Because I'm The Boss!

No matter how much I try to read into their little minds and attempt to put him on a schedule he continue to do as he pleases when he pleases because HE IS THE BOSS! (Hmmm he must get that from his Daddy too!) Jason has a little mind of his own and I tried a 3 hour schedule for feedings and it was going good till the night time. He gets fussy and even if he isn’t suppose to eat for 2 hours he may demand it NOW and other times its time to eat and he would rather sleep. Ha, I give up! With the other one on the way I figure that its not a win win situation. Last night we did manage to buy a little more sleeping in the co-sleeper time rather than sleeping with Mommy. Grandma bought him a womb sound teddy bear and it seems to help.

Reece was moved into an open crib yesterday while my Mom was down there with him for the day. I called this morning and he is doing just fine. The biggest challenge is to maintain his body temperature and they said he hasn’t had a problem and is still eating well. The nurse said the doctor said that he should be discharged tomorrow but we will have to wait and see if in today’s orders the car seat challenge and hearing test will be ordered over the night. I am fairly certain it will be. Wishful thinking is that they will let us get him late tonight but I doubt it. When the doctor said last weekend that maybe Friday he would be home and to make an appointment with the pedi for Reece since Jason is already going that is what I did. The problem is the appointment is at 9:40 and Jasons is at 9:20 and since it’s a new patient we have to be there at 9 and the NICU is closed from 6:30 to 8 so even if we could get him that morning there wouldn’t be enough time for the drive. SOOOOOOO that means another day of packing up for babies and having to take them out which is still something we are not for since they are still so little. Well I need to shower so I can get down to the hospital this afternoon and still need to pack a discharge bag for Reece and a going to the doctor bag for Jason and get our clothes laid out for in the morning so it’s not total chaos, but for now the BOSS is barking orders that he wants to be held so I must go!

"Mom hurry up I think I want to be held again!!!"

"Between my Grandma and my Aunt Ashy I get something new everyday. I just love my teddy bear...it helps me go to sleep!"

Knock on wood...TOO LATE!

Well I should have knocked on wood because in my last blog I said how good of a baby Jason is(was) and how he sleeps pretty good at night. WROONG! The last two nights have been absolutely the worst nights of my life! Okay maybe not the worst but they do rank pretty high up there. He doesn’t sleep anymore except during the day pretty much all day long. Why? I have no idea but the kid certainly doesn’t understand that Mommy likes to be up during the day and sleep at night. Last night it was 11-4 all night long nonstop. I mean literally he was wide awake from 11 to 4. I tried the swing, bouncer, his bed, my bed, co-sleeper, pack in play, rocker upstairs, downstairs, recliner...YOU NAME IT! There was no end he just was fussy and if you weren’t holding him he was screaming.

At 4am I had to call in the troops and took my screaming baby to my other who so kindly enjoyed sitting with him the remainder of the morning till 7a,m. The night before was the same situation…Jason cried and cried and cried and fussed and fussed and at 5 my sister heard us up and said let me have him. Without hesitation I handed him over. You literally get to a point where you are so tired and feel so helpless that your eyes begin to burn, you become dizzy and you can’t help but just cry with him. I just hope and pray that within a few short weeks he begins to get on a schedule. I have been charting his sleeping patterns, feeding and diapers and there seems to be some common trends. On Friday both boys have pedi visits. We still don’t know if and when Reece will be home but the neo said that it wouldn’t hurt just to make sure that if in case Reece is home that he too can go to the doctor when Jason goes. Anyways I need to compile a list a questions for the doctor…

Just called on Reece he now 3lbs 13.8 oz which is not a big gain at all from yesterday but it is a gain and that’s all that matters. The nurse said he is eating great…IF I can only keep him on every 4 hours that would be wonderful. I bought the book Baby Wise yesterday after a suggestion from another twin mommy. Not too sure when I will have to crack it open but hopefully soon. Off to take a shower while J is content. I smell like maple syrup from the fenugreek breast milk supplement and its making me sick to my stomach. Pretty bad when your own smell bothers you! Here are few pictures of both of the boys from the last few days…hard to believe how much they have grown and that they were born just 4 weeks ago!

Baby Reece is still so small!

So sleepy!

