Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 (Today's NIV)
Today was a big day for the boys! Grant had his IV and his PICC line taken out today! He also wore his first clothes today. This morning daddy changed his diaper. I had already changed Ethan's and it turns out I got the much better deal on that one! Daddy got a VERY MESSY poopie diaper and got peed on!! I'm sure my turn will be coming soon! Grant is supposed to be moving to an open crib tonight, but with all that's been going on (see Ethan's last few hours below) I don't think we're going to get there. I just asked the nurse and she said probably first thing in the morning. Ethan is ready to go to an open crib, except for they don't allow babies with IV's or PICC lines in open cribs.
Ethan has made all kinds of progress! He weighed 40 grams less today (which is a good thing because of all the fluids on his belly). His tummy seems to be going down every day (and without having to drain anymore off now). Ethan also started feeding today and so far seems to be doing pretty good with that. He got rid of his nasal cannula today and he has been regulating his body temperature so well that he is now in an open isolette (that and getting to wear a t-shirt are the two things that Ethan has done before Grant so far--I really don't want to put them in competition with each other, but it was exciting to see that first time Ethan did something before Grant). Ethan's last few hours have been a little stressfull on him, but I think they're about to get him all situated. The nurse noticed that his leg with the PICC line looked a little red and swollen so she called the doctor. The doctor got in just after he had been wrapped back up from all of the normal checks and from his bath, so he was unwrapped again and the PICC line had to be removed. Then an IV had to be changed out. They got him bundled back up and then they started having problems with the machine pushing through the IV, so they had to keep unwrapping and flushing and all that. The nurse also seems to be having trouble measuring his blood pressure, so more unwrapping. Anyway, with all that it's been tough for him to keep his little body warm. They've got some warm blankies and a hat on him now, so he should be good soon!
Now, we just have to get Daddy's blood pressure back down! We have had such great nurses and staff here, but the one this shift seems to get flustered easily and in turn, gets the parents a little stressed, too!

No new pictures today because someone (that would be me) left the camera in a friends car, along with my phone (can I still call that "baby brain"?). So, here's a picture from yesterday. Now that all of the medical paraphanalia is being removed and Ethan's swelling is going down Ethan and Grant are looking a little more alike!

In other news, my brother, Alan has a checkup in Houston Monday. Please keep him and his family in your prayers as he battles kidney cancer. For their story (and cute pictures of my niece and nephew) checkout my sister-in-law, Melissa's blog, "The McCone's".

Tummy Time & The First Family Picture

Today is Ethan's first day to spend any time on his tummy! The fluids in his belly have gone down enough that they felt comfortable flipping him over. He seems to really like sleeping on his tummy.

We also got to hold Ethan for the first time today, so we took our first family picture! Michael and I even wore matching outfits for the occasion (apparently we are supposed to wear these gowns everytime we hold them, oops!)
So, here's the latest... Grant is getting fed more and more each day and he may get to be in an open air crib soon! Ethan is not feeding yet, but they are hoping to get him started in the next day or two. They lowered the amount of oxygen they are giving him today and, at that rate he'll be off his nasal cannula soon. The doctors seemed really happy with his urine output, and hopefully that will get his belly down some more. All in all, things are going great!

Today's Progress

This is Ethan. Today, Ethan's UVC was removed from his belly button, and this picture was taken just after the drain tube was removed from his tummy. The two bandages seen at the bottom of his belly are where those were. They had to take the tape off the bandage on his belly button to get to the catheter for his tummy, and he was not liking it! The nurse went and got some "Sweet Ease" to dip his paci in and he was happy as a lark. I think they could have done anything to him at that point and he would have just kept sucking on that paci!

Grant is doing great today, too. They increased his feed to 19 ml every three hours. That sounds great to me, considering he started out at 5 ml every three hours just 2 days ago. He is gaining weight and will soon be back up to his birth weight, yay! (My boy is already getting to be a big boy)

Pictures - What Every One Is Really Waiting For!

Grant seems to want to be anywhere but where he is supposed to be! Even when the nurses use the straps to make him nice and snuggly, he kicks his way out!

Grant in Daddy's arms, sorry you got cut out, Daddy, but it was such a great face shot!

Ethan off of sedation, same pose as before... oh well

Nena and Grant. Dad only thought they were about to go home.

Papaw and Grant. Relax dad, you've had experience with one this size before!

No more oxygen tube for Ethan!! They had to give him more platelets this morning, thus all the bandages on his arm and hand. Also take note, the pose is different. Yep, he has one arm by his side in this shot!

