Happy New Year

Well Brian and I are home and it is so bitter sweet. I am finally home without anything thing hooked up to me or on bed rest but the boys are not here which is really hard!
Lets see, what has happened lately?
Brandon has had his first bowel movement today (12/31) which is so awesome... we had been waiting for that. They upped his feeeding to 20 ml. and we have been able to feed him (through his feeding tube) and change his diaper, comb his crazy hair and take his temp and has gained alittle weight putting back on the weight he had lost. We are really looking forward to bottle feeding him. He is also keeping his temp! He is opening his eyes now and we think he has brown eyes and the nurse said he resembles Brian--- awe how cute.
John has lost some weight... about a pound but they had stopped his feeding for a bit because it was not processing and just sitting in his tummy. They have restarted his feeding at 10 ml. and today he had no residual (meaning his food is processing) so we are hoping that keeps up and he gains some weight. He is under a jaundice light but we were prepared for that. He looks like he is getting a tan! I was able to change his dirty diaper and he is also holding his temp well. The nurse says he resembles me, which I love and he is the calm sweet twin who just chills.
Brian has been such a trooper the last 4 days.... sleeping on the couch in the hospital and waking up to help me when I pump or need water or help to get up. As for me, I am sore but gettting around. I am SWOLLEN all over and have kanlkles. I feel like it is never going to go away but everyone says this is normal after a c-section and an epidural. Pumping is going very well other than I am tender but I am still trying to go strong and get my boys some food! Other than that Brian and I are just hanging out on New Years Eve thanking God that we have healthy twin boys and praying that they will be home soon with us and that I recover quickly so I can get around easier and get ready for their homecoming!!!

Grandparents

We are missing Grandpa John but he is freezing his booty off in Breckenridge!

Grandpa Hugh (not his "offical" name yet) with Brandon--who no longer has a IV in his head

Nanna with Brandon

My mom with John

hormones

Friday, December 28th.... the day after the twins were born. WOW, I am hormonal.

Both boys are doing as they should for being born at 32 weeks 6 days. They are in warmer beds and have IV's for nutrition, bandaids for when blood was taken, heart monitors and all kinds of other stuff. They both had a spinal tap done the day they were born and the preliminary results came back good (this was done because my water broke). The nurses and docs have not shown any concern for the boys as of today. They both have gone #1 and #2, so all that is working well. Also... they are graduating to isolates tonight. They both have been feeding through a feeding tube through their mouth. Hopefully soon the tube will be moved to thier nose so they both can suck on a pacifer. I really don't know much more....Brian has been getting alot of the information since I am really tired, sore, hormonal and on edge. The docs and nurses just say they are doing good for thier age.... they are all very cautious about what they say.

As for me, I got off the IV and got the cathider taken out this morning which was great. I still have the epideral in for pain but that will come out tomorrow and I will have pain pills. After I got the IV and cathider out I was able to walk to the level II NICU. This all feels very sureal right now. I have not yet gotten to really bond with the twins and I really don't know how to. I want to spend all day in the NICU but I am tired which makes me so cranky. I am trying to stay positive and know that the boys are getting the best care possible and that they will both be home soon where I know we will bond. I just don't want them to forget my voice. I guess you could say I am jealous that I am not caring for them right now. I am trying to pump and that is getting alittle frustrating too. I know things will get better and I am trying to stay upbeat about it knowing that Brian and I are now parents. It is amazing!!! I will be here till Monday hanging out with the babies and recovering from surgery. Brian and all our family has been amazing and I am so happy they are around and are here to help.
Everything just happened so fast.... its crazy!

more pictures

Mommy, daddy and the boys

John

Brandon

Momma and little John

Momma and little Brandon

Daddy and little John

Grandma (she doesn't have an offical "grandma" name yet) and little Brandon

Happy Birthday

John Garrison

Brandon Cooper

John Garrison Synnott

Brandon Cooper Synnott

December 27th at 9:17 Brandon and John were brought into the world weighing at 4 pounds 5 ounces each and a length of 17 inches.

About 5 a.m. I woke up laying in a puddle of water (lots of water). We got to Texas Womens about 5:45 a.m. and got checked into L&D. I finally felt what contractions felt like and was very very uncomfortable. The doc checked my cervix about 9 a.m. and I was already dilated to 3 cm. Now I saw my doc on Wednesday and I was no dilated and all was well so this was very surprising. They ended up calling up a STAT c-section and the boys were born within the same minute. Brandon came out peeing and John came out crying. They are both in the level 2 NICU and doing GREAT. They are breathing on their own and all. Brian has been able to see the multiple times but I have yet to see them. They said I could see them tomorrow morning (friday). We are all doing well, I am alittle sore but not too bad. Here are some pics of the boys and I will kwwp you all uppdated.... I will be here for four nights and I don't know much about the boys yet but when I do.... so will you!!!
Thank you for all your prayers and support

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I thought I would update you all on the progress of the nursery! Here are some more pictures.....

