Flashback (part 2)

I was very anxious to see the boys because I couldn't quite remember what they looked like. I had had such a brief glimpse and I needed to see them again. I had Clay take lots of pictures while I was in the recovery room so I could see their tiny little faces. The nurses finally let me go to the NICU about 5 hours after the birth. We first had to scrub in at the sink for 3 minutes. We would have to do this every time we left the NICU and returned. Our hospital bands were checked and Clay led me back to our boys' isolettes.

I saw Reid first. This tiny little 2 lb. 1 oz. doll hooked up to wires and monitors, he almost looked fake. He had probes attached to his skin to monitor his heart and respiratory rate, his body temperature and one attached to his foot to monitor his oxygen level and breathing. These were all attached to alarms which would sound when they would reach a certain level. He was also hooked up to an IV because they were still too young and weak to digest food. He started out with a nasal cannula to deliver supplemental oxygen.

As scared as I was to see all this connected to my baby I was overjoyed to see my little boy alive and for the most part okay. He did not have to be intubated nor did he have any brain bleeds. Already major accomplishments for such premature babies. As I touched my hand to the glass I cried. But not because they were hooked up to countless wires or because I knew we would spend months here with many ups and downs but because they were finally here and they were mine. I knew some day I would get to hold them close to me, take them home, love them, and have the family we had been dreaming of.

I had the same flood of emotions when I saw Grant. How lucky was I to get to experience motherhood for the first time with two children?  Grant had his older brother beat by an ounce in weight and an inch in length but he looked just as fragile and helpless. Let the count down begin I thought. We were ready to be there for them however long it took to bring them home. And that's how our 10 week stay in the NICU started. We learned to take joy in the little accomplishments and push through set backs with faith that it wouldn't be like this forever.

They were first fed by a gavage tube  They would be fed 5ml of milk through their nose or mouth and after an hour the nurses would check for residual milk in their stomach. It was heart breaking when they would find 4 ml residual. But of course their stomachs learned to digest the milk and by the end they were drinking 80 ml (about 2 oz.) from a bottle.

They each had to take a turn being hooked up to the CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure). Reid wore his the longest for about two weeks. Grant was off of it after 4 days. They received phototherapy for jaundice. The little sunglasses helped protect their eyes during this treatment. They did this for about four days.

Many premature babies have problems with apnea where they stop breathing for a moment or two. Their biggest challenge was overcoming this and remembering to take deep enough breaths all the time to supply their lungs with the necessary amount of oxygen. Hearing all the alarms go off when they didn't was the scariest thing for us.  This mostly happened when we held them so it was especially frustrating.  We could only hold them for a limited amount of time and when most of that time was spent trying to get them to breath we would leave sad and emotionally drained.

First time getting to hold the boys. They were 6 days old and I was allowed only 15 min. with each once a day. One of the hardest things to get use to was that babies that premature don't do well with the rocking or stroking their skin. It didn't feel natural to sit their without rocking them or trying to comfort them when they got upset. Sadly in the beginning the easiest thing for them was just to be put back in their isolette until they were more stable.

They stayed in separate beds for about 7 weeks. When they reached 4 lbs. and were able to maintain their body temperature with only blankets and one layer of clothing they were put in an open air bed together. They slept well next to each other. I took comfort in the fact that when we weren't there for them they at least had each other.                               

First picture with no wires or tubes. They finally learned how to breath on their own and we got to see what they looked like (Reid above, Grant below).

And now our tiny little guys are not so tiny any more. They've grown like crazy the six months they've been home and we're so happy to have them!

Look- alike

I've always found it hard to tell which parent babies look like. We've been told the boys look like each of us. After looking at old photos of Clay and myself I think it is more obvious that we each have our own

look- alikes.

When in Texas...

...take pictures of the kids with bluebonnets. 

 Our first attempt at bluebonnet pictures with the boys didn't go so well. They weren't too happy so we'll probably try it again so we can get a few pictures with those cute smiles they keep so well hidden.  

Still learning how to balance while sitting.

  

Reid is so done with picture taking.

   

Lost them both this time.

Looking at the ground was much more exciting than the toys we brought or all the silly faces we made. I am making it my mission to get one picture with them both smiling at the camera. Although I might settle for them both looking at the camera at the same time.

Puppy Love

 

  It's been nice to have dogs again. We were especially grateful for them the other day when our neighbor and a few other houses in our cul-de-sac were broken into during the day. I wasn't home but I'm certain the barking dogs kept them away. At least I feel a little safer having them around.

