The twins turned one week old today, and are continuing to show improvement every day. Evan's jaundice has just about gone away. They have him on a "bili blanket" now, which is just a little light which goes right inside his blanket. The great thing about this is that he doesn't have to wear the mask anymore. He's also back up to his original birth weight (of 3 lbs. 8 oz.) so hopefully we'll see him start to put on some weight.
Naomi is also showing lots of progress. She's still got jaundice and is under the bili-lights but it's been steadily decreasing so that won't be for much longer. On a positive note, her spells of apnea are pretty much cleared up, which has allowed them to increase her formula consumption. In fact, she's now passed Evan and is getting 30 mL a time!
Hopefully in the next few days Naomi's jaundice will clear up. Once that happens the doctor indicated they could be co-bed, so they'll be able to sleep next to each once again. We're also ready for Erin to try nursing them directly; our first attempt will be tomorrow so we're a little nervous and very excited about that.
I'll continue to report on our progress, thank you to everyone who has called and e-mailed, it has all been very overwhelming and we're very grateful.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Twins Update
As I promised yesterday, here's an update on the twins and how they're currently doing. Naomi and Evan are both doing very well, with an occasional hiccup but nothing too serious. The most obvious thing right now is that they both have jaundice so they are under the bili-lights. Naomi has it a big worse than Evan, but her level dropped yesterday so that's a good sign.
Naomi has had a few bouts of apnea, and the doctors treated that with a small amount of oxygen and caffeine. Apparently caffeine works really well in newborns for treating some of these breathing problems, and no, it doesn't keep them awake (that was Erin's question). She's doing very well bottle feeding, and gulps up her preemie formula in no time. She's a handful, too; if you don't watch her she'll pull her mask that protects her eyes right off.
Evan's been cruising right along since the birth, other than this minor bit of jaundice. He hasn't shown any problems at all, and in fact they took him off the IV yesterday. He's also eating quite a bit more than his big sister, about 20 mL at last count (she's at around 12 mL while they were fixing the apnea). Evan's a bit more measured in his bottle feeding though, patience is a virtue there. He'll suck a bit, then pause and reload (and sometimes fall asleep right away), so often we'll finish his meals through his "NG tube", which is a small tube they run through their nose down to the stomach.
I noticed in the first day I took way more pictures of Naomi than Evan, so here's another picture of him to leave you with:
Naomi has had a few bouts of apnea, and the doctors treated that with a small amount of oxygen and caffeine. Apparently caffeine works really well in newborns for treating some of these breathing problems, and no, it doesn't keep them awake (that was Erin's question). She's doing very well bottle feeding, and gulps up her preemie formula in no time. She's a handful, too; if you don't watch her she'll pull her mask that protects her eyes right off.
Evan's been cruising right along since the birth, other than this minor bit of jaundice. He hasn't shown any problems at all, and in fact they took him off the IV yesterday. He's also eating quite a bit more than his big sister, about 20 mL at last count (she's at around 12 mL while they were fixing the apnea). Evan's a bit more measured in his bottle feeding though, patience is a virtue there. He'll suck a bit, then pause and reload (and sometimes fall asleep right away), so often we'll finish his meals through his "NG tube", which is a small tube they run through their nose down to the stomach.
I noticed in the first day I took way more pictures of Naomi than Evan, so here's another picture of him to leave you with:
Sunday, December 24, 2006
The Rest of the Story (Plus Pictures)
First, for those eager to see pictures of the newborns, there's a Photobucket Album here. Just click on a picture for a larger version. If you see one that you think you'd like to actually print out then e-mail me because I have the originals stored as well, which are much larger and will print at a higher quality.
So, everything was going relatively smoothly all things considered after the events at 26 weeks. Erin (and her cervix) were doing a good job maintaining the status quo, keeping the babies on the inside. Last Monday (December 18), I went in to work that morning not concerned at all. On a whim, I decided to come home for lunch (it's about a fifteen minute drive) to check on the family before going back to work.
Unfortunately when I got home I found Erin lying in bed looking like she was in some pain. At first she wanted to attribute it to normal stomach pains, but after twenty minutes or so she became concerned. The doctor's office recommended that she head on to the hospital to at least be looked at, so we headed in.
