Sammy & Aaron's birth story

Sam & Aaron's Birth Story

2/9/04 – 26 weeks, 5 days gestation. At 3am I was having contractions 10 minutes, then progressively 4 minutes apart. Went to the OB Triage and was put on monitors. Contractions were 4-5 min. apart and when I was checked, I was 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced. I was then admitted, put on Magnesium Sulfate and given 2 steroid shots to speed up the babies’ lung development in case labor was not stopped. Thankfully, the contractions stopped after a few hours. I remained at the hospital for 3 days and was closely monitored as were the babies. I was sent home on Thursday, the 12th with orders to be on strict bed rest. Mom flew in on that same day (the day I went home, to care of me.

Friday, 2/27/04 – 29 weeks, 2 days gestation. My water broke at 3:30 am while I was sleeping. Mom stayed with Brenna and Tony and I got to the hospital a little after 4am. They “checked” me and found I was 3 cm dilated. Put me on magnesium sulfate to try to stop the contractions….no luck! By 8am I was 5cm dilated and 15 minutes later I was 8cm dilated. They didn’t get me the epidural in time so I delivered Samuel naturally at 8:31am. Oh, the pain! Little Aaron must have known it wasn’t time to come out because he wouldn’t “come down”. Because he had a lot of space in there, Dr. Ebenger was concerned about him getting entangled in the chord so they rushed me off for an emergency c-section. I awoke about an hour later and was told that they had trouble getting Aaron out and even had to do chest compressions once he was delivered. He came out breech and one of his legs was completely white. He had to be intubated right there in the OR. I had been put completely under and was thankful not to have known what was going on at the time. So, little Aaron was pretty bruised up, but doing well.
Stats: Sammy – 3lbs 2.5oz….16 inches
Aaron - 3lbs 2.3oz….15 ½ inches

Sunday, 2/29/04 – Aaron progressing a little more quickly than Sammy. We and the nurses refer to Aaron as the feisty one and Sammy as Mr. Laid Back. Aaron is constantly wiggling around. Aaron was able to come off the ventilator today and put on buble CPAP, w/ low oxygen.

3/2/04 – Mom returned to NC for her reserve training in Charlotte. What an amazing help she was during that 2 wks of bedrest. I would probably have gone into labor sooner and definitely would not have eaten as well if she had not taken care of me…actually US!

3/3/04 – Sammy came off the ventilator too! Both boys on CPAP and room air.

3/5/04 – Both boys moved to other NICU room to isolettes (incubators) as they don’t need as much “maintenance”. This is a good improvement!

3/8/04 – Both babies taken off CPAP!! It’s a trial and they may have to get back on it but it’s good they are ready for a try. As of 3/7, Sammy is above his birth weight (3lb 3oz). Aaron is Mr. Slim and weighing in at 2lb 15oz. Both are up to 20cc of breast milk. Now all they have are the PICC lines to come out when they no longer need the Hyperal or IV liquids.

3/10 – Sammy’s leg looked a little swollen so his PICC line was taken out and his feedings were increased to 23cc. Unfortunately he had some breathing “episodes” last night, one severe so he was put back on CPAP. Marilyn (the Nurse practitioner) called before I went to the hospital and to tell me this and also that she thought both boys were still having the Apnea and Bradychardia episodes due to possible Sepsis (blood infection). By the time I got to the NICU, Sammy was off CPAP again (Aaron was still on) and the results of both boys’ CBC’s showed no infection….YEA! Apparently they are just being, what the nurses refer to as, WWB (wimpy white boys). I had a little pep talk with the guys and reminded them that they are ½ Mexican and need to show their “fight”. ;o) Aaron’s PICC line is scheduled to be removed this later today and he will be upped to 23cc on his feedings as well.

