A few more pictures...

We made the trek home earlier tonight. It's good to be home, but we're a little bit scared to have them home without the safety net of nurses. Thank goodness Lori is here to help.

Cade gets ready for his first trip home

Grandma and Grandpa

Cute Cade

Grandpa and Aunt Lauren (she's already claiming to be the boys' favorite aunt)

One proud Dad

Here's part of the current feeding plan - feeding with syringes. They haven't fully developed their sucking reflexes and can't completely breast feed yet. They still try, but afterward they are still hungry so the syringe provides a low-effort method for the boys to eat.

Update

About the delivery. When we saw the doctor on Tuesday morning he did an ultrasound that revealed that Cade was breech (head up), but he thought the boys were big enough to go ahead with a natural birth as planned. Once we were at the hospital Amy was given pitocin to turbo-charge the contractions. It worked mildly, but once the doctor broke Carson's water bag the contractions really started to ramp up. Amy got an epidural as the doctor had suggested since Cade was breech and that could be a potentially painful situation for Amy. At the time Amy received the epidural she was dilated to a 6 and within half an hour she was a 10. They wheeled her into an operating room in case an emergency C-section was needed. I counted heads before the action started and I counted 13 people in the room for the delivery. It was quite the team. They did a great job of coaching Amy as she pushed out both boys. Carson came out first and the doctor immediately started to wrestle Cade. Cade did not flip around so the doctor reached up and grabbed his feet and pulled him out breech. It was an amazing experience for us and we're glad they both arrived safely.
Our boys are fraternal twins and definitely have their own looks. All four of us get to go home together later on today! Pretty amazing!!!

Bath time

Here's a little video of our boys and their first baths

They're here!!

Born at approximately 8:15 p.m. (Carson) and 8:20 p.m. (Cade). Carson was 4lbs 7oz and Cade was 4lbs 13oz.

Carson was hauled off to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for about half an hour for closer monitoring, but he was released and they are both in the nursery now.

Amy Jo was great in the delivery and is quite the trooper. She is looking forward to some well-deserved rest.

Here's Carson

Here's Cade

It's time!!

We went in for Amy's scheduled doctor appointment this morning and the doctor was a little concerned about the growth differences between the boys. He has been concerned all along because baby B has always had more fluid than baby A, but until now they have been lockstep in growth. Since the doctor was planning on delivering the babies sometime this week he decided that today would be as good as any other day this week. He told us to go home, get our stuff and go to the hospital. And that's where we are now.

They just put Amy on the monitor to check the babies and we anticipate that sometime today we will have two little boys. I will try to post on the blog as soon as I can after they are born since I know there are a few of you out there waiting to hear.

Cruisin' to 36!!!

We've been slacking since we've been home and thought we'd better give a quick update. We've been home for a little over a week and have been loving it...well I've been loving it!!! Poor Shane has had a few more dishes to take care of but is surviving! It is hard to sit and not help in your own home but that will change here soon enough so I'm trying to just enjoy it!!!
We had a great Thanksgiving here in Boise with my family, my Grandma & Grandpa Luke, and the Rays. So nice to be home in time for the holidays. Pretty sure the hospital Thanksgiving dinner just wouldn't be the same! Friday marked 35 weeks! Pretty darn exciting! I started tapering off some of the medication this weekend and will see my doctor on Tuesday. I won't be completely off medication so it'll be interesting to see how this week goes. I will also be increasing my activity as the week goes on. Once we get passed 36 weeks, my doctor would feel comfortable scheduling a delivery. So, we'll see what this next week brings. We are excited and nervous all at the same time but I know that's pretty normal. We'll be sure to post an update as soon as we have one! Until then...

Here's Carson's corner

Another picture

Here's my certificate

Pictures

Here's Amy's Certificate

Home again

As promised, we were able to come home yesterday. It was exciting and a lot of work. I made about five trips from our room to the car with all of our belongings. I crammed everything in our little car and then wheeled Amy out of the hospital. Amy was given strict orders to be on complete bed rest for the entire week. So far she is being very compliant... I think that's partially because she gets winded when she moves too much.

It was a bittersweet experience leaving the antepartum unit at St. Luke's. We've grown to love the nurses and staff there and we can't express enough gratitude for their service and care in our behalf. As we were leaving last night they handed Amy her last certificate and to our surprise they also made me a certificate for 68 days in the antepartum unit. Now I know why Amy always looked forward to those certificates each week, it felt great!

We had another pleasant surprise this week when we found that our second crib had been assembled for us. You may have noticed it in its box in the nursery pictures that we posted last week. Thanks to the anonymous helpers that did that for us. You're very sneaky.

