to go well and they continue to gain weight, they may come home for/on Mother's Day! I am so praying they do. :0)
As of yesterday, Quinn weighs 6lbs. even and Leyla weighs 5lbs. 9ozs. So they are packing on the weight. I'm really glad we didn't run out and buy a bunch of preemie clothes but I do not think they could fit in them in another week.

May 8th update

Quinn is really catching on to taking the bottle. :0) He did three whole bottles (50cc's) from Mon afternoon to Tues morning. Leyla took half of two bottles and one whole bottle. The dr decided to progress them to two nipple feedings per shift. At the 5pm feeding last night, they both took their entire bottles again. Quinn even took a bit more because he was still hungry. Quinn now weighs 5lbs. 11ozs. and Leyla weighs 5lbs. 5ozs. We are hoping they continue to suck those bottles down. If they do, they will probably be home at the beginning of next week.

Cinco de Mayo update

Well, originally I had thought I would be having these two around May 3rd-8th. Hard to believe they are already 2+weeks old!

They are both still being stubborn about the bottle feedings. They really have very little interest in it. They seem to be drinking even less these days, as if to say "I will do this is my own time." I guess they are trying to teach my patience early on. How nice of them! ;0) Right now, Quinn seems to take about 15cc for most feedings. Leyla had decreased to about 5-10cc for a few days. Yesterday she took 33cc, then 36cc, and then 20cc. So I am not really sure if she is ready to take off with it yet or not. We'll see. They are increasing in weight though so that is great news! Leyla now weighs 5lbs, 1.5oz. and Quinn weighs 5lbs. 7.5ozs. So really the only reason they are there is the feeding issue. Hopefully they will decide to catch on soon and come home!

May 2nd update

Quinn and Leyla have been doing excellent except for the feeding through the bottle thing. They seem to be stubborn or lazy and just have little desire to get this down. If they are somewhat alert, they will take 20-25cc from the bottle, but they are both at about 45cc. This means they usually have 20-25 that gets put in the tube afterwards. They are only trying a nipple feeding every third feeding b/c of this. Hopefully, they get the hang of this and just start sucking it down like crazy. Once this happens, they should be home within a few days.

They are both gaining weight, as Quinn now weighs 5lbs. and Leyla weighs about 4lbs. 12ozs. Leyla has not had any apnea spells since Friday, so we are hoping and praying those are over now. They are both becoming much more alert, so it is really cute to watch their eyes move all over the place.

April 30th

I realized that I missed a few other updates in my last post. On Friday, they were both moved to the open air crib and actually it is a twin crib, so they are in it together. So adorable! :) Also, Quinn's bili level finally dropped so it looks like he will not have to sit under the bili lights. Yeah! Right now, the entire focus is them learning to feed from bottles. If no problems arise, once they master this, they will be home. They still tire quickly though while feeding so this may be a week or more. Please pray the light bulb goes on for them and they start chugging it down like champs.

April 29th update

Well they are both progressing along and finally starting to put on weight. :) Last night Quinn weighed 4lbs. 13ozs. (so back to his birth weight) and Leyla weighed 4lbs. 10ozs. (2 ozs. above her birth weight). They started nippling (taking a bottle) for one feed a shift (so one out of every four feeds) on Friday and Saturday respectively. They are both doing well with that, but they start out really strong and tire quickly into it. They are up to 40cc (which is 1oz. and 10mL).

Leyla still has a couple of those apnea spells (shallow breathing/lower heartrate) each day; however, as of last night, she had not any since Friday night. Hopefully they are diminishing or are gone. I'll keep you updated on that.

I was able to hold both of them at the same time yesterday. What fun! It does get tiring on the arms after awhile though. No idea how I will do that when they weigh more. I guess I better start lifting some weights.

Tycho left on Sat., so I have been going to visit by myself these last couple of days; however, my mom arrives tomorrow, so then she will be with me. She is very excited to see them, as you can imagine.

