BIG progress!

Today was such a great great day! When I called the NICU last night they told me they would like to wait until morning to try to get the boys off their vents. So this morning when the phone rang at 7 a.m. I knew what had happened. They moved them straight to nasal canula (forced room air through prongs in their nostrils) and skipped CPAP altogether. We are SUPER excited about that. When I went to visit them during their care time I got to hear them cry for the first time since the OR. They were not able to make any noise with the breathing tubes in. Although they still squirmed and scrunched up their faces and looked as if they were crying. Brody sounded a little hoarse from the tube being inside of him. The Neonatologist said it looked like the boys were showing signs that they want to be weaned off of the nasal canula altogether because they both keep pulling it out of their nose and chewing on it! Since they are not showing any signs of distress they will start the weaning process and will soon be breathing just like you and me!

They have removed Brody's arterial line through his umbilical cord. I didn't realize how far that went into his body until they started gradually pulling it out. It went up at least four or five inches from his belly button and into an artery right near his heart. He didn't squirm or even wake up while they were pulling it out and only bled a little bit. I think this means that we will be able to hold him soon too!

At noon when I went back to visit they said the boys were ready to get a feeding tube put in and start being fed breastmilk. So far they have only been fed nutrients intraveneously. I am especially excited for this because I've been working hard to get my milk to come in. The milk is given through a tube in their nose and goes into their tummies by gravity. I held the tube of milk up and it only took about four or five minutes for it to go down. I think this will satisfy them better because their tummies will be full (versus having the nutrients "fed" intraveneously). Sometimes they cry and the nurse has said, "I know...you're hungry." She explained that even though they are getting the nutrients that they need intraveneously their tummies are still empty. That can't feel too good. I would cry too! Their care times are going to be every three hours instead of every four now that they are getting breastmilk. The boys have a slight case of jaundice but the breastmilk will help them with that as well.

I've made a slide show of the boys. If you'd like to watch it, click here: http://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=juliestenen&SID=252553&Show=Y&p=

Extubated?

A lot can happen in just a few short hours in NICU. We were told by the Neonatologist on duty this afternoon that he'd like to try to have them off of their vents by the end of the day today and moved onto less-invasive breathing assistance!! We are VERY excited for this because then they can start being fed breastmilk (through a tube, I'm sure). Not to mention I can see them sometimes gagging on those tubes and it doesn't look comfortable for them. Although the nurse did tell us that it's good that they have that gag reflex because it's necessary to get them to feed. They've turned both their vents down to minimum assistance and the boys are coping well. They will decide at their 11 p.m. blood draws if they can take them off or not. I'm planning on calling down there at midnight (40 mins from now) to see what the decision is. Brody is now off of Dopamine completely and his blood pressure is stable.

John and I went down for their 4 p.m. care time and I was able to hold Tyler for the first time. The nurse and a respiratory therapist helped him out of his little incubator and brought him over to me. They taped his breathing tube to my shoulder to keep it in position. It was thrilling! He was very peaceful and happy the whole time, just sleeping away (and light as a feather!). The nurse told him not to tell his brother that he was getting "mom-time." Brody can't come out and play yet because he has umbilical lines that cannot be disturbed because they run through an artery. I got to change both their diapers today which was exciting (did I say that?). I feel like I'm helping make them more comfy at least. Both boys had pooped for the first time. The nurse said that they have shown that they are identical in more ways than one! Yesterday when they were hooking the boys up to their vents she told me that they were wheezing in unison.

Thanks for all of the prayers, messages and good thoughts that are coming our way. We all appreciate this so much and are thankful to have such a caring support system to be thinking of us at this time. I think the boys are feeling the love!

Meds for Brody

I just got back from the NICU and both boys were sleeping on their sides. Their nurse told me that we can't hold them yet. We might be able to hold Tyler at his 4 p.m. "care time" depending on his blood gases whatever that means. John will be here by then so that will be nice for support. NICU-land is very foreign to me and sad. The nurses give me all of this medical information that I don't understand. I can't help but cry when I see them like that with all those machines sustaining their lives. I hope they get better soon. Brody is on Dopamine to keep his blood pressure up because he is unable to maintain it by himself. She said this is unusual for "big 34 weekers." Also, they told me that they had to give him Morphine yesterday because he was flailing around and not calm (a sign of pain) but his nurse said he is much better today. I'll keep updating as I get more information.

