Going Home Soon

Busy day today. We slept from about 2am-8am today! Well, I did. The boys slept in the nursery last night and stayed there for 2 feedings. That gave us over 6 hours. Holly was still awaken a couple times by the RN so they could get her blood pressure. She still got to sleep way more than normal this week.

This morning peeps were in and out of the room. Birth certificate stuff, billing, nurses checking on holly and a staff photographer. The photos were fun. Got some good ones of the boys in their Raider onesies and on their Raider baby blankets. They seemed kind of pricey though...we'll decide later if we get them or not.

Few more pics of Uncle Vick and Aunti Melissa from last night and the boys this morning. Same PHOTO ALBUM link. Only a few pics uploaded, they start at #62.

We got one more feeding to do and then we start checking outta here!

Eek! Don't Wake Mama

Whew...that was a close call. Holly finished feeding the boys about an hour ago and got to relax for the first time today and go to sleep. I was almost about to join Holly in La La Land when the door opened and the nurse walked in. She said she couldn't leave without getting the boys temp, which means unswaddling them and making them so very not happy. Got her to take the boys to the nursery and just do it there. They are going to bring them back for the next feeding at 6pm. Mama is still sleeping!

So far so good here. Day 4 in our little room...but the company is great. Oh yeah, and the Nourishment Room is right across the hall from us. They got juices and milk, crackers and graham crackers and ice cream and frozen fruit pops. However, the BEST NEWS of the day is that we get to go home tomorrow!!

Added some more pictures to the Photo Album Here...the newest one starts at pic #25. Enjoy!

Baby Pics and Video

Momma and boys are doing as well as can be expected. Boys are great. Momma is recovering nicely and feeling really good considering. Here are some more baby pictures: Kodak Gallery Album

And here is a vid of momma's growing belly and the boys. Started taking pics of momma back in June. She wasn't growing very fast that early, so we were taking pics about once a week or as often as we remembered. Later on we tried to take pics daily, but around the holidays ended up taking them only once a week or less. At the end is some vid of the boys right after being born and getting cleaned up and weighed. Enjoy!

We Have Babies...FINALLY!

Jeremy
Born at 6:01pm
6 lbs 15 oz
20 1/4 in.

Jordan
Born at 6:02pm
6 lbs 14 oz
19 1/4 in.

Boys are doing great and momma is recovering and about to leave the recovery room and go back to her room.

It's Time!

We were hoping to avoid the C-Section, but doc wants to do that. Holly is still at 4cm and she had been at it for a long time. We should be in the O.R. in about 20 minutes and should have boys out around 45 minutes after that!

Next post will hopefully have pictures.

Why won't they come out?

Still nothing but pain and discomfort. I don't how she is doing it, but Holly is still hanging in there. Doc is coming in for another measurement at 5pm and then should have a plan for whats next. I'm just sitting here hoping to help her somehow. 'Bout all I can do is get her more ice and shoulder/arm rubs...scratch her back for her.

I would prefer to video the kids...but for now, here are their heart beats and momma's contractions. The graph with the contractions has thick vertical red lines...those are 1 minute apart. In this graph she was having them 2 minutes apart. Since then they got sporadic and they are giving her some drug to try and get them looking regular again.

4cm

Gosh it is really slow going. Jeremy's head is super low and hopefully should keep things progressing. I don't know how long its been since the last exam...maybe an hour or less? Seems like forever since I last posted, but it hasn't really been too long.

Still progressing, but not much to report. Holly got some extra pain meds and she is busy crunching away on her ice chips. She didn't seem so great early, but after that last dose of pain killers she's doing a lot better.

Oh, if you are trying to call...call Holly's cell. Mine just went dead, but Vick is bringing my charger over after work. He is also letting the dogs out for us. Thanks dude! I should have my phone back on later this evening. For now, Holly's number is the same as mine...just add 1 to the last number.

3cm

Holly is still at 3cm, but she is 100% effaced which is good...otherwise doc might already be doing a C-section. Doc doesn't want Holly and the boys' health to get too stressed. If she hasn't progressed more than 3cm in 2-3 hours, then he would like to get the boys out now. On her next evaluation, if they see progress then we will continue to allow for the boys to come out on their.

They just did a sonogram and at first freaked a little because they thought one of the boys had turned. Body parts were just mixed up and overlapping and it turns out the boys are still good. Jordan is a little sideways, but still head down.

Can't believe its been over 12 hours already. 7am-12pm just flew by. Holly can't have anything to eat, she just keeps sipping on water and eating ice chips. I got a chance to sneak away the last hour and grab a quick bite from the cafeteria. Nothing to brag about there.

Back to the waiting game...

2-3cm

Holly hasn't dilated much yet. She has pre-eclampsia so they are keeping a close watch on that. It caused her blood pressure to rise some and they are running blood tests about every hour or so to make sure it doesn't get worse. If it does, they won't be able to wait for her to dilate. For now everything is looking okay. Shhh...she is actually sleeping now!

Doc said he'd come check in again in about 4-6 hours. Unless of course her blood pressure starts to rise again. She is just resting now until the RN comes back in about an hour to monitor her again.

Gonna get some guilt-free sleep too...

Still Waiting...

No babies yet. Holly just got an epidural. She is handling it incredibly well. She hasn't had any sleep. I made it until about 4:30 AM and then took a nap. Holly started feeling a lot better since the epi and will hopefully get to crash a little bit. Still no estimate on when they are coming. Everyone's heart rates are doing well...we're just waiting.

Holly's Water Busted!!

WOOSH!! We are heading to the hospital. Will update here when I can...

We Got Baby Pics!!

Psych! We got baby pics, just not THE baby pics. Those boys are still camping out in momma's belly and seem to have buckled down for the winter. Still looking like Tuesday is THE day for the real pics.

For now though...kinda wonder what they will look like.

Full Term!!

Last Tuesday was week 37 for Holly and the boys and they are now considered full term.

Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

We got some vid earlier this week of the boys kickin' around inside the womb. Hope you enjoy the footage!

Pregger Photos

Yeah, sorry. I know I said the photos were coming right up and I didn't do it. Wanted to do some editing on them and started, but just ran out of time. Here they are: Kodak Gallery Photo Album

Holly is still doing great. She is hurting a lot, but she is handling it really well. The 2nd half of the photos, we had walked around a bit and she was struggling to put a smile on, but she really wanted to get the photos. 1 WEEK TO GO!

Smile

This is the sign outside a doctor's office here in Austin. Holly was tickled by the profession and doctor's name. She made me take a picture. I said no at first, but her fists of fury persuaded me otherwise.

Cheated

I feel gipped. We got one week left to go until labor is induced...or less if the boys decide its time. Not once have I been awaken at 1AM to go get milk shakes or ice cream or Whataburger or Taco Bell...what the heck!?

Week And A Half To Go

Holly entered her 36th week on Tuesday...

Babies are gaining about an ounce a day. They now weigh around 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon...okay?) and are more than 18 1/2 inches long. They're shedding most of the downy hair that covered their bodies, as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that protected their skin during their nine-month amniotic bath. Next week, the babies will be considered full-term. Most likely they are in a head-down position, but if not, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an external cephalic version, where she'll try to turn your baby by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

We had a appointment with her doc on Tuesday as well. Everyone is happy and healthy. The boys seem to happy and don't want to be disturbed. Doc said she wanted to induce by Holly's 38th week and we agreed. So the boys will definitely be here by the 27th!! Week and a half to go. No worries about the boys being head down, they have both been head down for at least a couple of months now. Hopefully no one decides to practice their cartwheels this next week.

Oh and on Monday we went to the pond/lake thing in our 'hood and took some preggers shots of Holly and her bulbous belly. I should have those posted manana.

Zootoo Makeover Contest

Thanks to all who have signed up. The Austin Humane Society just moved into 7th place!! When I first joined back in December, the shelter was in 49th place and I thought we'd be lucky just to crack the top 20. Check THIS out for more info on how the contest works, but here is the skinny. Read the last blog for more info and remember to use my referral link when join up and finish the registration process by clicking on the link in the confirmation e-mail you get after you join up. Thanks.

Phase I: This is the phase we are in now. It working on point accumulation. Thanks to you all the shelter is steadily climbing up the rankings in points! This phase ends on Mar. 13, 2009 -- 59 days left!

Phase II: Top 20 shelters are visited by Zootoo officials and they determine which 10 shelters are most in need of the makeover. Points don't matter here. This phase ends on Apr. 1, 2009.

Phase III: This phase starts Apr 4, 2009 and ends on the 24th. This is the public voting phase to determine the winner. So if we make the top 10 in phase 2, please be ready to vote and spread the word!

If we can stay in the top 20 in phase I, then we are guaranteed at least $5,000 for the shelter. If we make the top 10 then we get at least $10,000 - first runner up gets $50K and second runner up gets $25K.

A volunteer at AHS is tracking point totals for us on how we our doing in phase I...here is is last update:

Up another place to 7th! We gained 9633 points yesterday, even though it was a school day, and now have 224,657 points. We're on track to march past both 6th and 5th places before the week is over.

And we continue to gain affiliated members. Just a couple days ago, I wrote that we had increased by 134 in the previous 5 days to 715 members. Well, when I looked this morning we had 841 affiliated members, up 126 members in just two days. Way to go!

T-Bone and Austin Humane Society Need Your Help!

Check the vid...all the info will be repeated below...



Austin Humane Society needs your help to win a contest for a $1,000,000 shelter makeover. Lots of doggies and cats need your help. Its easy and free. If you join up, just use this link:
http://tinyurl.com/8r8v7f

That's my referral link, so I get extra points when you sign up...all of which goes to the shelter's point total. Once you join, upload pictures, videos, blog/journal, write reviews and comment one articles...all those things earn you points. If you don't have time for that, then please just sign up...that will at least get the shelter an extra 100 points. If you have time once in a while, you can share pics and stories of your pets, use this as a reference to see how you can help earn the shelter points:
http://www.zootoo.com/makeover/points

63 days left in this phase of the contest. At the end of the 63 days, the top 20 shelters are in the finals. After that, ZooToo visits these shelters and determines who wins.

I hope to see a lot of referrals...I know y'all have e-mails! And I promise you, this site does not send out any spam. If you have problems, just let me know and I will help you out. Please forward the link too (http://tinyurl.com/8r8v7f). Thanks for the help! You might not notice, but it will make a difference to a lot of homeless animals in central Texas. Austin Humane Society is a non-profit, NO KILL animal shelter. They take in a lot of animals from Town Lake so they don't have to euthanize so many animals.

Week 35 and Counting...

"Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight."

Multiply that times 2! Even more crowded and one big giant heavy belly. Holly's belly is measuring the size of a woman in her 42nd week of pregnancy. Everything is going great and we are hoping the boys come any time now. Getting a mass e-mail ready to send for when the day comes.

These are pics and video from our practice run through at the hospital. Check out the blog back in November for our night at the hospital.

This is a vid the monitor monitoring the babies' heartbeats and Holly's contractions. She had like 4 thing-a-ma-jigs hooked up to her belly:

T-Bone's 2008 NFL Playoff Predictions

The big dog didn't do so well in the final Yahoo! Pick'em standings...but he thinks he can end on a high note with his playoff predictions. The two teams he picked to go to the championship game faced each other in Super Bowl XXXV.

Betting on the babies

We are placing bets on when we think the boys will come. We have some already, but you can send in yours if you want.
Here are the facts to help you decide. As of Tuesday we were 34 weeks. Most twins are born between 36-38 weeks. We will induce at 38 weeks if they don't come before. And as of Tuesday I am 1 cm dilated which means they could come now or in 4 weeks.

So far the bets are:
Frank- January 7
Mari- January 9
Cindy- January 10
Holly- January 12
Poppie- January 13
Emilie- January 15
Grandpa Andy- January 15
Jessi- January 17
Emilia - January 18
Mom (Nena)- January 29


(if I got any of these wrong let me know)