Way Back When-esday

We just got our information about a celebration and remembrance day for Children's Hospital at the March of Dimes March for Babies Event in Boston.  It should be a fun time and we may get to see some people that took care of the twins while they were there.  I know that I have posted picture of the kids while they were in the NICU as well as their pictures soon after their birth, but I thought I would post them again along with their most current pictures.

The twins were born at 35 weeks and weighed in at about 4 1/2 pounds each.  We were psyched that they made it to 35 weeks since I was put on bed rest at 23 weeks in fear that I would go into labor.  At 35 weeks my restrictions were lessened and I was able to do more.  The day of their birth, I went for a regular OB visit and was told that there was a good chance that I would go into labor that weekend given how I was presenting.  My husband and I were prepared for that but were not prepared for the news at my non-stress test.  My blood pressure had spiked to 188/111 and my lab work was off.  Given how I presented that morning, the on-call OB decided that she would break my water and I would hopefully go into full blown labor soon after.  She decided to do a scan to make sure that baby B was not breech.  At my ultrasound appointment 2 days earlier, both babies had been head down, but that night baby B presented breech.  Since I had a C-secetion previously, I needed to have another.  Definitely disappointed since my goal with both pregnancies was to have a totally natural birth using only hypnotherapy as a way to deal with the pain and discomfort of labor.  Both babies were in the special care nursery, but only needed monitors not any help breathing.  They had a little trouble with the suck, swallow, breathe sequence ad we needed to watch them for that, but overall they were really healthy and did great and came home when I was discharged.

Eva Rose the day after birth

Thomas the day after birth

Unfortunately, 2 weeks after they were home Thomas was rushed to Children's via 911 from his doctors visit since he had an episode of apnea.  He was intubated for 24 hours then on oxygen and came home 3 weeks later.  Also unfortunately, his sister was admitted 1 week after he was for the same thing.  She was intubated for 6 days until she decided to pull her tube out.  Thankfully she was able to come home the same day as her brother.  The funny thing is that Thomas was scheduled to come home a few days before his sister, but had an episode where his heart rate dipped too low and they needed to monitor him longer.  Was this a twin thing so that he could come home with his sister?  Either way it was wonderful to have them both home at the same time.  Both twins ended up with RSV which is a very dangerous cold for babies this small.  Granted, there are plenty of children who were much sicker and sicker much longer, but any time your children are ill it is a scary thing!  the amazing thing is that the clothes they are wearing are preemie clothes and they are still too big even though both twins gained weight while in the NICU.

Eva Rose day of Discharge from the NICU

Thomas day of Discharge from the NICU

Now over a year later, the twins are doing great!  They are growing and meeting milestones.  They are a little slow at walking, but all in due time.  Eva Rose has started walking a little and is definitely the more adventurous of the two, as well as her older brother.  The twins are doing better at copying others and so is Michael.  I am really looking forward to attending this event and hoping to see any of the staff that took care of the twins.  The staff at Children's from the ER to the NICU were all so wonderful.  I can't say enough about the nursing staff, the doctors, the social workers, and everyone else that we worked with!

The twins on Easter/Opening day Red Sox

The 3 kids Easter/Opening day Red Sox

Thanks for reading about our story with the twins and looking at the pictures!

Amy