Jason sleeping like he should at night :)

Baby J
Chillin in the bouncer

The Weekend

The weekend has gone pretty smoothly. Jason has been doing pretty good for a newborn baby at night. I have been getting up with him 2-3 times a night to feed and a couple of small in betweens to just check up on him. On Friday & Saturday Ryan got up and took him for the 7ish feed. We are still working on him getting up at night…so far no luck and its all on me. If Reece comes home next week I joked I would have to get him a shock collar to get him out of bed because I won’t be able to do it on my own right at first. Jason is rotten. He is held all of the time. Just as soon as you put him in the swing and leave the room and comeback he is out and in someone’s arms again. I hope he doesn’t get to use to it because once his brother gets home things will have to change. As for Reece he is growing like a weed. On Thursday my Mom went down to see him, Friday Ryan and his brother Trevor and Yesterday Mom and I went. As of today he was 3lbs 12 oz. Yesterday when talking with the doctor I had mentioned that Jason was going to the doctor for his one month check up on Friday and he suggested I call the doctor to let him know that there’s a good chance both boys will be there. (YAY)

As for me I am hanging in there. It hasn’t been too bad yet and it’s all I expected it to be for the most part. I am still a little concerned with my incision. I feel as though the infection has cleared up, but there are still four pretty big and deep holes. Last night before showering it exploded, literally. I about freaked out and passed out because it was so disgusting. Since it busted its looked better, but I might still need to give Dr. Rowe a call and have him check it but it will all depend on how it goes. As for this week Ryan and I are switching off going to see Reece and the other will keep Jason just as we had planned.

ROCKABYE BABY

I am sure all new mommies do it but I find myself constantly questioning if I am doing everything up to par for Baby J now that he is home and feel guilty about not being able to spend as much time with Reece. I know with time it will ease up one Reece gets home. Jason seemed to have a better night last night. We were only up for feedings at 12:30, 3:00 and then again at 7. I guess it was easier because I was up for the first two and asked Ryan to get up for the 7am. I stayed in bed to get some sleep and I didn’t get up till 9:30 with him again. After his feeding J was attention hungry as he is right now so Daddy stayed in bed with him while I made breakfast. We have had Jason in a co-sleeper at night next to our bed and plan to do so for a while till we are all adjusted. Maybe by the time Reece gets home J will be on some kind of routine. He loves music and sounds. Yesterday during the day he just laid in his bed listening to his mobile till he fell asleep and last night I turned music on in his co sleeper which worked like a charm. As I am typing now I have “ROCKABYE BABY” sample songs playing on the computer and he’s curled up on my chest. So sweet…ps if you haven’t ever hear this series of baby music you must! Its classical lullaby renditions of artists such as Coldplay, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Green Day and more! Very soothing and has a tune parents will recognize other than twinkle twinkle…I am about to buy one of the CD’s!

Ryan just left to go be with Reece and I think his mom is going to be down there too since she is in the area. I like knowing he’s getting family attention when Ryan & I can’t both be there. Yesterday my mom went and stayed with him for about 4 hours and at his 2pm feed he ate 50 cc’s and at 5 he had 40cc’s. This is good…the more he eats the more fat he puts on!

Here are a few pictures of my sleeping Baby J...

Sleeping to ROACKABYE BABY

Sleeping with Daddy

Baby J's Homecoming

Coming home with one baby and leaving another behind is not very much fun. Recce however got lots of love from Ryan and I and even a kiss from his brother. (See the picture below…its adorable!). We finally found some clothes for Reece that actually fit him! Doesn’t he look precious in his little dinosaur sleeper? All of the nurses were so excited that it was Baby J going and not Reece because they still claim they want to stick him in their pocket and take him home with them. Ryan and I just laugh…we can’t help it our babies are by far the cutest ones in the NICU!

After giving Reece lots of love 6:00 rolled around and the unit would be closing in the next half hour so it was finally time. I think both of the boys knew something was up because they were both really alert and awake. Reece laid in his bed and stretched his little arms and legs and was also a little fussy. As for J he was pretty content with his eyes wide a wake sucking his nunu (pacifier) with a death lock hold on it! Ryan went down to get the car and I walked with the nurse who has given herself the name of Reece’s Nana, because she is crazy about him. Haha! Once he was loaded up I sat in the back with him all the way home. He hardly made two peeps. He was a wonderful car rider and was very content. Once we got home Ryan unloaded the car with all of the hospital goodies they sent us home with and took Baby J into the house. Mom prepared dinner for us all so it was ready upon our arrival. We sat in the living room watching Lance Armstrong and then headed off to bed…well sort of. I changes Jason and then he had tummy time with Daddy while I showered and pumped for Reece.

