Lately with the Gambles

As you can imagine, life with twins has me pretty busy, so I haven't grabbed the opportunity to update the blog. The boys are on a 3 hr feeding schedule, so in between feedings lately, I've used that to quickly check e-mail, catch up on tv shows---which I often have to do in small increments (thank goodness for Tivo!), skype with Eden, take the boys to the Dr. and most of all, REST! In the beginning, getting up every few hours was a lot more exhausting. Don't get me wrong, it is still exhausting, but I think our bodies are adjusting a little bit. That, and I'm getting a little better about making myself grab naps here and there than I was in the beginning. Although, after I typed that, I remembered that in the beginning, there was basically zero time for taking naps between nursing a baby at home, trips to the NICU, and nursing a baby at the NICU haha.... no wonder I was so exhausted! Immediately post-surgery, no less!

Friends and family have been incredible to us, which is no surprise, and SUCH a blessing! We've had some amazing friends and family bring us dinners. My mom has been an all-star, coming over to the house daily (or she arranges for my aunt or sister to come help out when she's busy) to do laundry, dishes, cook dinner, etc. Her goal since I came home from the hospital has been to make my life so that all I have to focus on is taking care of babies and getting some rest. Sadly, the everyday help will be ending soon, as Mimi has got to get back to her own daily life, and we'll miss seeing her basically everyday....Although, I know she'll be over often :) It's hard to stay away from these precious boys! Their other grandmother, Gigi, is here right now to help out, which we really appreciate!

At their first Dr. appointment, the boys were both weighing in at 6 lbs 6 oz, a week later, they were up to (Harrison) 6 lbs 15 oz and (Jack Henry) 7 lbs 4 oz! As a breastfeeding mommy, unsure of exactly how much they were actually eating, that made me feel wonderful!

I initially started this post on 5/6/10, but have been distracted from finishing it by mommyhood, especially in the past week. Poor little Harrison has developed reflux and man... I do not wish it on any mommy or any baby! He was spitting up what felt like was non-stop and crying/screaming during/afterward, which made for particularly rough nights! It broke my heart not knowing what was wrong with our sweet boy, nor how to fix it! Concerned that Harrison might be losing weight with everything he was spitting up, I took him to the Dr. to have him weighed on Wednesday. My poor baby had lost 6 oz since Friday. The pediatrician didn't freak out, but took the weight loss seriously and examined him further to determine it was reflux. Thank goodness we figured out what was wrong! He has been put on some baby Zantac, which seems to have helped in addition to our making sure that he is never completely horizontal. He hangs out during the day and sleeps at night in his bouncer. I pray that this reflux thing is short lived b/c it is miserable for Harrison and hard on my heart seeing my baby not feel well. Plus, it makes for a ton of laundry due to burp cloths and changing his clothes multiple times a day when he spits up on them.

Moms with reflux babies: How do you do tummy time with them when they are not supposed to be horizontal???

Oh, and I'm doing pretty well... tired, but extremely happy being a mommy to these boys. I still cannot believe that I'm finally a mommy. Surreal. I'm already sad about them growing up and they're only 4 weeks old! Ha ha. My incision is healing nicely, but is still a little sore. My stomach has gone down a good bit, which is very nice--- although I certainly don't expect for things to be even close to normal only a few weeks after having twins. I am, however, especially looking forward to my skin tightening back up. I can live with stretch marks, which I hear fade drastically over time, but this loose skin is not cute. Mom says to give it time.

I have been taking pictures like crazy and, oddly enough, never feel like there are enough! It's like you know that every single moment is the only time they'll be that age and on that day and you want to document it all! Clearly, that's not realistic, but I do try to snap a few shots each day or most days. I've got to go nurse the boys, but I'll try to get back on soon and upload some pictures! I've had many requests for more! :)

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

I wanted to take a quick moment to wish my precious momma a Happy Mothers Day!

My Momma,

You have gone above and beyond throughout my entire life, and these past 3+ weeks with the babies home have been no exception! Thank you for all of your hard work, love, support, quality time, acts of service, and more. You have set the Mommy Bar very high with your excellence and I'm so grateful that I have you as the example to emulate. I love you and appreciate you even more now than I have before!

