Our Special Gifts

Quick update

2011-12-12T14:44:00.003-06:00

Hi all.....
Life has kept us super busy and there never seems to be any down time, but I wanted to post a quick update for those that still keep up with the blog.

The kids are doing great, but it's been a rough summer. The first two years, they got sick a total of 4 times. The past 9 months have been brutal in that they've been sick 2-3 weeks out of the month. We've visited the Dr. at least once a month. Ear infections, hand foot mouth, upper respiratory infections, fith disease, croup, etc etc. But, I guess thats kids....

Kim may have mentioned that the kids started daycare in August. It was getting to the point that the kids were not entertained at home, even if they had free run of the entire house. So Kim went back to work and the kids started going to school. We were a little apprehensive at first and weren't sure how they would adjust to such a major change. To our surprise, the kids LOVED it and have been thriving. In the short time they've been going to school (part time 3 days a week), they have made tremendous developmental changes. Blake went from having a few word vocabulary to talking non stop. His vocabulary comprehention is even more extensive. Jenna isn't talking much, but her comprehention is increasing dramatically. Both of them wake up with smiles and can't wait to get ready to go to school.
Their teachers are great and very much loved by the kids. One of the teachers is getting her masters in developmental therapy and just loves playing with Jenna. She really understands her, the hurdles she faces and how to get through to her. We are very fortunate we chose that daycare and classroom.

A little about the kids.
Jenna: Unfortunately her Sensory Processing issues are creating barriers, but she's working hard to overcome them & move forward. Further complicating things is that she's VERY headstrong and stubborn, and doesn't perform on cue. So sometimes it's hard to tell what she's capable of, and what she just doesn't want to do. Daycare has been great for her in that she thrives in a structured environment. She's really done great with the social aspect and enjoys being around her friends & teachers. She's not talking much at all, but there have been a few occasions where she's blurted out a word that sounds perfectly annunciated, like she's been saying it for months. So I suspect there is a lot more rattling around in that brain that she doesn't show us. Her coordination has really come a long way and she's walking quite fluidly and running quite a bit. She still get a little off balance if she tries to walk while looking to the side, or makes a quick turn. All in all, she's doing great and making a lot of progress.
In late Oct, we had a follow up appointment with the Neurologist to discuss the MRI she had in Aug. It showed that there was no new damage from her ventricular hemmorage (brain bleed), but there was some damaged tissue in 3 different areas of the brain. The visual cortex, a section that controls gross motor skills, and one other section that eludes me right now. We've got an apt with a pediatric Neuro Opthomologist in a couple weeks, and hopefully we'll be able to get a little more information on the visual cortex damage. Sensory Processing disorder is a relatively new issue in the medical community and something that is just now beginning to be understood. It's Very subtle in that children appear to be very normal, perhaps developmentally delayed but otherwise normal. Unfortunately those sensory issues have profound effects on the child and their development. Imagine lights being very bright while flashing & shimmering. Your feet feeling slightly asleep or numb, so not every really knowing where your walking. The seam on your shirt feeling like sand paper. These are the things sensory processing kids can be dealing with, which make it very difficult to know their place in the world and focus on the normal things you and I may take for granted. We soooooo can not wait for Jenna to be talking so she can tell us how she perceives the world.

Blake: Man...... Sooooo much energy. His nickname is Boogie, cause he's ALWAYS on the go. Usually looking for something new to get into and explore. He is "the helper" at home and at school and the best thing for him is to keep him busy with helping tasks. He's a long string bean with these go go gadget arms that can reach things you never thought possible, so baby proofing is an ongoing task. haha Since starting school, his speech has really taken off. He's not caught up to his peers, but he's talking quite a bit and constantly adding words to his vocabulary. He LOVES school and has really taken to all the fun activities and structure they provide. He's just a happy go lucky lil guy that loves to bounce around and explore. A big handful, but totally adorable.

Thats just a quick update and I hope to continue some regular updates going forward.
Take care all.
-Jason

Our ReturnPart I

2011-07-22T12:27:00.004-05:00

I just want to send out a "hello" to everyone to let you know we are returning to our blog. As much as I wanted to keep up with the blogging over the last year and a half, what they say about having toddlers is most definitely TRUE.... especially with TWO~We ARE busy busy busy! However, I have decided that there are way too many reasons not to MAKE time to keep up with our blog.

As I look back on the "early days" of this journey and revisit our early posts, I can't help but to, on one hand, feel as though I am reading about someone else's lives because our lives are so entirely different than before. It feels as though our NICU days were truly something of a prior life....several lifetimes ago. While we certainly have new trials and tribulations of a very different kind, I wouldn't EVER trade the current days for our past.

While we are in a very different place than we were two and a half years ago, the journey certainly remains eventful.

Our journey today is still filled with a few uncertainties, a new diagnosis, speech therapy and occupational therapy mixed in with all the exciting, tiring and joyful days of raising two pretty amazing two year olds. Every day is different, everyday brings about change and growth, and everyday brings about some laughter and giggles.

Jenna and Blake are now 30 months old now! Two and a half! They are happy and healthy, energetic and curious, and just so darn sweet. Jenna still has the warmest and happiest smile a mom could dream for, she has a great sense of humor and is still "her own boss". Blake is very curious, has the sweetest heart, is a mover and a shaker and wants to learn everything he can about the world 24/7 nonstop.

Well, as I strive to regain balance (mommy, wive, ME), I am going to follow my plan right now and "close" in order to get some quiet moments in before the twinadoes wake up from nap. Afterall, a happy mommy is a good mommy.

Next post I will update with more details regarding our latest developmental accomplishments, our new diagnosis and more on what Jenna and Blake have been up to lately. Boy, do we have some stories!

How the March of Dimes Have Helped Families Just Like Ours

2011-04-15T22:36:00.004-05:00

As I whole heartedly plan for the "Reids Return on our blog", I am starting tonight with sharing info on this year's March for Babies event. This will be our second year of participating in honor of our very own once tiny, miracle babies and heroes. This year's event will take place on May 7th at Auditorium Shores here in Austin. Please visit our team page at:
ttp://www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1490928

Here is an article I wrote for the Austin Moms of Multiples Group in which I am a member.

From Head to Toe
(Ways Your Donations Have Already Helped)
& How it has affected our family

BRAIN~when a baby is born too soon, the brain and other organs haven’t had time to fully develop. Furthermore, premature babies are at high risk for brain hemorrhages. When brain hemorrhages occur, the baby is at high risk for Cerepal Palsy and/or other conditions.

Jenna experienced bilateral high-grade ventricular hemorrhages. Most babies with high grade hemorrhages are later diagnosed with mild to severe CP. We are extremely fortunate that Jenna did not develop that prognosis, she defied some great odds (Another reason we call Jenna one of our “miracle babies”).

SMILE~every year, more than 6,800 babies are born with an oral cleft. MOD researchers identified a gene that is responsible and are working on preventions.

SPINE~Thanks to MOD folic acid education & fortification campaigns, fewer babies are born with neural tube defects such as spina bifida.

LUNGS~After Surfactant and nitric oxide therapies now save the lives of tens of thousands of babies who are born too soon and who suffer from respiratory distress syndrome.

Jenna and Blake received a steroid a few days before their birth to help speed up the development of their lungs in case they were born prematurely, which undoubtedly was the initial MAJOR intervention that saved their lives. Blake and Jenna were born with respiratory distress syndrome. They were on respiratory support/ventilators for the first couple months due to their lungs being underdeveloped. Blake was placed on a highly specialized vent due to complications prior to PDA surgery. The changes and advancements in respiratory medical technology for preemies in the last five to ten years has allowed many babies, including Jenna and Blake a safer and stronger fight against respiratory distress.

EYES~Premature birth and certain birth defects can lead to blindness. Scientiss are studying the genetic causes and are developing treatments to cure vision defects.

Many premature babies develop Retinopathy of Prematurity. ROP often results in significant vision impairments or loss. Blake suffered a severe form of ROP, called RUSH in which his retina was beginning to pull from the lens, which would result in the loss of his vision. What began as a routing eye exam while in the NICU, ended with an emergency laser eye surgery. He underwent surgery within an hour of detection in an attempt to save his vision. We are extremely blessed that his surgery was successful. Unfortunately many premature babies are not as fortunate. .

HEART~Heart defects affect 1 in every 100 babies and are responsible for taking the lives of more babies than any other birth defect. MOD advances in diagnosis and surgical treatment mean better survival rates for the tiniest of heart parients.

Being born four months premature, before their hearts were fully developed, both Blake and Jenna were born with PDA. Jenna received a mediation twice that eventually closed the PDA. Blake’s PDA required heart surgery.

On their second day of life, Blake experienced a pulmonary hemorrhage. This condition usually always results in loss of life. He had to be recessatated and all we could do was wait to “see what the next 24 hours will bring”. Amazingly, our little boy beat those amazing odds, pulled through and gave the world yet another reason to clearly see why we deem him a “miracle baby”. Soon after he underwent PDA (heart) surgery. As suggested above with the tiniest heart patients, Blake’s surgery increased his survival rate significantly.

HEEL~Thanks to the MOD volunteer advocacy efforts, most states now screen babies for 21 or more serious but treatable conditions. A tiny drop for a newborn’s heel could save his/her life.

Christmas2010

2011-01-04T13:55:00.003-06:00

Christmas for the REID4 was nice. Our celebration started at Aunt Christine and Uncle Tim's house a week before Christmas with the Austin part of the family. We had a lot of fun playing with cousins Kaylee and Jude. Neither Jenna or Blake really got into opening gifts this year but did enjoy playing with the toys. Blake very happily sat and enjoyed cake with cool whip on top that Pappa shared with him. Jenna caught eye of Aunt Christine's mini vaccuum and could not keep her hands off of it. Hmmm...think Santa should have brought her one of her own. I am all about getting help with keeping the house clean. ;)

On Christmas Eve we drove to Bryan and stayed the night at my mom and dad's. Christmas Eve night we went to my cousin's house to visit with my relatives who I used to spend Christmas Eve night with at my grandmother's house when I was a kid. We got to see lots of cousins we don't get to see very often. The last time we were there, I was still pregnant....two years ago! It was a little strange thinking about being there two years ago with a big preggo belly and then now in hindsight knowing that a short two weeks later, we would be delivering our "twinkies" four months prematurely. It was great though, being able to "show off" my miracle babies. And with them being healthy and so happy now, it was a blessing to be able to share that with family.

Christmas day was a bit challenging. The kids woke up at 7AM but by the time we were getting ready to open gifts they were ready for a nap. We tried to push through but they wer NOT having it-haha. So....we decided to let them nap and have the adults open their gifts. Once they woke up we were ready for them to open theirs but they really had no interest. So funny thing? We opened them for them. They did enjoy the toys though! I guess next year they will really get into the excitement. Little did we know, they were coming down with something. Later that evening we realized that they were running fever. We did have a great time at Grammy and Papa's though. They love PeeWee, Grammy and Papa's dog. Both enjoyed following and petting her and PeeWee is really patient.

Well, once we got home we definitely had two sick kiddos. For the following week they have been sick. We took them to the doc, which was no small feat since they were very miserable. They were both diagnosed with a left ear infection. Now that is a "twin-ness" that isn't so fun. Poor babies. With it, they had congestion and upper resp stuff going on. Long story short and after six days of not eating and a change of meds, they are finally getting better. Whew!

I will be posting pics soon. ;)

Here Comes Santa Claus Here Comes Santa Claus....

2010-12-17T14:44:00.008-06:00

Well, we did it. We took the kids for their second ever encounter with Santa this week. Although we has to drive all the way across Austin just to visit the "real deal", we had a great time. You see, "Santa" i.e. the real deal in our book, hangs out at Lakeline Mall these days....same place as last year.

Jenna gave him the look over but seemed pretty comfortable sitting on old St. Nic's lap. Being the busy little gal she is, she didn't want to just sit around for too long. She did great though...no smiles but no cries or screams either.

Blake did great too. He was a bit cautious as we placed him on the lap of this large, plump, old guy dressed in red and with a beard of white sitting there talking to them. Blake sorta looked at him, looked toward us and tried to make up his mind about how he felt about mommy sitting him there and asking him to smile. What the heck is going on here, is what I imagined him thinking. Then is began to cry a bit after the pic was taken so I went to him and let him stand at Santa's feet. He didn't want to come to me. He turned around and gave Santa a big hug around his super sized waist and cried. It was as if he didn't want to leave his lap. It was realy cute. Santa was kind and calm, which helped a lot. He told me, "Hmm, I've never gotten that before...a cry and a hug, it's most defintely either one or the other".

We stood and talk to Santa a minute or two more then walked around the mall a bit. There was a veteran's group there that included one of our neighbors. He gave Jenna and Blake a dumdum sucker. Boy did Jenna go to town!! This was her first experience with a piece of candy, let alone a sucker. And to beat all, it was a blue sucker. She loved it. Her tongue, lips, hands and cheeks were blue. I called her my little smurf for the rest of the day. :) Blake was not interested in his, he was too busy "mall walking".

Oh yea, and Jenna's hair? Well, it was all spiffy until they played in the mall play area.....they had a great time.

So very very grateful.......

2010-12-16T22:44:00.008-06:00

I am sad tonight, very sad. I am also so very grateful. Grateful that my babies are healthy and well. So many of us take our health for granted. Some take their children's' good health for granted. Tonight I feel a tightness and torn feeling in my heart. I have just learned of a precious little girl who is losing her battle with cancer. She recently underwent a bone marrow transplant and her health continues to decline. She is in a very fragile state right now. She maxed our her ventilator and is now on the oscillator. I cry as I envision this horrific truth. Reading those words" "on the oscillator" brings back a very real feeling anxiety, fear and sadness. Blake was on the oscillator. This was one of the most terrifying things to witness while we were in the NICU. The oscillator, unlike the ventilator, does not inflate and deflate the lungs rather it keeps the child's lungs open with a certain pressure (PEEP), and vibrates the air at a very fast rate (up to 600 times for SECOND, yes, second!).The vibration helps gases to quickly diffuse in and out of the baby's airways without the need for the "bellows" action which may damage delicate lung structures. Seeing Blake on the oscillator was truly terrifying. Watching his chest vibrate, rather than seeing the up and down movement of natural breathing seemed very artificial....granted it was but witnessing your child lying there alive but seemingly otherwise as his chest vibrates is beyond heart breaking. It is a reality-filled slap in the face, seeing your child lying there in a lifeless-like state, the movement caused by the oscilator reminds your eyes that your baby is on complete life support.

I can not imagine what trauma this family is experiencing. I can not imagine the pain and exhaustion this little hero of a gal is feeling. It is clear that she is an extreme gal when it comes to being a fighter. I pray that this most deserving "baby" receives the miracle she so desperately needs. Please join me in praying for Aubrey Deno of Indianapolis. She is two years old but has the "fight" of a pro.

If there was one thing that Jason and I learned from our NICU experience, there were hundreds. One of the most amazing and incredible things that we learned was that even in the darkest of situations, miracles really can occur. Our amazing support system that included friends, family members, co-workers, acquaintances, friends of friends, nurses, spcialists, strangers, our blog followers and those who simply only heard of Jenna and Blake's fight for life all came together to send tremendous hope. That very hope was exhibited in various ways....from a kind word, a daily, sometimes hourly prayer, a hug, a loving gesture, a visit, a letter, an email, passing along our story and/or blog, positive thoughts and energy. Those very acts along with lots of amazing efforts by our medical team helped to see us through, day by day. That very hope for life and the strength of Jenna and Blake was so powerful. I can not sayoften enough, how we know in our hearts that hope and positive thoughts can help create miracles. There were a many times that Jenna and/or Blake's frail bodies, pushed beyond their limits appeared to be on the brink of giving in. Terrified, confused and forever changed, me, Jason and our supporters continued to be hopeful and continued to stay positive. I prayed and prayed. Many continued to pray. From that hope and from their sheer will, Jenna and Blake beat all odds....more than once or twice.

I write of power of hope and prayer, knowing that Aubrey also has an amazing amount of support from her family, friends, and strangers. I do not know this little girl personally but she has touched my heart nevertheless. I know that God is great, as I am witness to the amazing things that come from his and our positive energy. I pray that he feels Aubrey's time here on Earth is not over. I am confident that with him and with us who care for her and with hope, she will pull through....that her mommy, daddy and big sis will be able to see her smiling face for many years to come. Please keep her in your thoughts.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/aubreydeno

Positive thinking and hope creates a beautiful foundation for miracles. I truly believe this.

Tonight, I thank God/positive thinking and energy for the miracles Jason, Jenna, Blake and I have been granted. I pray that a miracle will be granted to Aubrey.

Fun at the Park

2010-11-29T21:27:00.002-06:00

Here are a couple pics from our visit to Mafield Park. We met Mimi and Papa there for family pics. Jenna was a real trooper. She was not feeling well throughout the day but did well regardless. She found a light that she LOVED and just could not get enough of. Blake loved going through the leaves and following the peacocks. More pics to come but here are a couple.

Finally some new pics....

2010-11-19T22:00:00.001-06:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jvFOYnX6yUZI9IrU_aB45w?feat=directlink

March of Dimes Ambassador 2011 Family Nomination Update

2010-11-19T20:49:00.003-06:00

Here is the email we received from the MOD Executive Director.

Kim and Jason,

Hello, my name is Susie Carr and I am the Executive Director for the Austin Division of the March of Dimes. I wanted to take a moment to Thank You for applying to be the 2011 Ambassador Family for Austin. Your story is very compelling and I thank you for sharing it with us.

Our volunteer committee has reviewed all of the applications and have selected another family to serve in 2011. I would like you both to know that it was a very difficult decision and a very close vote. With that said, I would very much like you to consider applying again for the 2012 Ambassador. I truly feel that you would be great representatives for the March of Dimes.

Thank you both again, and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Susie Carr
Executive Director

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason and I are so happy to have been nominated and truly feel honored. Furthermore, the fact that we are being considered for this "honor" again for 2012 is pretty exciting. We look forward to this year's MOD events, spreading awareness and continuing to share our story in hopes to give others hope.

Fight for Preemies // Bloggers Unite

2010-11-16T21:37:00.001-06:00

Fight for Preemies // Bloggers Unite

November is National Prematurity Awareness Month~My Article Re:Prematurity Awareness

2010-11-10T12:02:00.003-06:00

November certainly is a very special month as it marks the start of the holiday season. Furthermore, it marks another very special time of the year. Novemner is National Prematurity Awareness Month. In an attempt to help spread awareness, I have included an article that I recently wrote. I hope you may take away a bit of otherwise unknown information, a bit of inspiration and a desire to join us in speading awareness.

I recently wrote this article to share with my fellow AMOM (Austin Moms of Multiples) friends and now would like to share it with all of you, Jenna and Blake's great supporters.

November is Prematurity Awareness Month-Please Wear Purple on November 17th.
Well ladies, here we are in November already. With November marking the start of a soon-to-be holiday season, November also marks a time of awareness, reflection, celebration, and rememberance.

Being a member of this wonderful group, we have all been touched and effected by prematurity in one way or another. Some of us have had a family member, co-worker, friend, or relative who has given birth prematurely. Some of us has had nieces, nephews, or cousins born prematurely. Moreover, many of us have helped support fellow members as they've struggled through challenging NICU journeys. And still, there are others of us who know that journey all too well as we watched our own children be born so small, so fragile.

Prematurity effects almost everyone at sometime in their lives. According to the March of Dimes, each week in Austin, 65 babies are born premature. One in seven babies are born premature in Texas. Furthermore, on average, 26 babies are born each week with a birth defect in Austin.

Thankfully with the help of the March of Dimes, more and more babies are born healthy. Those who are born premature are provided the medical attention to better help them conquer prematurity and fight against threatening long term effects.

By raising awareness, we too can make a difference. In an attempt to share my support in this endeavor I thought I would pass along some ideas that I have found from various resources....ways that each of us can help raise awareness. ~Share your story on the online NICU support forums.
~Share your story in pictures of your baby's journey and growth through the NICU. Make an album that you can share with others to help them become aware of the challenges that take place in the NICU. ~Blog about Prematurity Month or about your own experience with Prematurity. ~Email friends/family about Prematurity Month
~Honor a child by creating a virtual band in honor or memory of a child, an organization or baby on-the-way. ~Visit http://marchofdimes.com/prematurity/index_advocacy.asp to find more ways to help fight for preemies ~Wear purple (or a purple ribbon) on November 17th, National Prematurity Awareness Day.

Perhaps the easiest thing we can do to help raise awareness is simply to share....share your experience, your thoughts, your passion for helping all babies be born healthy.

Please join me on November 17th and add a little (or a lot) color purple to your attire. Let's join in raising awareness and in honor of so many of our smallest of heroes.

Thanks for listening.....

I received an email from the MOD family team coordinator. It stated that The March of Dimes is currently holding a "NICU Necessities Campaign". They are collecting donations (preemie hats, socks, and clothes, rocking chairs or gliders, disposable cameras, blankets, restuarant gift cards, swaddle blankets, Zakys, bouncers, journals and pens) for families in the NICU and will be making a delivery on November 17th. For more info, feel free to email Stasia Vance, the family team coordinator at SVance@marchofdimes.com or feel free to email me as well.

Sort, Sort, Sort...Stack, Stack, Stack

2010-11-04T21:07:00.005-05:00

Blake is REALLY into sorting things these days. He can almost always be found with two of the same object (or at least similar), one in each hand....or if there are several of the same toy, he is trying his best carry them all at the same time. He is so funny, he tries to carry as many things at once as he can, using his little fingers to try and pick up just one more. The other day I heard him and Jenna giggling in the playroom. After a few minutes I peeked around the corner to find them in the middle of probably 100 wet wipes. They had found the wet wipe bag, opened it and were taking turns taking them hand over hand. When I went in to collect them, Blake had beat me to it. He had fistfulls of wipes in each hand and was bending over using his clinched fists and belly to try and pick each and every last wipe up. He then marched around the playroom and was talking up a storm. I only wish I knew his language-haha.

Jenna never ceases to amaze me, the way she finds THE smallest switch, button, or knob on just about everything and digs her little finger in to turn them. She notices the smallest and finest details on toys, in books, on clothing, furniture, anything and studies them intently. She has a real knack for details. She also knows how to turn the small switches on her toys that changes the play modes and volume (the ones that are intended for parents to turn down if desired). She has favorite modes on each of her toys that she wastes no time in coming behind you and letting you know by turning them to what she likes. She has pretty strong fine motor skills for her age, definitely one of her strengths. One thing has always been certain, she knows what she likes and does a great job of letting us know as well. She is very strong willed and independent and at the same time loves to sit in our laps for plenty of snuggle time. She still has a very silly side. She loves to be tickled and loves to just be silly. I've said it before and I say it again, she has THE best laugh. Jason and I are so excited that Jenna is very much her own litle gal and is pretty darn comfortable with letting others know exactly what that means. We think her personality will serve her very well later in life...perhaps quite challenging for us for the first 18 years. LOL

Today Blake did something that really amazed me. I brought out a wooden box that had red, yellow, blue and green blocks in it. I emptied it along side a pile of various other similar blocks. Blake hasn't ever seen these colored blocks before. He came over and started placing the red, yellow, blue and green ones in the box. He then grabbed a natural wood colored one and put it in, looked back at it as it lay there and reaches back in and takes it out. He proceeded to put the last green block in. Out of the entire pile of various blocks, he distinguished the four colors that "belonged" in the box. He then sorted the others into their own piles. When I look around the house and playroom I am constantly finding tidy little piles of objects, all nicely sorted. Two sippy cups sitting perfectly aligned on the window seal, four weeble wobbles standing proudly in line on the train table, two pretend phones sitting on a large foam block. When I give them snack in the playroom, I usually put cereal or crackers in small bowls and hand one to each. Blake walks over to Jenna's bowl and stacks his inside Jenna's and they sit there together sharing snack. Sometimes he dumps the cereal and cracker mix on the floor and puts the crackers together and then the cereal together. Jenna is usually really very patient with his insistance of "order". He has also been enjoying stacking blocks. He is able to stack about seven high of the large nesting blocks we have. The largest is pretty big and then each one gets gradually smaller. We have watched him work through some frustration and learning that some blocks are too small to have large ones stacked on top and that the block's open side cannot face upwards if he wants to stack others rahter than "nest" them. He seems to be getting a better understanding of these concepts as he is planning his stacks more accurately. We have a few VERY small wooden blocks. I found him today stacking them three high! These blocks are small enough to fit in his hand and when he closes his hand you can barely tell he is holding them. His hand-eye coordination is really picking up!