April 26th

Well, it has been a busy few days, thus the lack of updates. Anyway, they are both still doing well. As of yesterday, they were both increased to 20ccs each feeding (getting close to 1 oz). Leyla's jaundice began decreasing. Yeah! Quinn is still rising a little, so depending on his reading today, he may be under the bili lights for a day or two. We will know more tonight. Also, they began lowering the temp in their isolettes. They are slowly lowering it and keep taking their body temp to make sure they are handling the change well. So far, so good, but they still have a few degrees more to decrease in the isolette before deciding to move them to an open crib. So they might be in one tonight or tomorrow. They both weigh around 4lbs 6oz right now, so Quinn has dropped a little more weight, but they say this is normal.

As for me, I have never been so glad to sleep in my own bed and eat my own food (or at least have a choice in what I eat). It has been wonderful to be out of the hospital. On the other hand, I still get sad everytime I leave the hospital (which is at least once a day) because I am leaving my babies there. I so can't wait to bring them home, but of course, I want them to be 100% first.

April 23rd

Today we were able to hold Leyla and Quinn again. We did Kangaroo Care with Quinn which means he is only in his diaper, and we hold him up close to our bare skin. He did well and maintained his body temp during this. We decided to hold Leyla bundled in blankets so Tycho would have an easier time holding her. She was quite the little ham and made lots of cute faces. Afterward, I changed her diaper for the first time. Of course, it was a poop filled one. The funniest part of all was that while I wiping her clean, she decided to start pooping again!

The dr said they are both doing well and increased Leyla's feedings to 13cc every 3 hours and Quinn is now at 10 cc every 3 hours. Yesterday, Leyla had 5 poopy diapers and Quinn had 2.

As for me, after the on-call dr checked me out (the same one who assisted my dr with my delivery), he said I could be released. Yippee! The nurse replaced my staples with some tape strips. We left the hospital a little before 7 p.m. My first time seeing anything beyond the hospital in 2 weeks. I so can't wait to sleep in my bed tonight! :0)

update for April 22nd

Quinn began feedings on Sat afternoon at 5cc and Leyla's feedings were increased to 10cc. :0) So far they have been handling those quite well. They have not been assessed yet today (4/23), but their feedings might increase again when they are.

On Sunday night, they were moved from NICU to the Special Care Nursery across the hall, which is a step down. I worried quite a bit last night after our first visit at 8pm, as it was really noisy with all the parents visiting and quite a few babies' monitors going off. I returned at 1am, 9am, and 1pm, and all these visits were much quieter. They seem to be handling their new environment really well so far, so let's pray that continues.

They both have increasing jaundice; however, the nurse told me that it peaks for premies between day 3-5. So she said, if it peaked today or only increases a little more, they will avoid the bili (sp?) lights. By Wed, we should know for sure if they will need them at all or not. Hopefully not.

They haven't gained any weight yet, but it still the first week, which is common for most babies, even full-term ones, to lose weight. Hopefully they will start gaining some by this weekend.

April 21st--update on Quinn and Leyla

We visited the NICU several times today. :0) During our first visit at 8am, we were delighted to see that Quinn was taken off the ventilator. They had done another x-ray of his lungs and he appeared to have responded very well to the surfactant. They explained that when they removed the vent, they were anticipating needing to put in an oxygen tube; however, he immediately began breathing room air. They continued to watch him and he had no problems, so they did not need to put it in. After seeing him several times Saturday, it appears he is doing great breathing room air on his own. Hopefully he continues that.

Leyla had begun her feedings through a tube on our first visit that morning. She was given 5cc at least 6 times yesterday and handled them all quite well. They hope Quinn will be able to start them tomorrow.

As with most babies, their weights dropped a slight bit. Quinn was now 4lbs. 11oz. and Leyla was now 4lbs. 6oz., but this was to be expected.

We held both of them last night and it was so wonderful. They are so precious. We hope they continue to progress each day.

April 20th--The big day!

Well Thursday night, April 19th, I was awoken around 2:30 a.m. by the nurse who came in my room because she observed the babies’ heartbeats drop on the monitor. She said that they had both just dropped for 3.5 minutes. She was most concerned because this did not happen around a contraction. Then, she informed me that they had dropped 2.5 minutes the night before (did not know that) but that it was during or right after a contraction. After telling me this, she called the on call doctor (not mine) to see what he wanted to do. She returned a few minutes later to inform me that per doctor’s orders I was to be hooked up to a monitor and cut off from all food and drink until further notice. Amazingly, I fell back to sleep for a few hours.