And here are two cute little onies....

MERRY CHRISTMAS.... MAY IT BE BLESSED

8 months

Yep, I am 32 weeks pregnant today!

So far all is well. I went to the doc on Wednesday and everything is the same, no dilation but short cervix and lots of pressure. I gained 4 pounds in 7 days.... hahahaha. So I have gained about 34 pounds. Mostly belly but my neck and chin are starting to get thicker which I hate and who knows about my thighs since I can't see them ;-)

I go back to the doc the day after Christmas to see if all is the same. I truly believe that I will make it to where they want me to, 36 1/2-37 weeks. I am ok with that because I know the boys need it but I am truly so sore and tired. I don't get much sleep at night because my upper back is hurting so bad that I am up every couple of hours. I can not sit or lay for too long because my back starts to hurt so right now I am up and down ALL DAY!

Please pray for the soreness in my back to leave so I can be comfortable through the next 5 weeks. Please also continue to pray for Brandon and John to be healthy and fat.

31 weeks

So I feel like the woman sitting on the floor.... 5 1/2 weeks seem so far away.

An End Date

Well we had our two appointments today and they both went very well. My cervix is still not dilated which is good and their heart rates were right on target. Brandon (baby A) is breech and has his head in my ribs so my back is really hurting but they great news is he caught up to his brother and now weighs 3 pounds 10 ounces. John moves all the time and makes my stomach look like it has an alien in it.... he weighs 3 pounds 13 ounces. They say they boys look great but since they are boys and they are caucasian that they need to stay in as long as possible.

So...... our end date is 36 1/2 weeks to 37 weeks (January 18-25). So they will be January babies if I can keep them in that long but they won't go any longer than that.

Some Progress

Here are some pictures of the nursery.... it is a work in progress!!

This is where our glider will go. I can not wait to see it.

Me at 30 weeks 3 days

Another Milestone

30 weeks


We have made it to 30 weeks with these little boys. A lot has been going on. I was in the hospital for about 5 days on magnesium sulfate then discharged with a breathine pump. Then went back to the hospital that night with more contractions and about 2a.m. we got to go home and have been home since. What is a breathine pump???? Well, it is an IV in my leg that continually gives me medicine. Does it work???? Well, sometimes! The catch is that I also have a home monitoring system that I use twice a day to see how many contractions I am having and then it gets sent off and I get a phone call from a home health care system and they tell me if I failed or passed. I pass if I have less than 8 contractions an hour.... that happens some but sometimes I fail and i have to get an extra dose of medicine and do the monitoring again. I love being home but not knowing if they will call and tell me to go to the hospital is always a worry of mine. I am so ready for these boys to be born. I am sore, tired, BIG, frustrated.... I know they need to stay in as long as possible and I will not do anything to endanger that but I AM READY!!!!!

I have doc appointments this coming Wednesday so hopefully they will go well!!!!

In the Hospital

We are back in the hospital!!!!!

Thursday ended up in L&D with contractions but of course not dilating. They tried giving me trabutaline shots but it would not help so I was put on magnesium sulfate (I feel your pain Jenny B). They started me on 2 grams per hour and I was pretty good, just really hot but still contracting. So about 4am they upped it to 2.25 and I got sick, I threw up and got hot and could not sleep. Friday morning I had lazy eyes and felt like I could not stay awake. They took some blood and decided to bring down the dosage to 1.76. I feel much better but I am contracting from every 6-8 minutes. We have made it to 29 weeks so we feel so good about the boys that if something did happen we would not be "as" worried. I will be in the hospital till at least Monday when Dr. T wants to try and give me a trabutaline pump (I am now off the trabutaline and procardia pills). This pump will give me a continuous flow of medicine. It is kind of like a diabetic pump. It will go into the fatty tissue of my thigh, I am pretty weirded out by it but if I get the pump then I can go home. If the pump does not work I will come back to the hospital and get back on the magnesium until they decide t0 either deliver the boys or go another route. We got a visit the level 3 NICU today and visit with the staff and they made Brian and I feel very comfortable and ready to take on any challenges that might come our way.
Other than that I am just hanging out and trying to not do too much. Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers.... they mean so muxh, you will never know!