3/12 (Friday) – Happy 2 week Birthday! And what made the day really wonderful was that I was able to hold both babies for the first time! Unfortunately, Tony was at work but he will get to hold them at his next visit. Also unfortunately, I came home to download the pictures of me holding them and the digital camera fell and the pictures were deleted!!! I am really ticked off right now but I know we will have many other opportunities to take pictures and video as well. Both babies are getting now (27cc’s) and also a fortifying powder that is added to the milk to add calories. Both guys still on CPAP.

3/13 – Melisa Hoefner, her family and her mom (Brenna's 1st babysitter) visited today on their way to Disney World. I made 2 lasagnas for the NICU nurses and took them by in the morning. The boys are doing good and getting 29 cc’s of milk now. Sammy weighs 3lbs, 2oz & Aaron is 2lbs, 15oz. Both of the boys were able to get off CPAP…YEA!!

3/14 – Melisa and her family came to the hospital with me and were so happy that they got to hold the babies. Tony is getting over a cold but will hopefully be able to see & hold the babies on Monday or Tuesday. Both boys are now 3lbs, 2oz .

3/15 – Tony finally got to hold the boys!! They are gaining weight well now. Sammy weighs 3lbs 5oz & Aaron weighs 3lbs 4oz. They both had to get nasal canulas to help them breathe but that is minor and will not keep them from going to the step down unit when they are ready.

3/16 – Sammy weighs 3lbs, 7oz & Aaron is 3lbs, 6oz. All continues to go well.

3/17 - When I was visiting the babies today the Dr. told me that Sammy is Level II ready! This means that he and hopefully Aaron too will soon be "promoted" to the Progressive Care Nursey (a.k.a the step down unit)!! They are 32 weeks (gestation) today and have passed all the criteria to move on to the unit where they will learn to eat from a bottle, fatten up and perfect their breathing skills. Aaron is still having more brady’s so they are watching him. They have been in the NICU for 2.5 wks. They still have little "episodes" with apnea, but that is expected. Sammy now weighs 3lbs 9oz and Aaron is 3lbs 8oz. Hopefully they will only need another 3 wks before they come home.

3/18 – I am so happy now that every time I visit, I can hold the babies and do all the “caring” for them without any help from the nurses. It definitely helps to reinforce my feelings as “Mommy”. The boys seem to do so well when I hold them and they both are so alert now…looking around all the time. And the faces they make are hilarious. Sammy weighs 3lbs 11oz & Aaron is 3lbs 10oz.

3/19 – Had another wonderful visit with the boys and today the nurses tried bottle feeding with Aaron. He was able to eat 3 cc’s before having trouble…good 1st try. They will try later with Sammy as he was having a few decelerations before the feeding so they didn’t want to exacerbate it. Sammy weighs 3lbs 13oz & Aaron is 3lbs 12oz.

3/20 – Aaron had to get a transfusion today due to a low blood count. He had been anemic and that was no big deal but Dr. Sultan felt that that in addition to his brady’s warranted a little “boost”. His color was much better after the transfusion as well as his blood count. They have swapped positions in weight. Aaron is now 3.13 & Sammy is 3.12. Michelle, the night nurse, was so sweet to put them together for their first photo opp together (w/ being held). They are Polaroids and turned out cute but we can’t email them to family :o(.

3/21 – Both boys are doing good and ate from a bottle today. Aaron was able to get 20cc’s down w/ the bottle and Sammy was able to get 10cc’s. This was Sammy’s 1st try. Still waiting for Aaron to be classified as Level II, but I am glad they are keeping them together while we wait for him to promote.

3/22 – Aaron is now Level II!!!! There is construction going on in the PCN so space is limited, but they will move as soon as 2 beds are available. Daddy and I held the boys for 1.5 hours today! It was really nice. Weights: Sammy is 4lbs 1oz and Aaron is 3lbs 15oz. They will be getting their eye exams tonight (not a fun procedure) and we pray that neither has ROP. Chris & Tamara had their twin girls today via c-section. They are doing good. Hattie Rose (Baby A) weighed 5.14 and Stella (Baby B) weighed 7.10. Stella has a little fluid in her lungs and is needing some help but I’m sure she will be ok in no time. Big day!