The daytime nurse spoke with me around 7:30 a.m. I inquired what the plan was. When she told that we would probably be waiting til Dr. Pierce did the amnio that was scheduled for Friday, I lost it. I knew the amnio would not be until 4-7pm that evening and then we had to wait another 4-6 hours for the results. I was already parched and could not imagine them torturing me without food and drink all that time, but it sounded like that was the plan. The nurse did not realize the amnio was not until that evening, so she left to call and check with my doctor. In the meanwhile, Tycho arrived which made it all a bit more bearable.

About an hour later, my room phone rang and it was my doctor. She told me we had two potential plans but she preferred the first plan, which was delivering that day, Friday. After hearing her reasons for wanting delivery that day, which were numerous, Tycho and I agreed that would be best. She then said she had desired to do the c-section at 4pm, but the OR scheduler said 2pm was best. When I hung up, I felt excited but anxious and worried that everything would be okay.

About 10 minutes before 2, I was wheeled out of my room on my bed with Tycho alongside me in his scrubs. The L & D nurse brought us into the OR and began prepping all the materials. The anesthesiologist arrive late, at around 2:10 p.m., because he had to do an epidural. Within minutes, my spinal was in place and my lower half of my body was numb. Then, my doctor entered along with another doctor in her practice who would be assisting her.

After that, it all progressed very quickly. Within minutes, we heard the cries our little boy, Quinn. They whisked him over the top of the curtain to show me quickly and then passed him off to the NICU team. One minute later, we heard fluid being suctioned and our girl crying. Again, they quickly flashed Leyla over the curtain and passed her off. Tycho then walked over to the where the NICU team was working to watch more closely. About 5 minutes later, two nurses carried our little bundles over to show me. I inquired about their weights. Based on my belly size and a growth scan done early that week, I was just hoping they would each weigh 4 lbs. So I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Leyla weighed 4 lbs. 8 oz. and Quinn weighted 4 lbs. 13 oz. That means I was carrying 9.5 lbs of baby!

I was sown back up, and my cerclage was removed. Then at 3:15p.m., I was wheeled back to my room to recover. Tycho arrived back from NICU (he had left with the babies) around 3:40 p.m. and update me on their progress. Leyla was breathing room air with no problems. Quinn was at first, but had some trouble remembering to breath and getting air, so they placed him on a ventilator. Other than that, they appeared to be doing well.

We visited Friday night around 8pm. The neonatologist informed us that Quinn was doing much better. He was still on the vent, but was really breathing almost all on his own. The vent was just there as precaution now. The doctor told us that if he progressed this well through the night, it would be removed in the morning. During this visit, Tycho was able to hold Leyla. I did not hold her because I still felt really nauseous from the meds and spinal. We spent about 15 wonderful minutes adoring our two little babies and then tried to sleep.

My doctor came by...

Well, my doctor came by this morning. Yeah! She did a quick growth scan; however, she had trouble accurately measuring our little guy, the one with the low fluid, partly due to his lack of fluid and partly because he is way down in my pelvis. No wonder I have to go to the bathroom every 30 mins to an hour! It looks like they both measure around 4lb. 4-6 oz. Of course, these things aren't always accurate, but hopefully they will both be over 4lbs by delivery.

He was not moving much; however, his heartbeat was still strong and showing that he is still receiving constant oxygen, so that is good. Anyway, my dr seems to not want to wait too long b/c he fluid has not improved at all after a week on bedrest. So as of now, she has scheduled an amnio for Friday (to check lung development). If it looks good, it sounds like I will deliver late Friday or more likely Saturday. If the lungs are not mature, it will depend on the readings of the amnio as it gives them an idea of how many more days it will take for them to mature. She said most likely, she will do another round of steroid injections and deliver on Sun, but she might hold off til the following week. It just depends on the results.