Update

Went and saw Dr. A today and got good and not so good news!!!
Good news- boys are great. Brandon weights 2 pounds 9 ounces and is only two days behind me (he is 28w3d and I am 28w5d). John is 3 pounds 4 ounces and he is a week ahead of me. So the boys are looking good!
As for me, I am having more and more contractions. Dr. A decided to up my procrdia from 10mg to 20mg to see if that can tame down thw contractions and if not I am pretty sure I will go into the hospital. I start the 20 mg today at noon and then I am to monitor myself for a couple of hours and if the contractions don't slow down I have to go get monitored again. Dr. A did mention magniesum sulfate (sp)... so who knows what is really going to happen. My cervix is also changing from the inside. So Dr. A looked pretty concerned! Will keep you all updated as soon as I know anything!

28 weeks

We made it to our first milestone... 28 weeks! Even though we are 12 weeks out from our due date Brian and I are relieved to be here. Now our goal is to make it two more weeks. We are only looking two weeks in the future at a time. In other news, I gained 3 pounds so I am up to 30 pounds in 28 weeks.... not too bad! We saw Dr. T on Wednesday and much of the same, cervix is still short but not dialating so I am still on bed rest at home. We had a bit of a scare Saturday night, I started having 7-8 contractions an hour and had to go to L&D at the hospital. I of course had to get monitored and saw that I was indeed having contractions so they gave me a shot of trabutiline (sp) and kept me over night to make sure the contractions were not changing my cervix. Sunday morning my cervix still had not changed so they sent me home. The boys are having no problems with the contractions which is great!!!! I see Dr. A (perineonatologist) Wednesday so we will see if the contractions are changing my cervix from the inside out (which is what I am more afraid of). The funny part of this whole thing is the nurse gave me two ambien (sp) for sleeping and I SWEAR I got drunk off of them. I was seeing triple, things were flying around the room and the blinds on the window were changing colors. I even almost threw up. It was soooo weird and I never want to go through that again. Anyhow, I am home again just waiting to either go back to the hospital to stay or for delivery of the boys... Please keep Brian, the boys and myself in your prayers.

3rd Trimester- 27 weeks

and I am still pregnant! YIPPIE.....
I had both my doctor appointments this past Wednesday and did not get any bad news. My cervix is still short, a 2 but is not dialating :-) and the boys are both a little over 2 pounds which made me feel great. The peri said they are doing great but I do not need to get lax over the holidays as most pregnant women on bed rest do. She said I need to keep the boys in AT LEAST 4 more weeks. My Ob seems very happy that nothing has changed and said "do what you are doing". So I am at hom on bed rest but thats ok. The weeks go by fast but the weekends drag along, weird huh...
My mom and mother-in-law have been great coming to stay with me and doing anything and everything I ask. Brian has been AWESOME, he just tries to be supportive and understanding and tell me how much he loves me and how great I am doing.
I found out yesterday that my last day of work was November 1st which was so weird to hear. I feel like I still work at the church and kind of don't want to let it go. My friends are there and basically my life during the week. I miss it!
Anyways, I am 27 weeks today and in the 3rd trimester. Such a great feeling to know but waiting til 28 weeks to celebrate our first milestone. Once we get to 28 weeks every two weeks we will celebrate a milestone and it won't be too long till we meet the boys. We are so excited yet the unknown is so scary but we know that God is in control and we have all our faith and trust in that He knows what is best.

26 weeks

and at home!!! Yep, you heard that right, I got released from the hospital on thursday afternoon. I am still on medicine (procardia and breathine) but only having about 1-3 contractions an hour which is great for me since I was having about 6 an hour. So I am on bed rest but can take a shower and use the rest room. Other than that they would like me on my sides or reclining being tilited to one side. It's like a catch twenty-two. I really wanted out of the hospital but once I was released I wanted to stay because I know I am safest there. Here at home I am comfortable but scared something might happen. I have realized that I get more contractions if I am stressed, excited, upset, hyper, talking to much or just not relaxed so I am trying my HARDEST to just relax and take it easy as possible. That might mean I don't answer a phone call or ask for visitors but know that you are all on my mind and I love you all and thank you so much for all the prayers, emails and calls.
I go see both my docs on Wednesday so we should know more then. We will see the boys that day too that day so we will know how much they will weigh and see if my cervix is holding out. Lets all just pray they don't send me back to the hospital that day....
Please be praying for the boys to grow grow grow and that my contractions are not causing cervical changes!

