Sixth week pictures

Sorry we didn’t post their 6th week pictures yesterday, we were out late running errands.  Our sweet little Max was finally circumcised yesterday afternoon, and the neonatologist said he just cried a few little whimpers and that was all.  What a brave little boy!!!  He was just sweet as could be last night, and even ate full feeds the rest of the day yesterday (and today).  Wes’s circumcision is scheduled for tomorrow, so hopefully he will do just as well!

(gestational age is 36 weeks)

A much chubbier Max with his bear - 6 weeks old

Cuddly little Wes with his puppy - 6 weeks old

Kerry

Rooming in

Jeff and I got to the hospital this morning, and will be here all day long, into the night – we’re doing what is called “rooming in”, which is one of the last things they want you to do with your preemie(s) before they come home.  YAY!!!  We are solely responsible for their care today, and won’t get any help from the nurses unless we request it.  We are doing all of their Cares, and all of their feedings (which have all been through bottles today – Max got his feeding tube removed today just like his little brother).  It’s kind of like we’re playing “house” with them, but it’s actually really nice because it will help us prepare for what it’s going to be like once we get them home (minus the monitors and hustle and bustle of the NICU).  Anyway, I thought I would document an hour block of the day in photos…

12:10 p.m. - Jeff gets pooped on by Max

12:20 p.m. - Max and his clean diaper are happily taking a bottle

12:30 p.m. - I get a "thumbs down" from Wes for waking him

12:31 p.m. - Max gets burped by daddy - he finished his bottle!!

12:32 p.m. - I turn around to find Wes trying to eat his hands

12:35 p.m. - Max looking up at daddy like "is that all?"

12:36 p.m. - Now Wes is sucking his thumb - awwww!

12:40 p.m. - A very sleepy Max fighting to stay awake on daddy

12:50 p.m. Daddy catches (a blurry) Wes smiling at mommy

Kerry

The last supper

I should clarify – the surprise from yesterday was kept a surprise in large part to Jeff, but my girlfriends are the ones who planned the entire thing.  I still smile so big thinking about how great those women are.  =)

Jeff and I had what I assume will be the last dinner out we have in a long, long time last night.  We went to Vesta Dipping Grill, and my friend Tara’s husband (Joe) was our server – he was amazing.  They have a lactose-free menu, so that was fantastic – Jeff and I both ordered off it so that I could have a little bit of what he got, too.  Before our meals came, Joe had brought us several small appetizers – a coconut curry soup shooter and duck confit with a champagne gelee.  So good!  Jeff ordered the smoked and grilled duck breast for dinner, and I ordered the garlic grilled scallops – holy YUM.  Joe had the pastry chef, Adam, prepare a special dairy-free dessert for us (the first time Adam’s done that for anyone, and Joe’s worked there for 5 years), and it was TO DIE FOR.  It was a pear spice cake served with lemon sorbet and caramel sauce.  We had a bottle of wine and some dessert drinks, too.  Our night out was more than I could have asked for, and we cannot wait to go back someday!!!

Kerry

SURPRISE!!!!

I have the bestest friends of all time.  And a sneaky little (big) husband.  For two weeks, Jeff and I have been talking about going out for a sushi lunch, but things kept getting in the way.  Finally, he told me that we were going today, no matter what, but that he also had a surprise for me and we had to be someplace at noon.  He knows I hate surprises, so I have been grilling him for the last few days, to no avail.  So imagine my surprise when we walked into the Kona Grill and I saw nine of my closest friends sitting at a table waiting for me!!!

After I cried for a few minutes, and then composed myself, I was given another HUGE surprise – my friends (including several others not pictured above) all got together and bought me an hour and a half massage with the incredible Rheana, AND an aroma spa pedicure from one of my favorite nail spas!!!!  So for all of those people out there who think online relationships are lame and don’t ever amount to anything substantial, I give you my friends (and not just the ones in this picture, I have more) – the best girlfriends a girl could EVER ask for.  Thank you so much to Kate and the rest of the Tree Fort Girls for organizing an afternoon of relaxation and laughter – I needed that!!