I am having problems with the blog website right now and I am not able to post pictures. I will put up some pictures of our certificates and the new crib when the technical difficulties subside.

In At 24, Out At 34!

I just wanted to give a quick update. I am scheduled to be discharged on Friday!!! Woo Hoo! Friday marks 34 weeks. I will continue the medication and strict bedrest at home for another week and then at 35 weeks (the day after Thanksgiving) we will start tapering off the meds and will increase my activity level. If the boys haven't arrived by 36 weeks, the doctor will go ahead and schedule delivery. So, that's the plan. We should have healthy babies that can go home with us in two weeks!!! It's hard to believe how far we've come. When we first checked in, I honestly could not wrap my brain around the idea of being here this long. It really was a day-by-day, week-by-week mindset. Here we are 66 days later!!! Hard to believe. My nurse told me yesterday that we're getting close to the "Antepartem Record." Shane thinks it would be worth it to stay a little longer to set a new record...not really a title I want to hold!!! We are excited to be going home and at the same time feeling a little overwhelmed by it. We've just gotten into such a routine here and have everything we need right at our fingertips. It will be different at home and I'm going to do my best to be compliant and stay down for at least another week! Shane has been mourning these past few days the loss of the high-speed internet and cable TV (ESPN), seeing how we don't have those luxeries at home! I think that if they'd let him, he'd opt to stay as the patient and hang out here...sad but true!

We feel so blessed and know that it is because of the faith, fasting, and prayers in our behalf. Thank you, thank you for all the love and support. We have been well cared for and are so grateful! TWO MORE DAYS!!!

Nursery Update

Amy was able to take a "pass" again this weekend, this time for 5 hours. We went home again so that Amy could supervise the decoration of the nursery. Amy's mom and sister were here to help with the decoration. As many of you already know, Lori has quite the golden touch when it comes to decoration. We're glad to have her help in preparing the "nest". Thanks Lori and Lauren.

Here's Carson's side of the room. His crib still needs to be assembled. Lori made the letters that spell out the boys' names.

Here's a close up of one of the letters. The room theme is a cowboy/antique toys theme with brown and blue. It's 100% boy so hopefully there aren't any surprises in the delivery room.

Here's Cade's side of the room. We put together his crib before we came to the hospital (it's not favoritism, I promise)

Here's another shot of Cade's side.

The Wall

Here's a shot of the wall here in the hospital with all of Amy's diplomas.

Fat and happy babies... 33 weeks!!

Way to go Amy Jo! Happy 33 weeks!!

Here are the latest (and possibly the last) ultrasound pictures. The boys are getting pretty squished in there and it makes it harder to get good pictures. It also doesn't help that Baby B's bum is right in front of Baby A's face. Baby B is going to be our little gymnast. He flipped again and is now head up (last ultrasound he was head down). They are both around 4 1/2 lbs. which is pretty amazing! We never really thought we'd get close to 5 pound babies but we are well on our way. These boys are holding on and surprising us all!

I'm a proud dad, but this one even creeps me out. Happy Halloween.

Our Great Escape!

Another milestone and another diploma to prove it!!! We are making our way slowly but surely. The boys are doing well and continue to grow. We think they've probably reached 4 lbs. by now, which is so exciting. We should have another ultrasound sometime this week, so we'll see then where they are.

Here's the proof for all of you who don't believe me when I say...I'm huge!!! I just have to remind myself that I have 2 babies inside!!! This is the outfit I was wearing the day I was admitted, however, 2 months ago I looked quite a bit different. It is amazing what our bodies can do. I'm just not sure how much more I can handle!

I got to escape the hospital for a few hours today!!! I'd been looking forward to it all week. It's been 8 weeks since I've been home, so needless to say, I was anxious to see our home! This chair has been waiting for me and it was fun to finally see it and enjoy it! My time at home was wonderful and I'm hoping it helps me get through the next 2 weeks.

A work in progress

Here's a picture of one of the cribs (the other is on its way) and the changing table. A big thanks to my mom (Annette) for picking up the changing table in North Carolina while on vacation. We found the table online, but the local stores did not have any in stock so my mom picked it up and checked it with her luggage on the way home. Thanks mom!

Amy promises that the nursery will get finished as soon as she is allowed to go home. We're still waiting on the 32 week diploma, so that should arrive tomorrow even though today is 32 weeks. It looks like Amy will get to take a break from the hospital this weekend. The doctor has given her permission to take a few hours and leave the hospital. Stay tuned for more on Amy's exciting trip.