in the hospital

for how long i dont know.
came in monday to get monitored again and of course i was having constant contractions. dr. thompson wanted me to stay for over night observation and monitoring. they gave me three shots of brethine (sp?)--very small doses to start with and got me on some blood pressure medicine (procartia-- sp?) over night had some good and bad monitoring so today (tuesday nov. 6) they started me on brethine pills and have am staying on the procartia and it seems to be helping. i also got my first steriod shot for the babies lungs, just as a precation. i am staying over night again to wait for my next steriod shot (they do it in 24 hour incriments). i also am going to monitored one more time today to see whats going on. the boys are doing wonderful so i just need to keep them in as long as possible. i dont know if i will be going home tomorrow or staying, i am praying i get to sleep in my own bed tomorrow but i just cant tell yet. just wanted to let you all know whats going on!!!
much love

Bed Rest

It has happened.... COMPLETE bed rest. My cervix has gone from 3.5 to a 2. So they decided to put me on complete bed rest on either of my sides.... no back laying! This has been a huge challenge. My back hurts all the time when I am on my side and I love being on my back! I go see the doc Monday so I will talk to her about reclining.
More news and drama....
Friday, my doc called and asked me to get some testing done. They wanted to make sure I was not having contractions I was not feeling. Got to the hospital and once hooked up to some monitors we got the answer. The boys are doing so well. playing with one another, they couldn't even keep the heartbeats because they were moving so much... isn't that great!!!! BUT, I am indeed having contractions. I was having them pretty often actually and had to be monitored alittle longer. Dr. T decided that I needed some medicine to relax my uterus to see if the contractions would decrease. I took ventolin (asthma medicine) and about 30 minuyes later the contractions were gone. I finally got released and have to take this medicine every 6 hours and be on complete bed rest till other wise told. I am 25 weeks and 2 days today and really want to make it to 30 weeks, would LOVE to make it to 34 weeks.
Please be praying for the contractions to stop, for the boys to get fat and healthy enough to be delivered when needed and that I can handle bed rest!!!

Sinking in

Well yesterdays news is now sinking in and starting to scare me. I realized I do more than I thought I did at work. I got up more than 5 times yesterday to do things and if I am not up and around then I am trying to get comfortable in my chair and rolling around my office and not relaxed at all. I don't want to hurt the chances of keeping the boys "baking" as long as possible and I am wondering what to do. I know bed rest is not fun but I would rather do that then have to go in the hospital. I know I don't have another appointment till Wednesday with Dr. T but till then what do I do? I know things can change so fast that all I really want to do is be home in bed and rest. I just want to create the best enviroment for the boys so when they do come to be with us they are as healthy as can be. I am tired and uncomfortable and ready to be home. Getting up is such a chore these days, with trying to get out of bed, not sleeping well, driving and just being in an office setting just really drains me. I wish I could see Dr. T asap to figure out what we can do to make things better. I have a call into Dr. A about my report from yesterday and when she will send it to Dr. T so we can discuss it. I hope to get a call back soon but the message said it could be two days.... which of course means monday!

The good news in all this is that I have figured out that I can do most of my job from home on a laptop until they find a replacement. My boss is cool with that too but when that might go in effect.... who knows.....

Good and not so good....

Today was my appointment with my perinatologist. The boys look great and my prayers were answered. John has caught up to Brandon and they are now only two days apart and weighing 1 pound 10 ounces and 1 pound 14 ounces. The appointment went pretty fast and we did not get any good ultrasound pictures or see them too much but Brian did see one of them opening and closing its mouth... how cool is that!!!
The other news was about my cervix, it is indeed shortening and funneling. If you ask me what funneling means I could not tell you but my peri is concerned. She showed us that the cerix on the ultrasound should all be white (i guess that is hard tissue). Well I have a funnel, a little cone shape where it is black (no tissue there) which is not what we want. She told me to take it really easy, do not get up to much , lay in bed, rest on the weekends. She said if I don't it could mean bed rest and worse hospital bed rest. She says with the way I talk (hyper voice) that she does not think I take it easy during the day.... man does she not know I am the laziest person ever! Anyhow, she wants to see me in two weeks instead of 4 so that means I see a doctor every week now.
I see my OB, Dr. T next wednesday and we will see if she puts me on bed rest....

Well atleast the boys are doing GREAT, now they just need to bake for a bit longer!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Baby Blankets

My grandmother made the boys the most precious and soft blankets.... I wanted to show them off!!!!

24 weeks