I don't have long to write but thought I would try to update everyone since everyone has been asking how we are doing. The twins are great and are gaining weight. Cumorah seems to think she needs to eat at all times. They are total opposites of eachother. Elijah is calm and likes to look around while he is awake. Cumorah thinks if she is awake she needs to be held and fed. They don't really look anything alike either.
They take up a ton of time. I don't think I could do it without Ben here. Ben is the one that gets up with Israel in the morning and gets him ready while I sleep in (I am usually the one that gets up with the twins at night but I wake him when I need an extra hand). During the times I am feeding the twins, guess who is caring for the other kids, Ben. I have no idea how I am going to do it without him. Right now things are going well. We don't really have any down time (even now I am dealing with a crying baby) but at the same time, it is great.
The kids have all been great with the babies and none have shown any jealousy what so ever. Just this morning Luci came up to me and said, "I love the babies mommy." That was so nice to hear. The kids help out a ton. We just have to make sure Israel doesn't pick them up as he has often done. We are doing pretty well with the total lack of sleep. All in all it has been a great experience. I just dread the day we have to send Ben back to Iraq. Don't be surprised if things suddenly take a turn for the worse at that point lol.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Twins cont...
So the twins were doing great and during rounds (the time in the morning where every doc, nurse, PA, NP, etc talk about the babies) we decided to try taking the babies out of the incubator and see if they could hold their temps. If they could, the doc would send them home. When I told them Ben was supposed to be home on Monday he decided he wanted them to come home then. So Saturday night we switched them to a crib. I was so excited! I got all the paperwork done for discharge and headed home for the night.
When I came in the next morning (Sunday) I headed over to wash my hands as usual and realized there was an incubator where the crib was. At first I thought they had moved the babies (they had been in three different NICUs prior to this) and then I realized what had happened. They had been unable to keep their temps up and Elijah had quit eating so they had been put back in the incubator. Then I also got a call from Ben and found out he was not coming in on Monday as planned. It was kinda a depressing day. The new doc (they change each week) said the earliest he would move them back into a crib would be in 48 hrs and the earliest he would let them go would be Thursday.
So I continued to come in each day to feed the babies. My grandma took the other kids on Sunday night so I could spend the day at the hospital. I wasn't allowed to drive yet so my mom would drop me off on her way to work and we would do lunch together then she would pick me up after work. Then we found out Ben was supposed to be coming home Tuesday night. When rounds were done we discovered that the babies incubator had been turned down to 27.5 and it only needs to be 28 to be moved back to the crib so we decided to go ahead and move them out early and see if they could keep up their temps and come home when Ben got here. I was so scared to get my hopes up that night. Sunday had been such a huge roller coaster, especially as I watched other babies being sent home. Every time I heard that stupid car seat video you have to watch before they will release the babies I wanted to scream. I had dreams that night that Cumorah couldn't keep her temp and wouldn't eat. I was convinced that was the case.
When I came in Tuesday morning and saw them still in their cribs, I literally shouted for joy. The nurses in there didn't know me so they thought I was nuts until I explained. They had made it the full 24 hrs without a problem and even passed their carseat tests so we wouldn't need car beds instead. The doc said he wanted to keep them an extra day though cause one of the babies they sent home the day before ended up back in the NICU that morning. Also, he was worried since it is RSV season and the babies had yet to regain their birth weight. I was so disappointed and worried the babies would quit keeping their temps or something. I was talking with the Nurse Practitioner (who also happened to be the wife of the first doc that wanted them home with daddy) and she decided to convince the doc to send them home. Ben wasn't due until 11pm so we thought it would give them 12 more hours to be there and they could go home around 10 pm and be able to see daddy. She talked to him and he said they could go immediately as soon as they had their RSV shots. She I let my mom know and she took the afternoon off work to help me get settled and then headed down to McCammon to get the kids.
The kids were home for a little bit when my mom got a call from her sister, Diane. She was letting us know that Ben had just posted on Facebook that he wasn't coming home yet afterall. He had no other way to let me know. We were so glad she called cause we had been just about to tell the kids he was coming home that night. She sure saved us a lot of difficulty had we had to take it back. I was disappointed but to finally have my babies with me made it all easier to deal with. It turned out the plane Ben was supposed to get on had had some stuff that needed to be fixed so they couldn't fly yet. I had been looking forward to the extra hand during my first night home. Finally, two days later on Thursday April 1st at about 11:30 pm Ben made it to the Idaho Falls airport. The weather was just bad enough that they almost rerouted them to SLC. We were so relieved that they didn't.
Since the twins came home, they have continued to improve. The eat a ton, especially Cumorah. Their temps are staying up fine and they are doing great. The kids are so excited! It is hard to keep them away. Israel has already made bottles for the babies a few times without permission and once made it as far as feeding it to Elijah and then burping him and rocking him to sleep before I discovered what he was doing. I thought he was sleeping the whole time lol. So I am really lacking on sleep but I am loving being the mom of twins and having my wonderful hubby here. I don't know how I will do it when he is gone, but I am just going to enjoy this while I can.
