Level II...one step closer...

The boys have been doing really well for the last few days.  They were moved to the NICU annex.  This area only has 4 other babies.  It is much more calm and quiet.  The boy seem to be able to rest better there without all the ringing and dinging from the all the monitors that are constantly.

Today Parker weighs 3lbs 12oz which is us 25grams; Jesse is 4lbs 2.5oz which is actually down just a bit.  They are now classified as Level II NICU patients which means that they are stable and they are closer to coming home.  This next week the plan is to start nursing them to get them started with the process of getting off of the feeding tubes.  They are still also in incubators to help keep them warm since they still have some fattening up to do.

We were also able to hold them close together. And both Grandma's were able to hold both of them.

This picture of Parker was just to cute not to add to the post today.

I will try and update later this week after we get started with their feedings.  Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers.  With any luck they will be home in the next few weeks.

More Good News...

Jesse is off the c-pap and had his pic (IV) line removed today.  His cute little face looks so different now.  

Parker is doing really well too.  Grandma made him a new hat.  It fits really well.  He did gain enough weight to wear clothes, but his nurses were busy today with another little baby.  The little baby seems to be having a bad weekend so, it's Ok.  Hopefully, this week will be better.

Leaving the NICU was really hard tonight.  It seems that the better they do the harder it is to leave them.   Even though I was so happy to have Jesse off the c-pap it's just one more reason they don't need to be there.  Tonight I had big tears running down my cheeks as we left.  

I'm hoping it gets a bit better when I will be able drive after this week.  But, then again my emotions are all over the place these days.  Before I was so glad they were here and Ok that it was easier not to focus on them not being at home.  Now, all I can think about is them being home.  

I know that soon this time will seem like just a blink in time.  By the time they are home I will be too busy and sleep deprived to recall these days.  

One week old...

Jesse continues to do well.  Both if them just need to keep eating more and growing.  I am hoping to ask more on Friday about what he needs to do to get the c-pap off.  While I was holding Jesse I was pretty sure he was filling his diaper...sure enough he was a mess I was able to change him.  Of course in a few months from now changing a messy diaper will not be so note worthy.  Now that he's in clothes he's doing well keeping warm, so we don't have to hold him skin to skin.  I'm hoping to dress him up on Friday.

Parker is doing really well too.  He lost quite a bit of weight in the beginning. So, he's got some ground to gain before he can wear clothes too.  He continues to do well with his feedings.  When we left yesterday they had planned to feed him 26ml each feeding by the end of the day.  Hopefully he tolerates it well and his able to increase again Friday.  Parker must be doing really well because he has had nurses in training the last 2 days.  It's great to know that he's not so critical that a "rookie" can be in charge of his care.

The NICU still continues to be a challenging place for us to be.  It's getting better for me, but Todd is still stressed there.  I think he just worries about all the things to do at home.  It's much easier for me to focus on the babies.  I really hate leaving...  The better they do each day makes me more anxious to get them home.

Everyone is always asking when they will get home the truth is no one knows... I'm hoping that they will only need to be in NICU for a month.  I think they can do it.  But, it's possible it could be as long as 10weeks.

In other fun news Todd has been hired as the assistant head coach of our local HS football program.  He will be leading up the Fresh-Soph football team.  So, as if he wasn't so much before..."he's kind of a big deal" I am so proud of him.  He enjoys coaching so much and really is a great mentor of our community's youth.

NICU day 6

Jesse is now big enough to wear clothes.  He actually fills up this Preemie sleeper pretty well.  It's so cute to see him in the clothes...  Jesse is up to eating 16ml of milk every 2 hours.  He's still on the c-pap, but he has had very few apnea episodes (maybe one a day), so hopefully he'll be breathing completely on his own soon.  What he has helping him now is very minimal.  There is no oxygen hooked up to it.  It just pushes the room air in his lungs once a minute or so for him.

Parker is doing really well too.  He has been breathing completely on his own for the last 4 days.  Today he had his umbilical IV line removed.  This means that he is just connected to a monitor & feeding tube.  Hopefully the will start trying to feed him with a bottle soon.  He's up to 18ml of milk every 2 hours.  His back to gaining weight after a couple of days of loosing weight.  I hope that he will be wearing clothes soon too.

I have to admit the NICU is a bit stressful.  It is a very distracting place.  There is a constant beeping, binging, lights flashing and tiny babies crying...  I have to admit it's easier when I am able to hold one of them...My friends and family have been great about helping me get to Rockford to visit them.

I plan to take some more pictures tomorrow.