One of the few times Grant laid on his tummy and seemed to enjoy it!

What a face!! This was when they were in the process of moving the feeding tube from his throat to his nose, so he was tube free for the moment. Isn't he cute!

Improving Every Day

Grant and Ethan are doing great, and mom finally got released from the hospital today, yay! My blood pressure is still higher than normal, but hopefully I'll get back on track soon. Today my boys are 6 days old.
They are pretty much just monitoring Grant's feedings now and trying to get his weight up. He is such a little spitfire. The nurses can't ever keep him in his little nest! I don't think it will be long and he'll be home trying to climb out of his crib! As I type he is just fussing away. They just finished feeding him (he has a tube down his nose now, instead of his throat, so that he can nurse, too) and the nurse put him on his belly so he's fussing at her.
Ethan has made many improvements, too! He no longer has a breathing tube. He is using a nasal cannula to help with his breathing, though. He did have to be given more platelets during the night. Hopefully his body will start building his own soon. He is no longer on minimum stimulation and is no longer sedated!! It is so sweet to see him moving around some now. We even got to hear him cry today... it was such a little sound you had to listen to hear it, but I know it will soon be much louder! Anyway, things are looking good. I will get some pictures posted soon (gotta find the camera first)!

Life at UAMS-Ethan Lee

On top of everything else, Ethan had a rash, too! It's hard to see your baby like this and not be able to comfort him. His little belly was so swollen!
This was late Friday night. It was the first time I was able to touch little Ethan. He was still under minimum stimulation, but the nurse felt that I needed to be able to touch my boy... still brings tears to my eyes!
"Reunited, and it feels so good!" This is Ethan and Grant's twin room in the NICU. Grant's isollete is in the foreground, and Ethan's is in the back.

This is just after Ethan's PICC line was inserted in his leg, allowing the nurses to take one of the lines out of his belly button. The PICC line is similar to an IV, but can be left in longer.

Little Ethan was the "donor twin" (see previuos post for a link explaining TTTS). He worked hard in the womb to support him and his brother. As a result, he has quite a few issues to overcome before he is ready to go home. Being the donor twin made Ethan very anemic and that is probably what is causing all the excess fluid in his abdominal cavity (one of our first hints that something was wrong). Ethan was given a couple of blood transfusions to combat the anemia. He also had a low blood platelet count starting out. I believe it was 18! The normal range for an adult is 150 to 400 and I think it is just slightly less for a newborn. They have given him platelets a few times and are now monitoring his count. Ethan had an echocardiogram and it was found that he may have a small hole in his heart. It also showed that there was a slight problem with his heart septum and his heart is a little enlarged, since he had to work so hard to pump blood for him and Grant. The doctor said that these should all correct themselves over time, though. Ethan has had a breathing tube in and has been sedated since he was born (so there aren't as many pictures of him, being that he's always in the same pose). At first they were drawing some of the fluids off of Ethan's abdomen, but they really need him to "pee it off" so they are now leaving it be, unless he starts getting really uncomfortable. Anyway, Ethan has a lot to overcome, but he is getting better by the day! Yesterday Ethan got to move into the same room as Grant. Grant was moved the day before, when a twin room opened up, but they didn't want to stress Ethan any more that day, so they waited to move him. The NICU rooms here are great! They are all private rooms and they have sleeper sofas for one parent to spend the night (of course, at the rate I'm going I may have a room here as long as they do!)

Life at UAMS-Grant Michael

A Few Hours Old - Grant's paci is about as big as his head!Thursday morning - Grant was under "Minimum Stimulation", so all Michael could really do was take a picture.  No touching, no talking...  I love this picture!Look at that hair!  It's a good thing we have Aunt Christian around when it comes time for the first haircut.Just over 24 hours old and other than the one to two minutes when I was in recovery, this is the first time I got to see Grant.  His face was swollen because he was laying on his belly, but isn't he precious!!Bottoms Up! Grant doesn't like to sit still for long.As of today Grant is doing great!  Grant and Ethan had what is known as TTTS (Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome).  For a quick little overview of what that is, go to http://www.americanpregnancy.org/multiples/ttts.htm.  Grant was the "recipient twin," receiving more blood flow.  Dr. Kaizer (another great doctor!) said that is why Grant was so red at first.  He said Grant's platelets were really high, making his blood thick and sluggish, like old motor oil.  To help Grant out, they withdrew blood and replaced it with saline.  At first, Grant was on a nasal cannula, and he had two lines going into his belly button, a UAC and a UVC.  The UAC was for drawing blood and blood gasses, and for monitoring blood pressure.  The UVC was for giving IV fluids, medications, and blood products.  He also started out under three bili lights and he had a feeding tube.  As of today, the nasal cannula and all the bili lights are gone!  They have also taken out both lines from his belly button and inserted a picc line in his little arm.  Since they took the lines from his belly button today, I was again able to hold Grant and Michael was able to hold him for the first time!