The night was good but very long. It was about 10:00 when we first started getting ready for bed and nearly 11 when lights were out. Jason was up at 11:15 hungry and didn’t go back to bed till about 12:30. He got back up about 1:30 and was up till nearly 4 this morning. By that time it was time for another feeding at 5 and back to bed at 6 only for Ryan’s alarm to go off and back up at 6:20. This morning however I did get about 2 hours solid of sleep time. Over the night Jason’s temperature was good or so I thought. I was using a scanner thermometer, but now looking back on the night I think he was cool and the thermometer didn’t work very well because at 5 this morning I used the under the arm from the hospital and it was 96.7. (we want it between 97.5 and 98.6) Anyways I swaddled him in 2 receiving blackest really tight and put a hat on him and by 6 it was 97.6. I was paranoid though because the nurses said nothing should be in his crib but him with a sleeper on. I had to put him in blankets though but made sure it was tight enough that he couldn’t kick out and that there wasn’t any material gathered up by his face. Once he was wrapped up he slept much better this morning.

While my sister is holding him I am going to take a shower and then feed Jason and give him a bath so he is nice and clean. The feeding situation kind of stinks…Jason needs about 6-80cc’s of food and Reece is at 34cc’s. I can’t figure out how to best breastfeed and pump for both babies. It seems like if I feed then there’s hardly anything to pump and vice versa even with alternating…tricky tricky. Here are a few pictures…enjoy! Oh and Ry & I aren’t going to the hospital today. My Mom is going to go this afternoon to give us a break and get settled with Jason since yesterday was late getting in and a long night. Ryan is off all day Friday so we will see Reece then. I just love my boys!

"Look Mom nd Dad I'm ready to go home!"

"Bye-Bye Brother I will miss you!"

* Muah* "Hurry up and get big so we can play again!"

"Well if you hogged all the food brother!"

"It's time to go little buddy!"

"Take me home!!!!"

"Easy does it..."

"Hmmm where are we exactly Dad?"

"We didn't have anything this cool at the NICU!"

Well it’s looking pretty good that Baby J will be home tomorrow evening. Ryan and I are thinking that we will just bring him home when we go up to see both of them after he gets off work and just bring him home after we visit with Reece too. I called this morning and they said J hasn’t been bleeding from his circumcision and did pretty good last night. He passed his car seat test and also his hearing test without any problem. He was one unhappy little boy when he woke up after the circ. He was sound asleep when Dr. Rowe rolled him back to us but it was also time for him to eat so needless to say I had a hungry baby in some pain and who was also trying to go poop while feeding. He is still working on the breast feeding so needless to say he got frustrated really quick so I grabbed him a bottle instead. He was screaming at the top of his lungs to the point his little lip was quivering. I ended up standing up with him and swaying and talking to him while the bottle was being ready and this calmed him a little. It was the type of scream you see kids do in stores or out in public and the parents look like they just want to run away. Ryan did actually but it was because he needed to go to the bathroom and I stayed with Baby J for the rest of the feeding. Once we got a bottle (and a half) in him as well as a fresh diaper on he was content and I rocked him till he fell asleep in my arms. For the first time I really felt like I was needed and that he wanted to be with me as opposed to the nurses who were trying to help him. Poor baby…if I would have had my own car and would have been closer to home I would have stayed with him all night long just so that he could be held if he felt that way again. I knew that wouldn’t fly with Ryan to leave me there and he needed to get home to go to sleep so he could get up for work this morning so we left a little after 11.

