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...

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...

"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.

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.

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!

Major Picture Post

Ok, so I've been a combination of lazy and busy lately to the point that I haven't been able to update as much as I'd like. On top of that, we're still adjusting the levels on our new (old) camera, so we've been somewhat unsuccessful in taking our own pictures in the relative darkness of the NICU. Luckily, our nurses there have been great and have taken a bunch of pictures of the boys, which I then took to Walgreen's and scanned. This morning I picked up the CD and decided to just post all of the pictures with minimal words.

The boys are doing well and enjoyed their first Christmas, even though they weren't quite ready to come celebrate it with the rest of their family at home. Rest assured, Santa made a special visit to the NICU and the boys were well taken care of. Shane is at about 4 3/4 pounds and Dylan is slightly lighter at about 4 1/2 pounds - both great figures. Shane is still in a regular crib and has been doing well feeding from a bottle. Dylan is still in his isolette, though we're hopping he'll graduate to a crib within the week. He prefers feeding straight from his mother. Everything appears well with the boys for now, which is great news for us.

Ok, on to the pics. First a couple of the boys napping next to each other in their cute Pooh outfits. Dylan is on the left and Shane is on the right and sadly I had to ask Michelle who was who because they're beginning to look an awful lot alike, especially without being able to look at the hair to differentiate them. I had the top picture reproduced as an 8" x 10" and now have it on my desk at work because I love it so much.




Here's the boys being held by their loving mother, Shane is on the left and Dylan isn't:
And Dylan sucking his thumb:
And Shane kangarooing with Daddy (please pardon my tattoos, I wasn't always the nice guy I am today):
Dylan chillin' with Dad:
Mommy bottle feeding Shane:

Nini looking on with love at Shane (we think):
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a big thank you to our wonderful families who came through this year and made sure our little boys will want for nothing once they come home!

No News Is Good News...

Dylan seems to be feeling a bit better. The medical team have insisted from the get-go that Dylan is the "feisty" one, while Shane is the laid back one and Dylan's lack of "feist" was one of the indicators that he wasn't well. Apparently, some of the spunk has come back to him over the last 24 hours, which is good, if not particularly medically sound, news. He's lost a bit of weight, since they stopped feeding him during this latest bout with the mysterious stomach bug, though we're confident he'll put that back on once they resume feeding (tonight or tomorrow, hopefully.)

Shane took a bottle today for the first time, which is a real milestone for him since he's not exactly exuberant over his Mommy's boobs just yet. He also weighed in at about 4 1/2 pounds, having gained a full 2 ounces over the last 24 hours. Go Shane go!

I promise I will take new pictures of the boys and post them tomorrow. My good friend Chris Sullivan is scheduled to go in and visit them with me after work, so we should have some pics of that monumental event.

Dylan's Illness and Decorations

It's been a bit since I posted, mostly out of laziness, though the onset of Christmas brings with it some inherent craziness.

Dylan's sick. Poor lil' fella has some sort of stomach thing, though they're not really sure just yet what exactly is going on. They've done some tests and we should have some preliminary results later on this morning and some definite results about 24 hours after the preliminary ones. It could be anything from a simple stomach bug to a serious disease, with many possibilities between (bacterial infections, etc.) though when we saw them yesterday, the Doctor seemed to think that he was already showing signs of improvement. As always, we're trying to take all news in stride, though this had made me realize that the boys are far from being "out of the woods," and that all sorts of things may present themselves during (and following) their hospitalization.

Shane seems to be doing fine and spent some quality time with Mommy yesterday. We continue to kangaroo both boys whenever the opportunity presents itself and Michelle continues to work on the breastfeeding of the boys during her daily visits.

I bought some Christmas decorations for the boys' ICU "room" to give it a little vibe and for some reason I got really bummed out that my boys were going to be in the hospital for Christmas. I think it just hit me or something. Weird. My defense mechanisms are so "on" out of necessity that I really believe I had some weird kind of denial going on and decorating the room seemed to break it down a bit. Anyway, I got a little bummed out, even though I realize that the boys are exactly where they belong right now. It still seems unnatural to have two children in the ICU over the holidays.