Love,

Your Taylor

Josh's first time to hold Jack Henry since that sweet baby was born!

I love this shot of JH. I think my boys have beautiful eyes!

Taking Harrison home!

Hey Y'all!

I'm sorry that you haven't heard from me in a day or two! We've clearly been busy with baby Harrison and visiting Jack Henry at the NICU. We try to get up there at least 2 times; yesterday I went up there 4 times! Needless to say, it was exhausting to this momma who is 1 week post-surgery and up every few hours at night with her baby at home, but I guess my momma drive kept me going. I just hate it that Jack Henry is there alone and he loooooves it when I/we come up there, so I try to get up there as much as possible, while still being home enough to spend time with and nurse Harrison.

I was thinking about the whole NICU situation this morning as I showered. (yes! I got a shower! haha) While it is not my ideal situation b/c I want my babies all at home with me..... it has allowed us to spend some quality one-on-one time with each of our babies, both at home and at the NICU. It has also allowed us to have a slow transition to managing life with 2 newborns at home. I wish Jack Henry had been able to go home with us on Tuesday... heck, while I'm wishing, I wish they'd never been in there in the first place, but since he is there, I want him to take the time that he needs to be well before coming home. He is in the absolute best place that he could be with what he's been dealing with and I am so grateful for the doctors and nurses who have taken such great care of him in the NICU!

That said, here's the latest on Jack Henry!

Wednesday, we were disappointed to find out that Jack Henry wasn't going to be able to start taking a bottle as we'd been told b/c his breathing rate was a little high. The combo of fast breathing and drinking could be a bit much for him. While disappointed, we wanted whatever was best for him and knew that he'd get there eventually.

Yesterday, when I went in to my first NICU visit, I saw our nurse with her hands in Jack Henry's incubator and I asked what they were up to. She whipped his incubator cloth cover up and she was FEEDING HIM A 15 mL BOTTLE OF BREASTMILK!!!! YAY!

That was a HUGE step in his progress toward coming home! She said I could come back to feed him more that day, so I went back at 2:30, 5:30, and 8:30 to feed him either by nursing + 15mL bottle or just 15mL bottle. *It is important to note that he must be able to drink a 30mL before he can move to a crib, which is the last step before coming home. To stay in a crib, he must be able to maintain his body temperature. He must pass 2 glucose tests. Then, he must be able to take a 30mL bottle from Josh and/or me before he can come home.

Then today, I called to check on his feeding schedule so I could come in to feed him and found out that: A) he was being fed a 30mL bottle at 11:30am B) probably having his IV removed and C) MOVING TO A CRIB! I called my mom and burst into tears of joy. Our baby boy is making HUGE steps toward coming home! The babies have to spend 72 hrs in the crib before they can come home, which would put him potentially coming home on Monday! (I say potentially b/c we have to be flexible and supportive of him and progressing at his own speed. Things change, but we're very hopeful!) He will also still need to be circumcised, pass his hearing test, and pass his car seat test (just makes sure that he can breathe while in his car seat). He is strong and God has been so good to him/us. I know that he'll pass with flying colors!

Recent update: Went to NICU @ 2:30pm and 5:30pm today, so far. Will go back with Daddy Josh at 8:30pm. Jack Henry took 30 mL and 40 mL at the visits, respectively---all from nursing, which the nurse said is not common at all--usually have to supplement with a bottle to get full 30 mL. He's our little hoss! :) Because he passed 2 glucose tests with flying colors, they are removing his IV!!! Dr. Mena asked if it'd be ok if he came home on Monday haha... Um YEAH IT WOULD!!! As long as everything maintains as well as it is, he'll be home Monday. I can't wait to finally have my family of 4 together. :)

So, that's the latest!

Harrison is doing FANTASTIC at home, nursing and taking the occasional bottle when momma needs to be at the NICU and it coincides with his feeding time. He has given Josh and me the gift of 4 hr sleep stretches at night sometimes, too! I am so grateful for my parents, sisters, aunt sharon, and others who have been over at our house daily to take care of household needs as well as allowing us to make trips to the NICU.

