Welcome to Our Blog! Our Story Starts Below...

Welcome to our blog! We set this up as an information hub about the progress of our little twin boys who were born on January 5, 2010. We along with our little boys first thank you so much for your love and support, and hope that this blog will give you an opportunity to follow their progress as they grow in the NICU at St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton.

Our little boys had a harrowing journey to get here. They were born at 25 weeks and 6 days, which is needless to say, very early. Jared William, was born at 10:49 a.m. feet first, and on the bathroom floor of the delivery room. Anthony Michael was born at 11:30 via C-section after he decided that he wanted to come out hands first.

Our story started on Monday, January 4 after a doctor's appointment with Dr. Gray. Danielle had been feeling generally, "crappy" the day before and reported what sounded like some contractions. The doctor decided to send us across the street to the hospital just to make sure everything was okay. After a couple of hours in labor and delivery the staff confirmed a few contractions, but very far apart. Her cervix was not dilated and the babies were fine.

The doctor sent us home and told us to keep track of the contractions, and so long as they weren't less than 7 minutes apart there was no need for concern. The next morning Danielle started feeling contractions again, but this time they were about five minutes apart. She called the doctor who said to wait another hour and see if they went away.

I was just getting ready to walk out the door to work when Danielle had a contraction that just about doubled her over. Deciding something wasn't right, I called the doctor and said we were coming to the hospital.

On our way to the hospital Danielle was having severe pains in her lower back every three minutes. When we arrived at the hospital Danielle was hooked up to the machines which registered no contractions at all. The doctors and nurses did not think her pains were contractions but constipation. After several attempts to alleviate that Danielle went into the bathroom still having severe lower back pain.

After a minute, I heard a scream, and Danielle was screaming that her babies were coming out. The nurses came rushing, as did the doctor, but Jared was too impatient to wait. He was born on the bathroom floor. After Danielle was moved to the bed, Anthony wasn't so cooperative and an emergency C-section was performed.

The NICU unit was quick to respond and help the teenie little babies breathe and fight for life. Jared was 2lbs. 1oz. and was 13 and 1/2 inches long. Anthony was 1lb. 15oz. and was 13 inches long.

The whole thing was totally unexpected, and frankly more traumatic than happy. But we are blessed with two gorgeous little miracle babies!

Our boys came home to us on March 26, 2010, after spending 81 days or about 12 weeks in the NICU at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton. As you may note from our previous posts below, the journey was not without its bumps in the road.

There were highs, and there were lows. We and the boys braved two laser eye surgeries, and countless other obstacles and scares. But, we never lost confidence in the medical team in the NICU, and always kept our faith that God would lead us through this time.

Our steadfastness paid off, because now the boys are happy and healthy at home! This of course brings with it a totally new set of challenges that we are exicted and eager to experience. The task of caring for twin newborns is a daunting one, but a welcome one.

So, just because the boys are now home, don't think the blogging will stop. It may not be as consistent as before, but we will do our best to keep you all updated on their progress, and give you a window into our lives raising twin boys.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Daddy holds both of his boys!


Proud Daddy Holding Anthony
Momma holding Anthony and Daddy holding Jared


Proud Daddy Holding Jared



Proud Daddy holding Jared (see how small he is compared to Jason's hand!)



Jason was so gracious to let me hold both boys before he held one - this came back to him two fold because he was able to hold both babies in the same night. What an amazing night for him. We happened to be in the right place at the right time again...I guess. As we walked in for our night visit with the boys the nurses were about ready to change their isolettes (they will switch them out every 2 weeks). Momma and Daddy were there ready and willing to help hold the boys while the nurses swapped out the dirty beds for the clean ones. I told the nurses to take their time, we were willing to help as long as we needed to.

At first we though Jason would only be able to hold one of them, so he had to decide which one it would be. Jason decided on Jared since he wasn't in the bathroom with me when he was born.

Then it happened - I watched Nurse Michelle place Jared (bundled in two blankets) in Jason's arms and my heart skipped a beat. It was the most precious moment I have ever witnessed. I started crying immediately (which was interesting since I was the one taking the pictures) - Jason was so proud of his son, who had been fighting so hard for the last two weeks. Just listening to him talk to Jared was so sweet. When Jared's bed was ready, Jason gave him back to Nurse Michelle who placed him in his new digs.

I held Anthony while Nurse Marilou changed out his bed but then she asked if Jason wanted to hold him before she put him back. There was not thinking needed about this question, Jason stepped right up. Once again, I began to cry. Then I realized that this was also the most precious moment I had ever witnessed. The pitcure will be etched in my mind. I was so happy that Jason was able to experience the same joy that I was able to feel just days earlier.

Now for updates on the babies:
Jared is eating today! He is starting with 1cc every six hours just like Anthony did at first. Jared is still on the antibiotics due to his increased white blood cell count a few days ago. So far the blood and urine cultures are coming back negative for any signs on infection, but they will wait until the final culture reading (tonight or tomorrow) to discontinue the antibiotics. Other than that, not too much going on for him. He is still stable on the oxygen via nasal cannula and his blood gases are coming back within normal range. Jared had gained a little bit of weight, and is at a whopping 1 lb. 12 oz.

Anthony is eating again and is up to 6ccs every 3 hours. He is also stable on the nasal cannula and no tests are ordered for either of them at this time. Anthony is still holding steady at 2 lbs.
Nurse Cindy told Jason that this is usually a frustrating time for parents because nothing is really going on - there is not too much new info to report. The truth is that Jason and I like this time. Like we have said from the beginning, No News is Good News. If they aren't ordering tests and x-rays, then they aren't finding any problems. We are both so happy with a "boring" day because that means our boys are able to grow stronger and stronger on their own.

The status of thier PDAs and brain bleeds is weighing on our minds, but the doctors still don't seem too concerned at this time. We figure we will cross that bridge when the doctors are ready to.
Thank you all for your loving thoughts and prayers!

Fight On! Little Fighters!! - Love Momma
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 19, 2010 at 9:34 PM

    Your first family portrait!!! I couldn't be happier for you two.
    Love,
    Mom

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJanuary 19, 2010 at 9:48 PM

    Sorry make that four!!!

    Love,
    Mom

    ReplyDelete

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