Almost 2 weeks!

It is so hard to believe that the boys will be 2 weeks old in 2 days! And what an amazing, exhausting, and wonderful 2 weeks it has been. I am proud to say that no one has asked me when my baby is due for the past few days. When we were going back and forth to NICU I got "when are you going to have that baby", "oh, you better hurry to the 4th floor" and "are you ready". I am not sure if things are shrinking or if I just haven't gone anywhere :) We spent last week trying to get adjusted to being home, as much for myself as for the boys and Jace. Jace has been so sweet to the babies. He loves to kiss on them and giggles everytime one of them squeaks. He has been a bit overprotective of them, including trying to yank Lane out of Grams' arms to give him back to momma. But overall he has been very loving to them. It has taken him a bit to get used to having me back at home, with increased use of the word "no", though that has improved drastically over the past 2 days. Stuart has to conveniently be absent at bed time to avoid the argument to sleep in "daddy's bed". He has developed quite a few new "Jace-isms" since I got admitted to the hospital. He loves to dance (especially to Beyonce's Single Ladies video- or "the girls" as he calls them). He has to take several favorite toys to bed each night- sometimes a stack of book, handfuls of cars, and his dancing monkey. I think he got his momma's OCD. He really enjoys lining up his toys and "cleaning" his car with a wipey.  The independence stage has started and Jace thinks he needs to dump his own potty, often close to dumping pee all over the floor! Thanks to his wonderful grandmas he now knows his colors, can count to ten and can identify about 75% of the alphabet. He is talking much more, and even sings or hums along to songs. I am just so glad to be back home with my sweet little boy!

As for these little boys.... they are doing really well also. It is funny how much their personalities reflect how they were in utero. Lane is very mellow and wants to be held all the time. He is happy to lay still and just study things. Cole, my little flip flopper in utero, is much more active and can turn himself bright red when he gets worked up. He has even rolled to his side so he could pop his brother in the face. Both are getting the hang of eating. Cole  is a nursing champ! Lane, being more laid back, has to be woken up to eat and needs a little more reminding about what he is doing. Twice I have even been able to nurse both of them at the same time using my mumbo jumbo feeding pillow! I felt quite accomplished with this feat. I have worked in NICU for over 7 years and have swaddled hundreds of babies, but my swaddling on these guys lasts about 5 minutes. Luckily, Stuart has become a swaddle master and the boys have been able to sleep like little burritos for up to 3 hours at night.

Today we went for a weight check and were glad both boys are gaining weight well. Lane has passed his birth weight and is now up to 7#4oz. He had been 7#1oz on Friday at the doctor's appointment. Cole is up from 7#9oz to 7#15oz. I still look at them in amazement, knowing that they were both crammed in my belly!! I don't know how they fit. With Lane closing in on Cole they are looking more and more similar. Lane has slightly more delicate features, sorry buddy I know it's not a manly term. Cole has the trademark hairy ears like Jace did and overall thicker hair. His cheeks are a bit fuller too. If all else fails, you can tell them apart by the fact that Lane has delayed descension of 2 certain anatomical parts. It also helps that we keep their little animal pacis by them and Lane is the monkey, Cole the puppy. In all my OCD-ness, we have also started color coordinating them when possible. Lane has been assigned blue and Cole green.

We got to stop by and visit our antepartum friends today after the weight check. It was so nice to get to see everyone. These babies wouldn't be here if not for all of them! Jace needed quite a bit of reassurance that momma didn't have to stay in momma's room. He was very uncertain, asking about "momma's room" before we even got to the hospital. When we did get there though, he marched straight to my old room and almost barged in.  I think he was relieved that I didn't have to stay there.

I am sorry to ramble! The past 2 weeks have gone by so quickly. We have been so blessed by friends and Stuart's parents bringing food. We are so grateful for my mom and her new full time job as bottle washer (among many, many other jobs around the house). My Grams left Saturday after being here 2 months to help with Jace. We couldn't have done it without her!!

Goodnight!! And thank you to everyone who has been following our journey!

Let the games begin....

