Jack, Unplugged

Ah yes, altogether now on Greenfield Ave. (Jack is on the left, Christian on the right)


This song titled one of my favorite Laura Ingalls Wilder books:

Golden years are passing by,
Happy, happy golden years,
Passing on the wings of time,
These happy golden years.
Call them back as they go by,
Sweet their mem'ries are,
Oh, improve them as they fly,
These happy golden years.

24 hr. Breastfeeding Challenge or let's get Jack home

Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack take your huge feedings by mouth
or in the NICU you'll stick.

Jack is a better breastfeeder than bottle drinker, so in the interest of getting him out of there the minute his antibiotics are dosed up, the NICU lactation consultant recommended that we feed him by breast for 24 hours. As long as he exhibited weight gain at the end of the 'probation' (this really is starting to feel like a jailbreak!) the doctors could release him. It really wasn't too bad, except for the night. Ian and I stayed in one of the hospital rooms and I tandem nursed Christian and Jack at the same time. OK, that is the wierdest feeling ever to have two babies sucking on the breast at the same time. I thought I was going to cry or giggle or sneeze, or all of the above simultaneously. It also dawned on me for the first time, that mostly-exclusively breastfeeding twins might be a bit more than I bargained for, since I thought it was the same thing as breastfeeding one baby for some reason.
Anyways, the hoop was successfully cleared. Jack gained 20grams or something, and then afterwards started taking his bottle like a rockstar. If all goes well he'll be home within 24 hours of this post!

Baby Christian is Home!

Just a couple days after my last post about how our kids were never going to bust out of the NICU, we were driving home Christian David Puente! It happened really quickly and kind of out of the blue, but we jumped on the chance (it felt like a prison break kind of situation with our little guy being held hostage.) It's been pure bliss to have him home for the past week. Christian eats like a champ, sleeps all the time (seriously. all the time), and is the apple of his big brothers' eyes. They love talking about "babyCHRIS-chin!" and always get big smiles on their faces when they come close to him or hold him. We have noticed that Julian is starting to lie down in his crib a little more often (he's always talking about about "Baby Christian sleeping") but other than that they seem to be taking the changes in stride.


After thinking he had a kidney infection, and a 'this' or a 'that', it turns out that all along our little Jack had a pretty nasty staph infection (ie. the hospital got him sick). It's a bit frustrating because it's kind of like taking your car in for a tune up, expecting to pick it up at the end of the day, and finding out the mechanic broke something and now needs another week to repair the damage. However, we have to remember that no system is completely perfect, and we have been so heavily dependent on medical technology over the years that it's only natural we'll get bitten by it as we have also been abundantly blessed. We're very grateful that the infection is localized, Jack is extremely healthy overall, and the doctor said they are very confident he'll be able to go home as soon as the antibiotic IV course is completed. That will be in 8 days. 8 days... 8 more days (knock on wood) feels like a very long time to have a little son in the hospital (bringing the grand total to about a month), especially with the other one home and thriving, but in the grand scheme of things 8 days is a blink. I guess you can say we're really getting an opportunity to develop patience.

hangin in there!

Well, as fate would have it our NICU stay appears so far to be neither short, nor sweet. Late last week Jack got pretty sick with a kidney infection, and the infection caused a little congenital cyst he had in neck get really, really swollen. While everything seems to be resolving slowly but surely now, the swelling is making it hard for him to open his mouth for oral feedings. They have mentioned the possibility of surgically removing the cyst as well, although we are hoping that it resolves on its own and that won't be necessary. We are trying to get Christian to eat from a bottle. He starts out really strong but gets sleepy quickly so he hasn't made significant progress yet. So, it's been two weeks and we don't have an exit date in sight yet. Everything has been going so well and they were born at a pretty good age for twins we weren't mentally preparing ourselves for any setbacks!!
We are working hard to stay positive, and last week my friends Laura and Valerie threw a shower for me! It was soo much fun and I got spoiled rotten. We kept the gathering really small because I'm still recovering from the surge and didn't want to get tired out, and everybody showed up in their pjs and brought frozen meals and some other nummy goodies too. I thought I'd throw up some photos because they were too cute!! Laura lead some of the best shower games ever, including name-that-bedtime-story and then gave me everything I could ever need for tucking the little guys in- Val brought the cutest bumble bee diaper cake, washcloth lollipops and a diaper change 'kit' for Ian (see the apron packet below). Lindsay made me a nursing cape, the whole gang just showered me with amazing gifts, it was the best.


everybody was too awesome!





the food was sooo good!

one little piggy

Our boys are doing really great so far! They're taking their feeds well and are requiring only minimal monitoring. Hopefully they take to the bottle quickly! We should get more photos once we come home from the hospital.

the Babies are Here!