Proud mama signing off for now.
~The space on the site we use for posting pics on the blog is full. I am working on finding an alternative so that I can post somem LONG overdue current pics. Stay tuned.....

Ren Fest & Halloween

2010-11-04T20:40:00.002-05:00

Well, this year was our 2nd Renaissance Festival Camp-Out with the kids. I have to admit, this year it was pretty challenging. Poor Jenna was not feeling well the entire trip. In fact, due to tummy issues, she was VERY uncomfortable and VERY irritable (understandably so). The whole week before she suffered from some tummy discomfort so hadn't slept well. The only thing that made her comfortable was to sleep in daddy' arms while we were walking around at the festival. Jason held her for over two hours as she slept in his arms. When he tried to put he in the stroller the pressure on her stomach was just too much so being THE best daddy ever, he held her as she slept. I pushed Blake around in the stroller. He LOVED to people watch. The festival was pretty packed with people so there was MUCH to see. We found an area that was off the beaten path a bit and let Blake walk around. We are teaching him that he needs to hold mommy or daddy's hand when out somewhere. This was only the 2nd time we've been out and have tried to teach this to him. He did really really well. Grandma bought them a monkey backpack that has a long tail that mom or dad can hold onto. While I am not a fan of the "kid leashes" , this thing is cute and for me is different. I plan to use it merely as a back up system. I insisted that Blake hold my hand while we walked around and I just put the end of the tail in my pocket as a backup way to stay connected. Sometimes he would hold one end of the tail and I would hold the other, he thought that was funny. While Jenna peacefully slept, Blake and I walked and walked and walked. Back at the campsite, they did well. Jenna enjoyed spending a lot of time in Uncle Duane and Choichi Kim's trailor, hangin out with the big kids. Blake enjoyed it too but found gathering and sorting things outside much more fun. All four of us slept in the queen bed in the trailor, which was a first. The kids have never slept with us in the same bed. Jenna was not feeling well still so tossed and turned. Blake woke a few times, sat up and looked around confused, then plopped back down. All and all the trip was a good one but was a lot of work. Jenna is at a stage where she still likes to crawl around and Blake likes to runa round so lots of time was spent making sure Jenna wasn't crawling into the fire or out os site while also making sure Blake wasn't running into the fire-haha.

We left Sunday (Halloween) and headed back home. We were all really tired from the fest. Jenna was still not feeling well. We did manage to go trick or treating to about four neighbors' houses. Blake was dressed up as Dracula, slicked back hair and all. Jenna was dressed up as Snow White, and what a little beauty! We let them play in the yard a bit while trick or treaters came by. Jenna decided it was time for bed but Blake was still working on sorting the candy from our treat bowl for the trick or treaters. He was also amazed by the fog machine we had in the front yard and blinking monster feet lights.

Jenna finally got some relief on Monday. She is back to herself and I am so glad to see her smile and hear her giggle again. While sitting on my lap the other day we were looking at a book with a cow on the front. She was touching and pointing at the cow's google eyes. I said, "Eyes" and she turned around with a huge smile and gently touched my eyes. I LOVE seeing her make these connections. I am so proud of her. And of Blake.

Nominated as the 2010 March of Dimes Ambassador Family

2010-10-29T06:25:00.004-05:00

A couple weeks ago we received an email from the March of Dimes stating that we had been nominated as the 2010 March of Dimes Austin Area Ambassador Family. We are so excited and feel very honored. We were informed that there were a handful of families nominated and we were strongly encouraged to fill out an application. Stasia Vance, the Austin area family team coordinator, was the person who nominated us. She told me that they were looking for a high energy family with an amazing story of prematurity who feels passionate about their experience. That would certainly be us, I thought! She said that she was able to nominate a handful of nominees and immediately thought about us, our involvement over the last year and of Jenna and Blake's journey through prematurity.

The ambassador family will speak at fund raisers, various meetings and events and will be involved with raising awareness through the media. They will share their story and information about the impact the March of Dimes has had on thier lives. It is quite the commitment in that there are several speaking events. The family will also speak at the 2011 March for Babies to kick off the event.

Jason and I gladly accepted the nomination and sent in our application. We feel very honored to have even been nominated. If we become the 2010 Ambassador Family, our lives will get busier than they already are, no doubt about it. However, since our journey began we have felt it was important to share with other families, our experience in hopes that we can help support others. And more importantly we want to help provide hope. Afterall, the thing that kept us going was the hope we had of one day bringing our babies home, safe and sound. Gratefully, that hope lead to triumph and was our saving grace.

March of Dimes: "Miracles on 32nd Street" Team Update

2010-10-29T06:13:00.002-05:00

This is L-O-N-G overdue....a final account of how our March of Dimes family team did on our first year as participants in the March for Babies.

Together, our team members raised $2,340!! Wow, that is pretty impressive I think. Our team ranked in the top 20 teams!! We are so grateful that we were abe to show our support this year and even happier that we were able to raise money for the organization that made such an impact on our family's life.

Thank you all who donated in our team's name, those who joined our team as walkers and everyone who continues to keep up with our very own "Miracles on 32nd Street".

"Jenna & Blake's Playhouse"

2010-09-28T20:23:00.002-05:00

As I sit here on the couch staring at the computer with high hopes of getting back to posting on the blog, I am just straight up- EXHAUSTED. After playing with, reading to, wrestling with, tickling, playing peek a boo with, walking with, removing Blake from the table tme and time again from standing on the table, sweeping food off of the floor, cleaning faces and hands, changing diapers, kissing two bumped heads, managing temper tantrums, hugging on, juggling being climbed on by one while changing the other, cleaning two kids, myself and the couch of lotion from the bottle of lotion Jenna was playing with and spilled, stopping Blake from cholking on lunch, wrestling two toddlers to change their clothes, teaching, playing in the grass with, singing to and peering into the two most beautiful pairs of blue eyes you'll ever see....I am TIRED. That is probably just a snippet of our day today. Even with all of the exhausting things that go on day in and day out, the day still ends with a wonderfully warm feeling. I have two of the most wonderful kids!

Jason and I bought a playhouse off of Craig's List about a week ago. Jason power washed it and it looks great! We put it in Jenna and Blake's playroom. Both are really enjoying it. Jenna likes to go in there with a book or with a light up toy. Blake likes to get in adn open and shut the door and place toys on the windowsill. Today I caught him laying in there on his back just laying in there relaxing. The other day I saw Jenna laying on her tummy with her leg bent, foot in the air and "reading" a book. I think it is a good little "get a way" for them. I sometimes find them in the playhouse together. Today they were in there playing and giggling. Just love when they do that.

Well, beings that I can barely think straight right now I am going to keep this post short. Afterall, I need to get my "mommy-rest"......it's no longer beauty rest, it's mommyrest. :)

Two Little Stinkers August 13th

2010-08-13T20:02:00.006-05:00

Boy do we have two little stinkers on our hands, haha. While hanging out with the kids this week they did so many things that made me think, "I need to write that down", or "I have to remember to tell about that". The truth is, Blake and Jenna are at a real fun age. They are just so curious and want to explore so much. The more they move around, the more they have to explore, the more they learn, the more tired Jason and I get chasing after them. It is so worth it though. And thankfully, we've gotten a few date nights here and there in in order to relax and refuel-haha.

One of their favorite pastimes is still jumping in their beds. Their cribs are still against the same wall and are within arms' reach of one another. They can often be heard and seen holding hands or reaching over while they jump in their beds, laughing and giggling all the while. No wonder they have such lean muscular legs.

Jenna has been very interested in books (can you see her teacher-mom beaming with delight right now? YES, I am!). She loves to thumb through and look at the pictures. We have several books with the different textured pages, those are her favorite. Her and Blake enjoy being read to. She has been more steady and has gained better balance when cruising along the furtiture and standing. She is so close to free standing, I think she just needs to gain a bit more confidence. Same goes for walking. She is perfectly capable, just not quite confident. Funny thing about that is that she is quite the dare devil when it comes to other things like being "thrown" into the air or turned upside down, or tossed around on the bed. She enjoys a little horse play and rough housing. Little tuff girl. Most of all, she loves to be silly. She has such a sense of humor! And her laugh? Oh, it is just THE best. You really can't help but to smile when you hear her laugh. It is a belly laugh that just makes you instantly go for more by tickling her, making funny faces or noises or tossing her in the air.

"Boogie", aka Blake, is certainly living up to his nickname. We call him Boogie because he is always on the go. He is our experimenter, scientist and toy tester. He is walking all over and can be pretty fast about it when he wants to be. He loves his weeble wobbles and anything that sort of moves in a silly manner. He is enjoying their play tunnel too. He climbs in that thing and giggles and squeals. I like to play peed-a-boo with him while he is in it because he gets such a kick out of going from one end the the other just to turn around and see me peering in at him on the other end. He has THE sweetest grin. When he smiles at you, his curls complimenting his handsome little face, your heart melts. He has a huge heart and is LOVES to hang out with his sissy. Sometimes he just watches her and when he sees or hears her laugh, he just smiles ear to ear. I think he enjoys Jenna's laugh too because after a while he just can't help but to join in, even throwing a "fake" laugh in order to join her fun. So sweet!

Ok, I am working on keeping up with the blog. Pics are soon to follow.

~We're Back~

2010-07-27T21:21:00.003-05:00

Ok, so it's been way too long since we've posted. Jason and I have just been really busy keeping up with two active toddlers. So much has happened and they have grown so much. It is going to take a few posts to catch up here....so here I go.

Jenna is as independent as ever these days. She has been a little chatter box, speaking her own words and very comical sounds. She LOVES to be silly and one of her favorite past times is to be tickled. Where is she ticklish? The question is where is she NOT ticklish. Haha. She is walking along the furniture and is working on her confidence to take the plunge and take a step on her own. We have tried to encourage her to walk by holding her hands and walking with her. Up until the last couple weeks, she simply bends at the knees and sits. Little stinker. Here lately, she will take a few steps while holding our hands. We've been encouraging and cheering her on. She seems to be occasionally trying her hand at gaining better balance. Another favorite pass time of hers is to jump in her bed.

Blake is walking ALL over the place these days. In fact, he has even tried his hand at speed walking, or running, if you will. He is still vvery laid back, happy go lucky, and is very curious. He spends much of his time taking toys over to the tile and dropping them to see how they fall, if they roll, what noise they make and so forth. He is loving having two of everything. One for each hand....often times this means he has his bottle in one hand, Jenna's in the other. Yes, taking things from Jenna has been the "norm" for some time. Jason and I are constantly getting onto him. He is starting to "get it" now and will sometimes stop when we discipline but then others, he goes over to her with a smirk on his face as her grabs whatever she has. Little stinker!

Well, this is only the beginning of my attempt to catch our blog up. I hope to find time to get on here more regularly again. Hope our family and friends still check in. :)

One 17M old + One 17M old=2 Temper Tantrums in Stereo

2010-06-09T11:38:00.004-05:00

Okay, so this post may be a short and sweet one. I have wanted to post on many occasions but the truth of the matter is.....we are REALLY busy these days. Having two active 17month olds is proving to test us in ways we only imagined. I have cared for and taught many children but it seems dealing with your own childrens' fits can, in some ways, be more challengeing.

So both have reached the age/developmental stage of temper tantrums. Blake started about two weeks ago and Jenna started a couple days ago. Blake's usually comes on with frustration and just not being able to express himself yet. When we visited the doc for their 15month check ups, we described the triggers of his fits and how he reacts. He actually had a few fits while in the doc's office, so she saw them first hand. She think he is reaching frustration because he is yet to be able to communicate all of his feelings yet. Don't get me wrong, he has had a fit here and there when he is just mad or when we have taken something away from him that he should not have. He throws himself forward on the floor with his arms above his head, fists clinched, as if he has just been defeated and buries his face in the carpet. Then when he looks up he has THE most pitiful frown on his cute little face. Jenna's fits have usually been triggered by one of three things. The first being when her brother is invading her personal space, ramming his walker into hers or when he takes her toy. When he takes her toy, sometimes she just turns away and does something else as if to say, "Fine, it's not worth it". Other times she grabs it back or pushes him. Here lately, she has occasionally just thrown a fit due to being angry about it. The second trigger is being tired and wanting to be in her quiet, dark and calm room. The third being....it's something new, and well.......she just simply can. Yes, she can turn it on and off like the turn of a switch. She can be laughing one minute and SCREAMING the next. These are the times I think she is exercising this new ability....wow, I can REALLY make some noise and protest. I have to say that her fits have been a bit more trying the last few days because they are so loud and at times are so random and long lasting. I know she is testing this new "tool" she has added to her repoiture. hehe. Her tired fits.....fine. Her angry fits....usually consists of throwing herself back and then scootching herself back by digging her heels into the carpet and straightening her legs.. Her "I can" fits....nerve racking during the incident but pretty comical after they are all done. She scrunches her little face, sometimes throws her head back, and is ALL about the drama. She can belt out a screetch and then when she straightens her head again, she has a pleasant look on her face. It seems her fits are due to expressing anger, exhaustion or "just because I can". Did I mention her nickname from the first week she was born was "sassy pants"?

So typically our approach to their fits is to make sure they are in a safe place to thrash about and to simply ignore them. If the fit lasts for more than a minute, we intervene. I usually tell then I can see they are angry, give tehm a little validation, ask what is wrong and then try to distract them with a new activity.
Needless to say we have rounded a corner that has proven to be a bit challenging at times.

There have been other new developments too. Jenna has four new teeth on top coming in at the same time. I am sure this influences some of the current tantrums. She has been enjoying touching her brother's face and watching him a lot lately. She still LOVES to be tickled and sung to. She has been playing with her favorite ball that she likes to toss around and laughs when it bounces. She has been playing peek a boo and has enjoyed looking out the windows. Blake is walking more and more everyday. He has been doing lots of little experiments lately. He finds various things like big plastic coins, balls, just about anything, will take it over to the window seal or tile and drops it to watch it bounce or roll. He also will take his ball over to the tile and will bounce it. He has enjoyed testing different toys to see what they will do when he drops them on the tile.

Well, the kids are calling...at least I was able to get one day's post up. :)

Tuesday, May 25th 15 Month Check Up

2010-05-25T11:33:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I noticed that Blake has a top tooth poking through now. So far he has four on bottom and one on top. Jenna has two on bottom and has had the one on top for about a month now. I just can't imagine them with a mouthful of teeth. It seems it is happening so fast.

Jason and I are taking the kids in to the pedi today for their 15month check up and shots.....albeit a month late. It's been a little challenging around here because they have both been sick. The day after Mother's Day Jenna started having a runny nose and fever. Blake started with the same a couple days later. They also had a cough that was pretty steady. Then last Thursday Blake's cough became worse pretty rapidly in the evening. He gasped for air, his face turned red and blue and would often choke. We would constantly be blowing in his face to stimulate him to breath. Neither he or Jenna had been sleeping well. This particular night we had him sitting in the swing so he would be upright and in hopes he woudl get enough relief to get some sleep. He went into a coughing fit and started choking. He then threw up quite a bit and started gurgling and choking on his vomit. Jason took him out and turned him facing downward and patted him. He was able to throw the rest up and breath. He finally gained his color back. He began crying and cried for nearly two hours following. We decided to take him into the ER. Uncle Adam came over and stayed with Jenna, who was finally fast asleep. We called "Aunt" Janice for advice on what ER to go to. As great as Dell childrens may be, we were not prepared to sit in the ER for
2+hours before being seen. We decided to go to Seaton Southwest. When we got there there was no one in the waitingroom. We didn't even sit down and were told to come on back. Blake was still crying and screaming. Long story short, our whole stay in the ER lasted nearly two hours. This is much better than waiting for two hours to even be seen. Turns out, he had an upper respiratory infection and probable ear infection.

PM~
Today's appointment went well. Jenna weighs 22lbs 10oz and Blake weighs 22lbs 12.8 oz. Jenna is 30.25 inches and Blake is 31 inches. They are both on track for all of their adjusted age skills and development. They both stand and are able to "cruise" along furniture, they eat mainly "table" food, are able to say mama and dada, use a sippy cup, drink whole milk, babble, etc. As all premies do, we are working on catching up to their chronological age skills and development. While they are on target for SOME of the 16month (actual age) skills, there are others that we are focusing in on. These include walking for Jenna, increasing vocab for them both, taking ALL bottles "out of the equation", and increasing their verbal/communication skills. These are all skills that other 16 month olds are working on as well. Dr.F is very pleased with Jenna and Blake's growth and development. She is impressed with how happy they are and with their level of interaction with others as well as the fact that they are eating just about anything we eat. Before we left, she said, "I know you guys must hear this a lot but these guys are truly amazing and look fantastic". Needless to say we were pretty proud. Then it was time....time for THREE immunizations. Sigh......luckily, as always, they were fast. Jenna was first. Daddy held her arms during administration then quickly scooped her up and consoled her. She was quickly calmed and fine. Then it was my turn to hold Blake's arms (the immunizations were all given in the thighs). Poor guy, when we laid him on the table he looked up at Stormy (our nurse) and gave her a big smile. She told him,
Oh no smiles poor guy, I'm sorry" and did the deed. He screams then cried a bit as I tried to console him. It didn't take long for him to calm down either. We are so glad those are over. We don't go back for shots again for another two months....sheesh, not long enough.

As soon as we got into the car, the kids were out! they slept all the way home then had a good nap once we got home. They are doing fine and were playing happily after their nap.

All in all a good report.

We've Got a walker on Our Hands!!!!

2010-05-21T12:38:00.003-05:00

***more Catching up/"retro posting"***
Wednesday, May 5th
Today was an exciting one! This afternoon Jenna, Blake and I were playing in the playroom like we do everyday. Jenna was playing some "tunes" on her piano and Blake was moving from one thing to another. Often times while I am sitting in the playroom, they will go about thier business playing and from time to time will come over to say hello, to crawl on me or just come sit and play with me. Blake was standing and shaking a shaker then turned to me. I smiled and said hello and that is when he did it! He smiled and took two steps to me!!! Needless to say I was cheering like crazy and telling him what a great job he did. Then I picked up the phone to call daddy. He couldn't wait to get home in hopes he would later catch him in the act. Luckily, Daddy witnessed his son's first steps the very next day. While Blake seems to be focusing in on walking, Jenna certainly is focusing in on talking. She has been really chatty! I love hearing her little girl voice. She is so proud of herself as she babbles about the house. What a sweet and fiery little gal.

Throughout the next two weeks he would try out his new skill here and there, taking two, maybe three steps. Jason and I marvel each day when he takes a step here and there and to and from he and I. He still chooses crawing over walking but is practicing his new skills more and more.

May 19th
Ok, so NOW we have an official walker. Blake took SIX steps today! YES, SIX!!! He walked from daddy to me in one slow, toldde like manner. He took his time and balanced perfectly. Daddy and I cheered as if we were at the superbowl. Jenna looked on and smiled over all the excitement. Blake waved his arms up and down when he reached me and lunged into my arms. It was great! It felt as if he had just crossed the finish line. He is now regularly walking from here to there mixed with his old back up, crawling.

May 20
I took Jenna with me to Hobby Lobby for a little shopping today. Blake stayed with daddy. Jenna was enjoying our trip until that is, I was "parked" in one spot for what she percieved as too long. There is so much to look at at Hobby Lobby, afterall. Towards the end of our trip she started chatting rather loudly. We were looking at some gift wrap all the while she was carrying on with her "stories". When a man took a double take and turned back towards our aisle to get a look at Jenna. He said that he and his friend had heard her talking earlier and now again. He then proceeded to tell me how beutiful she is and how cute she sounds. Jenna and I thanked him and she gave them a big gorgous smile. I love having a little girl (and a little boy!).

Blake is walking quite a bit now. He even walks around while holding things, will turn directions and turn completely around. He is really getting the hang of it now. I am going to get this cuteness on video soon so you all can see.

Just a Thought

2010-05-15T21:45:00.006-05:00

**I wrote this on May 15th but in an interrupted attempt to try and catch the blog up, I am just getting around to posting it tonight. **

A Year ago tonight, Jason and I were "rooming in" at St. David's in preparation of bringing our "newborns" home after 4 1/2 months of intensive care. It was our first full night together and the beginning of what we had been dreaming about for so long. To be with our babies, to be full time hands-on parents, to take them home where they belonged, in our arms on our couch, rocking them in our rocking chair as we lounge in our PJs. A flood of memories and emotions are turning over and over. I can see that night replay with much detail. I remember the anticipation as we waited in the bay. As we moved through all of the "formalities", the move into our own room couldn't come soon enough. The anticipation of having the kids all to ourselves, behind closed doors, no intruding monitors, no "good night sweet peas, we will be back in the morning", no sharing our "privacy" with several other babies and parents, nurses and doctors. I remember when we were finally settled into the room for the night, it was a wonderful, strange and new feeling. We hardly knew what to do with ourselves. Needless to say with them being "newborns" we didn't get much sleep that night but WOW, what a great night.

Tonight I'm sitting on my couch with video monitor close by (yes, even at over a year old, I still rely on peeking in on them quite frequently) as Blake and Jenna are sleeping in their cribs. I will continue to try not to take each night for granted as I have the opportunity to get them ready for bed each night, hold them, carry them upstairs and tuck them in and kiss them goodnight. So many a night we longed for this privledge and tonight it's been a year of doing just that. Life is wonderful!

March for Babies & Birthday Party Pics

2010-05-08T21:46:00.006-05:00

Thank you to all of our family and friends for your participation in this year's March for Babies. Today's event was AWESOME! Thanks for being on our team, "Miracles on 32ns Street" and for your phenominal support.

Here are a few pics from today's walk as well as some of the kid's bday party pics. In the next few days, I will be doing my best to post an update on everything that has been going on in the last two months. We have had some exciting things happening and some great times spending with family and friends.

Here are a few of the bday party pics. Just click on the picture.

Seussical Celebration

And here are a few of the March for Babies pics. Just click on the picture.

March for Babies 2010~ "Miracles on 32nd Street"

Seussical Celebration

2010-05-02T19:45:00.001-05:00

Wow! What a great and memorable day it was.