(again, post started days ago on Monday, Feb. 21st)

Today we got to bring home Cole!!! His bilirubin levels were good and he is eating like a champ! Stuart and I took Lane to a weight check (he was up to 6# 13oz), and then went to get his brother. It was so exciting to walk out carrying our 2 amazing miracles!!!! Jace woke up from his nap to discover the baby population in our house had doubled! He couldn't stop smiling at "his" babies. Jace had been calling Lane "Lane-Cole" so  I think it finally made sense that there were 2 babies. It is so wonderful to have everyone at home. My respect for NICU parents has gone up drastically- it is hard to go back and forth and spread out your energy between children at home and a baby in NICU. But we were in the best of hands in NICU and are so blessed by the care we got. Thank you again to everyone in NICU for loving our boys so much! Please continue to pray for the boys' nicu neighbor, baby J, as he fights to get big and strong.

Going home after 100 days and 100 pounds.....

(post started 2/19/11 but added later due to sleeplessness)

Well almost! Let's just say that one was a definite and the other total was pretty close. Leaving the hospital today on Saturday, February the 19th marked 100 nights that I spent in the hospital. My first day back at home in so long brought about many "first time in 14 weeks", such as: sleeping in a flat bed without rails, standing to take a shower, and getting onto the floor. But the very best thing about being at home was one of our two little miracles got to come with us! Lane was able to be discharged from NICU, and though it was hard to leave little Cole there, we knew he was in good hands with our fabulous NICU nurse friends. Cole just needs to get the hang of eating and will need his bilirubin levels checked again over the next few days. Jace came up to meet Lane and ride home with us. He was ready for momma to come home. When we told him I would get to go home, he was practically dragging me out by the hand. He cried when I had to let go to sign my discharge papers and wouldn't let either Stuart or I out of his sight. However, he was so happy to meet Lane. He was such a proud big brother,strutting down the hall with daddy and Lane! On the way out we got to swing by antepartum to introduce Lane to our doctors and nurses. It was such a surreal experience, leaving one journey behind to begin a new one, though we will always treasure those who took such good care of us!

Great Friday

Both boys are on room air now and both were circumcised today.  Cole took his first bottle and Lane took a few naps in Momma's arms. 

I scream, you scream, we all scream for pacis!

Both boys love their pacis and these Wub a Nubs from Sassy have cute little animals attached to them so they stay put better! Thank you, Sassy!

They are here!!!

Yesterday morning I started off the day with an early ultrasound. Well, early for me at about 9am, since my wonderful antepartum nurses usually let me sleep until about 9:30!! Apparently, both boys were also used to sleeping in because neither of them was in any hurry to get up and going. After watching them for about 35 minutes (with quite the audience of antepartum nurses cheering them on), several attempts to buzz them awake, and playing Nickelback's Rockstar for them our doctors decided it was best to go ahead and deliver them that day. The only c-section openings were right then or 4pm, so very quickly the ball was rolling. Stuart, also slow to get going that day, was woken up by a call from me to get ready and get up here, ASAP. It took 3 of our fabulous nurses to take me and all 4 of my charts up to labor and delivery. They were so great to stay with me until Stuart arrived. Quickly, I was prepped for surgery and Stuart changed into blue surgery scrubs for the blur to follow. Our wonderful OB and specialist were both able to be there, along with a great anesthesiologist, a nurse who helped with Jace's delivery and some excellent NICU nurses/neonatologist. We couldn't have asked for a better team!!

Baby A, Lane Thomas, was born at 10:34 am weighing 6# 15oz and 19 inches long!!

Baby B, Cole Walker, came at 10:35. He weighed a whooping 8# 2oz and was 20 inches long!!