3/24 – The boys got moved to open cribs today! And as of 11pm last night, Aaron is off the nasal canula….Sammy still needs it. Sammy (my little porker) is now eating 40cc’s every 3 hours and Aaron is up to 38cc’s every 3 hours. Sammy weighs 4lbs 5oz & Aaron is 4lbs, 1oz. This is their biggest weight difference so far. Brenna and I worked on the babies room tonight. We had a ton of clothes to go through that Danell sent and gifts from other people. The room is painted and we have all the essentials. Now all we need is a dresser!

3/25 – Sammy weighs 4lbs 7oz and Aaron weighs 4lbs 3oz.

3/26 – The boys got moved to a dif’t area of the room that is close to the viewing window. So, I took Brenna to the hospital this evening so she could see her brothers for the first time. Peggy (the nurse) was wonderful and took the gavage tubes out and Sammy’s nasal cannula so I could get a good picture of them together for the birth announcements. Then she took each of them to the window for Brenna to see close up and even took Aaron out into the hall for Brenna. I can’t wait until they come home and she can hold them. Their weights are the same tonight although they each gained a few grams. The Step Down Unit finally has space for both babies so Aaron is being moved down the hall tonight and Sammy will be moving in the morning. I will talk to the Dr. to start pushing for them to share a crib. The Occupational Therapist met w/ me to show me how to do massage on Aaron to help with the development of their muscles for breathing and how to recognize signs of stress or over stimulation. Sammy’s respiration was a little high so we will try him later. Very interesting stuff and seemed to really help Aaron.

3/27 – Both babies were moved to the step down unit at the same time last night…YEA! Now my goal is to have them in the same bed. I will meet with the Dr. on Monday. I really think Sammy will benefit from being with Aaron. Sammy is still on the nasal cannula and has episodes of “desating” and breathing fast so I think being close to Aaron would relax him and help him regulate everything. Peggy is going to sneek them into the same crib tonight and put them back before the shift change in the morning. Our neighbor Kathy (parent of Brenna’s friend Kevin) went to the hospital with Brenna and I today. She enjoyed holding both the boys. Sammy weighs 4.8 and Aaron is 4.4.

3/28 – Peggy gave the babies their first tub bath tonight. I was sad to miss it but Tony is off tomorrow so I will go back at night and Peggy is going to let me bathe them. She put them in the same crib again at 8pm even though there are no Dr.’s orders yet. She is wonderful. She said she checked on them at one pt and when she pulled back the blanket, they were holding hands! Each time she puts them together, they do much better and don’t have any episodes. Sammy is now 4lbs 9oz & Aaron is 4lbs 5oz. Aaron took 13cc’s from a bottle today during my visit and Peggy will try again tonight. Sammy is still up and down with his respiration so he hasn’t had another try yet. Sammy’s feedings have been upped to 42cc’s and Aaron is still at 40cc’s..every 3 hrs.

3/29 – I went in today prepared to argue w/ the Dr. for co-bedding and was surprised to discover the orders had already been signed! So, the babies were put together”officially” in one crib. All the nurses heard (this hasn’t been done with the last few twins) and everyone had to come see the boys together. The nurses are so loving and the boys are very popular. I got to give the babies their first joint tub bath and they did great. Little Sammy just loves tub time. Sammy weighs 4.10 and Aaron is 4.8. Peggy said we should attend the discharge class next Monday and also bring in the car seats for the one hour test. Homecoming is near!

3/30 – Aaron took a full bottle today! And when I was there, I got to bottle feed him for the 1st time and he took 18cc’s (out of 40). Sammy ate about 10cc’s from the bottle. They are both doing great but we just need to get Sammy off the oxygen and caught up on his bottle feeding training. Sammy weighs 4lbs 11oz and Aaron is 4lbs 9oz.