Once we got there it became apparent that she had again gone into labor. When we first arrived her contractions were coming very quickly (6-8 minutes) apart and she was in quite a bit of pain. Another round of tocos was ordered up, with our good friends from before, Magnesium Sulfate and Terbutaline. This quieted her down some, but didn't completely stop her contractions.
Late that Monday evening, her water broke. No alarms sounded, there was no change in the babies' heart rates or Erin's contractions, but we knew at that point that we weren't leaving the hospital until these babies were delivered. Over the next few days it was a basic pattern: Erin's contractions would start up, she would be administered a shot of Terbutaline, and everything would calm down for 14-18 hours, when it would pick right back up again.
Things finally came to a head on Thursday. There was an ultrasound scheduled for us that day and around 4:30 that afternoon they wheeled the machine in. Erin's contractions had begun again around 2:00 and they had not yet administered any more of the anti-contraction medication. The technician was about a quarter of the way into the examination (which occasional pauses for Erin's contractions, which were coming about every 8-9 minutes) when the high-risk doctor on hand stopped it and decided to check out her cervix. At that point it was decided to go ahead and not hold off any longer and deliver the babies. The babies were delivered via C-section, which went very quickly and without any complications.
Coming Tomorrow: Update on the babies' condition! Enjoy...
So, everything was going relatively smoothly all things considered after the events at 26 weeks. Erin (and her cervix) were doing a good job maintaining the status quo, keeping the babies on the inside. Last Monday (December 18), I went in to work that morning not concerned at all. On a whim, I decided to come home for lunch (it's about a fifteen minute drive) to check on the family before going back to work.
Unfortunately when I got home I found Erin lying in bed looking like she was in some pain. At first she wanted to attribute it to normal stomach pains, but after twenty minutes or so she became concerned. The doctor's office recommended that she head on to the hospital to at least be looked at, so we headed in.
Once we got there it became apparent that she had again gone into labor. When we first arrived her contractions were coming very quickly (6-8 minutes) apart and she was in quite a bit of pain. Another round of tocos was ordered up, with our good friends from before, Magnesium Sulfate and Terbutaline. This quieted her down some, but didn't completely stop her contractions.
Late that Monday evening, her water broke. No alarms sounded, there was no change in the babies' heart rates or Erin's contractions, but we knew at that point that we weren't leaving the hospital until these babies were delivered. Over the next few days it was a basic pattern: Erin's contractions would start up, she would be administered a shot of Terbutaline, and everything would calm down for 14-18 hours, when it would pick right back up again.
Things finally came to a head on Thursday. There was an ultrasound scheduled for us that day and around 4:30 that afternoon they wheeled the machine in. Erin's contractions had begun again around 2:00 and they had not yet administered any more of the anti-contraction medication. The technician was about a quarter of the way into the examination (which occasional pauses for Erin's contractions, which were coming about every 8-9 minutes) when the high-risk doctor on hand stopped it and decided to check out her cervix. At that point it was decided to go ahead and not hold off any longer and deliver the babies. The babies were delivered via C-section, which went very quickly and without any complications.
Coming Tomorrow: Update on the babies' condition! Enjoy...
Free At Last
I'm using the title of this post for two reasons: I'm finally clear of the hospital's horrid wireless service and a firewall that wouldn't let me do anything besides look at the most vanilla news sites, and because
ERIN HAD THE BABIES!!!
I will be posting the full story a little later, but I wanted to get this out here as soon as I could get under from under the oppressive regime that was the WebSense firewall. They were born on Thursday, December 21, at 8:30 PM, via C-section. Erin was at exactly 33 weeks on that day, so they are about 7 weeks premature. "Naomi Marie" was born first, and she weighed 4 lbs. 10 oz. "Evan Thomas" was next, and he weighed 3 lbs. 8 oz. The twins will be in the Neonatal ICU for probably 3-4 weeks, but Erin came home this afternoon. They are doing well and we've visited them every day.
Look for the full story and pictures tomorrow!
ERIN HAD THE BABIES!!!