While I’m at it, let me thank our other friends and family members for thinking of Jeff, the boys, and I in the last couple of weeks.  Thank you to Megan for coming over and going on a walk with me last weekend, and for bringing the yummy curry beans and rice dish.  Thanks to Rheana (chicken in a white bean and tomato sauce) and Cassidy (3 bean soup) for bringing us dinner as well.  Thank you to Jeff’s brother, John, my sister-in-law, Jill, and their son, Jordan, for the adorable Polo onesies (can’t wait to get the boys in those) and beautifully-written cards for each boy.  Thanks to my cousin, Brook, and her husband, Scott, for the onesies, sleepers, and baby tattoos (I really cannot WAIT to get those on our little guys, LOL!).  Thank you to Alan and Shana for the onesies and mittens, and thanks to Allyson, Ryan, and Duke for the By Jeeves gift certificate.  A HUGE thank you to Erica for the handmade blankies for the boys (shown in the photos below), and thanks to Brenda for the onesies.  Thank you to Jeff’s mom, Sue, for the Easter gifts for the boys – stuffed animals and little magnetic train letters (that spelled each of the boys’ names), and thanks to our sister-in-law, LeAnn, for the Easter baskets filled with goodies and birth story “newspaper article” (to be shown at a later date).

I would also like to thank an old friend (who I also met online), known to the online community as Sock, for her extreme generousity in making a donation to our March for Babies team, Team Weemmax (see post below).  I have been meaning to shoot you an email for months (when I first started noticing your comments on our blog), but just never got around to it.  Please know how incredibly touched I was (and how touched my girlfriends were today when I told them) when I saw the donation you made today.  “Thank you” seems so generic, but for this moment, I’m actually at a loss for words…

Max's very own blankie made by Erica

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wes's very own blankie made by Erica

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kerry

Team Weemmax!!!

Every year, the March of Dimes puts on the “March for Babies”, which helps and gives hope to families whose little ones are born too soon or too sick.  Our good friend, Ivory, whose daughter, Emma, was born at 29 weeks last year (and just celebrated her first birthday this month!!) walked with Team Amazing Emma last year.  She was generous enough to not only be the woman behind the meal deliveries we’ve been getting for the last two months, but to also organize a team in honor of all three of our babies for this year’s March for Babies.  For every dollar we raise, the March of Dimes donates 77 cents to this very worthy cause – and we are using our blog as a place to ask you to donate to the babies like Emma, Max, and Wes – and the thousands of babies who are born premature or sick each and every year.

If you can’t/don’t want to make a donation, and just want to walk with us, please feel free to join our team – the more, the merrier!  The walk takes place this year on April 25th, at Civic Center Park, and we are hoping for good weather so that Max and Wes can “walk” with us (strapped to their mommy and daddy’s chests).  To make a donation, or join our team, please click on the photo below, which is pictures of the three kiddos when they were all around a month old.  Emma, Max, and Wes, and their families thank you so much for your support!!! 

J&K

Snow day? What snow day?

It certainly isn’t as bad out there as what everyone thought it would be, and nothing could keep me away from spending time with the boys this morning!  A few pics from our morning time together…and then I have some pretty exciting news!

The three of us staring at each other in wonder

Our boys, 38 days old

A hungry Wes wishing I would take my shirt off

This morning, I was told by both the neonatologist and our primary daytime nurse that we should go out on a date this weekend, as we will likely have BOTH BOYS HOME BY NEXT WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  How amazing is that?  Apparently the bradycardias that Wes is still having when he eats aren’t that big of a deal now that we know what to do once they happen (take away his bottle, stimulate him to get him to start breathing, and if that doesn’t work, bump up his O2 a little bit).  Both Max and Wes will likely come home on oxygen, which won’t be a big deal since we’re used to all of the tubes.  The doctors and nurses are mainly waiting for both of them to take all of their feedings from bottles (as opposed to their feeding tubes), and then they should be good to come home where they belong.  OMG, FINALLY!!!!!

When I told Jeff the news, I think he was in shock.  As am I.  I think we’re both a little bit freaked out that the boys will be home so soon after being under the care of the hospital for the last 5 1/2 weeks.  But we’re also so ridiculously excited that we can barely stand it.  Nesting is kicking in full force, and we will likely spend the rest of this “snow day” (since Jeff’s off work) getting everything 100% ready for them to come home.

Now for a few notes for friends and family –

Once the boys are home, Jeff and I are asking that no friends or family come over to visit for the first week we are all home.  This is going to be a bit of a difficult transition (especially for Max and Wes, but for Jeff and I as well), and we want it to be as stress-free and smooth as possible.  Not to mention we have had ZERO privacy with our new family since the boys have been born, and I think we really need and deserve that after all we’ve been through.  Once we have that first week together, we would love visitors, but please call or email one of us first, don’t just show up.  The NICU nurses have suggested that we mimic the boys’ schedules that they’ve had since birth, which is why we don’t want unexpected visitors during times when the boys aren’t awake. 