3/31 – I was told today that there has been a lot of traffic at Sammy & Aaron’s crib. Apparently, all the nurses and staff have been coming to see the cute twins that get to co-bed. Apparently, this has not been allowed before and this has prompted the creation of a protocol for co-bedding. The nurses told me they suspect that my Dad (Babba Dan) being an OBGYN played a factor. Sammy & Aaron are making history at Health Park Medical Center! Sammy is eating 45cc’s and is 4lbs, 11.9oz and Aaron is catching back up eating 44cc’s and weighing 4lbs, 10.9oz.

4/2 – Aaron has caught up with Sammy and they are both 4lbs 12oz. Yesterday the fortifier that has been added to my breast milk was discontinued as they are above the weight requirement and gaining well without it. Dr. Liu told me today that he has ordered the monitor for Aaron to go home one so I guess Aaron will be coming home once the bottle feeding is down. Sammy still has to get off the oxygen, off the caffeine and accomplish bottle feeding so I am afraid they may not be coming home at the same time. :o( I will deal with what ever happens, but separating them will be hard so I hope Sammy catches up soon.

4/3 – Both babies are 4 lbs 13oz. I fed Sammy tonight and he ate 10cc’s. But earlier today he ate a full bottle…yeah! We did a “photo shoot” tonight with nurse Barbara. I bought them Winnie the Pooh outfits and blanket and small Tigger and Pooh dolls to hold.

4/4 – Sammy & Aaron entertained everyone today with their first “altercation”. Apparently Sammy wanted Aaron to wake up with him. He kept tapping Aaron on the head until Aaron finally woke up and looked at his brother like “Hey! Do you mind!?!?” Then Sammy put his hand back down by his face. A little while later, Sammy reached over and grabbed Aaron’s gavage tube that was in his nose and proceeded to pull it out! In the process he scratched the top of Aaron’s nose. Little Aaron didn’t even cry but looked very shocked! :o)

4/5 – Daddy and I attended the Discharge class tonight. We learned CPR and what to do if the babies choke. It was very informative.

4/6 – The boys had their weekly blood work done and both are low on their platelets. Aaron seems to be making his own faster so they decided not to do anything, but Sammy had to get another transfusion. Sammy has hit the 5lb mark…YEAH! Aaron is close behind at 4lbs, 14oz. I met with a representative today from the company who will be providing Aaron’s monitor. So far the Dr. has only ordered one for Aaron, but I suspect Sammy will need one too. I was trained on how it works and what the dif’t alarms mean. The alarms are very loud so I think I will be much more comfortable when the boys come home.

4/7 – Sammy is doing much better today and looking so nice and pink! He is now 5lbs 1oz and Aaron is 4lbs 15oz.

4/9 – Both boys are 5lbs now!! Sammy is 5.2 and Aaron is 5.0. My supply of breast milk has now waaaay outgrown our refrigerator freezer so I bought a deep freezer today at Sam’s. I have never been so excited about an appliance! My milk production has doubled in the past few days. My body must know the boys will be coming home soon. ;o)

4/14 – Sammy is now off caffeine! The nurse said he should have been off sooner and it had only been increased because of his weight gain. They worked today on weaning him off the oxygen and the OT is still trying massage to teach him not to breathe so fast. Aaron has turned the corner and has almost mastered the bottle feeding. He does wonderful, but gets too wiped out to do it every 3 hours so he is doing every other meal with the bottle. Sammy eats well, but not as fast yet and definitely not as neatly! I think his chubby cheeks make it hard for him to keep the milk in his mouth! :o) Each day that face gets chubbier and I realized he is looking more and more like Jackie Gleason! Such cuties they are! Today, they were both increased to 51cc’s of milk and Aaron ate his in 11 minutes! The night nurse is going to let Sammy try a bottle at the 11pm feeding. Sammy is now 5lbs 7oz and Aaron is 5lbs 5oz! I am so anxious for my sweet boys to come home and it’s getting harder and harder to leave them each day.

4/15 – Sammy & Aaron both passed their car seat test and Aaron just needs to take a bottle at every feed, then he can come!!! The nurses told me to be ready tomorrow!! Sammy still needs to master the bottle and hopefully get weaned off the O2.