We had so many family members and friends attend Jenna and Blake's first (adjusted) birthday and one year homecoming anniversary party. It was great to have so many special people with us, as this was certainly a milestone that we still are taken back by. We have so much to be thankful for, relieved about and just plain happy about. We wanted to have a special party for the kids on the anniversary of their homecoming as well as to celebrate them turning one in January, and boy was it special!

The day started with lots of setting up of Dr. Seuss decor. The Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 & Thing 2, Sneetches, the Grinch, Horton, Dog, balloons, a candy bar, and so much more! Thanks so much to both moms, dads, sisters, brother-in-laws, cousins and friends for helping prepare the room. It turned out looking awesome!

Before I new it, Jenna and Blake's guests were arriving just minutes after daddy brought Blake and Jenna in. He stayed at home while they napped while we set up the "party room". Jenna and Blake wore their thing 1 and thing 2 shirts and red shorts. Jenna had red and white leggings on. Too cute!! The guests really started pouring in! It was so wonderful to have so many special people with us. So many people who gave us an amazing amount of support and care throughout the last year and a half. I have been looking forward to this day for a long time. It just seemed natural to throw a party to have our support

to be continued

The Simple Pleasures of Childhood

2010-04-18T21:35:00.002-05:00

I have a lot of catching up to do on our blog. We've been so very busy the last month or so. It looks like the next three weeks will be much the same but I am going to try and get on and bring it all up to date. Until then, I just have to post this very cute video. Blake and Jenna's "Aunt Kelly" (uctually she is their cousin but we consider her their aunt) and their cousin Lance bought Blake and Jenna some "water balls" that have glitter in them. Both Blake and Jenna went WILD over them. this is their first experience with a ball that bounces. Until now we've only had some plastic balls that don't actually bounce. I am trying to edit a video of both of them watching daddy bounce them in which they were both giggling like crazy. I was able to edit and am posting one of Jenna until then.... Look and listen to the fun!!

Intro to Bluebonnets

2010-04-02T11:38:00.003-05:00

While on a walk the other day, Grandma Patranella and I took the kids to a field of Bluebonnets just a couple blocks up from my house. I had noticed them the day before so had planned to take the kids over for some pics. I did remember to take the camera on our walk but didn't bring a "noise" maker/attention grabber. We didn't manage to get any pics of the kids actually looking up except for one of Jenna. Nevertheless, we got some good shots. Jason and I are planning on taking them to a field of Bluebonnets in the next week or so as well. Til then, this is what we got.

"Baby Blues" Vision Check

2010-03-18T23:23:00.005-05:00

The kids had another vision follow up this week. Jenna's eyes look great so will not need to get checked again for another year. YAY Jenna! We are sooooo blessed to be able to report that both kids' eyes checked out well. Blake was supposed to have his eyes dialted but I guess there was a lack of thought or communication in the office today. We waited for their appointments for over an hour then waited in the exam room another thirty or so. Once Jenna had her eyes checked and it was Blake's turn, he was checked out but after shinning some lights and having had a regular exam, the doc realized he should've been dialted for a more "exact" check up. He feels confident about his vision and about the healing/scars created by Blake's emergency eye surgery. So.....he said we could either wait for a year or come back in 6months for another check. I prefer 6months. I am a bit disappointed that this was overlooked but am reassured that Blake is doing so well that the doc isn't concerned. He said he is a bit near sighted and will likely have glasses in a couple years. My handsom little guy in glasses? CUTE! I am just so grateful that the laser eye surgery was such a success!

The kids did so well during the LONG wait and during the exam. Jenna spent much of the time being silly...squirmming around in daddy's arms and making silly noises...rasberries of all sorts. Blake sat very patiently in his carrier and looked around at the people and movement in the packed lobby. They are so well behaved-hehe. Now, J and I just need to be sure we keep them that way. ;)

A Little Taste Test

2010-03-12T11:16:00.005-06:00

Jason and I took the kids out the other day to enjoy the Spring Weather. We've been doing so just about each day now. Every time I open the door to take out the trash or get something from the car, the kids just radiate to the closest vacinity of the door that they can reach from their playroom. So, we took them out to play on the ground. We have a layer of leaves and old dead grass blanketed over the yard right now that needs to be raked. There is some new grass peaking through. As soon as Jenna and Blake were placed on the ground, they were instantly happy to be out. Blake looked around and felt the leaves and grass and watched the leaves in the trees blow around. Jenna went right for the old grass and leaves for a taste. She was like a hoover vaccuum with those little hands, staight to the mouth. I would no sooner take the leaves from her mouth and hands and she would have already reached down for another handful. Over and over and over. Blake took a tiny taste test but I guess he wan't impressed with the taste or pointy texture in his mouth. He did however gnaw on the stem of one of the leaves for a bit. Jenna just kept cramming them in her mouth. I had to put her on my lap and offer a teething toy to keep her from stuffing herself like a pinata. Haha. J got some great pics of her stuffing her mouth.

It's such a beautiful day out again today. We are definitely going to spend much of it outside going for a walk and playing!

Snow Day Flash Back

2010-03-11T22:26:00.003-06:00

Since I hadn't posted our snowday pics, I figured I would do it now. Better late than not at all. I think I posted about our day and promised pics. Well, we are talking about the gal who STILL has 20 Christmas cards WITH stamps sitting in the drawer. SIGH!! I am so tempted to send them since they havce pics in them and are stamped. So....family and friends....don't be too shocked if you soon receive a Christmas card. HA!

A Little Mischief

2010-03-09T10:45:00.004-06:00

I was playing with the kids in the "free range" area, otherwise known as the livingroom. Jenna was playing with the "this toy is made of XZY material" tag thingy on a stuffed animal, which she is often found doing. Blake was looking around to see what he could get into. I had one of their exersaucers pushed to the corner of the room. I turned to get something just to turn back around to find Blake with half of his body between the seat part and bottom platform of the exersaucer....his head and one leg inside, his butt and other leg outside of it. My first thought was, "Ha, as soon as I turn for a sec. Man he is fast!" Then my second thought was, "Uh huh, let me see him get out of this one". I figured since he was kinda stuck in there he would end up calling out to mom for a rescue. Nope. He ended up crawling completely between the top and bottom platforms of this thing. He just sat under there and hung out for a bit. I grabbed the camera and got a few shots. Here they are.....

Oh, and YES, he actually got out of that "bind" all on his own...crawled right out.

And our own little Miss Sass Pants? The other day I was watching my soaps and Snoop Dog was actually performing on it. Jenna was strolling around in the walker and all of a sudden she "walked" it over to the T.V. and started watching Snoop. My girl loves music.....think she may be a HUGE fan of Snoop! She sat and watched for the entire performance.

Late night thoughts

2010-03-06T23:43:00.002-06:00

Tonight's Top Five Things I Love About My "Babies"
5~I love your laugh.
Jenna-your laugh sounds like it starts from the tip of your toes and continues all the way up to your bright little face. I adore you!

Blake~your "always ready to giggle" laugh is just so fun-loving. You are such a happy go lucky little guy.

4~I love to hear you "talk".
Jenna~I love how you look when you say "dadadada". You have a loving sparkle in your eyes and a tender hearted grin everytime you start rattling off dada's name. You always appear to be so proud of yourself and say it in such a tender soft voice. How could you not have daddy wrapped around your dainty little pinky?
Blake~I love your "sleepy talk". Your "guggle guggles" and "goygle goygles" are just TOO darn adorable. I remember when you first started saying these "words", most often heard when you get really tired. I just wanted to bottle up some of those moments and hang onto them forever. I was so releived to finally get them on video after several attempts. Those guggle guggles are dead giveaways and can be interpretted as "mommy and daddy, I'm REALLY tired".

3~I love how you love your brother/sister.
Jenna~While it is clear that you are very content with being "independent" and doing your own thing at times, I often catch you going to your brother and putting your hands on his face to love on him. I also catch you talking to him from your crib, looking through the slats to wake him up for some company or most recently standing in bed on your tippy toes to look over the top into his bed. It may not aleays appear so, but you do keep tabs on where he is. It is clear that you love being his sissy and love to make him laugh.
Blake~I love the way you LOVE your sissy. You feel she is the bestest of pals. You want to play with her always, know where she is at all times, console her when she is hurting and protect her too. I love the way you insist on holding her hand when we go for walks. And the times she just does not feel like it, you always have your hand resting on her arm or leg. You are born a natural great brother!

2~I love your personalities-both a bit similar but also so different than the other.
Jenna~strong, determined, sassy, sweet, silly, great sense of humor, you know what you want, not afraid to tell us what you like and don't like, very social but enjoys your own time too, independent, focused, at times not easily impressed, at other times you encourage and pull out the silliness in mommy, "tickle junkie", a bit of a princessness about you (in a sweet little girly girl way)heroic, happy.
Blake~strong, determined, social butterfly, funny, always looking to have a good time and share a laugh with anyone who shows any potential of getting involved in your laughing antics, a go getter, patient, compassionate, protective, empathetic, you have the "teddy bear" lovability about your, heroic.

1~I love the way you love mommy and daddy.
Jenna~One of my favorite "us" times is when you are settling down for sleep and I am rocking you. The way you look up at me and reach up with fanned fingers and so lightly run them through my hair. You look at me as if I'm the best thing since sliced bread. Well, honey, let me tell you. You are so much better than sliced bread has ever or ever will be. I know this is your way of telling me you love me.
Blake~I absolutely adore your morning greetings. I love the reaction we get when we walk into your room after a full night's sleep and "seperation" and you get so overwhelmed with excitement. It is as if we were being reunited after years of being apart. First its a squeel, then a giggle, followed a shaking free of some of the sheer joy of us being there and as we reach for you, you have that open mouthed grin that reaches from one ear to the other. I have never been a morning person. But let me tell you, if that greeting does not set your morning in the right direction, you're just flat out incurable. "Little boogie, sometimes I feel like I can't contain my feelings for how wonderful I think you are either! Love it, Love it, Love it!!!!

Welcome March! Come on Springtime weather!!

2010-03-03T13:00:00.005-06:00

Okay, so it's been a while since we've posted and here it is March already!
We've had a busy month. As you've read in the last blog entry, the kids were sick. Turns out they both had a virus-hand, mouth, foot-YUK!! Jenna turned up with symptoms first. She had fever and tons of red spots/rash ALL over. Some appeared to be chicken pox at first. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Blake started showing symptoms about two days later. With him though, he had higher fever and much fewer spots. They both had sores and blisters in their mouths and throats. Poor things were miserable. Blake's throat sores were so bad, he just cried and fussed when he tried to eat. I'm guessing they contracted this virus from our visit to the play gym. :( Jenna's lasted for about five days and Blake's lasted a bit longer. Once she felt better, Blake was about three days later in getting over his. However, he experienced congestion and icky runny nose for several days after. Jenna had a bit of that too. While they were sick, they didn't sleep well at all. They were so miserable and only found comfort in our arms, especially when they tried to sleep. Needless to say we got in TONS of snuggle time. It took quite a while to get the kids back to sleeping through the night. They got used to sleeping with one of us so that was yet another challenge to overcome (for them and for mommy). Is it hard having twins? My answer is it's only hard when they are both sick at the same time. THANKFULLY, Jason was able to stay home the entire week to help me. Both kids demanded comfort and attention 24/7. I am not sure how I would have kept it togehter if iw as on my own on this one. I'm glad they are well and back to their happy selves.

Under the Weather

2010-02-16T21:53:00.003-06:00

Well, with the exception of low fever once, Jenna has managed to stay well from the time she got out of the hospital last May to yesterday. Jenna started having fever yesterday and is still experiencing it tonight. Jason and I chalked it up to teething all day yesterday and lastnight b/c of the usual signs~lots of drooling, tender to the touch, her desire to chew on different things. She has not ate much, is very uncomfortable and irritable and hasn't slept all that great. Today she broke out in a rash. LOTS of red bumps all over. She was also tugging at her ear a bit. I called the nurse and was advised to bring her in. Turns out, Jenna definitely has a viral infection. She has bumps in her throat too. :( It is in the early stage so we don't know what kind yet. The bumps do resemble chicken pox at its very early stage but the pedi assured me that she really does not feel that it is. We are to keep an eye on her bumps and send her pics tomorrow as a f/u. How nice is that? I probably won't have to turn around and take her out of the house to go tto the pedi again tomorrow, thankfully. Poor Jenna has been miserable. She just can't get comfortable so Jason and I have been holding her quite a bit. She has napped best while being upright in our arms. She has been very snuggly and has wanted extra comforting. I can't wait til she feels better and we can see that pretty smile of hers again!

So far, Blake has been fine other than being real concerned for his sister. Jenna has had a different tone in her cry and at times it has alarmed Blake. He has always looked after her and has always shown concern when she cries a painful cry. We keep reassuring him that she is ok. Because we have rocked her a lot today he has clearly been lonely for her in the play yard. We have gotten down to play with him of course but he keeps looking to her.

Did I mention how wonderful it is to have twins? And how great it is to have a boy and a girl at the same age at the same time? Truly awesome. They have been exhibiting lots of "twin" behaviors. It is late so I will share twin stories soon. I need to get rest while they are both sleeping peacefully.

Blast from the Past-Our little Valentines

2010-02-12T11:28:00.011-06:00

This top pic is a scan of the Valentine that Blake and Jenna made for us last year (thanks to Anna and April). It was such a great surprise. And it couldn't have been given to us at a more perfect time. A month into our NICU stay, we were ready for a breath of fresh air. This is one of my favorite keepsakes by far. Just look at those tiny feet. And to think they were even smaller at birth.

I decided to make a comparison print of their feet today. (Just click on the pic and you can get a bigger view) Even though the placement of their feet is flip flopped on today's heart valentine, you can see how much they have grown. Look at Blake's BIG "paw". And Jenna has the cutest dainty "toody" still today.

Just wanted to share.

***I added to the previous two posts. Please revisit the "March for Babies" post for more info***

Jumpy Gym Play Date by Day Bubble Bath by Night

2010-02-11T23:27:00.008-06:00

We were invited to a playdate by some "old" friends. Two of Blake and Jenna's NICU nurses, Heather and Daun, invited us to join them and their daughters (who I will refer to here as) "L" and "R" at Jumpy Gym this week. Heather and Daun took amazing care of the twins while they were in the hospital getting big and strong. Heather was pregnant with "L" and was due a week before Blake and Jenna's due date and Daun's little girl "R" was born four months before Blake and Jenna were born. Being close in age made for an excellent play time.

It was a bit challenging getting the kids out due to the wet and cold weather. Luckily, Jumpy gym isn't even a half mile from our house. We got all bundled up and were on our way. Once we got there and as soon as I got them out of the stroller, Jenna and Blake immediately went over and crawled into Heather and Daun's laps as if to say "hello old friend". After meeting the girls and saying hello, Jenna immediately started going from one toy to the next making herself right at home. After a few minutes of Blake looking around at this big playroom and at the other kids and mommies, he too started exploring. They had such a blast. They really enjoyed interacting with "R" and "L". Blake and Jenna are very social and are not in the least bit shy about saying hello to other kids or mommies. In fact, they were often found crawling into other mommie's laps to say hi. Guess they are little social butterflies in a lot of ways.

It was so nice meeting precious "R" and "L" and to catch up with Heather and Daun. It was great to be together under much more pleasant circumstances and to be doing the "mommy thing" with some friends.

Blake and Jenna had a blast! After a while, Blake realized he had lots more spcae to explore and to put his crawling into motion. As soon as he realized it, he took off. He started at one end of the gym all the way to the other in a crab like crawl, all the while making a "hmmph hmmph" noise. It seemed as if he thought is was in the Winter Olympics the way he was so into the task at hand. He had a ball! Then, when Jenna took note of what was going on, she started doing the same. Mommy? Well, mommy was getting a good look at what is in her near future.....trying to keep up with two toddlers! one going one way, the other the other way. Whew! and I think I'm getting a work out at the gym? Ha! At one point Jenna and Blake met up in the middle and crawled parallel from one end to the other. It looked as if they were racing. I actually got a little video coverage of it. I'll have to see about posting it. It was fun to watch.

We definitely look forward to more playdates with "L" and "R". AndI'm sure the kids would love to go back to Jumpy Gym!!

After a full day of playing, it was bath night. The kids are really too big for the baby tub these days so we have been bathing them in the kitchen sink. I like it much better since I can stand instead of leaning over. The kids enjoy baths, especially bubble baths. At one point Jenna put a bath toy in her mouth and when she pulled it away she had a bubble moustache and goatee-so cute! During Blake's bath, he had lots of bubbles in his hair so I made him a bubble afro. Here are a couple pics of both.

Til next time, have a good one!

March For Babies 2010

2010-02-08T23:17:00.005-06:00

Jason and I are excited to report that we have formed a team for this year's (March of Dimes) March for Babies. The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. There are half a million babies born too soon each year. Of those half a million, 50,000 are micropreemies. Like Blake and Jenna, micropreemies are babies born under 3 pounds and before 28weeks.With chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for Babies®, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

This year, our team, "Miracles on 32nd Street" is walking in March for Babies on May 8th. Our name originated from Blake and Jenna's birth place (St. David's Hospital located on 32nd Street) and because we feel that Blake and Jenna are living proof that miracles do really happen. After a very long 122 days in the NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit, both Jenna and Blake became healthy and were able to come home with us.

We are so grateful to have had you all as our support system during a most difficult period of our lives. We would be honored to have you join us in showing our support for the March of Dimes. For those of you who we have not yet met but have followed our journey through our blog, we thank you. We gladly invite you to join our team as well. And if you are viewing our story for the first time, we would be happy for you to join us in showing support to other families.

If you would like to show your support but are unalbe to attend the walk, you can still be part of our team! The walk is 3.2 miles long and starts at Auditorium Shores on Riverside. It is a stress-free event in that you can walk, jog, run at your own pace. Furthermore, you can walk any amount of the distance. You will witness many groups of family and friends walking in honor of thier children, nieces, nephew, grandchildren, cousins, friends. We hope that you will join us in celebration of Jenna and Blake and in hope for other families.

Please visit our team website at:

http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?seid=1373878

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Jason or I via blog, email, or phone.

**For more information about the March of Dimes or March for Babies, visit marchofdimes.com

Cart For Two-"Priceless"

2010-02-03T17:23:00.007-06:00

Ok, so Costco has THE best shopping carts for carting around two kiddos AND a cart full of things.

So, I decided to take the plunge and venture out to Costco with the kids today. It required a bit more planning than usual with it sprinkling off and on all day. But....with needing to buy formula, wanting to get the best deal, and the kids and I having cabin fever, it was time! I was just hoping the whole way there that we wouldn't experience a torrential down-pour once I got them in the cart. I took the kids to Target one day a couple months ago b/c, again, we ran out of formula quicker than i thought we would. It was a mess! I had one baby in the front seat and the other in their infant cariier in the actual "cargo" part of the cart.It didn't work out well for a couple reasons. One beings that I had to practically hold Jenna in the front seat cause she wasn't quite big enough at the time to sit in the seat on her own. Then, I had to try and stuff things in the tiny spaces of the cart that were left over after loading the kids in it. Months ago, I had seen a woman in Target with two toddlers in the "seat" of one cart. Luckily for mom, they were small enough to have their legs in one leg hole each. At the time, I thought, ha, how clever! Now however, while I still think it was clever, I now also know when you have two, you HAVE to find ways to make it work. Being clever, or creative, is a must at times-haha.

As I was saying, kuddos to Costco! If I didn't know any better, I'd bet they designed their shopping carts with parents of twins in mind! ;) Sure, the whole cart is "super sized" which in turn makes the "front seat" larger, but to beat all, they have FOUR leg holes! AND two safety belts! SIGH.....nice. And Blake and Jenna fit in the front seat just right together and even have some room to grow. Okay, perhaps the highlight of your day would SEEM to beat mine, but this added "freedom" with shopping and getting things done is priceless to a mommy with twins!

FlashBack Friday~January 29, 2010

2010-01-29T22:54:00.006-06:00

Today's FlashBack pics were taken at the end of January 2009.

This one is of Jenna. One night Jason went to put his wedding band on the kids' hands for size comparison pics. When he put it on Jenna's hand, we quickly realized that her tiny hand fit right through the band and dangled loosely on her wrist. Her little arms were so thin, that his band slid down to her elbow. I like this photo because it reminds me that sometimes the greatest love comes in the tiniest of packages.

Jason took this second picture a couple weeks after Jenna and Blake were born. I like this one because he captured a very quiet moment I was having with Blake. Even though I wanted so badly to reach in there, pick him up and bring him to me to hold and love on, I treasured every moment I was able to spend with him.

In a Much Better Place

2010-01-27T14:38:00.007-06:00

Thankfully, January is proving to be a much calmer and much less stressful one than last year's. Last year at this time, we had just received news of Jenna having experienced a bilateral IVH, or Intraventricular Hemmorrhage (brain bleed). We were completely taken back, shocked, and afraid for what this might mean for our little girl's future. The thought of Jenna having to struggle even more than she already was from her emergency arrival, broke our hearts. Her bleeds were that of grade three, meaning she was experiencing enlarged or swollen ventricles in her brain. The news was devestating. We were told that she was at considerable risk for having cerebal palsy or other dev delays. We took the information, asked questions, did research, listened to her possible prognosis and prayed harder than the nights before. The doctors were very caring, empathetic and patient with all of our questions. Dr. Su, Anna, April, Janice, Rhonda, Beth and a few of "our" additional, wonderful care-takers remained positive and hopeful. I remember one particular evening, Anna and I were takling, tears in eyes, and she told me, "Don't ever underestimate little Miss Jenna Lou" (that was Anna's nick name for Jenna) She is going to be fine". We were so scared about the unknown.We had so many of you, our family and friends on our side....on Jenna's side. This is part of the post I wrote last year.....

We were told last night that Jenna in fact has grade 3 bleeds on BOTH sides of her brain. She received another head sono this AM to check for continued bleeding. The preliminary appears to be the same. The final will come back later today. Please, please, please let the bleeding have stopped.

So many emotions............questions..............uncertainty..............conerns.

However, we are extremely hopeful and optimistic. Our little girl has already shown us how strong she is and was deemed "feisty" and "spunky" the first day she was born. The way we look at it, she is a real fighter. The power of positive thinking and prayer, I believe, can sometimes be the best healer. Thank you all for your continued prayers. We can really use the support.

From that day, Jason and I listened to our hearts, "listened" to Jenna, and became more focused and stronger. With help, we used our uncertainty and fear to fuel hope and optimism. Jenna (and Blake) had already shown us the previous 12 days, how much they wanted to be with us, showed us how strong they were and what fighters they both were. This day last year, our little girl, showed the "spunk", "and feistiness" that we had come to know of her within the first week of life. She showed us what real strength is....strength that was not overshadowed by a tiny, fraile, weak body but by will power, desire and love, and that beat all odds. She did not give up. She not only beat the odds but she met and surpassed our biggest hopes and dreams. We dreampt that one day we would look at Jenna and see that nothing physically or mentally, was holding her back. That it would take minimal intervention to help get her there. Jenna had other plans. Thankfully, what Dr. Su and others had told us about how sometimes at this early stage of development, the brain could do some "re-wiring" and overcome the trauma that she had experience had become the case for Jenna. The brain is an amazing organ indeed. This very resilence paired with Jenna's strength, has provided her with an amazing outcome. As I sit and watch her today playing and giggling with her brother, smiling and saying "dada", I can't help but to beam with joy. I am so very grateful that we are in a much better place today.