When I came in the next morning (Sunday) I headed over to wash my hands as usual and realized there was an incubator where the crib was. At first I thought they had moved the babies (they had been in three different NICUs prior to this) and then I realized what had happened. They had been unable to keep their temps up and Elijah had quit eating so they had been put back in the incubator. Then I also got a call from Ben and found out he was not coming in on Monday as planned. It was kinda a depressing day. The new doc (they change each week) said the earliest he would move them back into a crib would be in 48 hrs and the earliest he would let them go would be Thursday.
So I continued to come in each day to feed the babies. My grandma took the other kids on Sunday night so I could spend the day at the hospital. I wasn't allowed to drive yet so my mom would drop me off on her way to work and we would do lunch together then she would pick me up after work. Then we found out Ben was supposed to be coming home Tuesday night. When rounds were done we discovered that the babies incubator had been turned down to 27.5 and it only needs to be 28 to be moved back to the crib so we decided to go ahead and move them out early and see if they could keep up their temps and come home when Ben got here. I was so scared to get my hopes up that night. Sunday had been such a huge roller coaster, especially as I watched other babies being sent home. Every time I heard that stupid car seat video you have to watch before they will release the babies I wanted to scream. I had dreams that night that Cumorah couldn't keep her temp and wouldn't eat. I was convinced that was the case.
When I came in Tuesday morning and saw them still in their cribs, I literally shouted for joy. The nurses in there didn't know me so they thought I was nuts until I explained. They had made it the full 24 hrs without a problem and even passed their carseat tests so we wouldn't need car beds instead. The doc said he wanted to keep them an extra day though cause one of the babies they sent home the day before ended up back in the NICU that morning. Also, he was worried since it is RSV season and the babies had yet to regain their birth weight. I was so disappointed and worried the babies would quit keeping their temps or something. I was talking with the Nurse Practitioner (who also happened to be the wife of the first doc that wanted them home with daddy) and she decided to convince the doc to send them home. Ben wasn't due until 11pm so we thought it would give them 12 more hours to be there and they could go home around 10 pm and be able to see daddy. She talked to him and he said they could go immediately as soon as they had their RSV shots. She I let my mom know and she took the afternoon off work to help me get settled and then headed down to McCammon to get the kids.
The kids were home for a little bit when my mom got a call from her sister, Diane. She was letting us know that Ben had just posted on Facebook that he wasn't coming home yet afterall. He had no other way to let me know. We were so glad she called cause we had been just about to tell the kids he was coming home that night. She sure saved us a lot of difficulty had we had to take it back. I was disappointed but to finally have my babies with me made it all easier to deal with. It turned out the plane Ben was supposed to get on had had some stuff that needed to be fixed so they couldn't fly yet. I had been looking forward to the extra hand during my first night home. Finally, two days later on Thursday April 1st at about 11:30 pm Ben made it to the Idaho Falls airport. The weather was just bad enough that they almost rerouted them to SLC. We were so relieved that they didn't.
Since the twins came home, they have continued to improve. The eat a ton, especially Cumorah. Their temps are staying up fine and they are doing great. The kids are so excited! It is hard to keep them away. Israel has already made bottles for the babies a few times without permission and once made it as far as feeding it to Elijah and then burping him and rocking him to sleep before I discovered what he was doing. I thought he was sleeping the whole time lol. So I am really lacking on sleep but I am loving being the mom of twins and having my wonderful hubby here. I don't know how I will do it when he is gone, but I am just going to enjoy this while I can.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The twins are here!
Boy has it been a roller coaster ride around here. The Army kept changing Ben's leave date (we still don't know) so that was really stressing me out. Then Eden and Israel both started really acting out and stressing us all out. Then on Tuesday (March 23) Celestial snuck into the bathroom with Luci and some scissors. Forget those cute hair cuts they just had done. Luci has nothing much left and Celestial's is very short. I was so upset! I couldn't believe all their beautiful hair was gone. Next thing I knew, we were headed to the hospital with contractions that were a minute and a half apart. The doc came in and verified the twins were still both breech so I headed in for a c-section. I was terrified! I had heard so many terrible things. Turned out to not be that bad other than even less privacy than a VBAC. Didn't realize that was possible.
Anyway, we were not able to get ahold of Ben in time so he missed the whole thing. My MIL was able to watch on webcam with my mom with me. At 11:24 pm little Cumorah Elisabeth was born. They showed her to me and I realized she wasn't near as big as the U/S on Friday has said. There was about a lb difference. She was only 4lb 4oz and 16 3/4 in. They then rushed her off to the NICU and at 11:26 Elijah Benjamin was born. He was quite a lot bigger than Cumorah though he also was smaller than the U/S had estimated. Elijah was 5lb and 18 1/2 in. He was also shown to me and then rushed off to the NICU. They continued with stitching me up and I just about died when the doc said "You are about to feel some pressure as I put all your guts back in". Never heard a doc put it quite that way lol.