Life at UAMS-Welcome Grant & Ethan

On Wednesday, Feb 18, 2009 we got the call that it was time to deliver my twin boys, Grant and Ethan. We had known that they would be delivered by C-section and the closest I had ever been to surgery was having my wisdom teeth cut out, so I was a bit nervous! Also, we knew that there would be medical issues with "Baby B", now known as Ethan and there would likely be issues with "Baby A" as well, being a little over 5 weeks early.
So, that evening I went back to the labor and delivery section of the hospital and they prepared me for surgery. Originally we were told I would be completely out, under general anesthesia, because my platelet levels were so bad, but it turns out I was able to have just a spinal block, with Duramorph (and it worked great!) They were just about to administer that when they noticed my IV was blown. My wrist looked like it was about to explode, so they had to change my IV again. They got that done and the spinal block in and things went quickly from there.
Grant was born at 9:52 pm (and he really was that red!)
I hardly even knew they had started the procedure when I heard Grant's first cries. Michael stood up and snapped a picture or two and he was gone.


Ethan was born at 9:53, a minute later.
It seemed like only seconds and he was out and taken away. Ethan did not cry when he was born. My poor baby had so much fluid around his abdomen he was having trouble breathing (thus the breathing tube in the picture above). A few minutes later, it seemed, I was moved to recovery and after a while, each boy was brought in seperately for Michael and I to see. Each was in an incubator, and we didn't get to touch them. We just saw them for a few minutes each and they were wheeled away. Even though I had just given birth to these two beautiful boys, it didn't yet feel real because I hadn't even got to touch my babies. After recovery, I was taken back to the 6th floor (labor & delivery and the NICU are both on floor 5) and was put on magnesium and straight bedrest for the next 24 hours, so still... I did not yet feel like a mother. During that time, Michael did get to go down to NICU and see the boys. In the beginning they were both on "Minimum Stimulation" so he could not even touch them and they really didn't want him to talk to them even! Grant didn't stay on "Min Stim" long, but Ethan is still on it. Hopefully soon, he will be off of it, as well. Anyway, at about 11:30 pm Thursday night, I was finally able to see my boys! I even got to hold Grant for a little while!

Life at UAMS-How we got here

Today is day 14 for me here at UAMS and day 5 for my precious boys, Grant & Ethan. So, here's the beginning of the story... Michael and I found out we were having twins on August 26, 2008. From that time, I had a great pregnancy, except for the heartburn that kicked in about 2 months ago. So, things were going great until Feb 6. We had a regularly scheduled ultrasound (with twins we had lots more ultrasounds to watch for complications). After the ultrasound, Michael and I sat and waited for the doc in one of the other rooms. It was the longest wait we had ever had there... Eventually Dr. Buckner (a great doctor) came in and told us there were some discrepencies on the ultrasound. We went back for another ultrasound and were told that "Baby B" could possibly have a heart defect. They were also concerned about the fluid amounts around the babies, but really didn't think that was anything. So... that day I was told not to go back to work and we would be going to the hospital for NST's (Non-stress tests) Saturday and Sunday and Dr. Buckner made some phone calls and got us an appt with a high risk specialist in Little Rock early Monday morning. So, tests went well over the weekend (other than our stubborn boys hiding from the folks trying to monitor their heartbeats), but Monday morning, Dr. Wendel (the high risk specialist) admited me to UAMS. He said that "Baby B" had ascites (fluid in the abdominal cavity) but he didn't see any problems with his heart, but then again, my boys were being stubborn and wouldn't give them a good look! Anyway, Dr. Wendel was worried becuase the problem came on so suddenly and we didn't know why, so they wanted to monitor the boys closely and take them as soon as there was any sign of stress. To shorten this story, the boys did good, but mom's body decided it was time to go. On Feb 18, after monitoring me for preeclampsia, Dr. Terry (we had a lot of doctors!) came by and said that I did have preeclampsia, but my blood pressure was not too bad at that point, so they would just keep watching it. That morning they drew some more blood from me for testing and around 11:00am the phone rang in our hospital room. It turns out my blood platelets were way too low and I had severe preeclampsia, so it was time to take the babies, at about 34 1/2 weeks...