Introducing Jesse & Parker

 Parker James Todd Marsh

5/10/12 - 3:31pm

3lbs 8oz; 16.25"

30weeks 1day

Jesse David "JD" Earl Marsh

5/10/12 - 3:31pm

3lbs 9oz; 16.25"

30w 1day

The long story...

Tuesday afternoon about 3:30pm I was at work and things were fine...  The boys had been super active. They were kicking up a storm and even banging on my middle desk drawer.  I got up to run some mail through the postage machine and I felt wet...ugh...I thought I peed my self...  I went to the bathroom and got myself cleaned up.  I went back to my desk...after about an hour I got up to pee again...another gush...at this point I was pretty sure it was not pee.  I called it a day early and went home...Todd was not home from work yet...I called him he was on the way.  While I waited for him to get home I changed packed my bag for the long haul.  I called the Maternal Fetal medicine office and we went strait in...it takes about 30-45 minutes to get to the hospital from our house...it seemed like forever.

When we got to the hospital they again tried to put me in the room where Eleanna was born...I asked for a different room.  They got me settled in and hooked the babies up to the heart rate monitors for the first of MANY times that night.  The boys HR was strong the whole time and of course I could feel them having a party in there...crazy kids...  They started an IV and checked to make sure that it was actually my water had broke.  The put me on antibiotics, magnesium sulfate, and gave me steroid shot to get the boys lungs ready...  Magnesium sulfate is awful stuff is made my nauseous and gave me a migraine headache.  They settled me in for the night.  They let me have dinner.  The planned to do a growth ultrasound and take my cerclage out the next day.  The night was really long...the boys were being crazy and we had to re-set the heart rate monitors all the time...  I maybe got 2-3 hours sleep at a time.

The next morning we went in for the ultrasound.  I made a funny comment to the ultrasound tech..."It's all fun and games till someone ruptures their membrane...hehe"  The boys looked strong and "big" they estimated that Parker was 3lb 13oz and Jesse was 3lbs 8oz.  (pretty close to their actual weights).  Later they tried to take my cerclage out.  They were only able to remove part of it and there was damage to my cervix...I was also dilated to 4cm...and Jesse was transverse...that combined resulted in scheduling a c-section for 10:30am.  At first they were worried that I may dilate more over night so they did not want to let me eat or drink in case they needed to do the c-section earlier.  Finally at 9pm they let me have a turkey sandwich...thank goodness...  The night was uneventful we just kept having to adjust the HR monitor...I was able to sleep for a while.

The next morning I woke up excited to meet the boys at 10:30am...little did I know an emergency would delay the OR all day and cause me to have a pretty awful day.  Nothing to drink all day.  It was awful I have never wanted a sip a water so bad...the Mag was giving me a headache still and I had really bad heartburn...  Thank goodness Todd's cousin came to our rescue about 2pm and visited while we waited to hear when we would do the c-section... Finally at 3pm Dr. Briggs came in and it was go time...

Within 10 minutes they had me in the OR.  They put in the spinal and very quickly they get me prepped. By the time they brought Todd in they had already started cutting.  Then just a quickly they had Jesse out and seconds later Parker was out too.  Both were born the same minute.  I could hear both of them screaming...I was crying.  They cleaned them both up and let me kiss them before the whisked them away to the NICU...the then closed me up.  I overheard them mentioning parts of my anatomy like appendix, small intestine, ovaries etc...it was a little disturbing...  Then the proceeded to fix up my cervix and moved me to recovery.  

Once in recovery they gave me the apgar scores.  Jesse was 7 and Parker was 9.  Both really good for 30week babies.  I got the shakes from the spinal.  That's one of the worst part of the spinal.  I also started feeling itchy...they gave me meds for that...I still needed meds for that the next day.  I also let them give me all the pain meds available to me.  After an awful day of waiting I turned in my trooper card in the OR...lol...after 3 hours in recovery they were able to take me to the NICU and we were able to see the boys.  They were doing really well.  We easily were able to choose names for them.  We wanted to see them before we named them.  Parker looked more like me and my family and Jesse looks more like Todd and his family.  Both have my hair color red/blonde.  I spent the night getting more drugs...it felt good to be able to sleep on my back.  I was also able to have some Jello and chicken broth...it was so delicious after no food in over 24 hours...

The next morning I had to pass gas before I could eat so I had broth for breakfast early and finally I was able to have oatmeal.  My SIL and Brother came in to see the boys.  They were the first to see them.  My friend Deanna came and Todd's Mom visited that day too.  Saturday, Todd's sister, Grandpa, nephew and Mom came and brought some beautiful flowers...Our friend's the Wiegman's and the Zintak's came to see them too.  The Zintak's are Ayla's Mom and Dad.  Ayla was born an angel the same day as Eleanna. Finally, after being on vacation Mom and Dad made it in to see them.  My Aunt Nancy and Uncle Bill came too. 

