May 31, 2007....Goodbye Amy and Anna Marie!

Today we "lost" our first two girl roommates. Amy (Jake's girlfriend) went home with her family to live a happy life. She was very sweet and beautiful and had a very loving mom that was here a lot with her and her dad would come after he got off work. We will miss her loud burbs and even louder crying, but are happy that she got to go home with her family.

Picture of Amy to be posted later.

Anna Marie (Robby's girlfriend) went over to Children's Hospital for long term care. She was a very pretty little girl with a loud cry and she loved to swing in her swing for hours at a time. I kept telling the boys I was going to adopt her so they'd have a big sister. Unfortunately, her family life isn't of existence and she needs a loving home.

I didn't take a picture of her because her birth mother was here and I never met her since she was never here.

The boys spent an hour today cuddling with each other. I took the pictures with my camera phone and most of them I took myself, so they aren't the best... I put their hands close to each other and they did hold them, but I didn't get a picture.

Can you tell who is who? Feel free to leave comments with your guesses. The RN was just looking at the pictures and she guessed wrong! Luckily their beds are marked with their names!

May 30, 2007 .... Day 33....Poopy Man!

Today is our 33rd day here with 48 days until they are actually due...


Today was another pleasant day. Both boys had their eyes checked (a routine thing they do) for ROP, Retinopathy of Prematurity... http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/rop/index.asp#1. They found nothing with Jake and a stage 1 for Robby. They will check both of them in a couple of weeks. They don't seem too concerned about either result.

Robby was first famous for peeing on anyone changing his diaper, now his newest thing is pooping (and he squirts it fast, hard and far) when I'm in the middle of a diaper change. It is really quite funny and I should prepare myself for the change between 3 and 5pm everyday. I scared the poor little thing today because I jumped and pulled both hands back quickly when he did a squirt today. He makes the funniest noise when he does it too. I'm going to start wearing gloves for those changes because there is no way to avoid it!

Robby had his first little fit tonight. He kept crying like he was being poked with a bunch of needles or something. I picked him up and let him try to eat like a big boy and he totally mellowed out. I'm hoping he can start eating that way all the time so he can come home soon! His isolette is down to 30.6 (needs to get to 28) and he needs to eat on his own and he will be homeward bound.

Jake's isolette is at 32.1 and he is starting to try to eat like a big boy, but Robby is a couple steps ahead of him, although Jake has been the better binky sucker.

I'm hoping they can both come home on the same day or w/in a couple days of each other because once they are discharged, they won't be allowed to come and visit the other one that is still here.

That is all the news for today. Thanks again for all the prayers, emails and calls. Sorry I am so bad at returning them. When I am at home, I sleep, shower and grab quick bites so I can come here and be w/ my boys. I haven't had a lot of computer time while here at the hospital because both boys want to be held so much and they both get a diaper change and feeding every 3 hours, so I keep busy with them.

May 29, 2007...Together again!

When I went to the hospital today, the boys had been moved (per my request). We are now in a little corner spot, where both of their isolettes are and a chair for me. It is very crowded, but I can see both at the same time and hold them together without having to unhook monitors and get portable ones.

Jake has a PICC line in still and I was going to wait for it to be removed before I held them together again, but I couldn't resist. I was holding Jake and Robby was watching and fussing quite a bit, so I had the RN put Robby on my chest too. Robby kept staring at Jake and checking him out. Jake wasn't too interested and slept most of the time. I put Robby's arm around Jake and Robby pulled it back, made a fist and put it up to Jake's chin. It was pretty funny.

Both are doing well. Jake is back eating again and is having a bit of a hard time pooping, but he did a nice healthy one tonight for me (after getting a suppository). Jake went ahead of Robby in weight today by just a tad bit.

For the first time tonight, while holding both of them, I realized I might have my hands full! But that is just fine with me. The other thing I was trying to imagine while holding them was if they were both in my belly...I'd be huge! I wouldn't have minded and would have preferred that, but I know we can't have everything in life we want and I'm just dealing what was dealt to me and thankful they are both as healthy as they are.

May 26, 2007...We got to be together! Met Cousin Ryan too...

Can you figure out who is who???

This was our first meeting since we were in

Mommy's tummy together!