She has also placed me back on continuous monitoring b/c she is not comfortable with sporadic monitoring. I think it's better to be safe than sorry. She did say that if the babies show declerations (They had one yesterday that was a bit scary.), then she will probably deliver earlier. So please pray they are healthy and can stay in there til Sat.

April 14th

Well, I have decided to start a blog. I was going to begin this once the babies arrived, but I figure I should record all these eventful occurences at the end of my pregnancy. Also, I think this will be easier way to keep everyone updated, especially if things happen suddenly.

On March 27th, I began monitoring called biophysical profiles (BPP). During this monitoring, I am hooked up to a machine which tracks both babies' heartbeats as well as possible contractions. After that is done (usually 20-25 minutes), they do a quick ultrasound scan to check both babies' fluid levels. The first two BPP's, on March 27th and 30th, were excellent. No problems. Babies looked great and fluid was good. Of course, as my whole pregnancy has been complicated, this was too good to last.

On Tuesday, April 3rd, I was monitored again. Again, the babies looked great, but this time I was having contractions about every 5 mins. Luckily, I wasn't feeling them but that defintely concerned my dr so she put on a rx of Procardia (to stop/reduce the contrax). I have to take it 4 xs a day. Also, she said I was on bedrest again and to take it easy. So I returned home and laid low until my appt on Friday 4/6.

Friday, the babies again appeared well during the monitoring. :) But again, I was having contractions (not feeling them) but now they were 2-3 mins apart. On Fridays, there is only a nurse in my office so she called my dr (at another office location) and told her about my contractions and that the fluid was little low on baby A, our boy. The dr decided I needed to go to the hospital and be monitored and given the steriod shots for the lungs. So I was in the triage room of L & D for about 4 hrs being monitored, given an IV, and given the shots. They released me after the contractions subsided to 7-9 mins apart and told me to take it easy and increased my dosage on the Procardia. I did nothing but rest all weekend and had to go back to the doctor's office for more monitoring on Monday morning.

On Monday morning, April 9th, the babies interactions/heartrates still looked great, and I had almost NO contractions!! Yeah! I was feeling really happy, but then they checked the babies' fluid levels, and things suddenly changed! Our little boy's fluid had decreased even more. He has very little fluid. So little that his membrane is sticking to parts of him, such as his testicles and head. :( They decided to immediately admit to the hospital to monitor me and try to increase his fluid levels. Talk about shock! I definitely was not expecting that, and could not hold back my fear and frustration any longer, so the tears began to flow. To top it off, my dr is out of town this week, so the on call dr decided this.

So I was admitted around 11am on Monday morning and immediately hooked up to 3 monitors (2 for h/b's and 1 for contractions) and given a continuous drip IV. The on call dr came by and explained to me what was going on. Basically, the fluid gets low for one of two reasons: either due to dehyrdration/overactivity or b/c a failing placenta. So they wanted to see how his fluid reacted after 24 hours of continuous IV and hospital bedrest. If it increased enough, I would be released to go home on strict bedrest and frequent office visits. If it didn't, I would prob. be on hospital bedrest til delivery.

Tuesday evening, the on call dr (a different one that Monday) came in to check out my fluid. This dr seemed a lot more relaxed about everything, which I don't know if I liked or not. Anyway, he looked at the fluid on a portable u/s machine and said it did not look any better. I told him it actually looked a little less to me. So needless to say, he said I would probably be here until I deliver. They decided to only monitor our little guy continuously and baby b (our girl) intermittently (1 hr every 12 hrs) since she has plenty of fluid. As long as he continues to look good on the monitors, they want to leave them in longer. If he starts showing signs of distress, then they will deliver. He told me that when my dr returns (on Tues 4/17), then she can discuss with me when to do an amnio and possibly deliver. In the meanwhile, it looks like this is my home for the next few weeks. :( Definitely not what I expecting after all that home bedrest.

Now, I am just trying to make time pass until Tuesday when I hope to have more clarity and answers. Also, Tuesday they will be doing a growth ultrasound since I am due for one. I can't wait to see their estimated sizes!