The two girls at home are going well and are eagerly awaiting a visit from Santa Claus. Santa will be very busy with us this year, what with him having to handle the girls at our home and then sneak into the NICU to deliver some goodies to the boys, though we are confident that he will be able to work it all out. Go Santa!

That's all. I promise some new pics within the next couple of days. This Dylan news has thrown us off a bit.

New Old Camera Has Arrived

The prognosis on the boys remains very good. Shane's isolette was turned off today, since he is now able to hold his temperature, and he should hopefully graduate to a crib within the next few days, possibly as early as tomorrow. Dylan's not far behind. Both look great and are filling out quite nicely. Shane hit the four pound mark last night and Dylan is a few small ounces behind.

Also, our replacement camera came in today, thanks to a very good eBay seller who went the extra mile to get it to us. I will take a bunch of pics tomorrow and will gladly post some of them when I get back from the hospital. Michelle's heading in for the morning feed and I'm going to go in the afternoon. More when I get home.

The Much Anticipated Christmas Photo

How cute is this? Shane (left) and Dylan (right) in their first photo together since leaving the comfort of their mother's womb. When I first saw this I got teary-eyed because both boys look so perfect and so right together. The Christmas 'shirts' they are sporting are actually newborn bibs, which gives you an idea of how wee these lads are.

Getting this photo digitized was a completely hellish experience and once I couldn't possibly recount without the use of profanities, so I will only say it was a very trying and torturous experience which led to me having a mini-meltdown, which is uncharacteristic of me. Anyway, it's here and worth all the hell it took to get it here.

And, not to be forgotten, here are pics of my Cousin Charlie Jackson and his wife Donna holding the boys as they fed and slept in their arms last Saturday evening. Family makes me happy.

Twin Tales

All is well. I have not posted because I had some pictures we were trying to get in our system to post and I was waiting until that happened. Before work today, I'm stopping to scan these photos in and will post them tonight.

Also, we have a replacement digital camera on the way, so hopefully all will be normal by this weekend. My cousin's husband Dan called last night and offered us the use of his digital until ours comes in, an offer which I appreciate and will be taking him up on (thanks Dan!)

As for the boys, all is well. My cousin Charlie and his wife Donna from Colorado were in Massachusetts for a wedding this weekend and the boys were lucky enough to receive a visit from them on Saturday night. Donna is an award-winning Children's author who published a book about twins called "Twin Tales" (http://www.donnamjackson.net/html/twin_tales.html) and gave Shane and Dylan their own autographed copy. I don't get to see my Colorado/Arkansas family nearly enough for my liking, so any visit from that branch of the family tree absolutely makes my day. We are all very grateful that Charlie and Donna took time out of a very hectic weekend to spend time with boys - it shows how great family is and I love them for it.

Yesterday, a team of the highly qualified nursing staff at South Shore Hospital worked in conjunction with my determined wife and put Shane and Dylan together (the first time since being evicted from Mommy's belly,) for a Christmas photo. This is very important because the rest of us because we got our family picture taken Saturday morning and it just didn't feel right because the boys weren't there. Truthfully, it still doesn't feel right, though after seeing the boys' picture, I feel a lot better. It may be the cutest picture EVER taken, and I'm not just saying that because they're my boys (ok, maybe I am.) Anyway, this is one of the pics I am going to scan this morning and will post later. I have a copy with me, so anyone at my work will be forced into looking at it this morning.

Healthwise, all is well. The boys are both now above their birth weight and are gaining every day. Dylan, as seems to be the norm, has been faced with some minor health "stuff," though nothing serious and nothing that the staff at SSH seems overly concerned about. Shane's spells of apnea have decreased from several a day to one or two a day, and he is now self-correcting those spells. The boys are now up to about 1.5 ounces of Mommy's Milk per feeding (six times a day) and will attempt to breastfeed sometime in the coming week or so.

There's still no really accurate estimate of a "coming home" date, which is fine with us since we're still operating on the "one day at a time" philosophy which has, to date, not let us down.

See you soon and check back in about 12 hours or so if you want to see the cutest Christmas photo ever taken anywhere by anybody of anyone. The pictures of Charlie and Donna are a bonus.

