by Amy ~ April 30, 2010
Time seems to fly by… Gabriel and Zara are 8 weeks old tomorrow! They are both doing very well. Gabriel is now 9 ½ pounds and Zara is 8 ½ pounds! They’re keeping us very busy. Rita and I usually take the midnight and 3am feeding shifts and Zvonimir wakes up early to feed them before work. This allows Rita and I to sleep for a few hours. I’m so thankful to have Rita’s help and will miss her greatly when she leaves next week!
Zara is a super easy baby. She rarely cries loudly… I’ve started calling her “Gee” because she kind of wimpers and it sounds like she’s saying Gee instead of really crying. Gabriel, on the other hand, is like a fire alarm… He’s got some lungs on him and there’s no mistaking that he’s hungry!!! Unfortunately, Gabriel is a night owl and often has a tough time falling asleep on his own… He’s usually fine when you first put him down in the crib but by the time your head hits the pillow, the fire alarm has started! Thank goodness they aren’t waking each other up because he can be a foot away from Zara, screaming at the top of his lungs and she’s sleeping ever so peacefully! Hopefully Gabe will grow out of this soon!! Fortunately Zara is sleeping around 4-5 hours because Gabe is up much more frequently and it’s tough when they’re both crying at once!
We’ve done pretty well at getting out of the house with the babies. We started our twins parenting support group which meets weekly. This has been a great way to meet other parents with twins. The meetings are usually pretty funny with 6 sets of twins it can be rather loud!
We took a trip to Bainbridge Island so we could take Rita on the ferry. We also drove north to the tulip festival. The tulips were beautiful but it was a bit windy so we didn’t get any good photos of the babies with the flowers. Luckily, Gabe and Zara love to be in the carseats and fall asleep after a few minutes in the car. The difficult part is getting out the door and preparing for the adventure… there’s so much “stuff” you need when you’re away from home and we’re still working on packing the perfect diaper bag. Lesson learned – pack more diapers than you think you need!! Thank goodness it’s easy to buy diapers and other necessities on the road!
Check out the new photos from Month 2.
by Amy ~ April 5, 2010
We’ve had a busy few weeks! We took the babies on their first walk around Green Lake. They both enjoyed the car ride and walk around the lake. The weather was beautiful and it was good to get out of the house! It’s hard to plan outings when they eat every 2-3 hours because inevitably, someone is hungry or cranky or I need to get home to pump. This time, Zara had a little meltdown and wanted food – and when Zara wants food she wants it NOW! She has a tiny bit of a temper and tends to turn as stiff as a board when she’s crying. It’s amazing how strong a 5 lb baby is!!!
I had an outpatient surgery at the beginning of the week because I had some placenta that did not come out and it was making me sick. Again, we were very thankful to have Rita here helping us because she was able to tend to the babies while Zvonimir took me to the hospital and I could relax knowing the babies were in good hands. I feel so much better since the surgery and hope this is my last stay in the hospital for a while!!
Zara and Gabe are both growing and putting on weight. Zara has gained over a pound and Gabe has gained nearly a pound. Zara is finally growing out of her preemie clothing but still isn’t fitting well into newborn clothes. Both of the babies eat a bunch and eat often! It keeps us busy. Rita has been a tremendous help, getting up every few hours to help me feed the babies while I pump (so Z can sleep and be productive at work!). It will be a challenge when she goes home because she has been helping out so much with everything.
It’s hard to believe that nearly a month has passed since Gabe and Zara were born. They both have unique personalities already and are really fun to watch. Gabe is a cuddle bunny – he LOVES to be held and snuggled. He can break out of any swaddle you put him in – especially the hand….he has to have his hand near his face at all times. Zara makes little chicken and cat sounds that make you giggle. She smiles a lot and has developed these cute little chubby cheeks. Her legs get stiff as a board when she’s mad or when you’re changing her diaper. Both of them stick out their tongue as a “warning sign” when hungry…. you have about 5 minutes from the tongue until major tears. Better hurry and get that food ready or you will hear them scream!!
It’s a lot of work but we’re having fun with them already!
View the latest pictures of Gabriel and Zara .
by Amy ~ March 22, 2010
We’re all home from the hospital and adjusting to our new routine. The babies are eating about every 3-4 hours so it leaves little time for sleep. Our friend Rita arrived last Tuesday and has been a tremondous help with the babies, doing laundry, cooking, and giving the babies love! We cannot say thank you enough to her! We really appreciate the help!!!!
Both Gabe and Zara are doing very well and are eating a lot. We had our first “hike” with them to Discovery Park this weekend since it was a beautiful day out.
View pictures of Gabriel and Zara’s second week at home.
by Amy ~ March 16, 2010
So it has been a very eventful week. Zara spent the first few days in the NICU until she could prove that she could eat and breathe at the same time, that she could maintain her own body temperature, and that she was eating enough and gaining weight.