Brining home one baby and having another still in the NICU is not going to be fun. Ryan isn’t comfortable with anyone watching them just yet and I am not comfortable with the idea of just anyone watching them and know if one person does everyone will think they too will need to. So sadly as a result of they will be staying with Mommy and Daddy a lot and Ry and I will be switching off each night with one of us going to Webster and the other staying at home with Jason till he comes home. I guess you have to make your compromises and for now this will work. The nurses have also warned us against taking them out in public because their immune systems are still “fragile”. I think this has Ryan more concerned than me but they say its best to keep visitors to close family for at least a month or two once they are home and to make sure everyone including us is sanitizing frequently. I personally question the visitor policy but completely agree they need to stay home and if anyone wants to see them they will have to come here. Ugh I foresee lots of headaches in the near future (like in 24-36 hours)…

I am looking forward to my big boy being home and now I need to finish cleaning up and getting everything together. Ryan and I still need to put together the co-sleeper and arrange a few things to make sure all of our ducks are in a row. I am so ready for both boys to be here cord and wire free so I can hold and love on both of them at the same time. Yesterday I had my first encounter with feeding them at the same time. Typically Reece doesn’t want to tackle the last little bit of his bottle and yesterday was one of those days. I had Jas beast feeding and at the same time I had Ashley give me Reece so I could get him to take the last little bit. Needless to say both babies went right to town and I was feeding and burping one while keeping the other busy sucking away. It was pretty comical! Here are a few pictures from the day… also as a side note to all of my DG girls who are going to Korts wedding I plan on going and Ryan has offered to babysit sooooo YAY I can't wait to see you all and Kortney is going to look BEAUTIFUL!

"I woof you" cute onsie my sister &

I bought so he would have something warm

till Dad got there but its was a little snug.

Chunky Monkey J!

Mommy & Reece

Baby Reece

Double up! Both babies feeding...

Not bad, huh?

My snuggle buddy!

Baby J & the WONDERFUL Dr. Rowe after J's circ.

Preemie outfits on both of the boys.

J has nearly outgrown preemie and R

hasn't gorwn into any of it!

Sleepy boy :)

My little thumb sucker. Sometimes he

puts both thumbs in his mouth. It looks

like he is praying when he does it.

"Thank you God for letting me be healthy!!!!"

I'm still so little lol

1 Down...1 To Go (Hopefully!!!)

I was reassured today that more people would be upset if I deleted the blog than people who gripe and complain about it. I had 3 emails today during the day from people I didn’t even know who are “fans” and “regular readers” as well as numerous texts and phone calls which is kind of funny. However I am glad you all enjoy! Anyways I have lots of filling in to do. Its 12:53a.m. and I am pumping because Ryan and I just got home in the last ½ hour from the hospital. Lots and lots of good news happened today but since it’s late and I am tired as can be I’ll keep it brief till morning.

Reece was bumped from 26cc’s a feed to 31 cc’s today which means he’s finally eating an ounce (30cc’s= 1 oz.) He was also weighing 3lbs and 5ozs. He getting there slowly but surley!

Jason is expected to come home on Wednesday if all goes according to plan. His circumcision was done tonight at 9pm (that’s a story for tomorrow) and over the night his car seat test will be given and his hearing test either tonight or during the day depending on when the tech can get to it. In addition to he is in an open crib now which means Reece doesn’t have his brothers extra heat to keep him warm.

That’s all I have for now. I need sleep. I got up at 6am and went nonstop around the house getting Ryan up and ready for work, starting laundry, pumping, getting baby stuff together and finally myself and was out the door at 9:15 and at the hospital by 10:45. Ryan and I didn’t leave till a little after 11 tonight because I had one very unhappy mommy’s boy who wanted to be held, rocked and talked to…I have lots of details and adorable pictures to add tomorrow. I plan on staying home since the new furniture is being delivered and also cleaning (again) before Baby J gets here Wednesday…

Less than 48 hours and I will have one down and one to go hopefully!

LOTS of weekend updates!

Well I spent the weekend once again in Webster with my boys so I haven’t updated in several days because I didn’t take my computer plus I was on the verge of deleting the blog altogether but decided against it. If you feel like what I say is offensive, inappropriate, or just to your disliking then don’t follow up on how the boys and I are doing. Speaking of which, Jason and Reece are doing GREAT! This weekend I had hoped for Reece to get his feeding tube out and for both boys to be on all bottle feeds before the weekend was over and sure enough on Friday that was in the orders from the doctor. Once again God answered our prayers!