They had to weigh him twice because no one could believe he was so gigantic!   It was an amazing feeling as soon as they got him out, like my belly was a deflating balloon! I didn't know how much I missed breathing. But I immediately understood why my belly had always been so lopsided, with Cole pretty much hanging off my side.
The boys were 35 5/7 weeks old that day and it marked exactly 14 weeks that I had been on antepartum. Both went to NICU right away, as they needed some oxygen to perk them up. Lane got off his oxygen after a few hours and is now eating very well from a bottle. Cole is a little more lazy. He likes the oxygen and is still on CPAP, but he gets mad at it when the prongs have to be put back in his nose. Hopefully, he will be off oxygen tomorrow. It is hard to get a good look at him with all his equipment, but he also looks like his brothers, just with chubbier cheeks!
Both have been spoiled rotten already by all our great NICU nurse friends and by grandparents that want to snuggle on them. Having them in NICU has given me a little extra time to heal and rest, and I know they are in excellent hands. We had to move to the postpartum floor and I sure do miss my antepartum friends!!! They took such wonderful care of us for the past 3 months. Jace doesn't really get it yet, but he has been putting his Elmo and Horsey in the swings so maybe he will be excited for some real babies to swing.
Thank you again to everyone for all the thoughts and prayers! We love you all.
If you don't mind, please also say a little prayer for sweet baby J who is in NICU right now.

My big boy

I was sorting pictures on my, well Stuart's hard drive that I have taken over, and found this one of Jace from October 2010. I just love it and wanted to share!! I can't believe he is going to be a big brother in 3 days!!

8 more sleeps!

In 8 more days we will get to meet these little guys!! Our good little buddy, Kaleb, counts down days to exciting events by how many nights ("sleeps") there are left. So, in honor of Kaleb, I will say 8 more sleeps!!! Which actually is a very fitting way to celebrate each day we get closer, as nights are really the only time I get uncomfortable. Just imagine a turtle stuck on their back having to find a way to roll over every 2 hours to waddle (now think duck) to the bathroom!! But I am thankful for the hospital bed rails and raised head of the bed. I really think I would have gotten stuck many times in our bed at home. In what has become my trademark, my blood pressure and swelling continue to be inconsistent, one day up and then the next day down, sometimes up and down within the same day. This was well illustrated the other day when, after waking up with very little swelling, I proudly told the nurse practitioner "and my swelling is great today". I was a bit shocked when I pulled up my pant leg to reveal ankles that were overhanging my shoes!! It is all worth it though because they are almost here!!

On an unhappy note, our little Jace has ear infections in both ears. He has kept Stuart up a few nights with hour long crying spells, saying it hurts and pointing to his ears and throat. We are glad that we got him on an antibiotic and can get him all well before these boys come. Poor little guy, it's hard to have him sick and not be able to console him. However, he has become quite the daddy's boy lately and is happy to have daddy hold and love on him.

Edited to add: We had an ultrasound today and poor Wendy really had to work to get the measurements she needed, as both boys are so squished! But..... Baby A measures 6#7oz, and baby B was 6#15oz!!!!

Sad day today....

Our sweet Dessa dog passed away today. She had not been doing great for quite a while but decided today she had fought enough. She was such a good, gentle giant. Dessa became part of our family in Oct. 2002. It never crossed her mind that she was a big dog. She was always so calm and loving, and always great with Jace. We will miss her terribly.

Just a note!!!

We have changed our c-section date to the 18th so we will be 36 weeks on the dot! This opens up the possibility that the boys may not have to go to NICU depending on how they look. Under 36 weeks go to NICU automatically and by delivering at 36 weeks they may get to stay in nursery and go home when I do. Please don't get me wrong, I love my NICU friends and know that our boys would be in the best hands ever. There are a lot of pluses to a short NICU stay too. They would get on a schedule, I could get some things together at home, and I would get a few days alone with Jace. But.... how amazing to think that after over 12 weeks of being here that they may not need NICU!! Of course, even at 36 weeks they still may need a little NICU boost and of course, they may come earlier on their own, but we are ready for whatever God has planned!! Pre-eclampsia is still knocking on the door, but just a gentle tap! So maybe if I don't answer it'll go away! Thank you all for the prayers and thoughts!! And thank you to all the wonderful nurses here on antepartum who have taken care of us- we love you all!
BTW- The 18th is my mother in law's birthday! :)