Gabe and I were put in a recovery unit on the delivery floor and I was given a nasty Magnesium IV to make sure I didn’t have seizures or a stroke (a side effect of the pre-eclampsia). (So, please accept my apologies if we had a less than clear converstaion the first few days – I didn’t realize how drugged up I was!!)
Unfortunately, with the Magnesium IV, I was not mobile so I wasn’t able to spend much time with Zara. Zvonimir was amazing and visited her often cuddling, feeding, and learning how to care for our tiny little girl in the incubator.
Gabriel did very well staying with mom and dad and the nurses at Swedish were amazing! They really do teach you a lot within the first few days!
Gabe and I were discharged Tuesday night and the three of us headed home to try this on our own. It was a little overwhelming at first being in a different place with a different set-up and no nurses to help you, no room service to deliver food, but we figured it out. We have an amazing group of friends and neighbor who sent us food and flowers which allowed us to focus our attention on Gabriel and getting our nursey set up. Thank you all for your generous support – it was vey much appreciated!!
Everything was going well until Thursday morning when I woke up just feeling off…. I tried several things but nothing seemed to make me feel better. The room was spinning and I had a horrible headache. Finally, Z suggested I check my blood pressure. It was high, dangerously high….
My doctor’s office saw me right away and talked of admitting me. This was scary because Zara was scheduled to be released on Friday. They gave me blood pressure medicine and sent me home but asked that I call if I at all felt bad. I felt fine most of the day but my blood pressure crept up and near midnight it was again dangerously high. When Z returned from visiting Zara in the hospital, we decided it was best to pack Gabe up and take me to the emergency room.
I spent the next few hours in the ER getting blood tests and an IV. I was admitted into the hospital in the middle of the night but luckily they allowed Z and Gabe to bunk in the room with me. When Zara was released the following day, Z was able to bring her to my room where we were all together for the first time since the birth.
After a few short days in the hospital I feel like I’m feeling much better and my blood pressure is back to normal. Both children are home with us, and while the first night was an adjustment, I feel like we’re getting into a routine.
View pictures of Gabriel and Zara’s first week at home.
by Amy ~ March 16, 2010
Little did I know when I wrote the last post that we were so close to having the babies! I had a regular checkup with the doctors Thursday the 4th. At first Z was not going to make it to my appointment because we had several other appointments for him to attend in the coming weeks, but at the last minute he decided to go with me.
The babies looked great in the ultrasound appointment, their heart rates were great in the non-stress test and they were moving a lot, then the nurse took my blood pressure…. Wait, that can’t be right, that’s REALLY high for me, I though. She took it a second time – still high, this was unusual. My blood pressure is normally low!
The nurse stayed with us for quite a while talking to us about breast feeding and when the Dr. entered she asked why the nurse was bothering discussing breast feeding because I would be getting a real consultation tomorrow. Tomorrow? I asked, still not understanding…. I didn’t have any appointments scheduled for the following day. The Dr. was like – yes, you’ll probably have babies tomorrow and will get a full consultation tomorrow after you deliver! What??? I said confused!
Still not understanding I said, oh, so I’ll go home and get my bag and come back tomorrow and you’ll induce me tomorrow. She laughed and said, “No, I’m admitting you right now. You’re no longer working and are on hospital bed rest from now on.”
So, I got a wheelchair ride to the other side of the hospital into my own room where we sat and waited, and waited, and waited for hours for my test results. The plan was to put me on bedrest to see if we could hold off one more week to allow the babies to reach 36 weeks.
The results of my blood test showed signs of pre-eclampsia – pregnancy induced hypertension – which is very common with twin pregnancies (and some singleton pregnancies). I was fortunate to make it to 35 wks without bed rest and no pre-eclampsia so this diagnosis shouldn’t have been a shock, I just wasn’t mentally prepared to go into the hospital!
The only cure for pre-eclampsia is delivery so the doctor took tests and determined that waiting another whole week could potentially be dangerous to me and the best option was to induce me ASAP.
They started me on one medicine to try and speed things up but after 2 doses, little had happened. They decided to hold off on more doses until the following morning when they would evaluate if my body could handle another dose of that med or if they should use petosin (another common drug)…. When the Dr. came in the AM, I had started the labor process on my own so I did not need the petosin.
I received the epidural (that was really the worst part of the entire delivery!!!!!) and had what I’m told is a very quick labor. All twin deliveries at our hospital happen in the operating room just in case you run into problems and need a C-section.
Gabe entered the world first and we quickly learned his lungs were working well! The doctors wisked him away to weigh/measure him while they retrieved Zara (pronounced like it rhymes with Car)…. Zara was breech but her brother’s delivery paved the way and she was much smaller so a breech delivery was possible.
Zara was just a few ounces too small to avoid the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) and had difficulty swallowing and breathing at the same time (very common for preemmature babies) so after a few minutes together, she was taken to the NICU while Gabe was able to join us in our recovery room.
View pictures of Gabriel and Zara’s birthday.