Today was an especially cool day. First Mommy surprised us with our own boom box. She said it was nicer than any that she has ever had. She brought in some calming CD's for us to listen to. It isn't the same music we are used to hearing when we drive, but it will help us to sleep and relax while we are stuck at this hospital.

Aunt Debbie showed up with cousin Ryan and we got to meet him for the first time. He didn't seem too thrilled to see us, but we were glad to meet him. While they were here, Marilyn, the nurse, let Mommy hold both of us at the same time so we could meet each other and see how much we look alike. We decided we have a couple of features the same, but aren't identicle. We can't wait until we can be together all the time. Today was extra special and we are very thankful to Marilyn! Our First meeting with cousin Ryan

Robby, Jacob, Ryan

May 24, 2007 .... A day of visitors...Kathy, Meyer, Kathy, Grandma and Grandpa

Today was a day of visitors.

Our first visitors were Kathy, Meyer & Kathy. We were quite thrilled to meet them. Kathy and Kathy had been there through the entire pregnancy and were such kind and good friends to Mommy. The first 11 days of our life Mommy kept apologizing to us because she had to keep calling one of the Kathy's about a loan they were trying so hard to get done for a mean lady. (Per Grandma's request- Mommy removed the rest of what was here). Who is Karma?
Meyer was someone we have been saying special prayers for because he has been kind of sick, but he looked good! We can't wait to come home and see them again at our own house where they can hold us.

Mommy took some pictures that she will put here later.

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit again today. It is like their 100th visit or so. We lost track because they come so much. They both held Robby and fed him a little with his bottle. Robby is such a big boy now and wearing baby clothes and not running around with just a diaper on. His weight is approximately 3.6 pounds!

Here are some great pictures of Grandma and Robby!

Jake's blood count is down because they have been testing him so much, so he had to get another blood transfusion today. Because of this, Mommy was the only one that got to hold him for a while. Jake is weighing in at about 3.5 pounds! Once he starts eating again, he'll catch up with Robby.

Mommy fed Robby at 5pm with the bottle and he drank 10 cc of his 19 cc's. That is the most he has taken yet. Within the next two weeks, he hopes to be totally off the nose feeding and eating like a big boy so he can come home and sleep in his own bed.

May 23, 2007...Rachael's Sweet 16 Birthday Kiss

I haven't been very good at updating things the past few days. Things have been going well for both boys. They are both breathing room air with no nasal prongs or any type of assistance. Jacob has been on antibiotics for the past 9 days for a possible stomach infection, but nothing grew on his culture, so it is unknown what was causing him problems.

Robby has started to "nipple" .... both on a bottle and me. He is still fed the majority of his feeds via his nose because he is still too young to feed on his own. Jacob has not been eating since he was on antibiotics, but once he is off, I will try to get him to start eating on his own too. He seems to suck his binky better than Robby does, so I think he will do better at first.

Robby put on regular (baby) clothes today. He looked so mature.

Yesterday, May 22nd, was their cousin Rachael's 16th birthday. She came here w/ her mom and saw the babies for the first time. She spent quite a bit of time holding Robby and got her Sweet 16 Kiss from him!

Rachael's Sweet 16 Kiss !!

Rachael (16 Years Old), Robby (25 Days Old)

Could this be a future babysitter??

May 17, 2007, 20 Days Old

Today was an exciting day for Robby. He got his first bath! It was quite fun and I have it on video and several pictures were taken. I will post those when I am at home and can download them on my PC. He got to use the new bath tub Auntie Debbie & Cousin Rachael gave them for Christmas and the Winnie the Pooh wash cloths from Lynn C. He was also put in his blue robe, which was a tad too big, but he looked very cute in it. He peed on me, which was quite cute. He did quite well and has been sleeping soundly since.

Jacob's condition has been pretty much the same as yesterday. His bilirubin http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/Bilirubin-15434 went up, so he was put under bili lights again. He has been a bit uncomfortable and cranky due to being handled by staff more than he liked to. I haven't been able to hold and cuddle him because he is hooked up to too many things (especially the bili lights), so that has been hard on me. He has to wear the glasses, so he can't see me when I talk to him, but he does hold my finger and squeeze it.

