Rock Star Status Achieved

Hudson proved his Rock Star status today with a successful surgery. He is sporting two new scars and a couple stitches.  After repairing his inguinal hernia on the right side, they went ahead and explored the other side as well.  They were able to catch a potential issue that would have brought us back later on.  Also, they were able to use an epidural caudal instead of putting him under.  His recovery time should be much quicker.  He is resting peacefully and should be back eating this afternoon.  As you can imagine, Erin and I are relieved.  Couple picts from the day.

Momma getting some snuggle time before he headed off to surgery:

Getting wheeled into surgery!

And the recovery…

Different places, different rules

The past 36 days in the NICU have definitely pushed us to limits mentally and physically. This journey has taught us many lessons so far, but one of the most important ones is to always look for a positive. Yes, it is difficult having the boys separated and splitting time between hospitals, but with a new NICU, we get new rules. One of which is the visitation policy – Aunt Tara, Aunt Romy and Uncle Scott were all able to finally meet Hudson!

   

Quick goodbye…

Hudson left his brother and friends at Baylor Frisco on Tuesday.  He was sad, he told us.  Even though it was a quick goodbye, we were able to snap a couple pictures.  His journey in the ambulance was brief and he quickly got settled into his to his new home at Plano Presby.  He made friends with his neighbors (one of which was at Baylor with him earlier in the month) and scheduled play dates for when he comes out of surgery.  He had a good night and is now back on his IV getting ready for surgery at noon today.  We’ll post an update an soon as we have one.

Rebecca and Lisa are two of the nurses that have probably racked up the most time with our boys.

Some last minute snuggle time.

I think mom special ordered those straps.  Seriously, do you have to use leopard skin with my boy?

He looked so small on that giant contraption.

And we are off!

And the logistics just got more complicated

Our boys are beginning to take this acting up stuff to a new level. On Sunday, we were informed that Hudson has an inguinal hernia. I know, we probably shouldn’t have started the HGH and workout regimen at birth, but we wanted him to get a jump on it. In all seriousness, it sounds worse than it is.  Apparently, it is common in premature babies. If fixed, there are no long term issues. They told us it is a 2 on the 1 to 10 scale, but he will be put under for the operation. You can tell me it is not that bad all you want, but he is still only 35 days old and will be given anesthesia!! And the toughest part is that the current hospital can’t do the surgery. Hudson will be transported (away from his brother) to Plano Presby tomorrow morning. And when the surgery is complete, he will spend his remainder of his NICU time there.

Here’s the schedule:

· Tuesday Morning – transfer via ambulance (yes, I’m jealous)

· Tuesday Afternoon – The surgeon, Dr. Kevin Kadesky, will evaluate him

· Wednesday Morning – Surgery, should only take 30 to 45 minutes

· Wednesday night – the anesthesia wears off and the 48 hour Brady watch begins

· Friday night – maybe home?! If we avoid any complications and Hudson remembers to breathe and keep his heart rate up, he could be home on Friday night. If he acts up, I mean forgets to breathe, we start another 5 day waiting period.

And while this is all going on at Plano Presby, Landon will hopefully be finishing up his 5 day waiting period at Baylor Frisco and heading home on Saturday. And by the way, his 5 day period started again this morning.  He is getting stronger though.  Hopefully this is the last one.  In true twin fashion, he learned Sunday night of his brothers issues and decided to figure a way to stick around in the NICU a little longer. However, he was a little disappointed this afternoon when he learned about the transfer. His master plan backfired a bit.

On a lighter side, we hit a milestone today – we (and by we, I mean I) took our 1000^th picture of the boys. Thankfully we have an external flash that shoots upwards. Otherwise, our boys would be squinting for the rest of their lives!

And an update on weights – Hudson is 5 lbs 12 oz and Landon is 5 lbs 2.9 oz. Yes, we are now members of the 5 pound club. See, the HGH is paying off!

Enjoy a couple of the latest pictures.

 

Brothers just enjoying some time together:

Momma kissing on Hud, yet check out the strategic hand placement to avoid a little something something.

Two sleeping babies, score.

Just let me sleep a little longer.

milk coma. 

just hangin

 happy momma.

Landon enjoying a little story time.

The picture says it all.

Landon looking content.

  

Hudson being innocent

 

Hudson’s real thoughts about the NICU!

 

Rub a dub dub…

Who says bath times isn’t fun?

think we can bust out of this joint?