Thank you family and friends for your love and support, positive thoughts and energy. Like Jason and I, Jenna and Blake made it through and kept faith with your help. Sincerest thanks for being a large part of the start of Jenna's healing that day.

~As you can see, some days, this blog has become a bit of a journal for me. I hope that one day Jenna and Blake will read this and learn of the amazing journey their first year (+) of life has been so far and that they know the heroism that they have shown their mommy and daddy. You guys are OUR heroes. We love you.

Blake and Jenna's 12Month Check up and Shots

2010-01-26T20:44:00.008-06:00

Jason and I took Jenna and Blake for their 12m check up today. The kids were so good, even having had their little fingers pricked for blood work and get FOUR shots.

The weigh in....
Last year on this date, Jenna weighed 1 pound 7 ounces.
Today, she weighs a whopping 19 pounds 4 ounces! Can you believe it?

Last year on this date, Blake weighed 1 pound 7 ounces.
Today, he weighs a healthy 19 pounds 8 ounces! It's amazing how much things can change in a single year. Still too difficult for me to "wrap my brain around it" sometimes.

For growth, we have two reports to share for each. First in comparison to 8/9months, or their adjusted age group. (this would be considered their preemie growth chart in a sense)
Jenna is in the 70-75th%tile for height/weight.
Blake is in the 50th%tile for height/weight.

The second report, being their percentile on the 12m (full term) growth chart.
Jenna is in the 25th% for height/growth.
Blake is in the 10th% for height and growth.

Pretty darn impressive for two micropreemies huh? We are sooooooo very proud of them. This means that as far as growth is concerned, they have quickly caught up to their (full term) 12m peers!

Now for the rest of the news. Dr. Fasci is very pleased with their growth and development. She said she would not guess they were preemies by their appearance or behaviors. She was very pleased to hear that Jenna, too, had been released from physical therapy last week. She says that she looks great with her movement and tone and loves that she is "talking" so much. She also said the same about Blake. When we told her that the kids were standing and that Blake has sttod a few times on his own, she was delighted. She proceeded to tell us that for her, they are truly miracles. Just the fact that they are doing so well, are so healthy and are exhibiting a much faster "preemie catch up" time. I thank God each and every day that we were not only granted the most precious gifts with having Blake and Jenna but also for how incredibly well they continue to do.

Dr. Fasci also reported that Blake and Jenna have nearly completely caught up with their 12m full term peers! She reports that they look and act just like any other 12m old. She reminded us to continue to keep in mind that they are preemies and to continue being conservative through RSV and flu season, given their chronic lung disease and medical history but that she encourages us to trade out deeming them as 8month babies for 12m toddlers. That excited me so much and makes me sad too. The saying that kids grow too fast has proven itself to me a hundred times over in the last 6months or so. When they were struggling to put on a single ounce per day to make it to 2lbs, 3lbs, and so on, in my mind, they couldn't grow fast enough. Once they came home, they grew and grew and grew. And here we are now.

Feeding....It is well over due that Jason and I introduce table foods to Blake and Jenna. Again, we were going off of their adjusted age and feeding them accordingly. We've been feeding them baby food twice a day and cereal at night....bottles through out the day. No table foods as of yet besides a little mashed potatoes, oh, and whip cream(thanks Aunt Donna, she gave them some on Thanksgiving). Dr. Fasci suggested that we get a nutritionist and feeding specialist in to evaluate the kids. Not due to any concerns, just to help fully evaluate beings that they were intubated a couple times and were on feeding tubes and ventilator for some time. She feels that they will be off of formula completely by about 15months. They aren't quite ready for whole milk yet until we introduce and regularly feed table foods and would like to see their formula intake decrease. We can start with mashed potatoes, green beans, yogurt, cheerios, gerber graduates. Also, another goal is to regularly use sippy cups. We've given the kids sippy cups from time to time, but again, I think Jason and I were going along with their adjusted age and were maybe holding them back a bit. with the sippy cup transition. So.....mommy went grocery shopping and is pulling out the sippy cups, the cheerios and graduate puffs, yogurt and other "yum-yums". Jason had a great suggestion the other day. He wanted to know what I thought about starting to have dinner together all four of us at the table. That way, it will get them used to sitting and eating while we do, in prep for when they are feeding themselves. I think its a great idea and will establish "family time" early on. Oh, and then there is the benefit of getting them used to it so we can go out to dinner once in a while. ;)

Oh, yes. Then there were the shots and blood test. They got their finger pricked for an iron test. Then they received their flu booster, the H1N1 vaccine, Synagis and one of their12m boosters. YES, poked 5 times!!!! Poor babies. Luckily, Brian is very fast about it all. We had already been in the office for about an hour and a half and the kids were falling asleep. I held Jenna, she was first. I tried waking her up to avoid a very rude awakening. After several attempts with of poking, rubbing and talking to her we just had to do the deed. Unforunately, she was rudely awaken. It is so difficult to hear your child cry like that and keep from crying yourself when you feel so bad for holding them down and "allowing" this to happen. She cried big crocodile tears and then just sort of layed in my arms and gazed at my hair. It was so sweet, between the exhaustion and let down from the rush of surprise and pain, she moved about very slowly reaching up and brushing her fingers through my hair back and forth. Too sweet!!! Jason held Blake for his shots. I think Daddy and Blake may have shared some tears. At least it appeared that Jason was holding an empathetic tear back. Blake cried for a bit and moaned an unhappy moan for a bit. Once we got them settled down, we packed up and went home. Total time spent at pedi appointment time for twins....2 hours. I am sooooooo glad Jason is able to (and insists on) taking them with me. The kids are so lucky to have him as their daddy, and I am for having such a great partner.

All in all, the day went very very well. We go back in three months for their 15m check and to get the remaining boosters. I am so happy to report more wonderful news and pray for continued good health and development. And finally, we want Blake and Jenna to know how very much we love them and of how very proud they continue to make us. We love you "Boogie" and "Chuchi Fruits"! ;)

Jenna's First Zoobie

2010-01-26T20:30:00.002-06:00

As Jason posted yesterday, Jenna now has a pearly white little gem of a tooth! Again, Jason is the one who discovered this exciting bit of news. Jason and I noticed that Jenna was chomping down especially hard on her teething toys the last few days and the "drool faucet" opened to full flow. The day before I reached in Jenna's mouth to check her gums and she immediately started crying. Poor gal was in some discomfort so I let it go. The next night while I was running an errand Jason sent me a text sayiing, "I know why Jenna wouldn't let you look in her mouth. Yep, she cut her first tooth." Once again, there I am in some random store with tears in my eyes. SIGH, oh brother! I was so excited to see her when I got back home. Jason said he could see a raised area with a tear and a little hole. Still today, you can barely see it but it has certainly cut through. I'm quickly realizing that we are moving from baby to toddlerhood. Although, you will often still hear (and read) me say baby. I think I am going to hang on to that one a bit longer. ;)

Congrats Jenna....one step closer to sharing McDonald's french fries with mommy!

He's standing.... Let the chaos begin.

2010-01-25T20:37:00.002-06:00

Well, every parent has told me "Enjoy it while you can... They grow soooo fast" and that is 100% the truth.

Sat Kim sent me a txt saying that Blake stood up and hovered with his arms out for 3 or 4 seconds before he sat back down. Amazing....
Sun, while I was playin with the kids, he stood up and looked around for several seconds before he sat back down. Won't be too long before he's runnin all over the house... geez... they grow so fast.

Jenna has been a lil tornado at nap/bed time the last day and a half. She'll fall asleep in our arms, but thrashes around and fusses the second we put her down. I was pretty sure it was teething & the vast quantities of drool, and her chomping things clued me in. In preparation for bed time I gave her some Tylenol 30min prior, hoping that it would help her gum pain and let her fall asleep easy. Ummmm no.... Thats when I went to put some oragel on her gums and found that she had cut her tooth, but it was still recessed and hadn't surfaced quite yet! So it's there and ready to pop up any second now. Poor thing, that can not feel good at all. :(

Surprisingly enough, a little fussing is pretty much as bad as their teething has been. We are continually amazed at how easy they are on us. They must either really really love us, or pitty us. Either way, it really makes our life easier! ;)

Tomorrow is going to be a fun day..... It's time for their 12 month shots! Eeeeekkkk
NOT looking forward to that, but I guess it's pretty helpful. So far they have only got sick one time. We could tell that they were fighting off a cold while Kim and I recovered from our Xmas cold, but they never got full blown sick. Miracles DO happen. ha ha

Well, other than that things are pretty normal. Work, play/take care of kids, do some home chores, sleep, then do it all over again....

Hope everyone out there is doing good as well.
Take care.
-J

"Look Mommy, No Hands!" ~Blake "Look Mommy, I'm a Rock Star" ~Jenna

2010-01-21T16:30:00.004-06:00

Oh My!!! I just witnessed Blake hold a three second squatty sort of stand with NO hands!!! He and Jenna are playing in the "Play Yard" in the livingroom. I look over and she is "toying" with the idea of going from a sitting position to a more vertical one-haha. He holds out his arms to either side and starts lifting up. No toys, toy table near to pull up on. He gets a good half way up, holds it a good three seconds and then back down. What? Are we to see Blake standing on his own soon? Since then, I've seen him try it again!!! Oh my gosh son, SLOW DOWN so mommy can catch up to all these new changes-haha.

Speaking of......he is also starting to give kisses. Granted I think he thinks it's a game. If you give him a kiss and make an "MMMMMMUwa" sound and pull away, then he opens his mouth and leans in. Too cute!! He has done this for three says now.

Little Miss Jenna has a few new things going on to. She has been quite the talker and says "dadadada and babababa". Yesterday I noticed that she was dancing to music. Of the MANY musical toys they have, when she hears it she starts a little wiggle or rocking motion. A girl after my own heart, she loves to dance.

Going to get down and play with these little guys now!!!

Jan 20th-PartI-Physical Therapy Graduate!! Part II-"Proud Parents On Board:Our Kids Are Rule Breakers!"

2010-01-20T15:26:00.019-06:00

Yay Jenna!!!! Jenna was released by her physical therapist, Mary Elizabeth today. I am so proud of her. If you recall, we had a bit of a slow start the first few weeks when the kids were brought home and when they started PT at home. Jenna exhibited signs of some tightness in her legs and at times was easily over stimulated, causing her to tense up and tighten up even more. Once Jenna got settled in, she started progressing rather well. She and Blake received physical therapy once a week. Blake sailed through and was released in September or October. Jenna was still being seen once a week until recently which switched to every two weeks. What was once a show of an occasional tightness in her lower body is long gone now. Turns out, some of the muscle tone was due to her nervous system needing additional time to grow into and get accostomed to her new bigger body. Some of the tightening up may have been a compensating behavior as well. It may of been her way of dealing with a feeling of stress. In the last year, she went from being an easily over stimulated gal to a very comfortable, content and playful gal with even more of that spunk we all know so well! Mary Elizabeth has been impressed with Jenna's movements and development for months now. We have seen several changes in her and have watched her exceed our hopes and expectations. When we found out that Jenna had experienced a bilateral ventricular hemorage when she was 12 days old, we could only dream of a day we would receive the news we did today in a mere year. Yay, Jenna! Mommy, Daddy and Blake are so proud to celebrate this great accomplishment with you.

PART II-"Proud Parents On Board:Our Kids are Rule Breakers"

If you've been keeping up with our progress, you've read how both Jason and I continue to be surprised by the "twinkies". When considering their development, they are currently exhibiting 10, 11 and 12 month skills at a ripe age of 8 months. Yes, chronologically they were born a year ago. However, Jason and I often have to remind ourselves that it isn't fair to them if we expect the same abilities from them that we would of full term babies of 12months.It usually takes premature babies at least two years to catch up to peers of their chronological age, sometimes up to five. We plan to give them as much time as they need. :) We certainly do not want to rush things. Afterall, tehy grow fast enough on their own, don't they? Anyways, we were told that babies born as micropreemies usually reach skills 3-4 months later than their adjusted age. We are proud of Blake and Jenna for showing us that they want to be an exception to that "rule". (Come to think of it, they have proven to be quite the little "rule breakers". They have not only caught up to their 8month adjusted age peers, but are quickly catching up to those born at full term! It is truly amazing. Of course part of me wants to boast with pride like those parents do with the nifty bumper stickers that say, "My Child is an honor student at XYZ Elementary School", but more than anything I want my bumper sticker to say, "Proud Parents on Board: Our Kids are Rule Breakers!". haha I realize, this may need to be removed when the kids are old enough to read and question it!

Visiting with Old Friends

2010-01-16T23:24:00.004-06:00

Kinsley, Trinity, Jenna & Blake

On Saturday, we went to visit Trena, Keith, Trinity and Kinsley at thier house. We all had such a great time. Trena and I have stayed in touch since our "big release" by texting every other week or so but this is the first time we've gotten the kids together since they've been home.

Blake and Jenna felt very comfortable at thier house. They immediately started playing as soon as we put them on the floor. Boy, Jenna must've had a blast because she was in rare form. She was ALL over the place going from one toy to the next and saying hello to her friends and then back to playing. She was exploring everything and was "talking" all about it.

Wow, the girls look so fantastic! They are doing so great and have grown so much. It was so wonderful to see them healthy and so happy. They have the biggest blue doe eyes ever! These identical beauties are so sweet and are true gems!

Trena surprised us with bday cupcakes (candles included!), gifts and even some party hats for the kids. We got a couple cute pics of all four of the kids in their hats. We had a mini bday party. We all had such fun! We've decided that many more playdates are definitely in order.

Can't wait to see them again!

Fun Day Planned

2010-01-16T09:50:00.003-06:00

Today should be a fun one. We were invited over to the O'Brien's house. Yep, Trinity and Kinsley, fellow former 24weekers and NICU neighbors. We haven't seen them since Blake and Jenna got released from the hospital. This will be our first official playdate. We couldn't be happier that it will be with Trinity and Kinsley! Can't wait to see how they've grown and how beautifully big they are.

We may also get to visit another fav nurse, "Auntie Janice". She was Blake's primary night nurse starting the very first day they were admitted and were with the twins all the way through their stay. We have kept in touch with her and check in with one another nearly every week. Her birthday was Tuesday and we are so sad that we let it slip our mind! She called yesterday and invited us to dinner tonight. So we have tentative plans to see her today too!

As part of their first birthday celebration, I wanted to take Blake and Jenna to Build-a-Bear and get them some very special birthday bears made. Jason and I decided we were going to have a doctor bear and a nurse bear made in honor of a few of the most influential people in Blake and Jenna's first year. However, since it rained pretty much all day we wanted to try and avoid the messy roads as much as possible. It's okay though, we had a full day of fun nevertheless. We plan to take them for their birthday bears early in the week.

The kids are up and are playing with their bday balloons this AM. It's pretty cute to watch as they try and grab ahold of them. They keep watching them float around so they bat at them and everyonce in a while are able to "tackle" one to hold. Jenna has one of "those" looks on her face. The kind that says, "I'm warning you, I am not happy about your alusiveness!" Lastnight she kept trying to taste the balloon. After she realized it just wouldn't fit into her mouth, she gave it an angry growl. This morning I see that she has learned to grab it's string and pull it closer to her!

Watching Blake stroll around in the walker this morning has put a not so pleasant thought in my head. As I watched him grab onto the bar of the stationary jumparoo that Jenna was sitting in and pulled himself close to her causing the walker to recklessly balance on two wheels. All the while looking at me with the biggest happiest grin. If he is anything like daddy, and oh how he IS, he will be a fearless and daring child that will frequent the ER for injury accidents. When daddy tosses him in the air, he throws all concern and fear to the wind, laughs a deep tummy laugh and smiles ear to ear. Jason and I were talkeing lastnight about how Blake is such a different baby from what he was in the NICU. While in the NICU, his moves and actions were cautious and thought out. You could see on his face that he would think about what was going on around him and to him. He frequently had looks of "what's going on here?", "where am I", and "what are you all looking at me for?" He was often labeled our thinker. Now, however, he is still a thinker but since he has gained a *few* pounds and grown into his body and has gained some confidence and comfort, he has thrown most fear out the window. He is laid back and rearely gets mad, is always looking for the nearest opportunity to socialize, loves to laugh and can be seen with a big boyish grin from ear to ear. tha is if you can keep up with his constant motion.

Jenna is a lot like she was in the NICU. She was deemed our "little firecracker", "little spitfire" and most of all, our "spunky one" who wasn't afraid to tell you what she thought. I am so glad that still rings true. We love her little spunky attitude and that she wears her emotions on her face. You can't always read her looks, as she has many to decifer. She, too, is laid back in many ways but she knows what she likes and knows how to let you know when she is not impressed with something. One thing that has changed is that she is just so much happier and "smiley". After about two months of being home, it was as if she turned a new leaf. From a serious and some what unsure manner to a much relaxed and happy one. We were so happy to see her face frequent a big beautiful smile. She is very attentive and can focus on a "task" for a pretty impressive amount of time. She has a cute sense of humor too! She really enjoys laughing and being tickled. She quickly becomes our little "giggle box" when you get her going by tickling her tummy. Here lately she has been quite the "talker". Her latest is, "babababa". Momma especially likes when she is absent mindedly working on something like folding laundry and hears an "uh!" only to look up to see her little ray of sunshine smiling at her, her whole face lit up so brightly.

Well, guess it's time for me to stop marveling and hit teh grocery store. A much less enjoyable time spent. Oh well, the faster I get it done, the faster I can be back.

2010-01-15T00:01:00.011-06:00

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY JENNA & BLAKE

TXT sent to Anna, April, Janice, & Dr. Su. this morning.(this could have gone out to many many more, but we don't have their personal #)

Just one short year ago, our lives were completely changed with the early arrival of our precious babies.
Dr. Su was one of the very first people to lay eyes on them and helped ensure they stayed with us. Their journey had just begun. From that moment, they had the most amazing guardian angels watching over them 24hrs a day.

They owe their very survival to the angels that perform miracles on a daily basis.
They will grow up knowing the struggles they worked through and the amazing people that were there to guide them through safely.
You will never know how grateful we are that each one of you were there to give them the attention and love they needed to grow strong so they could come home to us.

Happy birth day Jenna & Blake.
Love to all of you as well.
-Jason & Kim

Well, last night/this AM Kim and I went through all the picasa web photo albums. It certainly brought back a lot of memories.
This morning both Kim and I woke up in a great mood. We greeted the lil ones with a happy birthday song and gave them a bath.
While we were sitting around down stairs, a little inspiration hit me and I wanted Dr. Su and our nurses to know how much we appreciate all the things they have done for the twins and us, so Kim and I wrote out a txt.
It just so happened that Dr. Su & Anna were in a big staff meeting. Anna said that in the middle of the meeting, she hopped up and ran around the table to show Dr. Su. Both of them got a little misty. Thats ok, we were misty writing it.
It also worked out that they had a few spare minutes to visit with us after their meeting. "Luckily" for us, it was chilly and raining, just like the day we brought them home. So we bundled the kids up and took them up to the hospital to visit with their guardian angels. :)

It was really neat seeing several of the nurses and doctors that spent hours and hours looking over our babies, making sure they made it to another day.

Kim and I have talked many times about how much these nurses and Dr.'s put "everything" into their jobs and the babies they care for. It's kinda sad to us that they don't often get to see the results of all their hard work. I test software for a living.... If software breaks, or doesn't go out on time, nobody is really going to notice. What these people do Every day; effects peoples lives, for the rest of their lives. There are not too many professions in this world that have such a profound impact on so many people. Keep up the great work; you have our heartfelt gratitude!

The rest of the day was great. We spent the rest of the day playing with the kids, then after dinner we gave the kids their present and took some birthday pics. We decided not to have a big birth day party on their actual birth day. Instead, we will celebrate on their original due date when they will be 1 yr old developmentally. So, we had a pretty relaxing day with the kids. We'll also do a little family dinner so everyone can get together.

