One Week Old - 4/14

The girls are one week old today and are doing very well in the NICU. They have been on an IV since birth to receive extra nutrients.  Brooklyn managed to pull out her IV last night and they decided to let her keep it out and Madison will get hers removed today.  The doctor believes they are getting enough nutrients from their feedings. This is a huge milestone and it will be one less cord hooked to their little bodies.  Brooklyn seems to be responding well to the caffeine and has had very few bradycardia episodes. Madison must have been jealous because she is now on caffeine also for bradycardia episodes. 

Here is Brooklyn before her IV was removed from her arm.

Madison all wrapped up in her incubator. She seems to love her hands by her face.  

We have been able to hold to their girls twice a day! It has been wonderful to cuddle with them and they both seem to calm down when in our arms.  Each time we visit we get to take their temperatures and change their diapers.  Day by day we are starting to feel a little more like parents. 

The First Days

Madison was wide awake from the minute she arrived that night.  This trend continues (day 4) and isn't surprising as we labeled her as our gymnast before she even arrived.  We are convinced she's the reason for the early delivery as she kicked her way out, demonstrated daily as seen below....  

Despite being the smaller sister, she's no pushover.  In fact, she's quickly earned the reputation with the nurses as our girl with an attitude.  She's giving those vocal chords an early test run too.  Like her sister, she's been on "room air" (no oxygen) since birth which is great, especially since it's one less cord for her to pull out.  As feisty as she is, she has no qualms about settling down to be held by Mom or Dad...

Brooklyn is tame, as least that's what she'll have us believing for now.  We even called her our "lounger" during the pregnancy.  She's wide-eyed and curious when being held though.  

There have been a couple medical "events" to speak off but nothing significant or unexpected.  Brooklyn has had a few bradycardia episodes, where her heart rate rapidly drops, so she is being put on caffeine (sounds like Dad).  Both girls have elevated levels of hematocrit (lots of red blood cells) so they've been catching a tan under the bili-lights for a couple days and will probably finish tomorrow.  

Dad's perspective on "Birth Day" - 4/07

The hospital was starting to feel so much like home by day 23 that even nights on the hospital couch were becoming an afterthought.  Joyce's dinner was great and it was time to settle in for a little studying next to Dave reading the newspaper.  Minutes after dinner, Lindsay complained of increasing cramping.  With all the pains and issues to this point, it was hard to take one symptom more seriously than the last.  Joyce's motherly instincts kicked in though and she helped calm Lindsay while Dave and I retreated to the corner.  After the pains persisted, I grabbed the nurse that had just checked on us from down the hall and she already seemed one step ahead of me (my first clue).  One more visit to the nurses station 10 minutes later resulted in a call to the doctor (my second clue).  Dr. Kahn entered the room and took all of 15 seconds to make her evaluation and next stated what I'll never forget..."3-4 centimeters dilated and I see baby parts, it's time for a C-section!"  I was even surprised by the doctor's sense of urgency but more impressed with the series of events that followed as Room 308 quickly came to life with more medical staff than I knew existed in the hospital this time of day.  Lights outside the room were flashing and it was "go time."

I informed Dave & Joyce who were standing outside the room at this point, waiting for the results of the Doctor's visit, and fired off a few text messages to the rest of the family as I jumped into my scrubs and paced anxiously to be called into the OR.  

Lindsay was long gone and getting her "margarita" compliments of the anesthesiologist.  No more than 20 minutes lapsed since Dr. Kahn's first judgement to the time I stood next to Lindsay and a team of specialists and on-call doctors, many of which had amazingly just arrived from a night at home with their own families. 

The C-section itself was basically uneventful as I literally watched Lindsay "loose" almost every ounce of "baby weight" she put on over the last 7 months in about 10 minutes.  The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) staff took our girls in a handoff as Lindsay was stitched back up.  I guess the names we had tentatively discussed were about to stick at this point.  I cut the umbilical cord on each of our girls and followed them down the long hall in their incubator to their new home in the NICU.

The Beginning...

The pregnancy had begun as of September 2012 and our excitement and anticipation grew everyday.  Just a few short weeks in, a blood test hinted we may be in for a fast start to building our family.  An ultra-sound soon detected what we'd suspected....TWINS!

We snapped weekly pictures to capture Lindsay's progressively "rounding" stomach, but even as late as week 18, someone who didn't already know would be none the wiser to the pregnancy. 

As December rolled around, Danny's sister, Jamie, put on a wonderful "Gender Reveal Party" where no one in the family, not even Jamie, knew the results as we cut into the two separate cakes to reveal, blue, pink or one of each.  Wagers abound, Danny and most of the guys had lost their bets already after cutting into the first pink cake.  The picture below captures the instant cake number two was sliced.

Time flew by and these little girls were determined to come early.  They had packed on a couple pounds itching to come by March, sending Lindsay (& Danny) to the hospital for 28 days.

This began the journey that is still truly just beginning.  The girls are well loved already and this is hopefully a great way for those in their lives, some at a distance, to follow their paths and still be close....