They're here!!!

Tyler Henry (5 lbs. 9 oz.) and Brody Upton (5 lbs. 11 oz.) were both born this morning at 7:59 a.m. Brody was born first. Before he came out Tyler had his hand sticking out of my incision as if he were saying, "Hey, don't forget me!" The docs/nurses were all saying, "Look at his hand!" I thought they were talking about Brody because I had a sheet in front of me and couldn't see Tyler. I kept saying, "What's wrong with his hand?" but nobody answered. We figured out later what they had meant. Both boys came out crying so John and I took that as a good sign of their well-being. The nurses and docs were all telling them "Happy Birthday" as they were born. I thought that was cute.

The NICU nurses brought each boy over to us briefly but Brody was turning a little blue so they quickly got them to their new temporary home in intensive care. We were told that the standard procedure is to take the parents over to the NICU to see the babies on their way up to the postpartum rooms after recovering for a while post-surgery but when my nurse called to inform them we were on our way the NICU team said they needed an hour and a half before we could come see them because they weren't ready for us. That worried us a little bit. After that time was up and we had settled into my new room we called down and they said we could come anytime. I was nauseous and sick for most of the day due to the drugs given to me in my spinal and so we waited until around 3:30 p.m. to attempt the trip to see them. We got to Brody's isolet and peeked in for a few minutes before the Neonatologist and a NICU nurse started updating us on their status. I started to feel pretty ill and got sick so we had to leave to go back up to my room before even making it over to see Tyler. John quickly snapped a picture before we left but I waited in my wheelchair out in the hallway with the nurse.

Both boys are intubated, which means that they are on ventilators that breathe for them. This is saddening because we didn't think that they would need this much assistance. The Neonatologist seems optimistic that they will be able to get them to a less-intrusive breathing device called a CPAP within a few days. This evening they tried to turn down Brody's ventilator a little to get him to try to breathe a little bit on his own but his blood pressure dropped. They gave him something to regulate it. They haven't done anything to Tyler's ventilator.

At around 6 p.m. I have been starting to feel much better (less dizzy and not as nauseous). I hope to make it down to visit them first thing tomorrow morning.

Birthday

I had a great birthday today. Lots of people remembered and called, sent messages or stopped by. I appreciated it because it really helped keep my mind off of tomorrow's BIG event. I'm pretty nervous about it but also optimistic that things will go well.

Yes, tomorrow is the big day for us and we are pretty excited it has finally arrived. This has been the longest pregnancy EVER! My platelets dropped to 64K today but nobody seems concerned about it.

I will post an update as to how things go tomorrow as soon as I feel up to it.

Two days left!

My platelets are up to 74K!! Woo hoo!!

Kim was discharged from the hospital today so I've lost my "neighbor." She stopped by my room to give me a birthday gift before leaving. I forgot to mention that yesterday Karen Anderson, Kim's mother, came by and brought me flowers. Between that and the planter that Becky gave me yesterday my room is much more colorful and fragrant!

Hunter and I took our last bath together in the whirlpool tub today when he visited. He cried when he found out I would be in a different room next time we would see each other.

Tomorrow I will start packing up my room!

Weight measurements

It has been three weeks since their last measurements were taken so today was the day. By their estimate, Baby A weighs 5 lbs. 6 oz. and B weighs 5 lbs. 9 oz. To me that sounds pretty big and while I do feel enormous and very uncomfortable of late I just would be amazed if this estimate is accurate. We'll know more on Saturday!

My platelets were 64K today. There is no plan to give me steroids. I guess we just hope for the best the day of surgery. Only two more days of being a mommy of one.

My friend Becky came for a surprise visit tonight to bring by an early gift for my birthday and one for the twins. She also came to visit Kim and meet Annalee. We both went up there together.

John and Hunter came this afternoon as well. Hunter and I played with my craft supplies since I've already started sending stuff home with John in preparation to be moved upstairs to postpartum. Hunter's toys are already gone. We made due with some punches, paper and buttons. He had a blast!