Thursday, April 28, 2011

Five Days Old: Update on Gabe and Alex

I'm just outside the NICU writing this post on my iPhone. Not the ideal, but I wanted to take a moment to send an update. Yesterday, I was released from the hospital, but the boys were not ready to come home yet. It was a very emotional and exhausting day for us. However, today is much better!

Even when I was in the hospital, I was only spending day-time hours with the boys. Going back and forth from the NICU to see the boys, change them, and try to nurse (taking turns between boys each time). Then, returning to my room to pump, so that my milk would come in. The last time I was seeing them was the 6pm feeding- then, back to my hospital room for the evening. While the level of care in the NICU has been and is fabulous, the hospital rooms and bedside manor are a little drab! I have some really funny stories to share as time allows, but if you want to really test your second language abilities, get pregnant with twins who have TTTS, have them prematurely in the country of the second language via c-section; however, I recommend another way!

So I left the hospital last night with several tears, but I was able to sleep in my own bed, see my daughter, and pump in my own home!

Status on the boys:
I got here this morning to hear some encouraging news. The babies have been under the blue light because of * (a word that I can't seem to spell correctly, but makes their skin yellow-very common in premature babies). They have both have infusions because they need nutrients and are not eating enough. However, the doctor told me this morning that their billirubion-sp? levels are down so they will be done with the blue light tomorrow. Gabe will not need his infusion after today, and hopefully, Alex won't need his after tomorrow. From the NICU, the boys will go to interim care for a week, most likely, and then if not sooner, we hope and pray HOME.

I'm coming here to the hospital every day from 10am-6pm, and Brian is at home with Cece. Although, I'm sure in the next week that we'll get someone to watch Cece for a few hours, so Brian can come too!

Thank you so much for your prayer; we really do need strength. While there is so much to be thankful for, this is hard. We are all exhausted. While the next several days will be hard for us, we have so much hope, and we are so thankful that Gabe and Alex made it into the world as well as they did!!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Update on the Twins

Hello friends and family...

This baby update is coming from Brian. Today we are celebrating 33 weeks and 4 days. Just 14 weeks ago we were clinging to the words "mildly optimistic", and now we are preparing our house (and our lives, as much as one can) for two little boys to come home. The doctor in Belgium had told us that the median date of delivery for TTTS babies is 32 weeks. My little boys are already over-achieving.

A few weeks ago we had an ultrasound, and I asked the doctor how he thought things were going and when the boys would be coming. He said that there is no known neurological damage, the babies are still growing, and all the dopplers are in normal range - and then he said, "The laser surgery seems to have been perfectly done." He then sent us on our way and told us to get things ready.

This week, we had another ultrasound (we have honestly lost count). Within the first 30 seconds of the ultrasound he said, "Looks like we have 3 more weeks to go." There was a little part of Aleisha that hoped he would say they needed to come out immediately (!), but most of all we were just shaking our heads and marveling at the fact that these two boys are actually going to get to full-term - 36 weeks! Aleisha currently has 8 pounds of babies in her, and the boys are about 200-400 grams apart on weight. She has no indication of pre-term labor, and the doctor seems very confident that we will be making a scheduled trip in the first week of May to have a c-section.

We have one more ultrasound in two weeks, and we will set the official date at that appointment!

We can't wait to share more pictures with you all, but we managed to get this one of the "bigger baby" at our last appointment:

Thank you for your support and your love,
Brian (for all five of us)