All in all, a great day.
Here are the pics from the NICU visit and BDay present.
Click me for Birt hDay Pics
Click me for NICU Pics

~Jason

FLASHBACK FRIDAY~BEFORE/AFTER

~~~~~~~~~~
Well, I can't seem to fall asleep so I may as well post.........
Like Jason reported, we started the day with singing Happy Birthday to Jenna and Blake. They woke up in great moods and greeted us with smiles and outreached arms. We figured since they really enjoy bubble baths, we would continue our morning with giving them some new bath toys and letting them get "squeeky clean". Jenna enjoys splashing the water so much that by the end of her bath, I'm soaked, the floor is flooded and the tub is *nearly* empty. Blake on the other hand goes into automatic "mellow" mode while in the bathtub. He calmly plays with his bath toys and relaxes as if he is enjoying a day at the spa. I call Jenna our"Splasher" and Blake our "Bather".

After their bath we brought them down for some play time. We played on the floor and then in the walker and jumparoo. These days, Blake gets around so well in their walker that he strolls all over the kitchen, diningroom and livingroom. He knows how to "shift into reverse" as well as into "turbo"-haha. He manuevers around here like he owns the place. Jenna is starting to explore what it's like to "walk" around in it. She especially is curious about the see through window in the tray of the walker. She likes to look at her feet and at the things that pass under her as she "walks" around.

Once we sent the text this morning and found out that Dr. Su and Anna would be available for a visit, we dressed the kids in their "birthday shirts" and headed that way.

It was a unique feeling walking those hospital post partum hallways again. I couldn't help but to take note that even though it had been a year, the smell, appearance and atmosphere made it feel as though everything had stayed the same, just the way we left it. ;) I then thought about how many patients must've been there and gone since our time there......then about how much time had really passed and how much things had changed at our house....how far the kids have come from the time they were born a year ago today, to that very moment. I walked that trek to the NICU more content than I think I ever had before.

We were able to visit with several people of our NICU family. As we were catching Gabe and Amy and a few others up on what Blake and Jenna have been up to, Anna finished up in her meeting and came out to visit. It was so great to see her and to have the kids see her again. She was with the kids since day 2 of their stay. I can't say enough about the care she provided Jenna and Blake (and us). Shortly after, Dr. Su finished up in the meeting and came out. All I could do is give him a huge hug. He asked us about their development and health and just couldn't be happier to hear that we had such great reports to share. We were able to spend quite a bit of time with them today just catching up and visiting. I can't imagine going through Blake and Jenna's bday without at least talking to them and thanking them.

Jenna enjoyed playing with Amy's retractable name badge when we first got there. She went from nurse to nurse visiting and saying "Hello, look at me now". Blake looked around curiously and hammed it up from time to time. We got there at 11:45 and were there for probably an hour. They had yet to nap today. Jenna was really tired. Poor thing could barely keep her eyes open half way through our visit. It was really cute though cause once she got so tired, she got to snuggle while being held my Anna, Crystal and then Dr. Su. Blake got to have a few laughs with Dr. Su and really wanted to get ahold of his glasses. After some time, the fun had to end....afterall, there were little babies who needed the care and attention like we needed and received once not too long ago.

On our way through the hospital we saw Lucy, Kat and a few other postpartum nurses. Lucy and Kat were like my "primary" nurses when they were on shift. They both recognized us right off and greeted us with "drop jaw" smiles as they saw Blake and Jenna. There were a few other nurses that came over to see what all of the "fuss" was about. They were pleasantly surprised at Blake and Jenna's story of strength and accomplishment. Lucy and Kat asked how old they were and when we told them it was their first birthday they just couldn't get over the fact that it had been a year. It's funny how time sneaks away. As we were leaving a strong feeling of relief, pride and contentment was felt by both Jason and I as we strolled Blake and Jenna out with us. It was still raining, but I didn't care. It reminded me of the day the kids were released from the hospital and it brought upon a feeling of deja vu.

When we got back home, we spent the rest of the day playing, taking pictures and playing with their birthday toys. It was a nice evening. One of the best parts was holding Blake and Jenna in our arms, remembering how we longed to snuggle and hold them for days following their birth, and knowing how wonderful it is to do it now.

I really enjoyed celebrating their first birthday and I hope Blake and Jenna had a good day too. Even though they yet to know what birthdays are all about, I hope that especially today, they know how very much I love them, how very special they are and that I am taken back by the amount of joy they bring to my life each and every day.

Birthday Plans

2010-01-13T11:43:00.006-06:00

We are in the final days of our countdown to Jenna and Blake's first birthday. Just two more days including today and our little ones will be turning one year old! Friday marks the day Jason and I officially met our little sweeties.

So on Friday, Jason and I will be celebrating with Jenna and Blake by getting lots of playtime in (and pics of course). If the weather allows, we will take a visit to the park. We have decided that it is best to hold off on having a birthday party til after RSV/Flu and cold season. So far we have managed to avoid all of the above by limiting their exposure to large groups of people and limiting being out in public places much. It's proven to be a challenge because if you look at them now, you'd never know they weren't full term babies. We've had to remind ourselves that along with having their medical history, comes the need for extra precautions during the RSV and Flu season for the first year or so. So far we've been able to ward off any further development of the occasional sniffle and sneeze they've had.

We will throw them a big birthday party near their developmental age of one which will also be near their "Homecoming" date. We figure we will combine the two for a celebration of them reaching the developmental age of one and the anniversary that they were released from the NICU and joined us at home. Oh, and don't think I haven't already started planning for their first birthday party-haha. I already have the theme picked out- a classic author/character fav of kids of all ages! Can't wait to see the kids dig into their first cake.

"Your Boys All Grown Up!"

2010-01-07T20:26:00.004-06:00

It is official.........the kids are growing TOO fast! Just months ago I wouldn't have dreamed of saying so. But today, I am. Blake has his FIRST tooth!!!!! Yes, his FIRST tooth!!

"Daddy" noticed the little "zoobie" while I was out running an errand tonight. I was at Hobby Lobby when I received the call from Jason. The first thing he said was, "Your boys all grown up momma!", then the call dropped. Just hearing that I knew Blake had done something pretty big. I kept thinking, "He couldn't have taken his first step!"-haha! Then when we finally got back in touch with one another he told me that Blake has his first tooth. My response? Tears, standing in the middle of the aisle at Hobby Lobby, crying! HA! I couldn't wait to get home to see it myself.

Jason said he was playing on the floor with the kids when Blake climbed over to him and reached for his finger to chew on. When he started chewing on Jason's finger, Jason said he thought, "What the heck?" and started feeling his bottom gum. He felt the sharp little tooth that had apparently come in today. Funny now, it seems Blake went over to daddy to tell him, "Daddy, feel this!".

As soon as I got home I scrubbed up and started feeling around on Blake's gums and tried to take a peek. I found myself wanting to pin him down and pry open his little mouth to see this for myself. So exciting but sad too. My baby is a BABY!!! sigh.....I am so proud though. Although you can see just a clear/white bit poking through, you can certainly feel it.

So, of course this prompted us to feel around in Jenna's mouth. She has been teething just as long as Blake has. Nothing showing yet. I am sure I will be looking each day just expecting to see her first "zoobie" any day now.

Wow, these milestones are proving to be a bit overwhelming for me at times. I just REALLY can't believe that just days shy of a year ago at this time I was looking at my precious, much awaited for, babies through wires, monitors, tubes, incubators and life sustaining medical equipment praying for miracles to happen. Miracles that would allow my babies to become strong and healthy. A full year later....miracles granted, many prayers answered, here we are...all four of us together. Mommy and Daddy watching their miracle babies learning and growing faster than ever.

Truly Blessed. Truly overwhelmed.
~Kim

FLASHBACK Saturday

2010-01-02T19:13:00.008-06:00

Well, I've been meaning to start something new on the blog. I am a "follower" to a blog kept by fellow former NICU mom who posts a "Flashback Friday" posting to her twins' blog each week. She includes a picture from the twins' past and sometimes a thought or two about the pic. I found myself looking forward to checking their blog each Friday to see the pic because it is just amazing seeing where they were then compared to where they are now. So........I've been wanting to start a "Flashback Friday" posting each week on pur blog. I missed doing this yesterday so this week it's "Flashback Saturday"

The first picture was taken on April 6th. It is Mimi (Jason's mom) and Blake. Mimi is giving Blake a little pat or two to help relieve some tummy pressure. At this time, he still had a feeding tube and was being fed via bottle or was nursed and then every third feed was via feeding tube.

The second pic is a fav or mine. It was taken on April 11th of Jason nose to nose with his baby girl. We were in the last month of our 4 1/2 month NICU stay. Jenna was on nasal cannula at the time. The twins were co-cribbing.

When I look back at the pics that were taken while at the hospital, it feels like such a long time ago most days and others, it still feels so new. It's strange how it feels time can stand still but can go so fast too.

A First For Jenna

2010-01-02T11:47:00.002-06:00

Well, Jenna did it. Two days ago while Jason was solo watching the kids he said he had them playing in the "play yard" and stepped into the kitchen for something. When he walked back in he found Jenna standing! She was bracing herself with one of the learning tables and was standing. She was proudly smiling while daddy cheered her on. A few minutes later I guess she wasn't too sure what to do next because she started crying. Jason encouraged her and she quickly sat and calmed down. Boy, the kids are growing and learning new things daily.

They both have given up their intermittent low crawling with full on crawling these days. Jenna is currently into climbing, crawling and an occasional stand. Blake is into standing, standing and standing. He gets around very well in the walker. The tile floor has really leant Blake some good times as he "walks" around and around the livingroom, diningroom and kitchen. Jenna is usually content with standing in the walker playing with her toys. She is starting to move around a bit in it and I'm sure will be strolling around soon. It may be time to get a 2nd walker soon.

The kids are really enjoying their new toys. Instead of putting out all of their new toys, we've decided to take out two or so at a time. We like to rotate toys out weekly so that they will have renewed interest in toys they already have. We are adding in a new toy sor two in each rotation. That way the kids can explore new things each week and can re-explore toys they've already had. It has worked very well so far (thanks for the tip veteran moms).

I forgot to mention one of the kids' neatest gifts that they got for Christmas. Their Aunt Donna handmade them Christmas stockings. They are awesome! Donna and I were given handmade Christmas stockings by a great aunt when we were kids that both of us still have. Donna make Blake's and Jenna's in a similar way. They are made of felt, sequins and beads. She put a lot of work into them and it certainly shows. I'll include pics when I add more to the site.

Well, I'm off to play with the kids. More to come soon as I'm sure they will do something today worth posting about.

HO! HO! HO!

2009-12-29T21:46:00.003-06:00

We've heard lots of requests for an update lately. With the holidays here, it seems we have been on the go for weeks now. Where does time go? And HOW do babies grow SO fast?

Jenna and Blake had a great first Christmas! Santa (and our family) was very kind to them. Guess they figure the twins were pretty good this year. I would have to agree! Where to start, so much to report and share with you all.

We celebrated Christmas in Bryan a couple weeks ago with my sister, her family and my parents (PawPaw and Gammy). Jenna quickly took to crinkling, and better yet tasting, the Christmas wrap. She was more interested in trying to eat the paper than anything else. Blake got excited over all the movement and noise (as usual) and wanted to touch everything. He LOVED the sippy cup that was in his stocking from Santa. Then when he opened the Vulli Sophie the Giraffe teether, he was head over heals with it. I had one when I was a baby, so Aunt Donna thought it would be neat for the twins to have one too. We got some great pics of Blake trying to devour it, haha. Also got many pics of one of us removing mouthfuls of Christmas wrap Jenna had in her mouth. The kids did great with all of the excitement and even played together long enough to let mommy and daddy eat dinner uninterrupted! It was a nice day. Oh, and the big news was that Blake started crawling while at PawPaw and Gammy's house, Dec 12th. They both had been "low crawling" but much to our surprise, Blake took off and started actually crawling. Jenna did the same two days later!

We stayed in Austin on Christmas day. We decided to offer up our house for the festivities this year. We figure we hadn't had it here and it just might be easier on the kids to be at home. Since generally the festivities are an all day thing, we were hoping that by being at home, they would be more apt to take their naps and that all four of us would last the entire day :) We were planning on 30plus family members at the house. We did a lot of prepping the week before but am glad we did because much were things that we've been meaning to get done anyways. Jason and Adam replaced our old screaching sliding glass kitchen doors with a nice set of french doors. It looks GREAT and is 110% nicer! Just in time for company. Jason set up a firepit out back wich was enjoyed by many on Christmas day.

Back to Jenna and Blake.....on Christmas Eve, we started a new tradition. The kids open one gift, their Christmas Eve PJs. This year they got Paul Frank matching monkey PJs. They looked so cute! I can't believe they are wearing 12M clothes now! Again, Jenna just wanted to eat the paper. On Christmas morning Mimi, Papa, Syd, Tim, Christine, Kaylee, Sara, Josh and Jude, and my parents (we were glad they decided to join us even after having celebrated with my side of the family) came over to have breakfast and open gifts. Jenna wore her red and white velvet dress and Blake had his matching Santa suit on. The kids all looked so cute! There were gifts everywhere! The kids loved rattling the paper and peering into the boxes. Mimi bought them a Laugh and Learn Stage that the kids just LOVE! It's a real hit! They have been enjoying playing with it together. After opening sooo many gifts, the extended family started showing up. Before we knew it we had a full house. We had a great time having everyone over, it was real nice seeing everyone. The kids loved the attention and did such a great job handling such a long day. Fortunately being at home, they felt comfortable enough to take their naps when needed. In fact, Blake actually fell asleep several times right in the middle of the livingroom with all the noise and commotion. Blake snoozed on the couch while wearing his Santa suit, his belly hanging out (appropriately so). Jenna played with her cousin Jude. They had a great time seeing everyone. They really are such good babies.

What else have the babies been up to? Plenty!!! Blake continues to climb on whatever and whoever is near. Jenna insists on feeding herself these days! Yes, it has been quite the little development. It started one day all of a sudden with her grabbing for the spoon. The first day I kindly put her hand down and told her" Thank you but mommy will do it". That only worked for a day. The next day, she grabbed the spoon with both hands. I tried holding her hands down but it made her so angry she spit out the food and stiffened up so that she slid around in the highchair. So, I came to the conclustion that if she was being that persistent then it was probably time that I gave up the idea of a semi-cleanly feeding time and trade it for one that gave her an opportunity to try some independence, a much more messy approach. I filled the spoon and brought it to her mouth, she immediately grabbed it and put it in her mouth and smiled. Well, it took a few days of experimenting cause once she had the spoon, she didn't want to give it back. So I filled one, gave it to her, she fed herself and dropped the empty one for a full one. Quite the production. I had carrots in my hair, her hair, my shirt, her clothes, the chair, the floor, her eyelashes, my arms......whew. I missed those days of cleaner eating but when I see her smile because she is so proud of herself, I soon forget the mess she's made. Blake is still content with my feeding him although he does like to hold my hand while eating and at times likes to put the spoon in his mouth when he is waiting for me to open the jar of food. The other big development with Jenna is that she has started moving from a crawling position to a sitting one. She was getting so frustrated and has been so close for about a week now. She is much happier playing on the floor now that she has learned this new position change. She has also been pulling down the crib bumper to peek into Blake's crib. She does this to wake him when she gets up in the morning and is lonely. It is so cute to see her little fingers pull at the bumper and then all of a sudden you see two beautiful blue eyes looking through the slats at you paired with a precious little smile.

The biggest development with Blake I guess is that he is standing!!! Granted he is holding on to something while standing but all the same, he is standing! He has been pulling up on things for about two weeks now. Now that he has some learning table type toys, he has been pulling up on them and has quickly learned that he can pull himself up and stand. In fact, he also stands in his crib and looks over the end into Jenna's crib to say hello.

They play very well together these days. They are always looking to one another and talking to each other. It is great to watch.

Jason and I couldn't agree more that our greatest gift ever, has been our two miracle babies. It is hard to fathom that this time last year Jason and I went to sleep on Christmas night wondering what our little boy and little girl might look like and anticipating another 4 1/2 months of waiting to find out. Little did we know that we would find out a mere 2 1/2 weeks later. On Christmas night this year, we were extremely fortunate to tuck our precious angels into bed after having them fall asleep in our arms. It is just too hard to believe, even as I sit here today and watch them sleep-happily and healthy. Truly the most beautiful sight to see.

Thank you for your prayers and support this past year. I know our babies are with Jason and I today much due to the many answered prayers you all sent out. I can't ever thank you enough......

I am working on posting more new pics.....stay "tuned".

More Great News and Growth

2009-12-16T12:27:00.005-06:00

I took the kids to their cardiologist follow up appointment yesterday. This was their first cardio follow up appointment since their NICU stay. (If you recall, Blake had PDA heart surgery last January. Jenna had been given two doses of meds to help close this same valve. She continued to have a murmur but did not require surgery). Dr. Shapiro checked them both. Jenna's murmur has closed and he said that both have healed nicely and that their hearts are healthy and strong. He is so pleased that he has released them from his care! Another HUGE relief. There just aren't words to describe the relief Jason and I feel everytime we get a good report, and better yet are told that Jenna and Blake are released from specialists' care. We have already checked off the pulmonologist, nephrologist, developmental pediatrician, and now the cardiologist from our "need to see" doctor list.

Wow, what an appointment it was! We were there for two hours. Jason was planning on going with me but he was called into a meeting at the last minute. I dressed the kids up real warm and headed to the doc's office. Now, doing double duty paper work at the doctor's office is just part of the routine and we are quite used to it. However, we haven't had to visit any doctors since the kids have become more "mobile" (thankfully). They aren't nearly as satisfied sitting in their carriers anymore while mommy takes care of all the paperwork. I was glad that we had some new toys to play with while we waited (thanks Donna, Gammy, Aunt Christine and Mimi). The appointment consisted of cardiograms and other tests. Trying to keep 7 month old babies still while having a cardio done is quite a challenge. Haha, we had lots of fun with that. haha. It's alright though, they did pretty well and we got what we needed! We couldn't be happier.

We have the latest weigh ins! Jenna weighs 17pounds 15 ounces and Blake weighs 18pounds 12 ounces. Their height was also measured although I question the numbers. It is pretty hard to get height on wiggling babies. They were both measured to be 27 and 3/4 inches long. However, when Blake is in the walker, his feet sit flat on the floor. Jenna's toes reach.

Glad to share this latest great news with you all ! Thank you all for your continued support and prayers.

The Reid Pirates

2009-12-03T14:40:00.002-06:00

Here's a little 1 month flashback to Halloween. We all dressed up as pirates and attended a friend's wedding. They just sent us this pic from the reception.

Halloween Contest Results

2009-12-03T12:14:00.002-06:00

Well, I finally found out about the results of the Halloween contest that I entered the kids in. We came in second. Yay Jenna and Blake! The first place winner was the six year old cutie dressed up as Billy Mays. We has a slightly higher rating but he has more than twice the votes.

Gobble Gobble Gobble

2009-11-26T22:28:00.004-06:00

Today was a FUN day. We were in Bryan with the Patranella side of our family. Blake and Jenna had a great time visiting with family (as always). Jenna loved playing with PawPaw as you can see in the pic. She was defintely 'PawPaw's girl" today. She was even enjoying watching football while sitting on PawPaw's lap. She enjoyed sitting at the "grown up's table" with Gammy (grandma Patranella)! Blake was up to his usual curious ways, looking for things to inspect and people to laugh and smile with. He really enjoyed hanging out with his cousin Chris.

We had a great time, yummy food and one of my fav dessert, mom's lemon pie!

We missed you Waller side and hope you had a great Thanksgiving!!

1st visit with Santa

2009-11-24T21:06:00.003-06:00

Kim has really been looking forward to taking the kids to visit Santa, and we were finally able to make it happen today. Kids were feeling good, no Dr. or therapy appointments, and I was able to scoot out of work for a few minutes.

Santa Photos

Kim here........

As Jason mentioned above, we took the kids to see Santa yesterday. It was a very successful first encounter with Jolly Ole Saint Nic! The kids weren't scared or apprehensive, which I wondered a bit about. We went early afternoon in hopes to avoid long lines. Luckily when we got there, Santa was out "feeding his reindeer" so we were the first in line when he returned fifteen minutes later. Mimi and Grandpa N met us there so they helped keep the kids entertained while we waited. When it was our turn, as soon as Jenna caught sight of Santa, she was totally smitten!! Her little face lit up and she gave him her infamous gummy grin. It seems the first thing Blake noticed was his beard. We were able to take pics with our own camera since we planned to purchase some of theirs. Jason chose the "snow baby" theme of attire for the kids. I think it was good choice. Funny thing is as we looked at the series of pics, you can see that Blake was reaching for his beard in the first few and then in the last few he had ahold of it the whole rest of the time. Well, when it was time to leave I guess Blake wanted to take a little part of Santa home as a souvenir because he snatched out a CLUMP of his beard! It was his REAL beard!!!! OUCH! Poor Santa. haha.

EllaBella Photos are in

2009-11-24T20:56:00.003-06:00

I can't tell you how much Kim has been looking forward to getting these photo's.

Elle did a great job and captured some precious moments.

Enjoy.

EllaBella Photos

Santa, here we come!!

2009-11-19T21:03:00.004-06:00

Pictures taken at Zilker this Sunday

Okay, I know it's not even December yet but I am taking the kids to visit Santa tomorrow. I want to beat the usual crowd of coughing, sniffling, sneezing kids that start up immediately following the Thanksgiving holidays. I hear he is making an appearance at Lakeline Mall. I've seen pictures, I am convinved he's the real thing. ;)

November is Prematurity Awareness Month

LOVING being a mommy of twins!!!!

2009-11-17T19:58:00.004-06:00

Every day I am seeing more and more of Blake and Jenna's special "twinness". Many times during the day they can be found watching one another and giving each other a huge gummy grin. They reach out to one another and hold hands while we are out for walks, shopping or running errands.

I took the kids to Target with me this evening and I got a good laugh. Most of the time, Blake wants to be all over his sister. He likes to climb on her, be right on her, gnaw on her fingers and toes, often times breaking the concentration she has on the toy she is holding. He grabs the toys she is playing with and has been known to reach for the paci that is in her mouth. Well, guess who was pestering who this evening?! I took them in the side by side double umbrella stroller and she would not stop grabbing and pulling at his ears. She also grabbed for his hand but the biigest part of the time she was pulling on his ear. After some time I think he got tired of it becuase he turned his head and leaned over the side of the stroller to get some distance-haha! She kept looking up at me to make sure I was there and then gave me a huge grin as she held onto Blake's ear. It was really cute.

November 13th

2009-11-13T22:55:00.002-06:00

Here's one of the proofs from a recent photo shoot we had with Elle (Ella Bella Photography). She is fantastic!!

November 2nd

2009-11-06T10:51:00.003-06:00

Wow, November already!?!?!

Things are going well over here at the Reid household. The kids are getting more mobile each day. Blake is scooting and pulling and pushing himself around as well as spinning 360 degrees to get about. At times, he gets up on his knee or knees so I just watch in anticipation. I am excited but can definitely wait a bit longer for the days they are crawling. Jenna can give her attention to a toy for quite some time and isn't usually in a hurry to move on to a new toy so she does not have the urgency to get into everything within and outside of her reach. She is using her legs and feet to scoot around and is real good at holding her upper body up. She just hasn't put the two together yet. When they are both on the floor together Blake can almost always be found grabbing Jenna's hands or feet, touching her face or grabbing whatever it is she is playing with. Jenna is a great sport about Blake's "lovey" ways but understandably so, does get frustrated at times. Mostly though, they love hanging out togehter. She watches him and has been seen grabbing her brother's hand and touching his face. Boy, we have to watch lil "Blakers". ANY time I set them on the floor and I put a toy down for him, he plays with it but as soon as I put a toy in front of Jenna...as soon as his eyes hit it, he is on the move towards it and mows down anything in his way in order to get to the toy. He is definitely one that feels the need to get into whatever moves, makes a sound or looks his way. Jenna is amazing us these days with her attentiveness to the little things. She can manipulate the tags on stuffed animals for a good thirty minutes before moving ont o something else.