Thank you ALL SO MUCH for your prayers and cheerleading for our new little family, especially Jack Henry (and Harrison when in NICU). After Jack Henry gets home, I'll probably slow down on updates significantly, since I'll be manning 2 babies! (with some help for a bit, of course)

Love,

Momma Tay

1st night and NICU visits

Harrison loves his swing! Thank goodness for picture phones!

I responded to a friend's e-mail earlier and thought it was a good update to share with our friends/family:

first night was good... kinda rough, but only b/c of the sleep deprivation. harrison was a doll. we did have some trouble getting him down at the 12 o'clock feeding, but i ended up realizing that his room was too cool for him and we got a space heater for him. he slept great the rest of the times he was in there.

breastfeeding is good. i like that part, but pumping after every feeding is tiring. it's going to be crazy and interesting once we get jack henry home and he's feeding, too. hopefully i can master the double football hold. i'm trying to get some sleep, but definitely need to try harder. it's difficult to get as much as i normally would b/c we like to go up to the NICU at least 2x a day.

we actually just got back. he had his cannula (nose tube thing) removed this AM and is doing great on regular oxygen levels! we had more snuggle ("nuzzle") time. i introduced him to breastfeeding yesterday. I went to introduce him again today, and he ended up going to TOWN breastfeeding! same again tonight! i love it :) he's good at it already and bless his heart, they've had him on an electrolyte, lipid, etc mix for nourishment, but he hasn't officially been "fed" except for when i nurse him at these visits. (mainly b/c until now, he wasn't breathing well enough to master breathing and eating at the same time. they aren't just depriving him) they are going to start feeding tomorrow---- i am going to nurse and then give him a bottle of my breastmilk. we take 1 or 2 bottles of breastmilk every visit, so there is plenty waiting on him. he is such a sweetheart and definitely loves his mommy snuggle time.

alright, i'm off to feed harrison and head to bed! we took some good pictures of jack henry tonight. i will try my best to upload them tomorrow and send them out. g'night from the Gamble 4!

On the way home (4/20/10)

Here's is another pic (also taken with cell phone) of sweet Harrison on the way home yesterday!

A very quick update

Hey y'all! (I e-mailed this to some friends/family last night)

Wanted to let y'all see this picture----sorry for poor quality, it was a cell phone picture. It's not the most flattering of me, but who cares! :o) I'm holding my precious Jack Henry getting "nuzzle" time. We got to have some skin-on-skin time and practice nursing a very brief bit. It was amazing and special to me as his momma to see his stats get even better just being in my arms, when Josh and I talked to him, and when we loved on him. They are tentatively predicting that he'll get to come home this weekend! (YAY!) He is as precious as he can be and I can't wait to spend time with him and get to know him better, as I have Harrison.

We got to come home and bring Harrison with us today. It was a great car ride home and everything since has gone well----thanks to my family, who has gone out of their way to make this an easier time for us, especially for me. I am incredibly blessed.

Alright, I'm off to bed, as I am absolutely exhausted and will be up again soon to nurse my sweet Harrison. As tired as I am, I am loving every minute. This is a dream come true for me. Thank you for your prayers. Please keep them up---God hears them and He is answering them!

Update on my loves.

Hey y'all!

I am DELIGHTED to report that our precious Jack Henry has moved from using a CPAP to a nasal cannula! (just nose tubes that blow air in) This is HUGE because he gets easily frustrated by the doctors messing with him, which usually gets his breathing rate up and sets him back. He did great! There is also talk of me getting to do some "nuzzle time" with him later this afternoon. Be still my heart :)I haven't been able to hold him since the moment that he was born and I cannot wait to get my hands on him!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! :o)

Harrison is slowly being discharged from the NICU to go home with us today! He passed his carseat and hearing tests this AM--yay! I just nursed him and then he still took about 60 more milliliters of pumped breast milk from a bottle! He's a little hoss :) I could love on and stare at him all day.

We are absolutely in love with these babies and just feeling incredibly grateful!