As of Friday J & R were both getting all 8 feeds by bottle which means their little feeding tubes in their noses came out! This was exciting and I know my boys were very ready for the tape to be off their sweet little faces and to be tube free. On Friday they had visits from my Meme and PawPaw (their great grandparents on my side of the family)! The boys are lucky to have so many grandparents on both mine and Ryan’s side. It’s hard to imagine they have already meet 5 grandma/nana/great grandmas/granny/meme’s and 3 papa/grandpa’s and still have 2 more PawPaw’s to go! (Ok that might have been confusing…) Anyways the boys were as sweet as could be while Meme and PawPaw visited. They took lots of pictures and held the little bundles for a while.

On Saturday I meet my parents at the hospital at 8:00 am to drop of milk. They visited with the boys while Ryan and I “slept in” for the morning. At 9:30 we joined them and the nurse had Ryan and I give Jason & Reece a bath and then we spent the day with once Mom and Dad left. The boys were so darn cute during their bath and it felt good to have them both off the monitors. I have grown use to their small size and toss them around like footballs. During bath time they cried a little but they don’t cry like the other babies do. They fuss, but hardly ever let out a good scream. The nurses tell us that with time they will cry more and sleep less and not always be the “perfect” little babies they are.

On Saturday we got news from the doctor that Reece has a murmur in his heart. The cardiologist came by and checked it all out and said it’s PDA. It’s fairly common among preemies but typically the doctor said it’s treated right after birth and that the medicines given will help it to close. Basically to put it into simple terms it’s a vein that is suppose to close when the babies are born. Prior to birth the vein helps circulate blood from the mothers uterus to the baby (and passes either through or by the lungs). Anyways long story short the cardio doctor said they would start him on medicines, but by that afternoon the doctor in the NICU said the medicines wouldn’t be used because the PDA is not effecting Reece’s vital signs and appears to be functioning fine with the PDA. If that changes, which they don’t suspect it will they will try the medicine, but it could result in a surgery in order for it to be fixed.

In addition to surgeries I have mentioned before about Reece’s penis. He has what is called hypostasis. 1 in 250 babies have this disorder and while that doesn’t sound like a lot it seems as though the doctors and nurses see it a lot. Plus I have found the loop hole for beating all odds so why not another one? Due to the hypostasis Reece will not be circumcised when Jason is and will have to have correctional surgery when he is later. There isn’t a set time for having it done. Basically depending on how it develops, how Reece grows and his age will depend on when it can be corrected.

As for Jason he doesn’t keep things as exciting as Reece. He is doing really good though! He went from all 8 bottles a day taking 50 cc’s on Friday to 56 on Saturday and as of today he is now able to eat as much as he wants every 3 hours. In all honesty he was really already doing this yesterday because I was able to start breast feeding with him. He latched on without any problem. During the first feed he sucked for about 25 minutes and then downed 45 cc’s of formula. During the second feed he sucked and had an addition 1 ½ ounces of formula. At both last night and today’s feedings he didn’t want any additional supplements by bottle and the breast milk alone seemed to fill him up.

Everyone wants to know about them coming home. I am still thinking Jason will come home this week hopefully. Jason got his Hep B shot today and once he proves to be holding his own temperature which he pretty much already is then he will be moved to an open crib. After the open crib or during the same time frame they will do the car seat challenge, hearing test, and circumcision about 2-3 days prior to discharge. As for Reece he won’t leave before he gets his HepB shot. That shot can’t be given to a baby till the baby weighs at least 4lb…then he has to do the other stuff as well. As of today Reece was 3lbs 5oz and Jason was 5lbs 10oz. They are getting there little by little, day by day!

Since Jason is breast feeding I am pumping for Reece tonight and then going down in the morning to bathe the boys before their feed at 11. Another 12 hour+ day of driving/being at the hospital! I will be SO GLAD when they are BOTH FINALLY home! Here are some pictures from the weekend...enjoy and have a great week!

Mommy giving Reece a bath!

Daddy giving Jason a bath!

Brotherly love :)

Cheese?

Daddy & Jason

Pawpaw Steve & Reece

Meme & Jason

So cute!

Goodbye Baby J's Feeding Tube!