Oh, twinadoes are calling. I'll continue later.

Vote for Us! Halloween Photo Contest

2009-10-29T20:08:00.006-05:00

Well, mommy played dress up with us again today. I (Blake) was pretty excited cause I got to wear my cool UT sports "threads". And I (Jenna) couldn't wait for mommy to dress me up in my UT skirt. Then, mommy gave us a couple special pumpkins. The tiny ones were just our size! I (Blake) just HAD to taste it. I grabbed it and put it right in my mouth. Well, as much of it as I could. And I (Jenna) thought it was so funny when mommy started chanting UT cheers.

Mommy says we are the cutest UT fans around. She even entered us in an Austin Halloween photo contest. If you want to vote for us, check out the link below. We are dressed as the Cutest #1 UT fans.

Go to www.weareaustin.com

Click on Halloween Photo Contest (found on right side of page)

Click on View Entries

Then Vote

MayField Park Photo Session with Elle (Ella Bella Photography)

2009-10-17T08:47:00.002-05:00

Here are the latest and GREATEST new pics of "Team Reid" (as Jason likes to call us).....

We recently had a photo session with Elle Mendenhall (Ella Bella Photography) at Mayfield Park. It was a SMOLDERING 90+ degree day (aren't we in October? lol). Elle was highly recommended to us by our friends and parents of Jenna and Blake's former NICU neighbors, precious twin girls, Trinity and Kinsley. And sooo rightly so. She captures priceless candid moments and specializes in natural light/outdoor photography. With Jason and I being much of the "out doorsy" type, we knew she would be ideal for capturing some great pics of the "twinkies".

So with the weather being so "moody" lately, when I went shopping for clothes for the photo shoot, I reluctantly chose sweaters and cold weather attire. Well, the rest of this story wouldn't be "Texas Worthy" without a quick shift in weather/setting now would it? Well, long story short, I ended up going clothes exchanging the day before our photos. We went from winter attire to summer attire. Let me tell you, it really isn't that easy to coordinate colors for four (maybe this is just a learning curve sort of thing for the new mommy, dunno) without getting too many patterns involved. Luckily, I think I pulled it together in the end pretty well.

So on the morning of the photo shoot, the kids only had a short cat nap on the way over to the park. Our session was two hours long so we weren't sure how the kids were going to fair between the heat and lack of nap time. While they weren't full of smiles, they did VERY well. We managed to get a few smirks and smiles out of Blake (that's kinda his thing anyways). Jenna gave some gorgeous gazes into the camera. It turns out the heat and lack of sleep worked on our favor in the end. During the last thirty minutes of our session Jenna just couldn't keep her eyes open anymore so we got a pic of her snuggled up on daddy. We also got some shots that I had so hoped to get when they were newborns.....sleeping poses. Elle was excited, as were we, to get some shots of her in a basket sleeping. She says that it is very rare to get shots of them sleeping during a shoot at this age. Low and behold, Blake started getting heavy eyed and fell asleep too. Thanks to Elle's patience, we were able to get some of Blake sleeping in the basket too. The end the session we put both babies on a white furry rug and got some pics of them sleeping next to one another. What a great way to end the session!!

So, the sneak peak is available on the Ellabella website and there is also a link to it on my facebook page. Drumroll...................here they are!!! Our precious angels......

http://www.ellabellaphotos.com/blog/
just scroll down a bit

New Pics

2009-10-11T23:03:00.001-05:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/blakeandjenna/October?feat=directlink

NICU Reunion

2009-10-11T22:13:00.003-05:00

This Saturday was the St. David's NICU reunion. Jason was out of town playing "big boy games" i.e. Air Soft and Grandma Patranella was in town so she joined Jenna, Blake and I. It was out in the court yard at the hospital. There were lots of fun activities and live music. It was real nice. We saw a couple families that we had met while the babies were patients. We saw a few nurses too, that was fun. We were so excited to see Anna and April and were able to spend some time with them. Jenna and Blake were very pleased to be carried around by their special "aunties". I'm sure you all remember from earlier posts but, April was Blake's primary (day) nurse for a very long time (from the start), she watched Jenna as well when they were two to one and Anna wasn't there. Anna was Jenna's primary (day) nurse since they were I think three days old. At the end of Jenna and Blake's stay, Anna became "primary" for both the kids. They are two VERY special gals in our books! Part of our family for sure. It was their very special care that helped Jenna and Blake become stronger every day. It was their attentiveness that recognized the needs of Jenna and Blake day in and day out. They helped them be as comfortable as possible by taking the time to know and love our babies and "adjust their pillows" when they saw fit. It was their professionalism, positive energy, sense of humor and warmth that provided Jason and I with a great sense of comfort when we had to kiss and leave our babies at the hospital. 121 days! Leaving your very sick babies with others is an extremely difficult thing to do. Leaving the care and nurturing to others while you go home for the night is not a natural act for a parent. We had no choice but I'm sure we could'nt' have chosen anyone better (outside of family) to step in and care for our little Blake and Jenna! That goes for many of the other nurses too and especially Auntie Janice too! She was Blake's primary night nurse and later Jenna's too. She had a keen connection with our little Blake right from the start and could recognize when he wasn't being himself. It was her attentiveness that helped see Blake (and later Jenna too) through a many scary nights. Wow, I could go on and on about these gals. And Rhonda and Beth....and Heather and Daun........

Ok, so the reunion and being at the hospital has brought up some emotions. Sometimes, I still can't get over what a year it has been. We started it with great fear and uncertainty and here it is the Fall of the year and we have so much to celebrate. What a complete turn around. I just want to give big warm hugs to all those that cared for our miracle babies and to all the family and friends and friends of friends and strangers whose prayers helped to save the two lights of my life. And thanks to the brightest of the lights in my life, Jason. Without him, I couldn't have been the strong mommy I needed to be when my babies needed me most.

"Fairy Princess Jenna" and "Blakenstein"

2009-10-11T22:00:00.003-05:00

Our Little Fairy Angel and Our Little "Blakenstein"

Well, with Halloween right around the corner, mommy "had" to play dress up. Aren't they cute?

I found these costumes about a month ago, YES, a month ago. Jason and I REALLY like Halloween so as soon as

costumes came out in the stores, I picked up a FEW. I didn't have the kids with me while shopping so I brought a couple options home. Turns out after trying these cute ones on, (and snapping a few pictures), we won't be using them afterall. We've been invited to a wedding (Curt and Courtney) on Halloween and guests are asked to dress up. How fun?! So, I am trying to decide on a theme for the Reid family of four.

New Hats

2009-10-07T23:55:00.004-05:00

Check out Blake and Jenna's new hats. It was a bit breezy this morning for our morning walk so I pulled out new hats that I just got from Target. I LOVE the Target Dollar Spot!!!!

Best thing about the walk....Jenna and Blake held hands for part of the time-ADORABLE!!!

Great Developments

2009-10-02T22:04:00.002-05:00

Well, I feel as though I have lots to catch up and blog about. So much has been going on in the last month. I mentioned, and Jason posted a bit about the "twinkies" being sick a couple weeks ago. Blake started with a cough, I guess at the beginning of Sept. For a few days it was just a light, "clearing his throat" type thing. He had no fever and acted fine. A few days later his cough started sound different and he was clearly irritated by it. He would do the cutest reaction to his cough. Trailing his cough, he would give out a groan of disgust as if he was being bothered by such a nuisance. It was the cutest darn thing (not so cute that he appeared to be getting a little cold but cute int he dramatic act of it all). Then he started acting really tired and inactive. his cough became congested. Once it became congested, it took a turn pretty quickly for the worse. He began having labored breathing and had wheezing. I had taken him him prior to the wheezing and it was thought to be and was in fact viral at the time. However, after several days he began having fever and started with the wheezing. This was Friday evening at 5:30-the usual double whammy. After hours AND the weekend. Luckily, our pedi was on call. Long story short, we ended up needing to give him nebulizer/breathing treatments. Had a sonogram done. Showed swelling in his lungs. I was very afraid that it had become pneumonia. It later did became an infection so started him on antibiotics. I have to say, the labored breathing and choking with the coughing REALLY scared me. With his history, I was very anxious when I saw him having difficulty breathing. I found that breaking thoughts that something grave was going to come of this was very very hard. This is the first illness either of them had experienced since being discharged from the NICU. Had it been a cold I would've been fine but having wheezing and watching his chest cave in and out brought back some very scary feelings and heightened emotions. This time he had no monitors, no respirator on hand, no nurses and doctors at his bedside. Very scary and unsettling for me. With Jason's help, and focusing on keeping Blake comfortable as possible, it slowly got better. Jenna warded off catching it from her brother for about five days. Then she started having a runny nose and a bit of a cough. She, too, became sick. Thankfully, it didn't get nearly as bad as with Blake. But for two weeks we had two sick babies. IT WAS HHAARRDD!!!! I'm not gonna lie. They slept for about 30 minutes at a time day and night, didn't eat much, coughed, ached with fever, cried in discomfort, needed consoling pretty much 24/7. Jason took off as much as he could from work but he was in the middle of a big project at work. Bless his heart, after working all day he would come home and try to give me a few minutes to shower, eat, prepare bottles and at times take a nap. This was definitely a difficult two weeks for all four of us. We are soooo thankful that they are well now.

We've experiences some hard days and nights trying to get them back on a nap and night schedule. it was as if we had to totally "re train" them. We decided that we would turn over a new leaf and begin "sleep training". We have put into place a nap routine and an "official" target bed time. We've decided to take the "cry it out" approach to sleeping. The "tough love" approach. The "babies will cry it out, mommy will sit on the other side of the door crying too" route-lol. We felt it was time that they learn to self soothe themselves to sleep. We had begun a bad habit of rocking them to sleep and/or laying down with them until they fell asleep. We still rock them at times but not to put them to sleep all the time.

Tonight was the third night. The first night was AWFUL!!!! We set a nighttime routine of bath, feed, lights down, massages, goodnight hugs and kisses and put to bed. Jenna is a pretty good sleeper and has 'put herself to sleep" for quite a while. She does fight sleep but only for a couple minutes. She has transitioned into this new approach rather well. Blake on the other hand did not! He screamed and screamed and screamed. On the first night, after 45 minutes, mommy and daddy caved and went in to console him. Jason went in first and put his hand on him and talked to him. Blake had his eyes closed and didn't realize Jason was even there. He pulled him close and when Blake realized daddy was there, he screamed bloody murder! I was downstairs and ran up thinking something horrible was wrong. We guess he was mad, not sure. Then we brought him down and I rocked him for a couple minutes.....he still cried. I decided to put him in his swing so I wasn't totally going back on the plan and I walked out of the room for a minute. He continued to cry. It got a little louder. I went back in a bit later and he through puffy red eyes, tear soaked cheeks, he gave me THE biggest grin!! I wanted to laugh and cry with frustration all at once! lol After another hour or so, I was too tired to deal. I took him upstairs and snuggled him to sleep. Lastnight, after much thought Jason and I decided he was probably just testing the waters and was fighting sleep. He hadn't had good naps and he was over tired. We decided to NOT cave in lastnight. unfortunately, he didn't nap well yesterday either. When it came to night, we let him cry it out. Again, awful. After 50 minutes or so, he fell asleep.

Today, they both had two two hour naps!! YAY!! They were well rested. We did our nighttime routine and but hem to bed. Jenna was out after a few "protest cries". It took her about five minutes! She is such a great and easy sleeper. Blake did not scream. He "protested" a bit and gave out these half effort cries and after TWELVE minutes, fell fast asleep!!!!!! I am so very happy. A glass of wine and a bubble bath are calling my name!!!

What else....
They are changing every day. They are very active and engaged with their surroundings. Jenna is becoming very good at hand/eye coordination. She manipulates toys very well. Blake is doing well too. Blake is as social as ever. If there is any movement, any light, any noise, he wants to explore the source. He is readily willing to smile at anyone in his sight and loves to laugh. Blake loves the jokes....funny noises, facial expressions, daddy acting silly. Jenna has become much more observant of others. She will watch you, and raise her eyebrows as she tries to get to know you and figure you out. She often times will give you a little smirk....usually a right sided little smirk all the while showing off her adorable blue doe eyes and cute dimple. She likes to bounce on your knee and LOVEs to be called pretty girl and cutie. This almost always elicits a big gummy smile and sparkle in her eyes. They are both paying lots of attention to one another. They are reaching out to one another and to our faces. So many things developing each day. Time is certainly NOT standing still these days. We are really trying to pay as close attention to all the changes, both subtle changes and big changes, each day in hopes we don't wake up one day wondering how we went from sleepless nights to walking and talking and missed everything in between. They are already sooo big.

Well, I have rattled on and on. I am quite tired so better take this opportunity to catch some sleep. I have decided to take lots of time tomorrow to take lots of pictures of the kids. I will try and post them tomorrow.

It's been a looooong time.....

2009-09-23T10:27:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posting. But in the last couple week, and me being absent since the kids got home.

So the kids had a pretty nasty lil upper respatory infection for a couple weeks. Blake came down with it first (and hardest). Jenna caught it from him a coupld days later and the party was ON!
Due to Blakes priory history with lung issues (pulmanory hemmohrage 3 days after birth) it really worried us and the Dr.'s didn't want to take any chances. Soooo we had lots of Dr. visits and watched them both very closely.

All in all, the kids were amazingly good to us while they were sick. Blake had this nasty cough that would cause him to start gagging and sputtering. It really freaked mom out. They didn't cry too too much. They just wanted to be held and comforted the entire time, so they was no break at all. If one was set down or not cuddled, then they would start crying. It also completely destroyed any semblance of a sleep/feed schedule. So it was pretty much 24hr baby for two weeks. As you can imagine it's pretty much impossible to hold and comfort them every min of the day, so it was pretty trying.
Unfortunately I was wrapping up a big project at work, so I wasn't really able to take any time off to help the fam. My boss is super cool, so I was able to work from home several days, which helped tremendously. I don't know how anyone could do this alone, and still maintain their sanity! Impossible I say....

So anyways.... Through the weekend the kids started to feel better. Reduced cough, better sleep, taking full bottles, no more throwing up. On the plus side, the antibiotics they were taking gave them diaria. As crazy as it sounds, it was a welcomed change from constapation. It was really breaking our heart to hear one or both scream bloody murder each night trying to pass a brick. You would not believe the size of these "stones" that they were poopin out. :( Really breaks our heart.
We have tried changing forumla, the cereal, giving them pune juice, milk of magnesia, and every other tip and trick we could find. NADA..... So we are dredding a return to that.

Monday morning brought the sunshine! Both of the kids woke up all smiles and laughes. It was really really a wonderful change and set the mood for the rest of the day. Mom has been having a much easier time during the day, now that one can play independantly and they are taking naps again. I tried to do my part by giving Kim some full nights sleep to try and recharge the batteries.

Another good change was that they can now go on walks again and get out of the house. It's crazy how much they enjoy going on walks. If you put them in their car seat or in the stroller, you had better be ready to get the show on the road, cause they are, and they are NOT afraid to let us know. :) We hit the road and they completely chill out. If they haven't napped in a lil while, they'll kinda look around and then drift off to sleep. Because they like to sleep so much while in motion, we've started taking them on walks as soon as they wake up. Otherwise they think they can nap, and then wake up as soon as we get home. The downside to that is that they sleep, but don't get really good rest. So they are up when we're done with our walk, but not rested, so they can be kinda fussy.

Well, thats all for now. I'll try to post more often.
Take care all.
-Jason

1:34AM Is Sleep Anywhere In Sight????

2009-09-14T01:35:00.005-05:00

It's been a week now that Blake has been sick. Jenna has been sick for about three to four days. Sleep deprivation has got to be worse now then it was when they just got home and were "new borns". Now they just aren't sleeping because they are either coughing, have a fever, aren't comfortable and are just out right feeling rotten. Much worse then before.............two sick babies. Jason and I have been taking shifts. I usually take the 11 or midnight to four or five and he takes four or five to about nine. During our "shifts" there really hasn't been any sleeping. Usually one is up coughing or crying and many times both are at the same time. Tonight however, I'm not sure whats going on. Right now they both just want to be up. I"ve had about 20 minutes of sleep between the both of them twitching and coughing and fussing. So, we are sitting on the floor with the lights on low and they are laying with their stuffed animals and listening to night time music. I certainly do not want to engage in playing or entertaining. Just trying to get them to realize it's time to sleep.

Tuesday, Sept 8th

2009-09-08T23:06:00.002-05:00

The most exciting new thing to report would have to be that Jenna has started "talking". She is cooing and babbling.....and smiling more than ever. She turned a new leaf last Monday. Jason and I were there to witness this new change, we were so excited then and are loving hearing her "talk". I was really starting to worry. Jason admitted to me that he was beginning to worry too. She is really a different baby in a lot of ways. She just seems comfortable and enjoys looking at peoples faces and smiling back at them where as before she would exchange smiles but would often look in your direction but not directly at you. We are so very excited. I have such a feeling of content when I hear her little coos.

Blake continues to be a highly vocal one. Especially when he is excited or is bored. He is so active and does not like to stay in one place for too long. This is proving to be a challenge-haha. He has been coughing a bit here and there for a week or so. It was more of a "clearing his throat" kind of thing. The last two days though is has changed and is a bit congested at times. I've checked his temp several times but fortunately he has had not fever. It got worse lastnight so I called for an appointment this morning. With his history and chronic lung disease, I am not about to mess around about getting checked. Dr. Fasci says his lungs sound good and that it could be the is showing signs of allergies. We are going to keep a watchful eye and monitor for certain things.

Hallelujah, we are switching from high calorie formula to regular baby formula. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! Jason and I are so happy about this. J and B haven't been "regular" for over tow months. Then when they finally do go they scream so hard, you'd think they were being hurt. That and nothing was helping to regulate them. I can't wait to see how things will be with this change.

A Few New Pics

2009-09-02T22:20:00.003-05:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/blakeandjenna/September?feat=directlink

Check them out....
Jenna "Pretty in Petals"
Blake discovered his feet!!!
"Exersaucer Fun"
and more!!!!

Good News September

2009-09-01T21:16:00.002-05:00

The "twinadoes" saw the neurologist on Monday. After an assessment of both he said that had he not been told, he'd never guess Blake and Jenna were "24 weekers". That says so much for their growth and development. Blake was checked as a follow up from this prematurity. Jenna was examined as a follow up from her IVH (bilateral Intraventricular Hemorrhage) and PVL (Periventricular leukomalacia). He did not feel it necessary to order a MRI since she is not "symptomatic" and does not exhibit any behaviors that indicate issues at this time. He looked at the MRI that was done back in March right before she was discharged. He said that it shows moderate damage (PVL) but overall he considers the IVH as mild. He does not "see" any muscle tone issues, mobility issues, or cognitive issues. All in all they both look great and we couldn't be happier. As we've experienced and have been told since the beginning, time will tell. We celebrate every day, Blake and Jenna's progress and wonderful growth.

New stats are in......Jenna weighs 14lbs 13ounces and Blake weighs 14lbs 10ounces. Jenna is 24 inches long and Blake is 24.4

We are tickled that Jenna seemed to really turn a corner today....after having a massive "doody". She was cooing and smiling lots! More than we've seen and heard. Jason and I have make the executive decision to change from high calorie preemie formula to a sensitive regular formula. After nearly two months of no regular BMs and painful episodes full of screaming and tears, we can take no more. We can't stand seeing them go through these painful moments anymore. We've tried prune juice, apple juice, milk of magnesia.....nothing is keeping them regular. They have been gaining 2lbs a month for a while now. Dr. Fasci wanted to wait until 9 months. We will talk to her again soon to touch base.

They are both rolling over much better now and are quite active. They enjoy playing in their exersaucers. We've been enjoying our morning walks too.

Kids are calling......

Cruisin' In Style

2009-08-24T12:04:00.003-05:00

Well, we took our first morning walk this morning. "Mommy" is tired of waiting for it to cool off so decided to get everyone up real early to try and beat some of the heat. After I got a quick work out in Jason helped me get them prepped for our walk. Both did real well. Of course, about 15 minutes into it they were both sleeping. We LOVE the shades!!! Thanks DSES!!!

The last pic was taken when we got back home. All tuckered out.

Link to August Pics

2009-08-23T01:53:00.001-05:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/blakeandjenna/August?feat=directlink

Welcome Cousin Jude!!!

2009-08-17T21:41:00.002-05:00

We want to welcome Blake and Jenna's new baby cousin into the world.......Happy Birthday Jude. Congrats Sara (Jason's sis) and Josh!!! We can't wait to see him. We hear he has a FULL head of dark hair. He is 7 1/2 pounds. 8:07 this AM

We took Jenna and Blake to the doctor today for the 2nd of three shots for the roto virus. Thankfully, this is an oral "shot", so no tears today. Jenna weighs 13.8 and Blake has finally not only caught up with but passed Jenna by weighing in at 14pounds. Hey, every bit counts......we learned that a LONG time ago-hehe. Both are now "on" the premature growth chart. Dr. Fasci is very pleased with their growth and development. She gave them a quick check even though we were there for shots only. They are hitting all of their developmental milestones so far. We are so very blessed.

Jenna is becoming a bit more vocal. I keep telling myself that she just MAY be the quiet one. That is until she disapproves of something, she certainly is not shy to let you know she wants or needs something. That is a good trait in a girl.....not afraid to voice her opinion. I know, I'll be eating my words when we hit THE 2's and she "voices her opinion". Blake is certainly the talker. And let me tell you, he really does not have voice control-hahaha. Like daddy, like son no doubt! I know that babies like to hear themselves sometimes and will be loud because of that but I think it's more than that with Blake. He gets to rambling and seems to really enjoy telling you what he is thinking and thinks it's better to do so in a loud voice. I love it though. We were watching Happy Feet one evening and noticed that Blake was really attending to it. Next thing we knew, he was smiling and talking and wouldn't keep his eyes off of the TV. He and Jenna really enjoy black and white stuffed animals and pictures. I guess he likes all of the penguins on the movie. We've watched it a couple more times since and he did the same each time. Too cute! Jenna has really been looking and studying our faces lately. She likes to watch lips when you talk. I LOVE their smiles. Blake has the biggest happiest smile that is usually accompanied by a squeal of delight. Jenna has the prettiest smile that lights up her entire face. Her eyes sparkle when she smiles her big gummy smile. I am pretty sure she has her daddy's dimples.

Well, school is about to start back. I know that if I had to return to work to teach, things would be fine and life would be soooo different. I am so happy that we are fortunate enough for me to be home with the babies. I tried to imagine leaving them at a daycare or sitters and returning to school. It nearly brought tears to my eyes. Don't get me wrong, I do get stir crazy a bit from time to time and I always sport the "mommy" shirt (recently spit up on or worse) that requires ME to change MY clothes a couple times a day but regardless, I wouldn't trade my days with my lil ones.

The "twinadoes" have eye doc follow ups this week. They are going to check Blake's eyes for any nearsightedness. He is at high risk for near sighted due to his ROP/RUSH. I just thank God for the wonderful outcome of his laser eye surgery each and every day.

Guess that is all to update on for now. Thank you all for checking in on us and for your continued prayers. As always, comments are welcomed. We love hearing from you.

Jenna has gone PUNK ROCK!!!!!

2009-08-09T22:57:00.002-05:00

HEHE, this is how Jenna's hair looked the other day. We didn't spike it or put anything in it. We figure it was just an "Austin thing". You know what they say, "Keep Austin weird".

I had a talk with her and told her that this was the only time a spiked mohawk looked awesome on her. :)

More pics of this "do" and other pics will be added soon.

Sunday, August 9

2009-08-09T22:09:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to post a quick update on what Jenna and Blake have been up to.