Also, we won’t be allowing any children to come over to our house until RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) season is over (the end of April).  Kiddos spread the virus faster than adults do, and if either one of our boys caught it, it could lead to pneumonia, bronchiolitis, or even death.  Max and Wes were born early, are multiples, and had low birth weights; which are among the highest risk factors for contracting RSV and developing serious complications.  Everyone who comes over must be germ or symptom-free from any illness, fever, etc for at least a week.  Don’t be offended if we ask you to wash your hands the minute you walk in the door (and periodically throughout your visit) as RSV is spread very easily through physical contact, in the air via a cough or sneeze, or by touching an infected object.  The virus can live as long as 6 hours on hands (or bodies) and 12 hours on objects. 

If any of you have questions/concerns about any of the above, please let Jeff and I know.  And we’ll keep you posted on a coming-home date (when we get one) – YAY!!!!

Kerry

Some pictures

Max sticking his tongue out at his aunt LeAnn

Wes staring in wonder at his aunt LeAnn

Our newest family photo - the boys are 37 days old.

Sleepy Max in a milk coma

Sleepy Wes in a milk coma

J&K

Fifth week pictures

(gestational age is 35 weeks)

A warm, bundled up Max - 5 weeks old

A warm, bundled up Wes - 5 weeks old

Oh, and just so you can get an idea of how tiny these stuffed animals are, see the picture below (of their NICU room)…on the left side is Max’s bear, which is sitting next to a small bottle of hand sanitizer, and Wes’s puppy is on the right, next to a folded up piece of paper.

Kerry

New digs

Great news!  Max and Wes were transitioned into open cribs this morning after their baths!  This is a HUGE step in them being able to come home with us soon.  By moving into these open cribs, they are basically being forced to self-regulate their temperatures, which is one of the components that has to be met before they are sent home.  There is a small chance that one (or both) of them may get too cold being out in the open, but if that happens they will just move them back into an isolette and try again later.  And now, a picture of our boys’ new digs, Max without his oxygen and feeding tubes (just for his bath, they went right back in afterwards), and Wes laying in his nice, clean crib… 

Max is on the left, Wes is still on the right

Our handsome boy

Wiggly little Wes

Now if Wes could just remember to breathe when he is eating, I would feel a lot better!  He had a really bad bradycardia just as I was starting to feed him a bottle this morning.  I noticed that he started turning blue, and his eyes were starting to roll into the back of his head, so my head snapped up to look at his monitor.  Sure enough, his heart rate was 50-something, and his oxygen saturation was 64%.  Not good.  I began jostling him a little bit, and rubbing his head vigorously to try to get him to remember to breathe, and it wasn’t working.  I was really scared there for a few minutes, but amazingly, I kept my cool.  The boys’ primary daytime nurse, Jan, came running in, and finally got him to take a deep breath, but I was really freaked out.  Once we got Wes settled back in his crib, this time on a tube feeding, Jan told me that she was proud of me.  She said I did the right thing when I saw Wes turning blue, and that made me feel really good.  This is one of the things we are going to have to really watch for when the boys come home, and I recognized what was happening before the monitors caught it.

The good news is, they won’t let either of the boys come home until they are issue-free (NO bradys, at all – along with being able to regulate their temperatures and take their feedings with no problems) for five consecutive days.  The bad news is, they won’t let either of the boys come home until they are issue-free for five consecutive days.  If one of them is on day four, and he has a brady, he starts over.  Simple as that. 

That said, if I were a betting woman (and I am), I would be willing to bet that Max will be coming home before Wes.  I’m also almost positive that Wes will be on oxygen when he comes home (and Max won’t).  I think that everyone, including me, had just assumed that Wes would come home first since he’s the chunky one.  Unfortunately, size doesn’t really matter with NICU babies.  I mean, it matters – but isn’t the deciding factor on whether a baby is ready to come home, or not.  Anyway, stay tuned for at least one of our babies coming home in the next couple of weeks – I know Jeff and I have our fingers tightly crossed.

Kerry

Twenty wiggly toes

Because I didn’t think to bring a “Happy Anniversary Grammy and Grampy” sign with me to the NICU today, you get my big head, two babies, and twenty wiggly toes.

Not the best picture of them both, but at least they aren't crying!

Twenty perfect toes and Wes's perfect lips

Kerry