I will be posting the full story a little later, but I wanted to get this out here as soon as I could get under from under the oppressive regime that was the WebSense firewall. They were born on Thursday, December 21, at 8:30 PM, via C-section. Erin was at exactly 33 weeks on that day, so they are about 7 weeks premature. "Naomi Marie" was born first, and she weighed 4 lbs. 10 oz. "Evan Thomas" was next, and he weighed 3 lbs. 8 oz. The twins will be in the Neonatal ICU for probably 3-4 weeks, but Erin came home this afternoon. They are doing well and we've visited them every day.
Look for the full story and pictures tomorrow!
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Still Going...
Sorry for the no news drought, I've been lax in my post-Thanksgiving updates; perhaps the tryptophan is finally wearing off.
In other news, no news is good news as far as news goes about Erin. The babies continue to be in utero and growing well, and Erin gets larger by the day. An ultrasound on the week of Thanksgiving showed the kids to be at 2 lbs. 13 oz. for the girl and 2 lbs. 9 oz. for the boy, a stunning reversal from our 26 week ultrasound when the girl was almost 9 oz. larger than the boy. Erin is now at 30 weeks, cruising on in to 31 this Thursday. She does remain on bedrest, which is getting more and more difficult to police. I think she's ready to be able to get up and move around again.
We also had a very busy couple of weeks with not one but two baby showers, one at our house and another at my mom's. Erin was obviously unable to make the two hour sojourn back to the homeland, so I made the trek for her and was the surrogate mommy for the day. Luckily there was no practice baby changing or anything like that, as it would have been embarrassing to fail miserably in front of 20 something existing mommies. We were able to bridge the gap back to Lexington, though, by employing the friendly services of Skype, an internet-based phone service which happens to be running a free beta of video conferencing as well. So Erin was able to sit comfortably on her couch and laugh while I attempted to ascertain just what to do with the 32 oz. container of Vasoline.
Our second shower was the next weekend and by sheer coincidence had been scheduled at our house. So, Erin was able to be right in the mix of things with friends and family, though she was fairly firmly grounded in the La-Z-Boy (almost on her side) all day. This time she got to see the little booties up close and personal, though I don't think she got the same looks of terror that I displayed.
We have received a tremendous amount of support from everyone and I wanted to thank you all for visiting while Erin was in the hospital and now at home, and certainly everyone that came to both of the showers. Events like that keep her going for a while I think.
COMING SOON: Pictures! Promised for the seventeenth time!
In other news, no news is good news as far as news goes about Erin. The babies continue to be in utero and growing well, and Erin gets larger by the day. An ultrasound on the week of Thanksgiving showed the kids to be at 2 lbs. 13 oz. for the girl and 2 lbs. 9 oz. for the boy, a stunning reversal from our 26 week ultrasound when the girl was almost 9 oz. larger than the boy. Erin is now at 30 weeks, cruising on in to 31 this Thursday. She does remain on bedrest, which is getting more and more difficult to police. I think she's ready to be able to get up and move around again.
We also had a very busy couple of weeks with not one but two baby showers, one at our house and another at my mom's. Erin was obviously unable to make the two hour sojourn back to the homeland, so I made the trek for her and was the surrogate mommy for the day. Luckily there was no practice baby changing or anything like that, as it would have been embarrassing to fail miserably in front of 20 something existing mommies. We were able to bridge the gap back to Lexington, though, by employing the friendly services of Skype, an internet-based phone service which happens to be running a free beta of video conferencing as well. So Erin was able to sit comfortably on her couch and laugh while I attempted to ascertain just what to do with the 32 oz. container of Vasoline.
Our second shower was the next weekend and by sheer coincidence had been scheduled at our house. So, Erin was able to be right in the mix of things with friends and family, though she was fairly firmly grounded in the La-Z-Boy (almost on her side) all day. This time she got to see the little booties up close and personal, though I don't think she got the same looks of terror that I displayed.
We have received a tremendous amount of support from everyone and I wanted to thank you all for visiting while Erin was in the hospital and now at home, and certainly everyone that came to both of the showers. Events like that keep her going for a while I think.
COMING SOON: Pictures! Promised for the seventeenth time!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)