Last Thursday, I took the kids up to Round Rock and we had lunch with Jason. We had some friends from India go to lunch with us too. Priyanka and Sanjiv work for Dell as well and were here in the US for a month. They have kindly kept up with us since the beginning and were very excited to meet them. I, too, was excited. I remember when Jason came home and told me to look at the map on the blog. When I saw that we had supporters in India I was pleasantly surprised. I took Blake and Jenna up to Jason's work two weeks ago to meet them as well as other friends Jason works with as well as his manager. When I took them a couple weeks ago, it was the first time I had them in the car by myself. It went pretty well. However, this week's raod trip was quite challenging. Blake and Jenna both SCREAMED for the first 15minutes. To top it off, we were stuck on I35 in horrible traffic (no surprise there). Their screaming was in stereo and at high decibals indeed! There wasn't much I could do other than try and talk or sing to them to calm them. Neither worked. I then hummed....nothing. Whisteld.....nothing. HAHA. It was pretty comical although nerve wracking too. I just told myself it is ok for them to cry and continued to talk to them. I thought about turning around but I'd have to some how get across three lanes of traffic and I was almost past the thick of it. I just stuck it out and figured they would soon tire themselves out. Sure enough the poor little guys had worked themselves into a pretty exhausted state. Once we got to "daddy's", and had lunch they were great. They both enjoy the attention and are quite social.

Therapy went well this week. Jenna has really progressed nicely in the last three weeks. It seems her nervous system is getting stronger and more settled. She is making longer eye contact and tracks her favorite toys. They are both reaching for their toys and touching and grasping. They look for one another and watch attentively when one cries. We are really enjoying their interactions with one another.

Friday, July 31st NEW PICS

2009-07-31T23:41:00.006-05:00

Jason and I think that the kids are going through a growth spurt. Blake has not really been himself for over two days, not nearly as active, "talkative" or awake. We were a little worried yesterday that he may be fighting something because he was so "out of it". I must've checked his temperature ten times. Jenna has been a little more tired too. Neither have stayed up nearly as long as they usually do. We are pretty sure they are well, just using all their energy to grow. We continue to watch them carefully.

During Jenna's therapy session today, it was evident from the start that she was going to tire pretty quickly. After about 15 minutes, she was just so exhausted. Mary decided that it was best to let her sleep. She did get enough from her to do a 30 day eval. Good news!! Premature babies' development is charted according to their adjusted age (age from due date May 7th). Their adjusted age is 2 months, 24 days. Jenna skills indicate that she is developmentally at 4 months(adjusted)!!! We are so very fortunate that our former 24 weekers are so healthy.

New pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/blakeandjenna/EndOfJuly?feat=directlink

Finally caught Jenna's smile on camera!!!

2009-07-29T14:40:00.004-05:00

Yay! I have finally caught Jenna's pretty smile on camera. We also got her on video. Like her brother, she is now smiling more than ever. She REALLY likes to smile at mommy and daddy and at her favorite toy, a black and white puppy. The other day she smiled at me and got so excited that she couldn't sit still. We exchanged smile after smile for some time and she had such a look of delight on her face. It was great. She had done this with daddy(Daddy's girl.....look out daddy, I can already see some wrapping around that tiny finger of hers going on), and now I have finally been able to share this with her too.

Blake is just talking up a storm these days. He talks to us, to the ceiling fan, to the lights and most of all to his favorite animal-anything with a panda bear on it. One of their toys has a panda bear on it and he carries on conversations with this thing quite often. I just had to go out searching for a panda stuffed animal. I found one and he loves it! Jenna is quite fond of it too, although she favors her "grumpy" faced black and white stuffed animal.

Both kids are doing great. They are certainly keeping me busy during the day. Blake tends to take SHORT naps....thirty minutes, forty five of I'm lucky. Jenna our my sleeper. I'm still not getting really anything done during the day but I know I am spending my time in the best way possible. Who wants to clean the house anyways? I wouldn't mind getting a work out in though...

Jenna and Blake both are interracting with us alot. They also play with toys by grabbong for them and touching them. I read to them every day. They seem to expect this now and will usually stay attentive (with the help of interesting voices and gestures I make as I act the characters out-ha!).

When Jason gets home, I have my break. Many times I will get out of the house to run an errand or just get out. I am seeing the stores have prepared for the back to school craze. Sometimes, I have to stop myself from putting some nifty little teacher tool in my cart. Once a teacher, always think like a teacher no doubt. This time of year is usually both a dreaded time for me and an exciting time. I dread that my summer break is ending but I am excited about finding new things to do in my classroom. I will miss my 2nd graders this year. However, I am enjoying my current "job" very much. In many ways, it is much harder. In more ways, it is the most rewarding way to spend my days.

Kids are calling.....

6 Months Old

2009-07-18T23:13:00.003-05:00

Meant to finish and post this a few days ago.....

Well, here we are.....Jenna and Blake are 6 months 3 days old (aka 10 weeks 3 days)! We took the kids in for their dreaded 6 month shots. They were great during the whole appointment. When the shots were given, Blake let out a big "I'm hurting" scream and I was able to easily calm him down. Jason held Jenna. She too gave out a "hurting" scream, then she shut down and went to sleep. Both checked out real well. Jenna is actually "on the chart" for growth. Blake is just under. Their growth is charted and recorded on the preemie growth chart. Dr. Fasci is very pleased with their weight gain and development. The great news is, that in her opinion, Jenna feels just fine, no "increased" muscle tone. In fact, she was pretty surprised by some of the opinions we have been given by one of our Physical Therapists. One says she has worked through the muscle tone she previously experienced. One of our therapist detects "increased tone" and "patterns" while the other feels that what they interpretted as muscle tone before was actually more related to Jenna's nervous system growing into her body. At times she gets a little sensory over loaded so will do different things to "cope". Sometimes she looks side to side, other times she fusses, and yet others she stiffens up a bit. Each week, she has seemed to get more and more comfortable in her new "bigger" body and of all the noises, sensations, lights and such. When they were born, they were stripped of their warm, dark, sound muffled, cozy, boundary-filled home. Although the NICU attempts to provide an atmosphere as close to the real thing as possible, with as critical as they were it just does not really come close. Babies born this early are forced to acclimate to a louder, noisier, cooler, foreign and scary home. All with having underdeveloped lungs, brains, senses, and so much more. Their skin is so thin, it looks (and I imagine feels to them, as if they have burned skin-moist, red and transparent. It's tough enough not being with mom, but dealing with painful touches necessary to receive the care that is required makes them tough little survivors alone. Don't forget their lungs were not equipped to breath air for 4 more months. Considering all of these factors, their under developed nervous systems struggle to further develop and get strong. It isn't a surprise that some of these lil heroes require a bit more time to process and acclimate to this huge busy world. I believe that Jenna is still adjusting to the "outside" world. She is doing a fantastic job! And Blake, thankfully, seems to be well adjusted already.

Anyways, I guess I ran with that thought. Sometimes I think about the experiences my babies have had and am amazed all over again.

So, as I said, Dr. Fasci is very pleased with their progress. We will go in next month for a shot but other than that they won't need a check up until they turn 12 months!!!! (unless they need to be seen).

Tickled Pink

2009-07-14T13:40:00.004-05:00

Jason and I have really enjoyed the last few days. The last couple days have been filled with more smiles from Blake and Jenna. Blake has REALLY enjoyed play time lately. I got THE most awesome pics of him yesterday. See them here.....

He has cooed in delight when he sees either of us enter the room. Today he was "talking" to a soft block we have that has different shapes and designs on it. On one side there is a lady bug that just really gets him excited. He was talking to his ladybug friend and smiling at him. I got some great video of it. Jenna is cracking smiles here and there and is cooing a bit more. I took some cute pics of her with a little summer dress (see here).

Well, the kids are down for a nap. I am going to see what I can get done. Just wanted to share some adorable pics.

The Taste of Sunlight

2009-07-09T22:41:00.003-05:00

Today's appointment with the renal doctor went well. Both Blake's and Jenna's blood pressure were checked. Blake's was 79-great. Jenna has always fought the blood pressure machine, today was no different. While in the NICU, the nurses had to pull out all the tricks when attempting to get her pressure. Often they would put the cuff on her and wait til she was in a deep sleep to start the monitor for a check. Beings that that really isn't possible during our appointment, Dr. Berry's nurse pulled out many tricks and finally got a pressure of 92-okay. They would like to see it under 100. Again, it may have been lower had she not been tensing up and pulling away. Dr. Berry reminded us that preemies (and certainly most micro preemies) turn up with high blood pressure between days 71-100, cause unknown. They all outgrow this and the need for meds no later that a year of age (unless there are other true reasons for high blood pressure other than the unknown related to prematurity).

Their Aunt Donna (my sis) went to the appointment with me today. Donna and I were entertained by Jenna's curiosity. Blake is usually the one who looks out the window while in the car and looks at his surroundings while we are out. Today he slept half of the time or more. Jenna on the other hand, was very alert and curious. When we got them in the stroller and came out of the parking garage, the sun hit the visor on Jenna's carrier. Jenna immediately stuck her tongue out as if she wanted to taste the sunlight. It was so cute. Each time we moved out from the shade and the sun hit her face, her tongue stuck out for a little taste. A true warm weather girl I can tell. Like her mommy, the sunlight on her face is a great feeling to her.

Wednesday, July 8th/NEW PICS

2009-07-08T22:40:00.004-05:00

Wow, the twins have really changed in the last week, week and a half. We've seen subtle changes and growth almost each day but it seems like all of a sudden over night, they just look so much bigger and older! They really don't look like newborns anymore. Understandably so I guess, after all they are 8 weeks old now (adjusted). I can't believe it. (According to "real age", they will be 6 months old next week!!)

They have both been smiling, which is just so wonderful! Each day we get about 3-5 smiles out of them. The best part is when daddy comes home from work and says hello to them and they give big cheeky grins to greet him. Even after a long frustrating drive home, daddy can't help but to melt with relaxation when he sees Blake or Jenna smile as a response to him saying hello.

We changed formula and it was going great until about the 5th day. Both Blake and Jenna became badly constipated. It may be due to the extra iron in the formula. We were advised to try and treat and wait out the constipation in hopes that their bodies will get used to this new stuff. We will give it another day or so. Blake seems to be doing better. The first night was pretty bad for him. Jenna has had painful BMs for two days now. We have tried kero, VERY diluted prune juice and pedialite with 1/4 tsp milk of magnesia (advised by pedi). So it looks like we traded constant gas, spitting up for Blake and colic for Jenna for constipation. Sigh. They are supposed to be on 22cal (preemie) formula until their 9th month or more. We hope they get over the constipation soon, it is so difficult seeing them in such pain. Luckily, Blake is doing much better. Jenna has been somewhat better today. They were doing great on their schedule up until their bouts with constipation. Jenna hasn't been able to sleep well due to this, poor baby girl.

We see the nephrologist tomorrow for a follow up from the NICU. Next week we go in to see the pedi for their 6month shots.

I am feeling a bit better since I've been put on my thyroid meds. It's only been 3 days. It will take a bit of time to really start feeling and looking healthier. I appear really run down and pale due to my hyperthyroidism. That and lack of sleep of course. Now that the kids are on a better routine, I look forward to finding time to exercise and get rid of this extra left over pregnancy weight. Realistically, I know it will still be some time before I can work it in as a weekly routine. It will still be a while before the kids sleep more at night and therefore I won't need to nap during the day with them each time. I look forward to that. I attempted to get out and exercise night before last. I went walking at the track when Jason got home. I got a little over zealous I guess. It was way too hot, even at 90. I haven't spent any time outside this summer really and one side effect of hyperthyroid is intolerance to heat. Needless to say, I was not thinking this through very well. I was out for 30 minutes. Once I got home, heat exhaustion set in. I was down for a few hours. Unfortunately this is the same night the kids were having problems. Jason stepped in and took care of them both while I tried to recoop as quickly as I could. Again, Jason earns the title of SUPER DAD (and super husband).

Our cousin Kristin came to help out yesterday, thanks Kristin! This allowed me to run to the pediatrician's office to pick up some formula. When I returned, it was nice to visit with her. As much as I LOVE talking to my babies, it is nice to have some grown up conversations during the day when I can ;)

So, we are STILL having computer issues. Jason is going tomorrow to buy a new hard drive and I am going to try and get much of of pics on disks to free up some space. I have some awesome pics to show you all but am unable to post on the blog.

I may try and post to another site and include the link here......

Okay, I have managed to squeeze a few in. Here they are;
http://picasaweb.google.com/blakeandjenna/July?feat=directlink

July 2nd

2009-07-02T23:13:00.003-05:00

Since time is limited, I am going to attempt to quickly post an update. Daddy is playing with Jenna on the floor and Blake is swinging. Blake is calling out for attention and has THE most (endearingly) pathetic sad face EVER! His frown just melts your heart and makes you laugh all at the same time. It's okay though, daddy went to his rescue.

Well, things that are new.......we are changing formula. We are switching to Enfacare from Similac. We mixed half and half of each for 24 hours and tonight we are preparing 100% Enfacare. We hope this will help the twins with their constant gas, Blake's reflux and Jenna's "midnight tummy episodes". So far so good. Well, hopefully if all goes well with the new formula, it will lend itself to helping to keep the kids on a good routine. In the past, there have been several nights that Jenna cries from about midnight to two (or sometimes it starts at two), then she (and sometimes Blake) wouldn't sleep til after the 4 o'clock feed. Well, morning comes around and she is wiped out, I am wiped out and so we sleep. When they nap, I nap. daddy is at work.....I HAVE too. We had a couple great days. I try and provide lots of awake time entertainment during the day. On the days that I do and the nights that they sleep well, we get nearly five hours of sleep. I would LOVE to have that as our "norm". Hopefully with this change, so will our opportunities to sleep.

Blake and Jenna are looking great. Their hair is really getting thick. Aunt Donna has been visiting each Thursday. She said in a week, she is SURE their hair is thicker. Last well Blake and Jenna FINALLY got to meet their 15 year old cousin Chris. Chris has always been curious about them and wanted to meet them but with the NICU rules being no visitors under 18, he unfortunately had to wait 4 1/2 months to see them. So did "Aunt Sydney".

The kids are changing before our eyes each day. I truly enjoy being at home with them to see the daily subtle and not so subtle changes. Lastnight I was holding Blake and he was half way sleeping. He smiled and I found myself sitting on the floor with big tears in my eyes. The thought crossed my mind, "to think it was very possible that i would never get to see that beautiful smile!". I held him closer and thanked God for for allowing me to be Blake and Jenna's mommy and for keeping them with us.

Well, I am going to try and hop back on later to post pics. We'll see......

Great News

2009-06-28T17:55:00.005-05:00

Sorry, thought I posted this....

Blake's sonogram showed NO hernia. We are so relieved. He will be seen by the urologist in a couple months to monitor the swelling.

Yesterday Grandma and Grandpa Patranella came and watched the kids so we could go to Sara (Jason's sister) and Josh's BBQ/baby shower. They came into town in the morning which allowed Jason and I to go out for some lunch before heading to Sara and Josh's. We hadn't slept but maybe 2 hours Friday night due to the twins' restlessness. So "pawpaw" and "meemaw" tried their best to keep them up yesterday. oops....kids are calling...

K, back again. It was real nice getting out today. I think this is the first time we've been away from home that I didn't catch myself looking to see what time it was and feeling as if I needed to hurry and be out so I can hurry and be back. Meemaw and pawpaw are staying the night tonight so that Jason and I can run some errands in the morning. We sure do appreciate the help from our family!

Big Smile

2009-06-25T22:26:00.003-05:00

She did it. Jenna smiled a big cheeky smile while awake today. (Both her and Blake smile often while sleeping). Although she wasn't looking in my direction, it was beautiful to see nevertheless. I was singing a little "ditty" to her and all of a sudden she broke out with the cutest grin. Her cheeks are so chunky and she smiled so big she showed her gums as if she had great pearly white teeth. I can't wait to see it again. Blake continues to coo quite a bit. He usually does while he is swinging or during our play time. Jenna more calls out while she "talks". We (endearingly) call it her squawking.

Blake had his sonogram today to check for a possible hernia. We should get the results tomorrow. He did very well. Jason and I decided to manage this appointment by having him stay home with Jenna while I took Blake to his appointment. This gave us a look into the window of having a single rather than twins. Wow, what a difference!!!!! We feel as IF we were to have any more children, we would be pretty darn prepared to handle a single baby. Certainly not down playing the difficulty of caring for one but after juggling a schedule to maintain structure for two infants.......we are pretty confident we would know how to manage one. Anyways, he missed being there for Blake and it wasn't the same for me to be out without Jenna too. However, it turned out to work out well.

Jenna and Blake were evaluated by the Physical Therapist this week. Blake has been released from her care. He is actually doing well and is ahead of the game in some areas. Jenna is doing well. Now that they are nearing some developmental milestones, she will be seen once a week by PT and they will both continue to be seen by OT. PT said Jenna's periodic rigidity and stiffness MAY be due to immaturity of her nervous system and her lack of comfort at times in spatial awareness. This all pointing to prematurity and likely something that will strengthen and further develop in time. At times, Jenna gets over stimulated and gets "disorganized" in her movements. She either flails her arms and legs, kicks, cries and stiffens up. Good news is that she has more times of "quiet" calm play time. This little gal can sleep just about ANYWHERE. Her OT report is a bit different. Different views by different therapists. Her OT was impressed today with Jenna's flexibility in her legs and her hips. She reports that both are much better this week. We will work on getting Jenna used to being in different positions and holding her upright so as to strengthen her neck and posture. Hopefully the nuerologist will be able to tell us a bit more once he sees Jenna. Her appointment is at the end of August. She may very well have another MRI done to evaulate the status, months following her bilateral IVH (Intraventricular hemmorage). Overall though, she is doing great. I am really hoping to get good news about Blake's sonogram tomorrow. This will definitely be included in our prayers tonight.

Well, I have been fortunate to have enough time to actually post tonight. I better see what else I can squeeze in before the little ones wake for feeding.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

BTW-Jason and I are planning on posting about the events that preceeded my early labor and delivery. We hope to get that up soon. Pictures too!!

Monday June 22

2009-06-22T21:19:00.004-05:00

Well, Blake and Jenna have been home with us now for over five weeks. It seems it has been months since we were making our daily trips up to St. David's NICU to spend time with our babies. I dropped by one day last week to return something and when I parked in the garage, I suddenly realized that my NICU parking pass had expired. This time I would not be getting a new one. Funny, I was a little excited that I would HAVE to pay for parking this time. This meaning I was truly no longer a NICU mom. I walked in the main entrance and started on a familiar path. Once the elevator reached the third floor and I stepped out, the familiar scent of the postpartum floor served as a reminder of my time on the ward in Room 219. The wonderful nurses, my visitors, the care packages from family and friends, the calls of support, the amazing support Jason showed me each and every minute. Then there was some reminiscing over the thought (and dread) that I would be on bed rest for the remaining of my pregnancy IN room 219. Then thoughts of how quickly and abruptly things changed and the unexpected early birth of our babies. Collectively, my thoughts of the hospital are positive. Much due to the great care I received and phenomenal NICU that made it possible that we are all at home together today. I decided to run up to the NICU to see if Trinity and Kinsley's mom was there visiting. As I got closer and closer to the infamous NICU double doors, I actually felt like a visitor......not a "resident". What a wonderful feeling! Although the nurses, doctors and front desk staff will always make us feel like we are "home" when we visit now, it is great to be guests.

Uh oh, Jenna is calling......

A Great Gain

2009-06-19T15:27:00.008-05:00

Blake and Jenna saw their pediatrician, Dr. Fasci, yesterday for a weight check. In a month, both have gained 2 pounds! Jenna is now 10 pounds 5 ounces and Blake is 9 pounds 11 ounces. Dr. Fasci was very impressed with their gain. Jenna's belly button hernia has reduced in size a great deal and is going away, thankfully. We want to avoid hospital stays/surgeries. After all, we haven't been out of the NICU THAT long. On the flip side though, Blake has some swelling and tightness in his, otherwise known as, " lower extremity area", so will be getting a sonogram to get further examined. We are really hoping it isn't a hernia. If if is, we are looking at surgery. If he has to undergo surgery, it will be his third surgery. I think any surgery at five months of age is a HUGE feat for a little guy, much less it having been the third. He and his sissy are such brave and strong little heroes (mom's proudly smiling). Anyway, hernias are quite common in premature babies. We just hope Jenna's continues to go away and that Blake does not need surgery.

Other than this, the appointment went real well. She was very impressed with their growth and development as well as the strength they showed with lifting and turning their heads. Dr. Fasci isn't concerned with Jenna's muscle tone. She says it is minimal at this point and appears to not be causing any problems developmentally. We will continue to monitor and perform daily therapuetic and preventative exercises. Again, we will know more when she reaches her milestones. So far so good. We will be seen again for their 6 month check up next month. It is still strange getting used to having "two ages". Although the kids are five and a half months old, they appear and are developmentally six weeks old.

Being a homemaker now I have a couple regular television shows that I watch, Oprah being one of them. I saw a very inspiring show yesterday, it was "Heroes Among Us". It caught my interest because for me, Blake and Jenna are my heroes. It was about children who have experienced great life challenges. There was a segment about a couple who at 30 weeks of pregnancy, found out their little boy had Trisomy 18. This is a disorder in which "his DNA sends faulty information to each cell of his body" and has a very low survival rate. They did not expect him to make it to birth. The couple beautifully wrote letters to Eliot every day before and after his birth. They celebrated his birthday every day with a picture and often times a cake. Both his mother and father had an amazing and inspiring attitude and lived each second of Eliot's life to it's very fullest. His mother would often tell her husband, " I'll be sad tomorrow", and lived each day with happiness caring for her terminally ill angel. They attended their NICU reunion just nine days before he died. His father reported that his wife was so proud and just beemed with excitement to show off her little boy. They were both so proud of him. He lived only a few days following a very special moment for the family. This moment being that he was able to come off of oxygen support and the tubes that were taped to his precious face were removed for a photo opportunity. This brought back memories of great joy for me of when after months following birth, were able to see our babies faces without medically necessary devices. From before Eliot's birth and throughout the tremendously challenging journey, this little boy had the fight and will to survive long enough to set eyes on his parents and live with them for as long as his body would allow. He lived for 99 days. At his funeral they released 99 balloons, each representing a day in which he lived. The video tribute to Eliot from his mom and dad is on utube. I have watched it many times and it chokes me up every time. This family is very special and is the epitomy of strength and positive thinking. When you see the pictures of Eliot you see a gorgeous little guy who had so much love to share with his family. The producers of Oprah selected his story to air on Wednesday's show, entitled "Heroes Among Us" and if you choose to view the video, you will clearly see why.

Each day I think about how fortunate we are to have Blake and Jenna with us. After all, who could imagine one pound babies surviving at all. Between their prematurity and the various "scares" along the way while in the NICU, we couldn't have even imagined having ten pound babies at home. We tried to take one day at a time and celebrated each small forward step. Now that they are home, we have certainly gotten comfortable and have found ourselves in the daily routine of caring for "normal" newborns. However, our journey from birth through NICU graduation will remain at bay. Our experience have certainly taught us that sometimes, the tiniest of creatures are the biggest of heroes.

Sorry, a little emotional but I was so touched by this story that I felt like sharing. Here is the UTUBE link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th6Njr-qkq0
By the way, this family is still celebrating the time they were given with their little boy by keeping their memories alive and celebrating his yearly birthday. The father reported that the only thing keeping them apart is the time he and his wife have left to live on Earth. On the show, they were also happy to report that Eliot will be a big brother in two weeks.

Links to all Photo Albums

2009-06-17T11:18:00.003-05:00

3AM

2009-06-17T03:04:00.002-05:00

Here it is, 3AM on Wednesday. Blake has been sleeping for about an hour and a half and Jenna is in and out of a light sleep. Each time I think it's "safe" to lay down for some shut eye, she stirs causing her paci to fall out and she cries. If only there was an invention that helped keep paci's in babies mouths in a safe way parents would sure get a lot more sleep. On nights like this, I find it easier and less frustrating to just stay up until both are sleeping deeply rather than laying down and getting to the point of dozing off then five minutes into it, needing to tend to one or the other.