Damn Technology...

Ok, so our digital camera is dead. Two days ago I put my car into the shop and it cost $800 to get 2/3 of the problems fixed, with another $300 in work necessary. Then our trusted Canon S230 crapped out. Not good news.

Luckily, we found an S230 on eBay and won it, so we should have a replacement soon. We were thinking of upgrading to a newer model instead of paying for an older S230, but a new model would mean new batteries, new chargers, new memory cards, etc. while I have a ton of stuff for the 230...so old camera it is.

What this means to you all is no new pictures until we can get the Canon into our hands. Hopefully shipping will be quick.

I'll update about the boys a bit later - they had some more first-time visitors, which was quite exciting for us all...

New Home For The Wee Ones

So the boys got their new home at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth. They were moved Wednesday evening and Michelle and I got to see them yesterday. South Shore has a great NICU and was much easier for us to get to, since the horrible Expressway and Mass Pike were removed from the equation, leaving just a short jaunt down Route 3 South to Weymouth. Easy and a nice early Christmas present for us.

Not much new happened. Dylan got his IV removed and Shane should have his taken out today or tomorrow, leaving them to feed exclusively on Mother's Milk. Besides that, no news is good news. The boys continue to put weight on and grow, so that they may be strong when they get home.

We both got to kangaroo the boys yesterday, this time switching off so that I got Dylan and Mom got Shane. Here's a pic of Mom and the older boy (pardon the bra,):

And, of course, two updated pics of the boys. This time I'll put Dylan first because my wife is becoming convinced that Shane is my favorite and I don't want Dylan to develop an early resentment against me. So here's Dylan looking quite tired from all the movement and interruption to his routine:

And Shane, glancing up from his isolette:

See y'all soon.

I Have No Clever Headline...

Today was an altogether GREAT day for the Grier family. First off, some fine folks at my work took me and Michelle out to a nice lunch and presented us with a plethora of gifts for the boys. Everything from clothes to blankets to stuffed animals - all needed and all appreciated. It made me realize that I work in one of the best places possible and our family sends the most sincere thank you to all of my friends at the Public Health Commission.

Then we went to see the boys and were amazed at how well they're doing. We were informed that the boys are stable enough to be transported from Saint Elizabeth's to South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, which will save us the AGONY of travelling via Route 93 AND the Mass Pike during rush hour(s) to see the boys. It will require us to travel a little South, but the savings in time from travelling those two hellish roads make this a good move all over. We knew they would be transferred eventually, though the best guess was that it would occure around Christmas. We got an early present and it appears that the boys will be moved either today or tomorrow.

Then Michelle and I were allowed to begin "kangaroo care," which is when a newborn is placed skin-to-skin upon the chest of a parent. This practice was first implemented in Bogota, Columbia in the early 1980s and has become a popular treatment for preemie babies since then. Studies have shown that this contact can have a major, positive impact on the development of premature babies in the NICU. I can say that it definately had a positive impact on us! I "kangarooed" Shane while Michelle held Dylan and it was great. Our contact has been limited since the twins were born and this extended, intimate contact with our boys was incredible. I nearly fell asleep with my little Shane on my chest. Due to the nature of this treatment, Michelle was only able to get one picture of me and Shane after Dylan had been returned to his isolette:
We also managed a couple of pictures of the boys - it still amazes me how much newborn baby boys resemble old men!

Here's Shane:

And Dylan:

So, hopefully the next day or two will see a new temporary home for the boys. We bought Christmas-y hats and gloves for the boys, so we'll have some goofy Christmas photos up soon. Thanks again to everyone who has offered us gifts, thoughts or prayers during this time. All three are needed and appreciated equally.

Happy 1 Week Birthday To The Boys!

Everything's very stable right now with the boys. The murmur that Shane had was apparently taken care of by the treatments and both boys are doing quite well. When we went in on Saturday, both were receiving another round of phototherapy treatment, though the nurse was kind enough to remove the lights and masks and stuff so that we could all enjoy them unhindered by medical apparatus...

I'll lead off with a couple pics of the boys, who are beginning to look a lot alike.