 

Niko and Jack don't seem to mind the boys. They mostly ignore them. But in the past few days Jack has taken a liking to Grant. I think it started when Clay used Grant's feet to kick Jack's favorite ball. Now Jack will bring Grant the ball and leave it by his feet. He loves to lick him as well.  We are trying to teach Jack that the only acceptable place to lick the boys is the feet.  Grant enjoys laughing at the dogs when they bark and jump around. We're happy that the boys don't seem to be afraid of Jack's craziness.

 

 

  

Niko and the big hole he dug in the backyard.  All that hair can get hot so he likes to cool off in the mud

El Paso

During spring break we decided to make a trip to El Paso to visit my parents and collect our dogs.They have been with my parents since last July. We dropped them off there to be watched while we did some traveling. We never got to do that traveling because the boys came a few weeks later but it was nice to have them taken care of while I was on bed rest and then while we spent our time at the NICU. My parents have been wonderful to care for them for this long and they seemed to enjoy the grandparents' home. I'm not sure Jack was ready to leave the excitement of my parents back yard.

First road trip with the boys went pretty well. We debated on what would be the best time to travel for them and us and decided to leave Austin late afternoon so they could sleep through most of the trip.  They took a nap the first couple of hours and then babbled and played with toys for the next few hours until it was time to eat. They really only got upset when we were trying to find a place to stop and feed them and then when it was time to sleep. They love the car but they love their beds more and for about 20 minutes they did not want to sleep anywhere else. After calming down and falling asleep we had a quiet peaceful drive. Clay was an awesome driver and drove through the night. We arrived around 3 am without any problems.

Reid meets his Great Grandma Zuniga for the first time.

In El Paso we enjoyed introducing the boys to their great grandma and some cousins, and celebrated my mom's birthday. We were also lucky enough to be there the same time as Aunt Sonya, who was home for her spring break. They enjoyed all the attentions but hated napping.  They got little sleep during the day which made them grumpy but helped them sleep through the night. We introduced them to our dogs Jack and Niko. The original plan was to only bring Jack, the younger dog, home with us. But as we were loading the car Niko, who can't walk due to being hit by a car, dragged his way to the door and towards our car.  He kept howling and barking at us.  He knew we were leaving and wanted to make sure he was coming. It broke my heart to leave him again so we decided that even though it would be a lot of work to care for him I wanted to bring him home.  The trip home went well despite taking a lot longer than the first trip.  We left earlier in the day so we had more feedings to stop for and now two dogs that also needed to be let out. Our car was way to full.  Maybe a mini van is in our future, especially if the boys ever get a sibling.

 

We've been told that both Reid and Grant look like their Abuelito by different people but I think Grant favors him more.

6 months

It's incredible how little we've documented the boys life since they entered our world 6 months ago. We have a ton of pictures and I kept a pretty regular journal while visiting the boys in the NICU for close to three months. Sadly those things never made it here. But now I am a stay at home mom so I should have plenty of time to keep up with these sorts of things, right?

Life with twins is unlike any thing I could have imagined or prepared myself for. However, I would gladly do it again. For all the stories I've heard about life with twins these boys have been incredibly good to us. Of course it gets a little crazy when you're feeding and changing babies multiple times in the night and trying to teach a baby to sleep through the night when the other one is screaming. I love it though and it hasn't been as hard as I told myself it would be.

It helps to keep them on a pretty tight schedule. The NICU helped regulate their eating and sleeping times. They eat every four hours and usually take about three naps. They are doing really well putting themselves to sleep and we don't usually have any problems at night or for naps. They usually wake up once at night but for the most part sleep from 8 to about 8 or 8:30. This past week however, they have been waking up almost every two hours. Hopefully they can figure it out again and get back to normal. During the day we keep busy reading, singing, going for walks, occasional visit to Dad downtown for lunch, and just taking care of their everyday needs. It's amazing how quickly the day goes by.

The boys have done exceptionally well catching up in weight. At their six month appointment they were in the 70th percentile for weight but 3rd for height. Grant is now a little over 20 lbs. and Reid is not far behind at 19 lbs 6 oz. They are no longer being measured on the preemie charts which doesn't often happen this soon. Reid and Grant love to eat and we can't believe they have come so far. We remember the feedings in the NICU when we would struggle for half an hour for them to get through 40 ml. Developmentally they are still behind. We've seen a number of specialists since coming home: an optometrist, a pulmonologist every month for RSV shots, a cardiologist to check the PDAs they had at birth, ENT and audiologist to check Grant's hearing, and a developmental specialists. They have been given pretty much a clean bill of health by all the doctors but we will continue to see the developmental specialists until the boys catch up to where they should be.

They are babbling and laughing at us. Grant is especially talkative and is always trying to talk to Reid. Reid doesn't always respond but when he does it is the cutest thing. Watching them talk and smile at each other is the best thing about having twins.

Grant Reid

Grant loves jumping and will often jump himself to sleep.