Friday, January 19, 2007

Home At Last!

Ok, it's official - we have twins. At 11:30am this morning, Michelle and I walked out of the hospital with our two beautiful boys and took them home with us at long last. Everyone's doing well and we are SO glad this is all done. I must say that the staff at St. E's in Brighton was good, but the South Shore Hospital NICU nurses and doctors were absolutely the best lot of people in the meidcal profession I have ever run into. Really. We can't thank them enough for all they did for our boys and the rest of the family.

Ok, on to the pics. First up is me holding both boys and waiting for the OK to leave...

Here's the boys in their car seats waiting to escape...

And (finally) the boys at rest in their bassinette at home...

This is quite an exciting day for us and I will update with more pics as Madison and Nicole (and the seemingly never-ending parade of other family members,) meet their new relatives...

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Tubes Are Out, Car Seats Are Purchased

Ok, the boys' feeding tubes have been taken out, the circumcisions have been completed and we purchased two new car seats for the boys' return home tomorrow. No confirmation on time, circumstances, etc. of the release, though there will be a TON of pictures to follow, I'm sure.

Today is Nicole's 9th Birthday and I think the boys coming home is the best present she could ever get. If she only knew how much her life was about to change...

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

"Transition To Home"

So Michelle and I went in for the discharge class tonight, where they go over home safety, preemie concerns, CPR, etc. and got a pleasant surprise - both boys had "Transition To Home" cards attached to their cribs. Apparently as of 7pm (for Dylan) and midnight (for Shane,) both boys will have completed the necessary 24 hours of mouth feedings and, barring any last minute complications, BOTH boys should be going home together on or about Friday of this week. Good news, indeed.

On the bad news (at least for the boys) front, we signed the consent forms for their circumcisions and they should be all neat and trimmed tonight or tomorrow morning. When the doctor was describing the procedure I nearly vomited, but was able to restrain myself.

So, here comes the REAL work once the boys come home and our apartment census increases from four to six...

The Hospital End-Game

Been awhile...sorry.

Today we take the discharge class as the hospital, since it appears that Shane will be coming home very shortly. We're hoping his feeding tube will be pulled out altogether in the coming day or so, which will then be followed by circumcision (sorry boys,) car seat testing, and then home for the big brother of the duo. Dylan's been through a lot and isn't that far behind - that boy is a fighter if ever there was one.

As it stands right now, Shane is 6lbs 9 oz. and Dylan is 5lbs 15oz.

Both boys are doing great and have had no setbacks to speak of. They are no longer on a regular feeding schedule because they are cuing so much - waking up screaming for food and the like. Also, Michelle brought in a bouncy seat for Dylan since he is awake and alert for a good part of the day and the nurses hated keeping him in a lying position when he's up so much. We got a pic of him in the seat and it's really cute - I'll post it after we go through the usual scanning nightmare.

So, things will get really hectic once one boy is home and the other remains in the hospital. Hopefully it will be a short-term situation.

Wish us luck.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

Dylan And The Big Boy Bed

New news...Dylan's temperatures held enough that he has been moved to a crib from his isolette. So now both lil' boys are cribbed. Pictures to follow.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

5 Pounds Each And Counting

Pardon me for the lack of updates, though I warned you in the beginning that procrastination was a constant companion of mine. That and the fact that the boys are pretty much just chilling and eating and gaining weight and making slow (and steady) progress have led to a lack of posts. Also, the lighting in the South Shore NICU is low and taking pictures requires a flash which disturbs the hell out of the boys, leading me to take less pictures than before. I hope that's enough excuses for you, just pick one and let's move on...

Both boys have hit the magical 5 pound mark. As of today, Shane is 5 pounds, 9 ounces and Dylan is 5 pounds, 1.2 ounces - pretty good considering how tiny they were at birth and shortly after.

We had a family meeting today with the doctor and nurses and the "best guess" "ballpark" time frame for the boys to come home is 1-2 weeks for Shane and 2+ weeks for Dylan. Shane remains in the "big boy" crib and reached a MAJOR milestone today as he finished an entire bottle by mouth - 44ccs - which is a first and a huge step towards him coming home. Dylan is slowly catching up and, although he is still in his isolette, it looks as if he will be in a crib within a week or so, as he has been able to hold his temperature very well of late.

Both boys had head ultrasounds and both showed no problems whatsoever. Their iron levels are also hovering in the perfect category, which is more good news. In fact, the doctor said that if you were going to have twins born at 30 weeks such as ours, the boys were just about as perfect as anyone could hope for. With all the ups and downs we've been through, little has made me happier than hearing that.

So, that's about it for now. Suffice to say that everything is going very well and the rest of the family is doing great also.

Here's some new pics, mostly of Shane since he;s out of the isolette which makes taking pictures of him MUCH easier than Dylan.

Here's some Shane for ya:
And a couple of little brother Dylan (who is looking 1000% better, don'tcha think?)
Talk to you all soon!