Shane:


And Dylan:

The boys also had two new visitors, Michelle's Mom ("Nini" and the second of three grandmothers to visit,) and oldest sister Nicole, who had been chomping at the bit to meet her new brothers. Here's Nini saying hello to Shane:

And here's a cute pic of Dylan holding big sis' finger through the isolette hole:

That's all for now, though I must say it's been great hearing from so many family and friends. I'm so happy that you all get to share in this with us and we look forward to introducing you to the boys in person.

Here's Lookin' At You Kid(s) - Day 5

Another day of improvements and changes for the boys. When we went in today, we were pleasantly surprised to find that both boys had received an upgrade in accomodations - from the warmers they've been in since birth to the "houses" or isolettes where they will stay until stabilizing enough to be placed in the cribs, where they will remain until discharge from the ICU.

Needless to say it was a great day. To say that little Dylan looks better is the understatement of the year. As I said previously, he was always a little hunk of perfect to us, though I could understand others' reluctance to agree with my jaded assessment. Now he looks, as Michelle put it, like a "real baby." Look for yourself:
All I can say is WOW. Here's Dylan being held by his Mom:

Ok, since we didn't get any pics of Shane yesterday, I'm going to make sure I give him ample space today. The NICU doctor informed us that Shane will be checked tonight by a cardiologist, since there is some concern about a murmur they have found. We're taking this in stride and trying to have faith that everything will be OK. We haven't been let down yet, it seems.

Shane looks WONDERFUL. Granted he didn't have quite the tough birth that Dylan had, but still...

It's been decided that Shane has the "Grier" look - lucky little devil:
Shane once again got the holding treatment from his proud Daddy:

As proof that these two are, in fact, their Daddy's boys, here's a picture of Dylan enjoying some gas:

And, finally, here's the boys first family visitor besides us parents - my Mom. She was amazed at how little they were, though I'm sure the boys were happy to meet one of their three Grandmothers. We'll get the rest of the family in there soon.

Ok, that's all for now. We'll see everyone tomorrow and hopefully we'll have some good news about Shane. Love ya.

Keep That Good News Coming!

OK, we visited the boys today and Dylan has been making HUGE improvements over the past 24 hours. I was lucky enough to watch him have his first intake of breast milk, something nobody figured would happen for awhile. We also saw his eyes for the first time - which we probably the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.

Tonight, they're taking Shane off the Bili Lights, with Dylan to follow tomorrow. Then they will start removing all the other apparatus from both boys, since they are making strides. The nurses seem to think that the boys will make it into isolettes ("houses" as the nurses refer to them,) which is the next step, sometime in the next couple of days. After that come the cribs.

I love good news.

Unfortunately, I only managed a couple of pictures today, courtesy of a dead digital camera battery - all were of Dylan and I will share the most beatuiful one of all: Dylan with a minimal amount of wires and other intrusions.

I know that to most of you, he still looks rough - but to us he's absolutely perfect. Tomorrow, I'll get some video of both boys, especially since they're moving around quite a bit.

Thanks to everyone for their words and thoughts and prayers and everything else good that's been sent our way...

Day 3 (Improvements All Around)!!

MUCH better day today...Michelle came home from the hospital, Dylan was taken off the respirator and is doing much better and Shane had breast milk for the first time. Also, I finally got to hold my little Shane, which was one of the best things I've ever experienced in my life. Quite a day, indeed. Here's some pics so you can all share in the joy.


First is me holding my oldest son, Shane. This makes me quite happy and still amazes me at how small he is:
Next is Dylan fresh off the respirator. Though he may not look it right now, you can trust me that he looks 100% better than he did at this time yesterday:



And, so he doesn't have a complex about being left out, here's a couple of Shane. The first is him being held by his mother. The bottom one is me rubbing his back while he receives treatment from the bili-lights to help with a touch of jaundice:


That's all - we;re going to enjoy our first night together as 4/6 of a family. See you soon.

Dylan's Doing Better

The early report for the day is that Dylan is doing a bit better this morning. Apparently, they may be removing him from the ventilator as early as today, which is as good a report as I could ever have hoped for.

I'm going in today and will update afterwards.