hospital & NICU

This blog post is WAY past due...
and has A LOT of pictures...
but, I wanted to be sure we documented
the time we spent in the NICU
and how much the twins have already grown & developed.




the hospital...

(9/28 - 9/29/11)

the twins arrive about 9PM on 9/29...

Here are some of the first pictures of McKay (Baby A)

me meeting McKay for the first time

(it wasn't until early the next morning that i was able to see him)

holding McKay for the first time

And, here are some of the first pictures of Crew

I was actually able to hold Crew for a few seconds right after delivery

and initially he went to the well baby nursery,

but after a few hours he was transferred to the NICU.

This is what he looked like the next time I was able to see him

Here is a picture of McKay within his first 24 hours

He was a bit beat up.

(one side of his face was "droopy",

he had what looked to be like pretty bad torticollis,

and they suspected he might have some sort of an infection 

so he wasn't able to receive any milk for a few days)

Amazingly,

all of those concerns had disappeared within a few days.

Here are some pictures of Crew 

within those first 24 hours

here he still has the CPAP to help him breath

Beckley came to meet his brothers the day after they were born

showing off his "I'm a big brother" tatoo!

Within a few days,

both boys were breathing on their own...

Crew

McKay

notice how big the pacifier looks in comparison to our little guy

McKay

soooooo many cords!!!

Adrian and his dad gave the boys blessing one of their first few days

we tried to hold the boys as much as possible

both boys spent a good amount of time under the bili lights...

the boys slept most of their time in the NICU

Crew

McKay

They had to have their IV's constantly changed

because their tiny veins could only handle them for so long...

it was so sad to see them poked so often.

one of the best places to find veins was in their heads,

so they often had IV's in their heads - poor little guys.

some random pictures of the twins

while in the NICU

look at McKay's little hand holding onto that finger

Beckley was able to visit the NICU

twice a week for 15 minutes each time.

here he is scrubbing in for one of this visits

he also brought each of the twins a little doggy just like the one he has

here i am holding both boys for the first time

(technically the NICU didn't allow this,

but one of the nurses let me do it behind closed curtains)

we put some Y hats on the boys,

but the next time we came in,

this is what we found

Here the boys are in open cribs

(which means they were now able to keep the temperature on their own)

proud parents!

Our first family pictures

so many beeps from these monitors!

one day i asked a nurse what one of the beeps meant

and she told me not to worry about the beeping 

that the beeps were only for the nurses...

i told her that those were my boys and of course i was going to worry if i heard beeping!

(she wasn't my favorite nurse!)

i spent A LOT of time attempting to nurse these boys...

we had to scrub in each time we visited the twins

and had to use sanitizer on our hands in between touching each boy

i was pumping A LOT during those NICU days...

discharge day!

the nurses and doctors kept telling me

that it didn't happen often that twins would go home on the same day...

and, i kept telling them that it was going to happen for us...

and,  it did!

both the boys came home on 10/19.

they were in the NICU for about 3 weeks.

the twins weren't big enough for normal carseats yet

so they came home in these car beds

Beck was excited to have his brothers come home!

we were so happy to welcome these little guys home!

so thankful for...

and

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

love.

thanks for the flowers Adriano!

love you, our little boys, our home and our life!

#3!

HAPPY 3rd ANNIVERSARY 

ADRIAN!

I

LOVE

YOU!

twins due date!

11.10.11

today is the twins due date.

(Crew getting eaten by McKay)

tomorrow the twins are 6 weeks old.

(Crew and McKay)

yesterday we took them to the doctor

(Crew & McKay)

and their most recent weights are:

Crew 5 lbs 9 oz

McKay 6 lbs 1 oz.

(at birth Crew was 3 lbs 10 oz and McKay was 4 lbs 5 oz)




The doctors will actually use today, 
their due date,
as their adjusted date of birth in order to track their progress 
for the first year of life.


(for example, when we take them to the doctor
for their 2 month appointment 
the doctor will examine them as if they were 2 weeks old).


Thus far,  the doctors have said to just expect them to 
eat and sleep -
just what they were doing if they were still inside me.


So, for the past few weeks, we have been saying
"well they aren't really even born yet"...


but, today they are REALLY born!


Today is the twins corrected birth date!

cheese!

not sure why but,

 this is how Beckley recently started smiling for the camera.

how can you not love that face?

working

1 month... 5+ lbs!!!

The twins are 1 month old!

(well, on 10/29)

We took them in for a weight check yesterday:

McKay is now 5 lbs 7 oz!!!

Crew if 5 lbs 0 oz!!!

So glad they are both out of the 3 and 4 lbs...

Beck was 5 lbs 2 oz when he was born, 

so i guess 5 lbs just seems more familiar and comfortable to us.

They are both doing great

and spend most of their days eating and sleeping...

their due date is still over a week away,

so that's all they should be doing right now!

The rest of us?

well, we are also doing great

we definitely spend most of our days eating but, not sleeping so much...