Sleep deprivation has set in, no doubt! Between getting little to no sleep and having some anxiety of Jason returning to work, the last coupls days have been challenging for me. I am just trying to find the best ways to manage the care for both on my own for the eight to nine hours Jason is at work. No matter how well you plan though, days are unpredictable. I just go with the flow as best I can. I usually feed whoever is stirring first. Sometimes they are both ready to feed at the same time so I set one in a bouncy and feed with one hand while I have the other on my lap on the floor feeding with my other. I plan time for playing and exercising on the floor as well as story time. Other than feeding, changing and playing, I get NOTHING else done right now. I know that will change when they are sleeping more at night and I don't have to nap when they nap as much. However, for now when they sleep, I take every opportunity to catch a few Zzzs. We are so lucky that they are both great babies. They both have great dispositions and neat little personalities. Jenna is so fun to watch when she looks around. Her eyes are so wide and bright blue. Blake is a lot of fun to watch too. When he cries he has THE cutest pouty face with the biggest frown. I am anxiously awaiting more smiles. Right now, you can catch them smiling sometimes in their sleep. Too cute.

Today I had a doctors appointment so the mom and dad Nobrega watched the kids. They were kind enough to let me leave early to go out for lunch and run a couple errands before my appointment. It was really nice to get out into the world-haha. A break from the 24/7 focus of caring for twins is soooooooo needed. Hopefully I will get good news tomorrow. I went in for some blood work, as I suspect I may be having some thyroid issues again. (Not so) Funny thing is, two symptoms are fatigue and irritability. Well, I definitely have both but whose to say that's not due to sleep deprivation? ha! The symptom I am suspicious about is a sore feeling I have in my neck. It feels as if I have been kicked in the neck, much the same feeling I have had in the past. So, in my prayers tonight, I pray that my blood work comes out fine. I need good health and energy to care for these two lil blessings.

Even with the challenges of sleep deprivation, each day Blake and Jenna bring such joy to our lives. I thank God for giving us the gift of being Blake and Jenna's parents. We pray that he continues to give us strength, patience and good health. We pray that Jenna's therapy continues to help her work through the muscle tone and that she and Blake get another clean bill of health on their next check up on Thursday.

Well, I THINK both are sleeping well enough now that I may be able to get a couple hours of sleep although their next feed is in 30 minutes. Think I will let them sleep until they wake hungry.

The first month

2009-06-16T12:56:00.003-05:00

Figured I would post a summary of our first month at home with the kids.

We were super super happy that both of the kids were ready to go home at the same time. We really agonized over the possibility that we may have to bring one home, while leaving the other in the hospital alone. That may be an over dramatization, but in our minds (mine at least) it felt like we'd be "leaving" one. As a vet, "never leave a man behind" is ingrained into us at the deepest level, so this was something that really bothered me. As luck (& our friends in the NICU) would have it, they were both ready at the same time.

Rooming In:
Ehhhhh That was a so so experience. We'd spent sooo much time at the hospital and had done all the "Parent" things like changing diapers, bathing, feeding, etc etc that we were very ready to have all the responsibility to ourselves. So, rooming in was more of a formality & pain in the butt for me.
For whatever reason, lil B dawg didn't really want to sleep that night, so I pretty much sat and rocked him for most of the night while watching Jenna & mom sleep a bit.
Our exit from the NICU was pretty anti-climactic as all our regular friends were off for the day. Dr. Su was awesome and called to congratulate us. He really wanted to be there, but his lil girls bday was that day. So, on a rainy Sat, the four of us made a quiet exit from St. David.

At home:
The first couple days they were home they were a bit fussy and didn't sleep as well as they normally did. By fussy, I mean that they didn't seem very comfortable. They didn't really cry more, just wiggled around a lot more and didn't settle into sleep as quickly.
One of the nurses told Kim that they would be very different babies once they got home and adjusted to their surroundings. Just about all the advice the nurses gave us turned out to be 100% true.
After about 3 days, Jenna really chilled out, and her firey attitude really calmed down. Blake was pretty much relaxed and chill the entire time. I think that's just his core personality.
Right off the bat, Kim and I both tried really hard to care for both babies and give the other some relax time. I think this really helped in the beginning as it gave Kim a little more sleep that she may have got otherwise. That got easier and easier as we all fell into our routines.

Our biggest challenge and worry was feeding. Blake was not as strong of a feeder as Jenna, so we really had to be vigilant with his feeding to ensure he was getting enough. After about two weeks, he started getting stronger and taking more and more with each feed. After Jenna perfected "pacing" while in the NICU, she never had a problem with feeds after that.

Around the second or third week, Jenna really had a noticeable change in personality. Before, she would go from "just fine" to "supper pissed" and screaming in about .025 sec. Around that time, she really relaxed and mellowed out. Now she'll kinda fuss and wiggle about before she starts crying. When she does cry, she starts off slow and soft and slowly increases her volume until we get the point and attend to her. That's not to say she can't work out the lungs when she wants to, she just doesn't seem to feel the need to go to that level very often. THANK YOU Jenna!

All in all, they have both been really good babies. They generally only cry when they are hungry or not feeling good due to gas. They've both gotten better about not having to have a passie in their mouth all the time. Then often time just chill and look around during their awake periods, with no stimulation or attention from us. Not saying that we ignore them, just that we don't have to hold or play with them every waking second.
Dare I say, they have actually been much easier than both of us had prepared ourselves for. That's not to say they aren't a hand full, cause they are, they just aren't as difficult, nor do they cry nearly as much as I would have imagined. Then again, I guess it was better that we prepared ourselves for the worst, and can appreciate how good we have it.

Sleeping:
After about a week or two, they started sleeping a bit longer and got closer to 4hrs vs 3. They still don't sleep super hard and will start to stir and sleep softly after 1.5-2hrs. Unfortunately their sleep & stir cycles are slightly off, so that often keeps us busy ALL the time.
I sooooo can not wait for them to sleep 5 or 6hrs solid, let along through the night. On the positive side, there have been a few nights when they both slept 6+hrs. They are still infrequent, but hopefully we'll be putting more and more of those together. please please please

Traveling:
So far the kids have been doing great with traveling. We've taken them to the store several times and they seem to do just fine. We keep the sun shade on the baby carrier pulled up, so curious people won't just stick their hands in there, but we don't mind showing them off when people ask. We've also taken them for several walks around the neighborhood. We've decided to try to keep them used to traveling as frequently as possible. We certainly don't want to be those parents that get trapped in the house and never leave. Screw that.
Along with that, we didn't want to be the type of parents that won't/can't leave their kids for a few hours. Both grandparents have come over to watch the kids and give us a break for a bit. Surprisingly it really wasn't difficult to step out and leave them in their care. Heck, they raised us and our siblings without any catastrophic problems, so they should do ok with our kids. ;)

Dr.'s & Therapists:
We see them often. Very often. We have 1 or 2 therapist visits a week and at least one Dr. apt a week. So far everyone has been happy and impressed with their current health and development, considering what they've been through. That has been very very reassuring and has taken a huge stress off our shoulders.
The therapists continue to mention that Jenna is a little tight in her hips and isn't quite as flexible as they'd like. While this has been a re-occurring theme, I wonder how much different she is from "normal". One thing just about every parent has told us is that every baby is different. They are always giving us examples of how their kid reached some developmental milestone after the "normal" time, and yet their kid is perfectly normal and healthy.
So.... we are trying to take things somewhat lightly until they get older and get to bigger developmental stages (rolling over, crawling, sitting, etc) that will give us a better representation of their true development. I should note that when the therapists tell us that, they also say that it's pretty minor and shouldn't be something that she can not work through. So... we'll see how it turns out.

Well, I think that was long enough for one post.
Sorry for the infrequent posts, but between being supper busy, and not too many "new" things to report, our posts will probably continue to be slower. I'm thinking 2 or 3 a week, with posts for big or specific news.

Please feel free to post comments, questions, or anything else that may be on your mind.
In addition to a way for us to keep our family and friends updated, the blog has really helped us keep in touch with people & get an outside perspectives. So don't be shy.
-J

Back to the salt mines......

2009-06-16T12:44:00.002-05:00

Well.... It had too come eventualy, and here it is. Time to go back to work.

Kim & I had already watched the kids for 6-8hrs by ourselves, so we have a bit of a routine down and it's not the end of the world. However, caring for two babies by ones self is no easy task.

Those that know us pretty well, know that we don't ask for help very often, but we've both come to the realization that we are going to have to ask. Between me working, & Kim being on baby duty all the time, there are going to be times when we need a sanity break or just an extra hand. We are very very greatful that we have great parents that want to help us out and spend time with their grandchildren. We are also very fortunate that we have several friends that can't wait to babysit.

We've really wanted to be a bit more social and have some people over to visit the kids, but it's kind of dificult to schedule the visits as things change by the min & we've been so busy that we haven't really reached out to many people. Hopefully we can change that in the very near future.

My boss at work has been way way cool and understanding during the whole process. Her first day as our manager was on my first day going back to work after their birth. So she didn't really know me, other than that I had two kids in the hospital. She's always been super low pressure and flexable, which has helped our family tremendously. I can't imagine going through this whole thing while worrying about having a job and therefore paying for all this. Many thanks Michelle!

Well..... Not really sure what the point of this post was, but here it is. With all the sleep depravation my brain is on slow mode.... Maybe reverse. I dunno, which one, but I do know it doesn't work so well right now. ;)

Happy Birthday Jason!

2009-06-12T21:36:00.003-05:00

Today is Jason's birthday. The big 34 (as I cringe thinking what that will make me in a couple weeks). June is a busy month for birthdays and such. My dad, a.k.a. pawpaw Patranella, has his birthday tomorrow. Then mine is on the 26th. Since we both have such a lack of time, I tried to be creative in the gift giving for Jason's birthday. So I decided to take complete baby duty throughout the night lastnight so he could get some good sleep then "gave" him the day to play golf. He was thrilled and had a great time but was really happy to be back with the family this evening. When he got home, there was a new set of golf clubs that had been delivered from me and his parents.

The kids have been doing well. I was pretty busy lastnight as neither Blake or Jenna slept very deeply so they woke several times needing attention. Jenna had an upset stomach lastnight again. I believe it may be colic. We've tried Mylanta and Gripe Water, neither really do the trick much of the time. I have a call into the pedi to discuss the possibility of switching formula. She has tummy issues every to every other night. Other than that though she is doing great. She had her therapy today. It was a good productive session. She really seems to enjoy the exercises while on her tummy. Allyson continues to work on stretching and lengthening Jenna's leg muscles. Jenna has a bit of high muscle tone in the hips and legs. I am so grateful that this is mild especially considering her history of bilateral ventricular hemorrhage. We were told it was very very unlikely that the tone will get worse. At this point, it is hard to tell how much or if she will have difficulty or slowed progression into reaching the crawling and walking milestones. She is looking real good though. Allyson was very pleased with what she observed in Jenna's movements today. I plan to continue working with Jenna several times a day. I make it part of our play time. I believe in her and her ability to overcome this. With the help of family and friends, our prayers and her amazingly spunky personality she will do well. I will never underestimate the power of prayer nor will I underestimate my beautiful little firecracker of a gal. In the last few days, she has made and held eye contact with us more. I am so thrilled to see this. I love looking into her star fire blue eyes.

Blake is doing amazingly well. He is making the moves that will soon have himself rolling over. He is almost there actually. (BTW, Jenna is showing signs of attempts too!) He is moving along with his exercises and continues to pick up and turn his head. He holds his upper body up in short spurts. He is tracking very well. It is a truly amazing gift that Blake's vision is as healthy as it is. We are eternally grateful to Dr. Harper for performing a successful laser surgery. There have been so many people that have helped care for and help secure good health for Blake and Jenna. As I sat quietly for a few moments lastnight I began reflecting on my and Jason's life since the beginning of the year. A whirlwind of thoughts, memories and emotions suddenly came over me. As I thought back on the days that involved difficult decisions and of days of uncertainty, I found myself with knots in my stomach. Although those NICU days are well behind us, the emotions involved still easily surface. As I sat and played through some of the memories in my head, my emotions turned from fear, sadness and anxiety to joy, pride and much relief. I prayed a prayer of thanks for the amazing support we have received and for the fact that we have two wonderful babies with good health that make our family complete. The other evening, I was holding Blake. After watching a portion of the news, I looked down at him only to find two beautiful blue eyes looking up at me with a look of great content and comfort. As I sat and stared I felt so very proud. I felt so happy to have the fortune of sharing such moments with my "little man". I remembered a time I feared we would never share such moments, of fearing Blake would lose his vision. I can not possibly express the feeling of relief and gratitude I feel each day I gaze at my handsome little boy. So......an emotionally charged post I've created. Maybe it's the lack of sleep...or the lack of time and my way of doing a turbo download of thoughts and emotions. Not sure. I just find myself very grateful for the amazing gifts I have been given.

Yep, I'm tired.....going to close for now. Will post more tomorrow. Thank you for your continued prayers. We continue to pray for Jenna to overcome any mobility challenges and for continued good health for our family and friends.

Monday's Handful

2009-06-08T19:39:00.005-05:00

Whew, the twins have been a handful today! Until now, there has been NO downtime AT ALL...for Jason or myself. Mind you, I am typing one handed at times with Jenna in my arms as we speak. HA! It's funny, the innovative, twisty, turvey, stand on one foot, one hand behind your back manuevers you come up with when you juggle twins. Jason came downstairs the other afternoon from taking a short nap and started laughing at me. I was sitting on the couch, legs crossed, Jenna in the middle, Blake propped up in one arm, while I was on the phone making doctors appointments. He had to get a picture, it should be posted with the new pics. I keep telling myslef, I am going to have to learn to do so many things in this manner once Jason returns to work. Jason and I periodically give each other breaks. I usually utilize my "free time" by sleeping, he usually goes and plays golf or hangs out with Adam. Rarely does he take that time to sleep. Not me, I am not used to getting little sleep. I've never been one to function well on less than 6 or 7 hours sleep. Yea, lots of adjusting to do.

So, today has been a challenge in the Reid household. Both Blake and Jenna have been "high mantainance. They've been fussy and have needed our attention every minute. Good thing is, hopefully they will sleep well tonight. We went to the pulmonologist today. Both checked out well with their evaluation. The data from the apnea monitors has been downloaded and will be reviewed. If all looks good, they will discontinue the theophline and we will remain on the monitors for another month to make sure all is well w/o meds.

We have an appointment tomorrow to get family pictures taken. I sure hope they aren't as fussy. If, so we will just do it another day.

Well, dinner is ready and time is limited so I am going for now. Before I go though, here are new pics.

http://picasaweb.google.com/blakeandjenna/June?feat=directlink

NICU Reunion

2009-06-06T22:37:00.002-05:00

I almost forgot to tell everyone about their little impromptu NICU Reunion.

When the kids left the hospital, it just happened to work out that all their regular nurses & Dr.'s were off work. Janice worked the evening we roomed in, but she had a full lineup of babies to care for, so we didn't get to see her as much as we liked. But.... we knew she was giving other babies excellent care, so we understood.

Anyways, the day we checked out was very low key. Nobody that we knew was working, so Anna, April, & Dr. Su didn't get a chance to say goodbye. We didn't really have much going on Tue, and the gang was working, so we packed up the kids and rolled up to good ole St. David to visit the extended family.
Anna, April, & Dr. Su were really happy to see the kids and were very happy with how much they've grown and how good they looked. The kids cooperated, behaved, & were wide awake the entire time we were there. While we were there, several of their other friends were able to come out and see them to say hi.
It's funny, it had only been a couple days over 2 weeks since we exited the NICU, but it seemed like it had been a long time. Really showed Kim and I how close we've come to all the wonderful people in the NICU & how much we've missed seeing them. We can't say enough good things about that crew. They perform miracles on a daily basis, and yet it's simply routine and "doing a good job" for them.

We learned an important lesson on this trip. Due to all the things we had going on, we ended up leaving the house right when they were ready to feed. Because of the timing, Kim fed them in the truck on the way to the hospital. BIG Mistake! We weren't able to burp them until we got to the hospital, and Blake promptly threw up as soon as we got out of the truck.
So, no mas feeding while they are strapped in their car seat.

Anyways, we had a great visit and will post a couple pics when we have a moment to get them up.
-J

Rollin along

2009-06-06T22:21:00.002-05:00

Hi all.
Sorry our posts have been few and far between. When we don't both have our hands full of babies, we've been trying to give each other a break. Try to catch up on a little sleep or just get stuff done.

The kids have been doing great. Each Dr. or therapist visit brings more good news. They have all been impressed with where they are considering the challenges they've faced.
Having them home has been everything I had imagined and quite a bit more. They are definitely a handful as all parents know, but it's been amazing getting to spend almost every minute of the day with them. They are awesome! Even after 3 weeks, Kim and I often comment on how cool it is to have them home.
For the most part they are pretty relaxed kids.
Jenna has really calmed down and seems to have settled into her surroundings and life in general. Before she would go from 0 to PISSED in no time flat. This past week, she seems to have mellowed out quite a bit. Now she'll just kind of look around, grunt and try to tell you she's not happy, then open up with the lungs. She's also been doing really good consoling herself by putting her fingers in her mouth, or just by looking around.
Blake has been doing good as well. He'll often time just sit there and look around the room. He'll do this for up to two or more hours. He's also doing a good job consoling him self and relaxing.

Both have picked up their feeding quite a bit. Blake is doing great with his bottle feeding. Before, he would get tired and wouldn't put down the suction. After working with him for a few days, he's really started to get the hang of it.
Seems like they make rapid improvements after we recognise a need and begin working on it.
They are just amazing to watch develop. They are truly impressive.

The only thing I would really like to improve is the length of time they sleep. Right now it's 3-4hrs. If we could get that to 5-6, life would perfect.

Not sure if we mentioned it, but the kids have been Great travelers! The first week, we took them on a 4hr jaunt to a couple stores and Rudy's for a late dinner. They've been traveling great when we go to Dr. apts. We've taken them out for several walks, and they really seem to enjoy getting out. And by "enjoy" I mean that they sleep very very hard, so at the very least, we enjoy it. ;)

We'll both try to get some pics posted & update the blog more often. At the very least, after Dr. apts.

-J

June 1, 2009

2009-06-01T17:37:00.004-05:00

Thought I would hop on real quick while I have a chance. Blake and Jenna are napping AT THE SAME TIME-WHOOHOO!!!! After the 3:30 feed, Jenna decided to stay awake and explore her surroundings. She had a short tummy time first and we did her exercises. She did well and appears to be gettign stronger every day. She has lifted not only her head but she used her arms to raise her upper body too. Great job Jenna! She really enjoyed looking around at her stuffed animal friends and toys this afternoon. She is having more and more time where she likes to look around and observe her surroundings without requiring us to "entertain her" or hold her while awake. She also does not scream each time her paci falls out anymore-whew! She just hangs out when it falls out sometimes or puts her fingers in her mouth. We are excited that she has been having more quiet and calm play time.

Blake still enjoys his swing quite a bit. He just sits in there watching his mobile or looking around'This is nice when it's time for Jason and I to eat. It IS true, babies ALWAYS need something when it's time for mommy and daddy to sit down to eat. We have settled into a pretty good routine though that lends itself some time for me and Jason to eat without too many interruptions. Blake does quite a bit of cooing. Jenna calls out from time to time. She sounds like a little bird.

The other day the cutest thing happened. We put Blake and Jenna together on the floor and Blake started with the hiccups. A couple minutes later, Jenna started with hiccups too. They just looked at each other. Then for a while they hiccuped in unison-haha. It was real cute.

We have been taking lots of video and some pics. I'll work on posting more. We are going this week to have our first family pics taken outside of the hospital. Hope they either are calm and cooperative or sleeping.

Think we will go out for a stroll later tonight. Gotta get these two used to being out and about and get us used to handling them away from home. We really want to take them to our yearly family get together this year. Each year we all go camping out at the Renaisance Festival. We may be crazy taking two 5 month olds (or 9 month old according to their b-day) out on such a trip but our goal is to be a real flexible and on the go family. Gotta start early! Jason and I love nature and doing things out doors so we want to start getting Blake and Jenna ready for lots of outdoor fun.

Hope all is well. Thank you for your continued prayers. Each day is a true blessing and we couldn't be happier that Blake and Jenna are home.

Friday, May 29th

2009-05-29T18:10:00.002-05:00

Hello all~
Just wanted to pop on for a minute while the babies are sleeping to post a quick update. We are doing well. Each day Blake and Jenna do something that amazes us whether it be a cute little grin, silly facial expression or the increasing strength that they build during "tummy time".

They had their second home health physical therapy session yesterday. Both received a great progress report. Blake has great mobility. He uses his arms and legs quite a bit and raises himself up pretty well while on his tummy. Blake's main goal is to strengthen his tummy muscles. Sound funny? Yea. By strengthening his tummy muscles, he will better be able to turn over and be more mobile. Oh, and we are working on tongue formation while feeding with Blake. At times, he does great and at others he is a bit uncoordinated. Jenna's tummy muscles are looking good. She has good mobility too. Her hips could use a little loosening at times, which is her goal. We will be working on these goals on a daily basis and their therapist will be coming once a week. Overall, they are in great shape for being twins, micropreemies and considering their health history. We are all very pleased with their development.

Jason and I are doing well. It does seem that when we get one settled, the other requests attention of some kind. That and as soon as it is time to eat, Blake and Jenna's radar goes off and they call for our attention-haha. Oh well, maybe it'll facilitate some weight loss that we both so much need.

Been home as a family for nearly two weeks now and are enjoying it so very much. Sleep deprivation is s small price to pay.

twins are calling.....

Our Special Gifts

Quick update

~~Our Return~~Part I

How the March of Dimes Have Helped Families Just Like Ours

Christmas2010

Here Comes Santa Claus Here Comes Santa Claus....

So very very grateful.......

Fun at the Park

Finally some new pics....

March of Dimes Ambassador 2011 Family Nomination Update

Fight for Preemies // Bloggers Unite

November is National Prematurity Awareness Month~My Article Re:Prematurity Awareness

Sort, Sort, Sort...Stack, Stack, Stack

Ren Fest & Halloween

Nominated as the 2010 March of Dimes Ambassador Family

March of Dimes: "Miracles on 32nd Street" Team Update

"Jenna & Blake's Playhouse"

Two Little Stinkers August 13th

~We're Back~

One 17M old + One 17M old=2 Temper Tantrums in Stereo

Tuesday, May 25th 15 Month Check Up

We've Got a walker on Our Hands!!!!

Just a Thought

March for Babies & Birthday Party Pics

Seussical Celebration

The Simple Pleasures of Childhood

Intro to Bluebonnets

"Baby Blues" Vision Check

A Little Taste Test

Snow Day Flash Back

A Little Mischief

Late night thoughts

Welcome March! Come on Springtime weather!!

Under the Weather

Blast from the Past-Our little Valentines

Jumpy Gym Play Date by Day Bubble Bath by Night

March For Babies 2010

Cart For Two-"Priceless"

FlashBack Friday~January 29, 2010

In a Much Better Place

Blake and Jenna's 12Month Check up and Shots

Jenna's First Zoobie

He's standing.... Let the chaos begin.

"Look Mommy, No Hands!" ~Blake "Look Mommy, I'm a Rock Star" ~Jenna

Jan 20th-PartI-Physical Therapy Graduate!! Part II-"Proud Parents On Board:Our Kids Are Rule Breakers!"

Visiting with Old Friends

Fun Day Planned

Birthday Plans

"Your Boys All Grown Up!"

FLASHBACK Saturday

A First For Jenna

HO! HO! HO!

More Great News and Growth

The Reid Pirates

Halloween Contest Results

Gobble Gobble Gobble

1st visit with Santa

EllaBella Photos are in

Santa, here we come!!

LOVING being a mommy of twins!!!!

November 13th

November 2nd

Vote for Us! Halloween Photo Contest

MayField Park Photo Session with Elle (Ella Bella Photography)

New Pics

NICU Reunion

"Fairy Princess Jenna" and "Blakenstein"

New Hats

Great Developments

It's been a looooong time.....

1:34AM Is Sleep Anywhere In Sight????

Tuesday, Sept 8th

A Few New Pics

Good News September

Cruisin' In Style

Link to August Pics

Welcome Cousin Jude!!!

Jenna has gone PUNK ROCK!!!!!

Sunday, August 9

Friday, July 31st NEW PICS

Our ReturnPart I