After the c-section I was sent to recovery. It was a couple of hours before I got to see the kids or even know how they were doing. Elijah was not doing well so I wasn't allowed to touch him. He was struggling to breath and you could hear him clear across the room even with oxygen on. Cumorah was doing better and I was able to touch her, but not to hold or feed either one. They really weren't doing as well as the doc and I thought they would at this far along, especially after having had the steroids weeks earlier. It was hard to see them with so many wires and tubes coming out of them.
It was still a very long time before I was able to hold or feed the babies. I am not sure what time it was but I know it was later the next day. When I was finally able to hold them, Cumorah decided she was done with the feeding tube and oxygen and pulled them out. They decided to allow her a chance and she did fine without. The lactation consultant was shocked with how well she breastfed. She went around telling people she learned not to judge a nursing baby by it's size. Elijah had a tougher time. Though he was a little better, he still was not doing well. I asked that they put them together and they said they would. I continued to come to the NICU to feed them every 2-3 hrs and it wasn't until the next day that they finally put them together. Once they finally did, Elijah started breathing and eating so much better! He would even cry when I took Cumorah out of the bed if I didn't take him too. It was so cute! So they finally took his tubes out too. Later on Cumorah also took her IV out twice before they left it and then she took Elijahs out. They put his back in and then he took it out. A glance of things to come?
Seems they are awake and hungry now so I will finish the story another day.
Anyway, we were not able to get ahold of Ben in time so he missed the whole thing. My MIL was able to watch on webcam with my mom with me. At 11:24 pm little Cumorah Elisabeth was born. They showed her to me and I realized she wasn't near as big as the U/S on Friday has said. There was about a lb difference. She was only 4lb 4oz and 16 3/4 in. They then rushed her off to the NICU and at 11:26 Elijah Benjamin was born. He was quite a lot bigger than Cumorah though he also was smaller than the U/S had estimated. Elijah was 5lb and 18 1/2 in. He was also shown to me and then rushed off to the NICU. They continued with stitching me up and I just about died when the doc said "You are about to feel some pressure as I put all your guts back in". Never heard a doc put it quite that way lol.
After the c-section I was sent to recovery. It was a couple of hours before I got to see the kids or even know how they were doing. Elijah was not doing well so I wasn't allowed to touch him. He was struggling to breath and you could hear him clear across the room even with oxygen on. Cumorah was doing better and I was able to touch her, but not to hold or feed either one. They really weren't doing as well as the doc and I thought they would at this far along, especially after having had the steroids weeks earlier. It was hard to see them with so many wires and tubes coming out of them.
It was still a very long time before I was able to hold or feed the babies. I am not sure what time it was but I know it was later the next day. When I was finally able to hold them, Cumorah decided she was done with the feeding tube and oxygen and pulled them out. They decided to allow her a chance and she did fine without. The lactation consultant was shocked with how well she breastfed. She went around telling people she learned not to judge a nursing baby by it's size. Elijah had a tougher time. Though he was a little better, he still was not doing well. I asked that they put them together and they said they would. I continued to come to the NICU to feed them every 2-3 hrs and it wasn't until the next day that they finally put them together. Once they finally did, Elijah started breathing and eating so much better! He would even cry when I took Cumorah out of the bed if I didn't take him too. It was so cute! So they finally took his tubes out too. Later on Cumorah also took her IV out twice before they left it and then she took Elijahs out. They put his back in and then he took it out. A glance of things to come?
Seems they are awake and hungry now so I will finish the story another day.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Hair cuts! It was about time.
I have been needing to take my girls in for hair cuts but being on bedrest has prevented that. My wonderful mom took them in the other day and got them done. I have after pics of all the girls and before for Luci cause this was her first hair cut.
Luci Before Luci After
Celestial
Eden
Luci Before Luci After
Celestial
Eden
Eden's 8th birthday party
I can hardly believe my baby girl is 8 already! She decided to make things easy on mommy since mommy is on bedrest that she would have a pajama party and watch a movie. Her birthday is Feb. 2 but we had her party on Feb. 6. We had nine little girls (including my own). The movie she picked was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. She had popcorn, rootbeer floats, and of course her cake. They all seemed to enjoy it and didn't want to leave. Here are some of the pics from the party.
Eden's birthday cake. It was Chocolate with a cherry whipped cream filling.
Ben will be getting back for his midtour leave the beginning of April so he will be baptizing Eden and blessing the babies at that time. I will post pics afterward. I can't believe I have a kid old enough to be baptized! They sure grow up fast.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
This was supposed to work from my phone but didn't.
It is really difficult for me to get the time to update this and when I do I don't know what to write. I will be going on bedrest probably this week though so I should have plenty of time at that point. As for now, the kids and I just got back from a trip to Boise. We were able to spend time with my sister Miriam and her family as well as Ben's Dad and his family. We all had a great time. I just wish we could move there now instead of waiting four years. We were able to go to the zoo and Chuck E Cheese as well as doing a little shopping for things the kids need and for the babies. The kids even had fun staying home and playing with their cousins. We all really needed the break and I am so glad we were able to go. Now to start months of being stuck at home. Atleast we got one final getaway.
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