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!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Celebrating One Year Home!

We simply cannot believe it. Tomorrow, March 26th, we will be celebrating the one year anniversary of bringing Jared and Anthony home! It seems like only yesterday I was so scared of them being in the back seat alone all the way home (so of course, I crawled back there to sit with them) or that we were introducing them both to their big brother Schnitzel as we brought them into the "pack." He loved them from the start, just like Jason and I.

Of course this year hasn't been without its ups and downs but each and every day we are thankful to have them home.

In the last few weeks, the boys have changed so much. On April 5th, they will be 15 months...crazy! They still love the bathtub and love dancing as we get the bath water and toys ready. They aren't walking yet (fine with Momma) but are well on their way. They cruise along the furniture as fast as ever and have begun to stand alone for very short periods of time. The newest thing they love is to be chased. They can really crawl so fast when they want to.

Anthony has begun to say a few words here and there. Recently "Apple, Ball and Bye" have been added to his already extensive vocabulary of "Dada, Mama and Dog." It is so cute how he really tries to mimic what we say and even do.

Jared hasn't taken much of an interest in talking but of course says Dada repeatedly when Jason gets home from work at night.

They respond to our cues very well and Jason and I were just talking last night about how well they listen and respond to us. They are so fascinated with Schnitzel's water bowl and each time they crawl by it we have to warn them with "No-No" several times before they pass it up completely. Not to say there haven't been times the entire bowl has found is way on the floor or a baby's lap :)

Schnitzel is in hog heaven these days with all of the food they drop for him at mealtimes. He is slowly growing tired of Cheerios but eats almost anything else that falls from the heavens. He is super great when he plays with them and he and Anthony regularly enjoy a game of tug-of-war with some of Schnitzel's toys. Jared and Anthony also are very well mannered with him. They like to pet him and play with his ears. Schnitzel's only complaint is when they climb on him or happen to kick him on accident.

In the last week, we celebrated the anniversaries of both Jared and Anthony's laser eye surgery. Those days were so hard for us last year and it was unbelievable to look back on those times at how fragile they were and see how far they have come. We had a routine follow up with the pediatric opthamologist last month and all seems to be going well. Jared was showing some signs of nearsightedness but nothing that needs correction at the time. She will continue to re-check each year to monitor their vision and any changes.

The boys have had a cold this past week, runny noses and yucky coughs. It has been a week full of Benadryl and bedtime and not much sleep in our house :( This cold comes just a few short weeks after Jared, Anthony and Jason had the stomach flu. It all started on a Wed night with Jared throwing up his bottle at bedtime. Then after a few days of him being fussy and not eating much, I was woken up on Sat morning by the sound of Anthony throwing up in his crib. All followed by the fullest dirty diapers ever. There were even a few that caused me to pause and think "What do I do here..." Needless to say Anthony had a few impromptu baths in his diaper. Then Sunday night, Jason started with the upset stomach and was even laid up for a day or two. These poor babies just can't catch a break. I guess it's just the fact that because there is two of them, they pick up twice the germs and share them between each other.

These days, germs seem to be the only thing they share. Keeping the peace is a constant task around here. They are continually swiping toys from one another and this is not without tears, of course. We have to continually explain "taking turns" and "being gentle" to them, concepts a little out of their grasp, but better to start early since they have to learn to share earlier than babies without siblings.

Other than the illnesses, we haven't had too much going on here. Just the normal, crazy, day to day life with twins. On days when the weather has been nice we have gone for walks to the park. Jared and Anthony really like riding in the wagon and also like the swings. It is so funny, because every time we go to the park they are both unsure about crawling on the grass. They both warm up to it and begin crawling around and chasing the dog, but at the beginning they just kind of sit there and touch the grass. Anthony especially seems to be a little unsure of new textures but Jared just dives right in. Go figure!

The boys enjoy climbing on things and I recently turned a box into a tunnel which they really enjoy crawling through. I think the Easter Bunny will be bringing them a play tunnel for Easter this year!

This week has been the first week of a new schedule for us. I have switched them to one nap per day. So instead of a nap at 10AM and another at 3PM, they have been going down at Noon for about 2-3 hours. Each day their nap has gone longer and longer, which has been great for me to get things done around the house. I have begun feeding them lunch a little earlier and then giving them a small snack when they wake up to hold them over until dinner. They still get a small bottle of milk at bedtime. I was considering cutting this out recently, but the bottle is the easiest way to make sure they get their multi-vitamin each day. Their transition from bottle to cup for meal time was not difficult and when they had the stomach flu they went to bed every night without a bottle so I don't see it being to difficult to get rid of the bedtime bottle when we're ready to.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers,

Fight On! Little Fighters!!
Love, Momma