May 16, 2007, 19 Days Old

Another lazy day for Robby.....same old, same old (which is fine with me!) Ate, slept, cuddled and pooped! He likes to poop as I change his diapers. It took 4 diapers for one changing because everytime I thought he was done pooping, he'd squeeze out more. He's been putting a blanket over his face too, which is pretty cute.

Jacob's day was better. He is still getting an xray of his tummy every 6 hours to make sure it doesn't get larger, they had problems with his IV's, so he had to get another PICC line put in. PICC line: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PICC_line. They just put that in about 15 minutes ago. He was crying and I felt so bad. Robby even woke up and seemed uncomfortable as Jacob was having it put in. Luckily, the RN got it on the first try. His last one took three tries (I think). It will last much longer than an IV and will be less pokes for him over the next 10 days.
He is feeling better and his blood count stayed up, so he didn't need another transfusion.

I got kicked out of my room today (they have paying patients that need it), so I'll be going home tonight.

May 15, 2007, 18 Days Old

Robby had another great day.....eating, sleeping, pooping and cuddling with Mommy. He continues to grow and just hang out.

Jacob had another rough day. His blood count didn't go as high as they wanted to see, so he got more blood. They had problems with his IV's, so they had to put one in his head to put the blood into him.

They are concerned he might have Necrotizing Enterocolitis...aka NEC. Here is a link about what it is. http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/medical/digestive/nec.html. They sent off blood and urine cultures, that will take a couple of days, but he is showing many of the symptoms. He was put on antibiotics right away, just in case. In the meantime, they have to stop his feeds and just feed him via IV. He'll be on this probably for 10 days. I'm hoping he doesn't lose too much weight. He's worked so hard to gain it.

He had an echo cardiogram and his PDA is a little better, but not all the way closed. PDA: http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/uvahealth/peds_cardiac/pda.cfm

He's been feeling better since he got his blood.

I was able to get a room in the hospital again tonight so I am close by if something happens.

May 14, 2007, 17 Days Old

Today was a great day for Robby. Mommy cuddled with him for over an hour and Grandma cuddled with him for an hour and a half. The rest of the day he slept, ate and pooped.

Jacob, on the other hand, had a horrible day. The doctor called me at 5am to tell me his crit had gone from 35 a week ago to 20 today. They don't know why he had lost blood and he needed a blood transfusion. They had planned on doing an echo cardiogram today to check his PDA and were also going to do another cranial ultra sound to see if there was bleeding going on in his head.

I went into the hospital after receiving the call and held Jake for an hour before they started all the testing. He didn't get his blood transfusion started until around 1pm and it took 4 hours to go into him. He was a trooper. In the meantime, his belly got quite large and that was concerning on top of everything else. He had his echo cardiogram around 2pm and it looked like his PDA had closed a little bit.....good news. They didn't come to do his cranial ultrasound until around 4pm. The tech told us that she didn't see any bleed in his brain....more good news. I still haven't anything official, but if there was something wrong, I would have known by now. He had an x-ray done of his tummy and it looks like there is a lot of air in there, which isn't the worst thing possible. He did a little poop after the x-ray and there was no blood in it....another good thing! They put another tube in his nose down to his stomach to pull out air and anything else that shouldn't be there. The lab called as I was typing this and his crit went up to 32...another good thing, but the nurse thinks the doctors will want to top him off w/ some more blood. The only bad thing about that is they stopped his feeds and put him on IV fluids, so they will have to start another IV to put in more blood. More pain and discomfort for him.

The on call nurse practitioner was just here....not going to top off his blood, so no new IV. She does consider that he has two strikes against him right now. If anything else goes wrong, then they are going to do blood and urine cultures and start him on antibiotics. They will also consider a spinal tap to r/o (rule out) meningitis, which I really hate to see happen because they are quite painful and invasive. I'm hoping he will be stable enough during the night so if this has to be done, it can be discussed w/ the MD in the am.

That is it for now....I'm tired. I'm going to see if they have extra rooms downstairs so I can just sleep here and be close in case Jacob gets worse.