At 2am on Thursday someone decided to kick their water bag open. I was fast asleep and woke up to a huge gush of water- just like in the movies. I experienced a crazy adrenaline rush the likes of which I still don't think I've recovered from! We called my OB and two hours later the babies were out. I'm still trying to get my head around it. On the one hand I really wanted, and thought, we'd go longer. On the other, it was a miracle I made it so far. The babies (we're still working out the names) weighed in at 5lbs7oz and 5lbs3oz, which is very large for nearly-34weeker twins and had my tumm pulled to a 45cm+ fundal length. I started at >120lbs and wound up at 188lbs in just 7 1/2 months. Plus, they were in crazy positions, transverse but stacked horizontally on top of each other so I was extra stretched. (My doctor said she's never seen more unusual positions for twins!) No wonder I was in such agony every time I tried switching sides in bed! It was uncomfortable for all of us. So despite the fact that my labor predictor (fetal fibernectin test) came out negative only a week beforehand, the ship sprung a leak. All the bedrest, drugs or wheelchairs (which I was then using) in the world couldn't have kept these guys in there a minute longer.

It feels sort of strange to have them out now! For so long we've been focused on making our pregnancy successful, and even though I'm a bit bummed we didn't make our 36 week goal, we came really close. So far the babies are doing great. One has needed a little smidge of oxygen flow, but that's it. It's hard to say how long they'll be in the NICU- probably 2-3 weeks. They need to develop their sucking reflex, which typically kicks in a week or two from now. While I wish they didn't have to be in the NICU, I know it's going to give me a badly-needed opportunity to rest and recover. I leave the hospital in a day or two. If all works out well, I'm going to be very, very busy in a couple weeks from now when Caleb and Julian get home from their visit from Nana. Love you all! We couldn't have made it this far without you! We'll get photos up soon!

Krafts

When I was a young 24 year old breadwinning in the tough streets of NYC while Ian gutted through law school, I stumbled upon a magazine that had no relation to anything I was doing at the time but nevertheless caught my attention. I bought a couple issues, and when so many other items got chucked in the trash through all our moves, these have somehow survived. The mag was Martha Stewart Baby. Sadly defunct after just a few quarterly issues, it was filled with gemmy crafts, recipes and articles devoted to babies. Over the years I'd get dreamy and collect supplies to reproduce one of their gorgeous creations, and over the years I gathered a bunch of random items that collected dust in my closet. Then along came bedrest. I finally had time to make the quiet book, crochet the pom-pom hat, and sew the terry cloth washcloth ducks made for scrubbing in baby's neck areas. (the burp cloths were inspired by a gift from my friend Jaymie) I don't know how I would have gotten through bedrest staying this sane if I hadn't held onto these magazines. It's like my future self inspired my past self to buy them, knowing there would be a time when they would be invaqluable. Sadly I'm too sick to continue with the projects- I still have a baby texture book and quilt in the works. I'll get to them someday... they've been fun!

It's Official. I'm an Invalid!

Caution: This post is a rant. If you're looking for something cheery, read elsewhere.
I'm cursed with big babies! Yes, I know this is a good thing normally, but my poor uterus is so stretched out it's like I can hear it screaming in agony. Like times my ballet teachers used to stretch my leg back and it hurt a ton and I would want it to stop really badly! My fundal length is 43cm, just for some perspective a full-size/full-term fundal length is 40cm and many women don't even hit that. It wouldn't be so bad if I was at the end, but I'm only at 33 weeks on Sunday. My doctors are aiming for 36-37 weeks for a delivery, but they want me to make it until 34 weeks at the very least. Sometimes I feel like this has got to be some crazy joke- I can't roll over to different sides in bed without massive pain, and the pressure is so bad it's hard to walk for more than a few paces. As a result I recently got a sweet hookup from my physical therapist- a walker. It helps a ton. Looks like a wheelchair is the future as well. Maybe a stretcher too...