 Finally, after all the guest left we went back to the NICU and I was able to hold Parker.  That by far has been one of the best moments of my life.  I couldn't help but cry.  I love that little guy so much.  In that moment I was so happy.  I can't wait till I can hold him anytime I want.  

On the way to the NICU that time I noticed that there was a familiar sign on the door of another patient.  It was a leaf with a tear drop on it.  The same picture was on my door the night after I lost Eleanna.  On the way back to our room.  I stopped in front of the door and Todd and I said quick prayer for that Mother.  Tears rolled down my cheeks.  I know all to well how being in that room feels too.  

Also, in the NICU it's difficult as well.  There are over 40 other babies there some you can tell are so small and fragile.  There is a little guy Gabriel across the way.  My heart just aches for his weary looking parents.  I just want to hug them.  Instead, I just say prayers for them and offer a smile when I can.  

Right now my job is to pump for them every 3 hours or so.  It's going pretty well so far.  I am up to pumping 2-4 oz per session.  I can't drive for 2 weeks so I'm having to call in favors to get rides in to see the boys since Todd is going back to work.  

The boys are both doing really well both had to be under the light Jaundice, but are now doing well that level.  Park is breathing room air on his own.  Jesse just has a c-pap to help him a bit.  He does have some apnea & brady episoes.  But, as of today it's been almost been 24 hours since he's had one.  I hope that he will be able to go to room air too.  Jesse is eating 5ml of milk every 2 hours after not eating at all yesterday.  Parker is up to 8ml every 2 hours and may be able to go up to 10ml if he starts to digest better today.  Today Todd held Jesse and I was able to change Parker's diaper.  

I plan to try and update each day.  We'll see if I can keep up.

30 weeks...not what I expected...

So we are 30 weeks today.

Yesterday baby a's water broke so I am scheduled for a c-section @ 10:30am 5/10/12.

All in all this a great week to be at and hopefully they will be home sooner than later.

I will update when I know more.

29 Weeks

How big are they: Baby Center says...

29 weeks: Baby is the size of a butternut squash

Your baby is as big as a butternut squash, weightwise -- about 2 1/2 pounds. (Length: a tad over 15 inches, head to heel.)

My guess is that they weigh about a little over 3lbs each.  They were 2lbs 10oz 2 weeks ago. I would guss they could be longer as well since they have been measuring very "tall" all along... One things for certain...they are Todd's boys...hehe...

Maternity Clothes: There are definitely some shirts that I'm on my "last time"... I may have to get even a few more bigger t-shirts before this is all over...

Weight Gain: About 25#

Belly: I been having more and more braxton hicks.  Fortunately, they go away when I lay down for bed at night.  Most times they are brought on by waiting too long to pee, sitting wrong, or standing too long.  Usually waling around of laying down makes them stop.  Not fun, but I suppose at this point it's the name of the game. 

Stretch Marks: I fear that the area around my belly button will never be the same... :)

Sleep: It's been a little better.  I have high blood sugar so the put me on some pills at night that seems to have cut out at least 1 if not 2 trips to the bathroom at night...awesome...

Best Moment of the Week: My Sister in Law, good friend Joloene, and Mom hosted a baby shower for the boys.  It was so nice.  There were many friends and family there.  For someone who has suffered a loss and infertility.  Having a baby shower is a big deal.  I am amazed that I held it together all day; of course when I got home and started putting all the awesome gifts away I had my moment.  This is really happening... And of course there were thoughts of...I wish I was able to have this for Eleanna too...  I have these conflicting feelings all the time... All of this is 2 parts happy one part sad... When I think about it...this is totally "normal", but none the less how it is.  









Here are a few pictures from the shower.  Pardon my expression in the second picture...I swear I'm world worst picture taker...or maybe I look that goofy all the time...lol...


Movement: They definitely making the presence known.  Last night baby A gave Todd a really big kick...it was funny...

Food Cravings: Nothing really this week.  I do really like ice in my drinks right now...

Gender: Two little buddy boys...

What I Miss: I'm still missing Eleanna. She'll always be my only little girl... 

What I'm Looking Forward to: Putting the finishing touches on their room and spending some time making my thank you cards.

Weekly Wisdom: Now that you are at 29 weeks it's ok to take it easy just a little bit more...

Milestones: We are at 29 weeks each week at this point means one step closer to holing these babies and less or no time in the NICU...  So amazing...

Emotions: I'm so blessed to have so many family and friends who love our boys.  I can't wait to share them even more with all of them.