March Of Dimes 2008

I know it has taken a little while for me to post, but we had our March of Dimes walk on April 19. Team Wooten raised $1100.00 for the March of Dimes, and we had almost 30 people walking on our team. It turned out to be such an amazing day, although it was cold! It was an inspiration to hear all the stories of the other parents who had premature babies, and how well they have coped. Thanks to the March of Dimes, a lot of these children are alive and doing well.
I can remember so vividly the whole NICU experience. I don't think this will EVER go away. As hard as it was, I am thankful my children were afforded all the technology and medications they were. I am so thankful for the nurses there, they made such a difference, sometimes without even saying a word, but just offering a shoulder to cry on. For a few that were the boys primary nurse, they are now friends.
I am hoping to volunteer with the March of Dimes, and advocate as much as I can about premature birth and its devastating affects.
I will get some pictures from the walk up soon, also some new ones of they boys...it's been a while, but thats life with twins and a 4 year old!

March of Dimes Walk

We are excited to be participating in the March of Dimes Walk this year. It is taking place in Carlsbad, CA. Our team, TEAM WOOTEN, has raised over a thousand dollars for this organization, and have about 30 people walking with us! The March of Dimes means a lot to both Justin and I. I shudder to think what would have happen to Ethan and Christopher without the medical advances and technology made available by the March of Dimes. If any of you have not heard of the March of Dimes, please check out the website marchofdimes.com and find out more about it. The more awareness we can raise, the better!

Preemie Act

March of Dimes Thanks President Bush for Signing Bill Calling for Public-Private Effort to Prevent Preterm Births


Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes, made the following statement as President Bush signed the "PREEMIE" Act (S. 707) into law:

"Today President Bush responded to the growing crisis of premature birth by signing into law a bill that authorizes increased federal support for research and education on prematurity. Millions of active March of Dimes volunteers and staff across the nation have worked toward this day for more than 3 years. On their behalf, I thank the President and members of Congress for their willingness to work with us to put prematurity on the national health agenda.

"Premature birth, one of the most common, serious, and costly problems facing America's infants, affects more than 500,000 babies in the U.S. each year and causes disability and death in too many cases. A key provision of the "PREEMIE" Act sets the stage for a Surgeon General’s conference at which scientific and clinical experts from the public and private sectors will sit down together to formulate a national action agenda designed to speed development of prevention strategies to reduce occurrences of preterm labor and delivery.

As the New Year begins, we look forward to working with the Administration and the 110th Congress to appropriate the funding needed to implement the provisions of this most important initiative."

Out and About

On Saturday, we had such a busy day. In the morning we went over to my brother and wife's house to visit with my niece, she is absolutely in love with "her babies." After that it was on to Noah's T-Ball game, which happened to be at the same time the boys were due to eat. So here I was my first time feeding the boys outside of the house. Justin was coaching, both boys were crying, and other parents of Noah's team were offering to help feed them. I was uncomfortable with them feeding them, as since they were preemies, they take forever to feed, and have bad reflux on top of that. So after politely explaining to them why I declined it was time to feed. Thank goodness my sister in law was there to help hold Christopher while I fed Ethan. It was only a few minutes and then Justin took over with Christopher. I must say the boys did extremely well! After the game we did lunch with my brother, then stopped home to repack the diaper bag and get ready for the next outing. It was Justin's mom's birthday and we had dinner reservations in Chula Vista. We stopped in La Jolla to check out a beach side park, fed the boys again, (both doing really well again) then we met the family for dinner. The boys were so good, slept through dinner, didn't make a peep. Once we got home, it was feeding time again. Me being the paranoid person I am and overprotective, today was a hard day for me. I like to stick to a routine and schedule, and today I was thrown a curve ball. But seeing how well the boys did, made me realize that it's ok to venture outside "the schedule" a little bit. The hardest thing is making sure we had everything packed though. You don't realize how much each baby needs. Besides the obvious, diapers, wipes, bottles...you need a change of clothes, their medications, pacifiers, blankets. And since they have reflux, burp cloths...which I forgot...what a mess. I have decided to keep an emergency diaper bag in the car with clothes, diapers, wipes, binkies, blankets, burp cloths, bottles, and everything else we might need. All in all it was a good day.

Ethan and Christopher's arrival

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I was having a routine growth scan of the boys done on January 8. All my appointments, mind you I went every week to see the OB or perinatologist, were fine. Not once were they concerned with preterm labor, or expected anything. I had stopped working in August due to having such a strenuous job, and being on my feet 12 hours a day. My whole pregnancy I took it easy, volunteering in Noah's preschool, going to every appointment. The only downfall was I had hyperemesis gravidarum, SEVERE morning sickness. I lost 30 pounds, had a home health nurse, was on IV fluids at home, and a reglan pump(I had to change the needle/catheter every three days), and FINALLY at 20 weeks, I was able to eat.

The ultrasound technician, did the growth scan and said the boys looked good, weighing in at around 3lbs and 4lbs each. Then she checked my cervix, and I knew by looking at the screen that it didn't look good. I became very aware of what was normal and not during all my appointments. My cervix measured in at .5mm severely thinned out. Not even 5 days before it was at 4mm, normal. So the doctor came in and told me to get down to Sharp Mary Birch ASAP, she even wanted to call an ambulance. Once down there, they tried starting an IV, five sticks later they were successful. Then on came the monitor. It showed I was contracting every 5 minutes and were coming pretty strongly. They checked my cervix and I was dilated to 3cm. So, this is where it gets kind of hazy for me as they started me on magnesium sulfate, the most HORRIBLE thing ever. Almost immediately I was burning up and just felt like crap. It made me so loopy, I was calling people on the phone and would come to find out days later that I don't even remember talking to them. They all thought this was funny, me not so much. The mag didn't help so then came the turbutaline. This caused me to get a severe case of the shakes, freaking poor Justin out. This continued for the next few hours. I also received a dose of steroids to help the boys lungs mature. The contractions kept coming, I didn't even feel them. So the doctor then ordered for me to have Indocin, they were trying everything to keep me pregnant! So by now it is almost midnight...time to try and sleep. Didn't really happen because the monitor kept beeping because baby b, Christopher's heart rate would drop periodically. The next morning Justin got up and went to work, we assumed I would stop contracting and remain on hospital bedrest, but we were wrong. The contractions kept coming...the meds did too, but didn't work. Finally the nurse checked my cervix again and I was dilated to 5cm and baby a was extremely low. So the doctor called for a c-section. I called Justin, he left work in a haste and sped to the hospital. In the half hour from the doctor calling for a c-section and it actually happening, the nurses were busy prepping me, I met with a neonatologist, and they were ready to wheel me to the OR. I was begging them to wait for Justin to get there...they gave him another five minutes...luckily he walked in then. They gave him some scrubs to wear and booties...and we were off to the OR. They gave me a spinal, which had some sort of weird affect on me because I could barely keep my eyes opened...I just wanted to sleep. At 12:44 out came Ethan crying, a relief to both Justin and I. At 12:45 Christopher followed crying also...Justin followed the boys to the NICU as they finished my c-section.

In recovery Justin came in and told me the boys were doing good. Didn't need to be intubated, but were on what they call CPAP(continuous positive airway pressure). Ethan weighed in at 3lbs 9oz and was 15 1/2 inches long. Christopher weighed 4lbs 3oz and was 16 and 1/4 inches. This was very surprising considering I delivered at 30 weeks 3 days. He showed me some pictures he took...they looked surprisingly good...I expected to see little blue babies on a ventilator, but their color was good. An hour later I was being wheeled through the NICU, stopping first to see Christopher, then Ethan. It was so heartbreaking to see them, enduring all the needle sticks, being on CPAP.

I didn't see the boys again until that night, and it was then that Justin and I got a quick lesson on the NICU, all the alarms, etc...It was extremely scary when their monitors would go off because they were having a brady(a slowed heart rate), or if they would have a desat in oxygen. Over time this all became easier.

On day 5, the day I was being discharged, we got to hold Ethan for the first time. It was rewarding, but made leaving them behind even harder. It wasn't until day 8 we got to hold Christopher.

Christopher stayed in the NICU for 7 weeks, Ethan for 8 1/2 weeks. Through this time, we hit the lowest of lows, the highest of highs. Endured blood transfusions, trial runs off oxygen, Ethan had surgery for pyloric stenosis, bloody stools, renal ultrasounds, eye exams, x-rays, and so much more. Once we got the go ahead from the doctor to bring Christopher home, we were elated, but heartbroken when we left little Ethan behind.

Once Ethan came home, it was time to adjust to life with twins and a four year old...one word...CHAOTIC!!! But we would take it as our family was home! We got the boys on the same schedule, thank goodness, eating every four hours. