Many Firsts

There have been many firsts for the twins since our last post, so I thought I would share a few of them here.  Many we captured with photos and a few we did not (thankfully in some cases).  Over the past few days, O&S have had their first:

walk in their new stroller

The Twins in the Stroller

Big O

Peanut

 

 

 

Maizy Babysitting Experience

I've been a great big sister!

First Baths

Oliver's 1st Bath

Stella's 1st Bath

1st Projectile Vomit - by Oliver (thankfully not pictured), but it went down KK's back and onto the floor!

1st visit from their friend Lena

The girls with Lena, Oliver, and Stella

It's been a great few days with the twins and night #4 went as well as night #3, which was fantastic.  They really have been behaving well and eating great. 

For good measure, one last quick pic of the cutest knees/legs on the planet!

Awww!

Things are Looking Up

Daddy has been slacking on the blog, so here is an attempt to catch everyone up on the past few days.

Monday night was a little better than Sunday, but still not great.  A combination of us trying to figure out our routine and the little ones trying to get acclimated to their new home.  Tuesday morning brought our first trip to the pediatrician.  Doctor Bodine at Southdale Peds was fantastic, which is great to have one more obstacle out of the way.  He reassured us that they were both doing great.  Oliver weighed in at 6 lbs 6 oz, which would put him on track to get back to his birthweight at 9 days, ahead of the normal 10-14 for most babies.  Stella was at 5 lbs. 0 oz. which would get her back to birthweight at 13 days.  I think Dr Bodine spurred the competitive side of her (that she gets from mommy), because her eating has really picked up since the appt.  Update:  Our in-home nurse visit Wed morning showed that Oliver had gained 2 ozs. since yesterday and Stella 1.5 oz, which is great news!  We did have a little snafu, as we forgot to bring along some food for the little ones, which put us in a panic as our appt stretched out to a couple of hours by the time they had their blood drawn, etc.  Southdale Peds was nice enough to give us some formula to get us through though and the parents have chalked it up to a "learning experience"!  It looks as though neither of the twins will have any trouble with jaundice as they've made it through the peak stage okay.  The doc does think that Big O may have tracheomalasia, which basically means his trachea is a little flaccid, and is leading him to have loud noises when he sleeps, but it doesn't cause discomfort.  We're very happy that the twins continue to be happy and healthy!

Mommy in the back of the family truckster on the way to visit the doc

Once we returned home, Grandma and Grandpa spent some quality time with the twins while mom and dad got some much needed rest!  Later, the twins visited with our good friends, the Delaneys, who will be providing future playmates for O&S when they deliver twins of their own sometime later this week.

Here are some other misc. pictures and notes from last night:

Stella performs her floating hat trick!

Oliver tells us what he thinks of the Badgers!

Some play time before bed time

For those of you that know Maizy, you can understand why we may have been a bit nervous about bringing home two babies with her around.  It was completely unfounded as she has been nothing short of fantastic since their arrival.  She's definitely been curious, but has listened when we tell her to back away and showed her motherly instinct by immediately laying down on the blanket after we picked up the twins from playtime last night (Unfortunately, dad wasn't quick enough on the draw with the camera).  Thank you Maizy!  She is being rewarded with a trip to doggie daycare on Thursday!

Now on to the big show.  We had high hopes for night 3 and it went better than any of us could have expected.  After a 10:30 feeding, both Oliver and Stella slept right through to their 1:30 feeding!  Mom and Dad even managed to get a few winks in after lying awake and listening to their noises for a good while.  The other big change was that Oliver is now sleeping in his carseat as a way to minimize his tracheomalasia.  How cute is he in there?!  After talking with a few people, it sounds as though sleeping in a carseat for a while is way more common than we realized.

Grandpa helping Dad with the 1 AM feeding so mom can get some rest.  Thanks Grandpa!

From 1-4, there were only a couple of quick wakeups from Ms. Stella that kept mom and dad awake, but they more or less slept right through to the 4:30 feeding.  The same held true as they made it through to the 8 AM feeding with no major wakeups.  Mom and Dad even managed to sleep instead of listening to their coos and various other noises!  We know their will be some long nights ahead, but we are pleasantly surprised at how quickly they have begun to adapt to their new environment. 

We also learned that Auntie Shelley, Uncle LeRoy, and Cousin Hannah will be in town this weekend to visit and provide some naptime for Mom and Dad.  O&S can't wait to meet them!

Finally, one last pic of our little man holding his nook in on his own.  This won't be the last time we find ourselves thinking they are growing up fast!

Blog Hacker: A Note from Mom

I decided to give Chop a break from the blog writing and take it over for a posting. I don’t claim to be nearly as good of a writer, so bear with me!

First, a BIG thank you to everyone for the congratulatory well wishes – please know that although I may not respond to all of the comments, emails, texts, voicemails, messages, that I am still extremely grateful. Everyone’s love and support has been amazing and overwhelming - I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate it! As soon as I resurface from these sleepless nights (in lets say 6 years!) I will be in touch.

Second, I wanted to call out what an amazing dad/husband Chop has been over the last 5 days (well, and before that too I guess :)!). It all started at the hospital when he kept us afloat through everything we had to deal with there since I wasn’t always top form – everything from making phone calls to spread the news, coordinating the Special Care Nursery visits, getting food, talking to doctors, etc. He was my rock through it all! And since returning home, he has only continued to do the same. His positive attitude and energy has kept me going – neither of us are getting much (if any) sleep, but he continues to master everything from diaper changes to formula bottling better than anyone. And, he started a blog during one of the craziest times in our lives!

I still have to pinch myself that we have two beautiful, healthy little babies. It has been the most difficult thing I have ever done, but by far the most rewarding. I can’t wait for what to see what things the future holds for us as a family!

Since Chop hasn’t had a chance to post a lot more photos, I am going to do a little chronological picture show below with photos from day 1 until now. Enjoy!

Just the 2 of us (well I guess it is technically 4!)

 

 

 

 

Here we go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first family photo

Wombmates

 

First visit in nursery after delivery

Dad & Oliver

Ready to go home

Our thought: Please don't cry or wake up until we get home!

Dad, Stella, & a bottle of Stella Artois

The BEST helpers. We would not be surviving with Grandpa & Grandma C!

Oliver in his pink one piece after crazy night 1

The dynamic duo

Coming Home & Night One

Sorry that there won't be any pictures with this post, but we haven't had a chance to upload them, our hands have been a bit full!  Yesterday was definitely a day of ups and downs.

Early Sunday morning, Stella was removed from her isolette like Oliver had been the day before.  After a few of the morning feedings continued to go well, we were informed that we would indeed be heading home as a family later in the afternoon.  We signed a few papers, got a few instructions and then were amazingly sent off to care for these two creatures on our own!  Thank goodness we had the good sense to have Kendra's parents stay with us (and they're welcome as long as they want to stay!).  Their help with holding, cooking, keeping us laughing, running errands (like picking up more of the clothes that "work") has been unspeakably fantastic.  Stella and Oliver thank Big Bear and Grandma Bear!

After arriving home around 2:30, we were able to get some things unpacked and attempt to sort some things out.  Before we knew it, it was time for the 9:00 pm feeding and deciding what they would wear to bed.  Should it be the sleepsacks, the swaddler blanket, the blanket over the top tucked into the edges?  We ended up trying all 3 throughout the night.  We've realized that they all sound like good ideas when you're buying them, but you really have to try them all to figure out what works for you.  The night was probably fairly typical for first-time parents, especially of twins.  Laughter about Oliver peeing everywhere during a diaper change, worry about how we are ever going to make it through this, some tears too, but here we are getting ready for night 2.  We survived, we'll make adjustments and we'll get this figured out!  The babies are eating pretty well and filling their share of diapers.  Mom is doing pretty well too, outside of a bit of a sore neck and headache and Dad definitely doesn't have anything to complain about.

To give some perspective on just what kind of night it was, Oliver ended up in a pink sleeper and Stella in blue this morning, much to Grandma and Grandpa's amusement!  (pictures to come soon).  All in all, we are so thankful that we are home with our twins when so many of them have to go through so much more to make it home.  Last night was definitely a challenge, but we keep reminding ourselves how lucky we are to have these challenges to face!  Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers! 

The Krueger Family

Big Boys Don't Need Isolettes!

Our last feeding with Oliver was followed by the great news that he no longer needs to be in his isolette!  He is now just in a little bassinet and hopefully his sister can soon follow. 

The big boy in the bassinet

A face shot of Oliver from today

Personalities

It's been amazing to see the development of Oliver and Stella over their first 36 hours.  While big brother led the way into the world, our plucky little peanut Stella has been the 'stella'r performer in the open air so far!  It appears as though she is trying to catch up to Brother O as she has been an amazing eater so far, not skipping any feedings and eating more than Oliver.  Oliver has been darn good himself, missing only one feeding so far, but sometimes takes a bit more prompting.

The consensus is building that Oliver looks a little more like Dad and Stella a little more like Mom.  Oliver definitely picked up a couple things from Dad already as he tends to sleep with his mouth wide open (just like Chop) and he also has very long toes like Daddy too!  As we mentioned, Stella has been the more active of the two since her arrival as well.  Continuing her gymnastics performances like her flipping inside the womb, she has definitely been a squirmer on occasion during her feedings.

Now for a few more photos that I know you have all been waiting for:

Mom/Dad/Stella adoring Mom

Mom/Stella

Mom and Stella on Saturday morning

Big Brother Oliver

We'll try to get an updated shot of Oliver up later today as well! 

Hours 3-35 including some great news!

We'll save the good news for the end....

After a few hours of recovery, Kendra and I were able to head upstairs to see the babies.  While we knew that is was only precautionary that they were in the Special Care Nursery (SCN), it was definitely hard to see them in the isolettes with IV's and monitors hooked up.  We spent a short time with them before grabbing some much-needed rest from about 3:30-6:30.  As a new parent, I'm beginning to think this constitutes a "good night's rest"!

A quick shot of Stella in her isolette shortly after arrival

Yesterday was a difficult day to find our bearings.  We both really felt as though we started to get the hang of the SCN routine around their 6-7 pm feedings.  Oliver and Stella feed every 3 hours on cycles that are 1 hour apart (ie. Oliver at 8 and Stella at 9), which made yesterday a very tiring day of trying to find some rest between feedings.  We've since been able to get the routine down enough that their feedings are now a 1/2 hour apart which allows mom a little more recovery time (that she richly deserves).  Mom and Dad have also had the opportunity to change a few dirty diapers as well.

The other big excitement for the little ones was their first visitors!

Oliver with Grandma Krueger

Oliver with Uncle Kyle

Dad also forgot to bring the camera when Grandma/Grandpa C. were visiting as well, and missed Grandpa K and Aunt Elizabeth.  We'll excuse him since he has had a few other things on his mind!

Now for the good news...we found out this morning that their 24 hour test results came back negative, which will almost certainly still be the case at 48 hours as well we're told.  This means that their antibiotics will stop tonight, and they'll likely be able to come home with us on Sunday!  What an amazing blessing to be able to take them home within 2 1/2 days of birth! 

The Dynamic Duo

Thursday was an amazing day!  We woke up early for a 7:30 AM appointment at the hospital to induce labor and get on the road to welcoming our little ones to the world.  Kendra was a rockstar, making great progress throughout the day!  The anesthesiologist (which we decided would be the best job since everyone is thrilled to see you show up) administered and epidural around 4:30 pm.  After some slight delays, we made our way to the Operating Room (where all multiples are delivered) and Kendra began to push. 
Her competitive spirit was on full display and Oliver Graham joined us about 75 minutes later at 10:57 pm.  I was busy checking on Oliver a few minutes later when about 4 people yelling "Dad!" brought me back to Kendra's side and our little peanut Stella joined us only 6 minutes after her big brother at 11:03! 
We had about 15-20 minutes with them before dad accompanied them up to the Special Care Nursery.  Since mom ran a slight fever during the delivery, both mom and babies were placed on antibiotics.  Since they are administered through an IV, the babies were taken to the Special Care Nursery.  They both had great APGAR scores and are really only there because of the antibiotics, which gives us hope that we'll all be able to go home together on Sunday!

The Good Stuff:
Oliver Graham, 6 lbs. 10 ozs. , 10:57 PM
Stella Claire, 5 lbs. 8 ozs., 11:03 PM

The Really Good Stuff:
Stella officially wraps Dad around her fingers....

Oliver and Mom  - along with his IV on the top of his head

More to come about our first day "on the job".  Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers!

"And there's another heartbeat...."

Words that altered the course of our lives forever.  The whirlwind of emotions over the first few days after hearing those words were nearly indescribable.  Immense happiness, a little fear, quite a few tears, a tiny bit of doubt....but an over-riding sense that it was the path that was meant for our family! 

Since that day, it's been an amazing ride to where we are today...37 1/2 weeks along and still waiting for the bundles of joy to arrive.  Welcome to our blog and welcome along on our journey!