And the roller coaster continues

Our boys decided to act up, again.  Is it to early to start time out?!  Seriously, a little discipline might help put an in to this all.  In true twin fashion, they seem to be working together.  Hudson dropped his heart rate on Friday night.  Then we learn Saturday morning that Landon decided to do the same.  He didn't want to leave his brother all alone.  We are not quite sure why the drops are happening, but we plan to meet with the Doctor on Sunday to hopefully figure it out.  It seems to be related to reflux and spitting up.  The last four have been at least an hour after the feeding.  Who knows for sure, but we do know that we get five more days of this lovely place.  On a positive note, the boys passed their car seat study.  We'll post some new photos soon.

The Countdown Has Begun…

We are starting to feel like NASA. We have our scheduled date, just need everything to continue as planned, and we can launch. One minor mix up with the weather, we get delayed. Today was the original day Hudson was planned to join us at home, but he decided to take a few minutes off from breathing this past Tuesday. His little episode bought him 5 more days in the NICU. And his brother did the exact same thing an hour later. Our new target day is Sunday. And unlike before, we are slated to get to take both of them home at the same time. This is a huge blessing if it in fact continues. Because once one of them leaves the NICU, he isn’t allowed back. So the logistics issue for Erin and I becomes that much more challenging. We are crossing all fingers and toes that the boys can come home on Sunday.

Some days go by faster than others with all the commuting back and forth, but nonetheless, we are very blessed with such healthy little boys. The nurses are so great, and we are fortunate to have learned so much from them. We hope the boys stay on this 3 hour schedule that they've been put on since day 1! We are filled with excitement, anticipation, and nervousness as we are approaching the day to introduce them to their home.

Other updates from the week: the boys are now circumcised. Ouch. I’m glad they won’t remember it.  We reached the 4 week mark.  Happy birthday boys! They passed their hearing test. Sorry Casey, we won’t need your services.

Here are a couple shots from the hearing set up:

 

The boys also snuck out of the other night and bought be a great frame for my desk at work. And it looks like they picked up moms creativity. They made me a birthday card that even included their footprints. I was impressed.

 

Hudson is now 5 lbs 6 oz (yes, he will be starting slim fast shortly) and Landon is 4 lbs 14 oz. Both are continuing to eat well and keep gaining weight! 

Below are some pics from this week. It was great to get some recent ones with everything off of their faces! And speaking of, the cord count is down to 1!

 

See, cord free!  Well, almost. 

Its loud in here, please keep it down.

That way…

Some quality time.

Char and Erin posing with Hud

Happy pops

Familiar position.  It seems like they eat every 30 minutes.

Together at last…

One of the only complaints we have had at this great hospital is the lack of twin beds.  And without these beds, the doctors won’t allow co-bedding in the smaller cribs that they do have.  The boys have been within a couple feet of each other since birth, but never actually in the same bed… until tonight.  One of our favorite nurses went ahead and swaddled them together for the first time.  It was super cute and extremely difficult to get Erin to leave tonight.  If I would have left her, she would have stayed up there all night just staring at them while they slept!

 

As for updates, the boys are doing great.  Hudson passed the 5 pound mark and weighed in at 5 lbs, 3.1 oz.  And Landon is close on his heals at 4 lbs 10.1 oz.  They have advanced to 6 feedings by bottle/breast a day, the other two are by gavage (or tube for us that speak English and not medical).  8 is the magical number that we need to reach before we can head home.  They were progressing nicely, but had to be slowed down for the next few days.  They were getting too tired to keep it up.  But we did find time to give some lessons to Grandma and Grandpa.  yes, they have given bottles a thousand times, but the nurses love to have grandparents come in for a couple feedings to point out the differences in feeding preemies.  And they did a fine job.  They are officially hired anytime they want to come over!

 

And I almost forgot the best part, Erin was able to breast feed both of them at the same time.  Talk about a circus atmosphere trying to make that happen!

[Sorry no picts for this one] :)

And for those counting, we lost another cord.  We are down to two.  The light at the end of the tunnel is starting to shine.  The feeding is coming along nicely and the breathing issue is starting to shape up.  Between the two of them, they have only had 1 brady in the last 24 hours.  This is huge.  We don’t want to get too excited, but it is tough not to.  We are thinking it will only be another 7 to 10 days, but that is merely a guess.  It is hard to believe that tonight is number 27!

Enjoy some picts!

Sleeping time!

Milk coma.

Seriously dude, stop kicking me.

I love story time.

Open up and say ah.

your swaddling job has nothing on me… my arm, is free.

Just another night at the NICU, wait it is snowing.

And the first day of spring…

Just another evening of hanging out at our favorite place

Landon is being watched over by someone very special.

Erin meeting sweet baby Luke for the first time over Skype. Technology is an amazing thing.

I love hugs, now hug me.

Can you believe mom made me wear this nonsense?

Happy Daddy

 

Stretching time