4/16 – Aaron came home today and I am so happy and also so nervous. I watch him every minute to make sure he is breathing. He had to come home on a monitor and although it is a pain to deal with, it is very comforting to know an alarm will go off if anything is wrong. He has been awake a lot and eating every 2 hrs. I guess the extra stimulation here has made him work up an appetite. He weighs 5 lbs 10oz. Final bill for Aaron’s NICU stay - $114,998!!! That doesn’t include Sammy’s bill or my bill from the deliveries and preterm labor. Thank goodness our insurance has a max of $4k per family/per year so that is what we will be responsible for.

4/19 – Aaron has his first pediatrician appt. today and all looked good. We will wait until Sammy is home for them to get their immunizations and circumcisions at the same time.

4/20 – I haven’t had much time to jot down the days events as Aaron is keeping me busy. I try to visit Sammy in the morning before Tony goes to work. I am pumping every 2 hours and pretty worn out so there have been 2 days that Tony went to the hospital. I miss my little Sammy when I can’t spend hours with him like before. But he is doing good and eating better. He is still on .1% oxygen and it looks like he may come home on that if he masters everything else and that is the only thing keeping him there.

4/29 – Sammy came home today!!! I am so happy, there are just no words to describe how wonderful it feels to have both of my babies home. I thank God every hour for them. Sammy is still on oxygen so we have a bunch of tanks here, but hopefully he won’t have to be on it too long. He is also on a monitor. He weighs 5lbs 14oz. The boys will both see a pulmonologist every month to get their RSV Synergis and also to monitor Sammy’s breathing situation. He still breathes really fast, but the Dr. said he will grow out of it. Final bill for Sammy’s NICU stay….$140,280!!!

Sammy & Aaron at home

5/8/04 – Well, it is becoming pretty comfortable here with the boys and we are getting into a routine. We are worn out and so that we can each get a few hours of sleep at night, we each take a shift. Tony really does his part and is good about taking over when he comes home from work.

5/10 – Sammy and Aaron both saw the pediatrician today. Aaron now weighs 7lbs and Sammy weighs 6lbs. Aaron really put on weight while he was home those 13 days before Sammy. Also, being on oxygen means Sammy will burn more calories breathing so he will probably not gain weight quite as quickly as Aaron. But both are doing great and still only getting breast milk. I am still pumping more than they eat and even freezing several bottles still each day. Aaron eats about 2oz every 2 hours and Sammy eats about 1.5oz every 2 hrs. They were both circumsized today, got all their immunizations and also their first round of RSV synergis. Tony had to work so I took the boys to all their appts by myself and I am pretty worn out. It wasn’t as rough as I thought it would be though and the boys did great. I watched the circumcisions and it was pretty wild….hard to watch, but interesting. Their pediatrician, Dr. Thornburg did the procedure. He’s a young guy, probably our age, but seems to be good.

5/18 – Great Granny and Basil came to visit. We had a great time and Grandma was such a big help. Little Sammy tends to spit up a lot, eats slower and has to be burped frequently and Grandma really got good at feeding him.

6/1 – Brenna is off to her dad’s for the summer. She has been such a big help. I will miss her :o( but I know she is going to have fun with the Mayos and her new twin sisters.

6/8 – Appt. with the pulminologist today. Good news, Sammy gained 2lbs in the last month and Aaron gained 3!!! The Dr. was in disbelief of Aaron’s weight gain and very happy with Sammy’s since O2 babies tend to not gain as well. Aaron is 10lbs and Sammy is 9lbs. Also, Sammy is ready to come off the O2. He must undergo a sleep study first.

6/16 – Sammy’s sleep study was today at 9am. Breana is visiting and helping with the babies so she and Tony stayed home with Aaron while Sammy and I went to the hospital to sleep! The sleep study went well. We were there until 5pm and seemed to get him to sleep enough for the monitoring. It was a very intricate study and, in my opinion, most of it was unnecessary since all they monitored in the NICU was pulse oxygen level. And while I was there Sammy’s never dropped below 93%. I was told by the sleep study technician that they are short handed and that the study will generate 70+ pages of info that must be deciphered and given to the pulminologist before a decision is made. WHATEVER!! I saw what I needed to see and am not going to keep him on the O2 longer than he needs to be. I talked with Baba Dan and he agrees so Sammy is now off the O2.

6/28, 29 & 30 – The boys slept 8 hrs for 3 nights in a row!! They are now eating every 3 hours during the day and it would be great if this sleep pattern was permanent. Their corrected age is about 6 wks so hopefully it won’t be long before they sleep through the night.

7/1 – Pediatrician appt today. Sammy weighs 10.2lbs and Aaron weighs 11.3lbs. They got their 2nd round of immunizations and also their PKU test. It was done in the NICU, but since they were on antibiotics at the time, it had to be redone to make sure the results were accurate. They were exhausted from crying and slept the rest of the day. This of course meant they were up most of the night :o(

7/9 – Monthly Pulminologist appt today. I told the Dr. I took Sammy off the O2 back on the 16th and was not happy that I had heard NOTHING from them since the study was done. She told me what I already knew, that the sleep study came back normal. She said I should have talked with them before taking him off the O2 and I let her know that I had called their office 4 times, got the voice mail every time and left 2 messages. Then I asked her why they hadn’t contacted me. No answer. This was the first time we saw Dr. Contreras. I like Dr. Favario much better. They got their monthly synergis and Sammy weighed 10.10 and Aaron weighed 11.6. Sammy is gaining on Aaron and has done so well since being off the oxygen. $60 copay for each time they see this Dr.

7/23/04 - I have pumped for the last time. It's been hard pumping for 5 months with one side doing all the work and it will be a relief for my body to get back to normal. I have a lot of breast milk frozen and it should last another month or two. I will probably supplement with formula so they can get breast milk even longer. I really attribute their health to the breast milk. They haven't had so much as a cough or fever since they were born.

8/7 – Both boys slept 11 hours!!! That is the longest ever! Let’s see if it continues.

8/11 - Sammy is my little talker. He just loves to put his hands together and go on an and oohing and awing. Aaron is my little “tuffy”. He already holds his head up so good and always try to sit up when he is on his boppy lounger. They both laugh all the time and love to play with sissy.

8/19 – Monthly RSV shots. Both boys cried for only a second right when the shot was given. Aaron weighs 14.4 lbs and Sammy weighs 14 lbs.

8/21/04 – It’s been 2 weeks and the boys are still sleeping about 10 hrs….9pm – 7am usually. Every once in a while one may wake up to eat, but for the most part they are down for the night! They then have a long morning nap from about 10am until 12pm. After that, they are awake almost all day long except for a few cat naps…..2 or 3 that last about 45 mins. And of course, they never nap at the same time. Oh well, at least we can get a good night’s sleep….it makes all the difference in the world. And they really are good, sweet babies. They also eat like little maniacs all day long like they are playing catch-up. They eat 4-6oz every 2-3 hrs during the day.

8/23/04 – Aaron rolled over today….from back to front and then front to back. Sammy watched and still has no desires to try. He’s going take it easy for as long as possible! ;o) They are both mama’s boys, but lately Sammy has become really needy for me. This can be quite difficult when I really need help and Daddy and Brenna aren't able to console him. Hopefully, it's just a temporary thing.

8/27/04 - Sam & Aaron are 6 months old, 3.5 months corrected age

8/31/04 - Today was a rough day. For some reason the boys would not take their long morning nap! So they were basically crying and eating ALL day long. Tony and Brenna came home at 3pm. I handed the babies over to them and went for a little drive...I was worn out. Tony and Brenna didn't ask any questions ;o) Then I took a nap and got my 2nd wind around 7pm. Tony and I bathed and fed them and they were sound asleep by 8:15.

posted by Bevin @ 8:34 PM 4 comments
Friday, April 30, 2004