It’s late, I’m tired, and this is going to be short and sweet. Jason is on 3rd base making his way towards home while Reece is rounding second and quickly approaching 3rd. Today was a really good day. Mom and I spent the day at the hospital with the boys till about 3 this afternoon and then I had someone on one till Ryan got there at 7. The boys made great strides in their progress. Jason is now on 8 bottle feeds a day and was taken off his feeding tube. Once he proves he can tolerate all the feeds he will be moved to an open crib, will be given his hearing test, car seat test and be circumcised. Go baby J! As for Reece he was moved from 4 to 6 bottles today and is starting to gain weight. He is a little over 3lbs! The end to all of this seems to be getting closer. Nobody can say for sure when or just how much longer but if I had my guess Jason has a week tops and Reece maybe two weeks. Of course I wasn’t always right on when it comes to the guessing game…only the big man upstairs seems to know that one.

While we have been very blessed with our boys please pray for Ryan and I. It seems like there’s always something going on. His car started leaking antifreeze this week which means its going to need to be fixed and on the way home tonight a wooden object appeared from nowhere out from under a truck ahead of us and blew up all over the front end of my car. We weren’t hurt, but our hearts did stop. My car has a lot of scratches on the front end and a fairly large dent now which will need to be fixed one day. I know these sound like very small things but on top of the stress of daily trips to see the boys, them being in the NICU and other small things it all adds up and at times I think Ry & I are going to loose it! Just pray that God continues to watch over us, keep us safe and healthy and still little by little provides guidance to show us what He wants us to do next.

Ok it’s time to bring a good day with a bad ride home to an end and get some sleep fo 2 ½ hours before the alarm sounds…Oh and have I told you lately that I have the cutiest babies in the whole hospital and maybe even in the whole wide world. I just adore and love them to pieces because they wash my blues away and make me feel content when I have them in my arms.

This & That

The boys are doing well. Yesterday I was with them most of the day. Jason did both of his bottle feeds in 6 minutes or less at 45 cc’s. Reece is still practicing the suck/swallow/breathe technique and is taking 25 cc’s at his feed. Yesterday it took him the full 30 minutes with 9 cc’s left that had to be given by tube. I am thinking that if Jason did well overnight and this morning they might bump his to 6 bottles a day soon. We shall see…I am at home today cleaning. I hate cleaning and for that very reason alone I think I will hate staying at home all day everyday for the next year. It would be one thing if I could afford to go and do things with the boys while I’m not working, but lets face it, Ryan and I won’t be living the lifestyle of the rich and the famous or even the normal middle class for that matter till either he comes across a suitable job or until my income supplements his and even then the bulk of mine will still go towards child care in addition to getting a place of our own. Still praying he can find something decent sooner rather than later. I joked last night that maybe I should go to work in January and he stay home with the boys…as crazy as it sounds a small part of me says it’s a good idea. I guess in time everything will work itself out. God has had a plan for us and slowly reveals little by little if we are just patient. Ok back to my mission somewhat cleaned and organized. Oh and ifmy sweet boys weren't already here they would be today and I would probably be being prepped right now for surgery...CRAZY!

Chow Time!

I swear they get cuter every day! Jason is my little snuggler and Reece is my little (really little) buddy who is so kicked back! Their baby personalities are starting to show the more I am with them. Last night I read “Are You My Mother?” to the boys by Dr. Seuss…Reece was sleeping pretty hard but Jas I know was listening as he was curled up on my chest making sweet little faces and popping his eyes open to look up at me. It was so darn cute. I too was feeling pretty good yesterday. I got some extra sleep time in and was pumping every 2 hours. My schedule sort of went right out the window through the night because my phone died and my alarm didn’t go off at all. Oops. However at the moment I have nearly pumped 2 2oz. bottle to the top but also haven’t pumped since 10 last night? Speaking of feedings…the boys both got their bottle feeds raised to 4 a day. So now at every feeding one of the babies is at least being bottle feed. This means they are both ½ there. They will now increase to 6 once they master 4 and then 8. 8 is the magical number…the nurse yesterday said they would start practice breast feeding the babies to get them ready for the transition. I haven’t done it yet, but I think Jason will take to it faster than Reece. That kid is always sucking on my skin!!! In other news Reece has finally hit the 3 pound mark. Yesterday he was 3lbs 1oz and Jason was 5lbs 1oz. This is also great! Keep eating babies and get big and fat so you can come home to Daddy & I!

Here are some pics of our precious little family :)

Sleeping Boys

At least somebody seems to be getting some sleep...and it's not Mommy. These were the ONLY pictures I took all weekend. It seemed like we had babies in our arms at all times and so needless to say I couldn't reach the camera.

My sleeping boys...