May 13, 2007, 16 Days Old...Mother's Day

Today was a special Mother's Day. The first one for me and it was a nice and quiet day with the twins. They both had a good hour of cuddling with Mommy and had lots of visitors after dinner time. Great Grandma came back and got to hold Jacob today. He just stared at her the entire time and would get little smiles on his face. Aunt Debbie also got to hold Jacob for the first time today. He kept forgetting to breathe , but he came out of it and is alive and well! Great Aunt Jo Ann got to hold Robby and he was happy as a clam all cuddled up. Grandma and Grandpa were also here, but they didn't hold them today. Cousin Rachael was suppose to come, but she came down with a cold so she needs to get better before she can visit. I think the twins were pretty tired out from all the photos and being passed from person to person. I'll post some pictures of today later....I didn't take any with my camera. After all the company left, Mommy stayed w/ the boys and did the general care that she could.

May 12, 2007, 15 Days Old

Today was a special visit from Great Grandma Puz, from Vashon Island. It was her first visit and she held Robby for a while. She will be back tomorrow for part 2 of Mother's Day and will have a chance to hold Jacob. Grandma also was here for a visit.

The twins had a pretty quiet day with lots of cuddling with Mommy.

May 11, 2007, 14 Days Old

I went to my 2 week follow up appointment and was given permission to drive! I have been very fortunate to have both my parents driving me to and from the hospital every day, with Debbie and Julie filling in when needed, but it sure will be nice to be independent.

May 10, 2007, 13 Days Old

Today was a pretty good day for both boys. Robby slept most the day and was held by both Mommy and Grandma during 2 of his feeds. He gained 53 grams and is up to 1281 grams...Finally went above his birth weight!

Jacob did better than yesterday with less ABC's. He did have to go back on oxygen because he was having too many ABC's yesterday and during the night. Mommy held him during one feed. Grandma & Robby

Jacob also gained weight today...He is up 21 grams and is 1263 grams. Jacob's social security card arrived in the mail today. It was pretty odd to see his name on an official document.

Jacob Sleeping

May 9, 2007, 12 Days Old

JACOB

Jacob gained 53 grams today and is up to 1242 grams.

It was a rough day for Jacob. They had to put his nasal canuals back in because he was having so many ABC events. Mommy got to hold him for a feed, but the rest of the day was spent trying to sleep, breath and keep his heart going.

ROBBY

Robby gained 42 grams today and is up to 1228 grams. He had his PICC line removed and is no longer on his TPN. This is a step in the right direction.

May 8, 2007, 11 Days Old

to be filled in later

May 7, 2007, 10 Days Old

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May 6, 2007, 9 Days Old

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May 5, 2007, 8 Days Old

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May 4, 2007, 7 Days Old

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May 3, 2007, 6 Days Old

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May 2, 2007, 5 Days Old

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May 1, 2007, 4 Days Old

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April 30, 2007, 3 Days Old

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April 29, 2007, 2 Days Old

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April 28, 2007, 1 Day Old

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April 27, 2007, Welcome to the World Robby & Jake!

After I arrived at the University of Washington Medical Center, I had an unknown amount of people in the room with me. I had I don't know how many people examining me and after they did an ultrasound, they saw that I had a prolapsed cord. I'm sure it was Jake that tied it in the knot. If you ever wondered what a prolapsed cord looks like...you'll know now!

I was told that they were planning on trying to stop my contractions, but it was too dangerous to do that in case my water broke and the boys decided to come out vaginally. The knot was in front of Jacob's head and from what I understand, he could have died if he was delivered that vaginally and it would be better to have a c-section right away. This was all such a shock to me and as much as I didn't want to have them yet, I knew that would be the best choice for them. More people came in and hooked me up to more IV's, the anesthesiaologist, the pediatrician and all their residents came in explaining things and had more consents. It was all very over whelming and I don't remember everything clearly. My parents made it to the hospital before i went into the OR and my mom was allowed to come in with me.

I went into the OR at 10:46 and the first incision was made at 11:14, the cut into my uterus at 11:21 and pulled out Robby at 11:22. Two minutes later, at 11:24, they pulled out Jacob. I was pretty upset because they asked me if I wanted to see them after they were born and I said yes, but they took them out of the room before I could see them. I had about a 1.5" bar holding the drape in front of me that I used as a mirror. I saw them cut me open and piling my body parts on my stomach, but could barely see the babies as they came out. I couldn't hear them cry because they took them so quickly. It was nothing like I expected or wanted it to be. I had the clothes on my back and didn't have my video camera or regular camera with me. Thankfully, the attending anesthesiologist knew I wanted pictures, so she took some for me! I was so thankful for that! Those pictures will be posted, but in a separate folder in case blood makes you uncomfortable. The c-section wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it would be (granted I had a spinal done). There was just a lot of pulling. I hadn't eaten anything since 9:30 the night before, so that helped, however, something they gave me did make me throw up, which was awful. I guess I asked them to put a lap band in, which they didn't and said something about being able to have a drink. I vaguely remember that, but I do remember when they made a comment about taking out my uterus and I told them that it should stay in me. I guess they were just going to clean it up after they took it out and put it back in. it was more painful as they were putting my body parts back in me, so I requested more drugs, which they gave me and I was closed up by 11:57 and was out of the OR at 12:13.

I was upset because I didn't get to see either of them immediately after they were born. My mom got a quick glimpse of Jacob when he came out and my dad and sister were in the hall and got a quick peek as they were wheeling them out of the OR into the ICU. I was brought back into my room and told that I would have to wait 2 hours before I could see them. They wanted the anesthesia to wear off and I had to be able to move my legs and toes before I could go see them. I've never tried so hard to move my legs and feet and when I could finally move them, the RN called to see if I could visit, but was told they were still working on both of the boys. I about went nuts! They moved me down to another floor where I would stay for the next 3 nights and I had to wait until 4pm to see them.

When we finally got the call the twins were ready for me, I was put in a wheel chair and brought up to their bedsides. It is still kind of foggy to me. My parents and sister had already been up to see them, so they knew what beds they were in. I had to ask which ones were my babies.

The following pictures are from the delivery. If blood bothers you, then you won't want to look at them!

11:22 AM- Robby coming out!

Robby being suctioned

11:24 Jacob coming out!

I love this picture of him!

Jacob being suctioned

Jake

Jake

Events leading to April 27, 2007

I hadn't been feeling 100% great, but I chalked it up to pregnancy, stress, working too much and didn't think much of it.

I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and had an appointment with the diabetes nurse and nutritionist for April 26th.

On Tuesday, April 24th, I was feeling really lousy, so I called the OB on call and was told to go to the hospital. Once there, they found that I had a bladder infection and I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes. They weren't strong and I didn't know what a contraction felt like, so needless to say, I was quite shocked. They gave me a shot and continued to monitor me for a little over an hour and sent me home.

On Wednesday, April 25th, I started to feel what I thought were contractions. I called my doctor and he told me to go back to the hospital. Once again, I was put on a monitor and I was having contractions, but this time they were 8-10 minutes apart, but stronger feeling. I was giving 2 shots and an oral dose, monitored and sent home on modified bed rest.

On Thursday, April 26, I did go to my diabetes appointment and a couple other small errands, but spent the rest of the day lying around. However, I once again, felt the contractions again.
I called the OB on call and she said to wait until they got closer together or stronger. I timed them all night and was woken up every 30 minutes. Since I was asleep, I don't know how strong they were, but at 5am Friday morning, I said enough was enough. I called the OB and told her I was coming in. They checked my cervix and it was closed and longed at 6am. I was having contractions every 6-8 minutes (I think) and they were definitely stronger. They did a test on me to see if I would be delivering in the next two weeks. From what I understand, the test would either be No or a maybe. It came back a maybe, which I wasn't too happy about. At 8 am, they checked me again and I was dilated 4 cm. At that point, everything went in fast motion to me. I had a bunch of people in there starting IV's, giving me a shot to help the babies' lungs develop in case they were to be born, having me sign consents, arranging to have me taken to a hospital with a level 3 NICU. I called my parents to let them know and before I knew it, I was in an ambulance. The RN was telling me how his wife went through this and they just put her on bed rest in the hospital and kept her from delivering for several weeks. I felt reassured and just figured I'd do the same. I made a few phone calls because I had a loan that I wanted to be perfect and close early. I had to cancel my massage appointment so I wouldn't get charged.....The rest of the day is in the next blog segment.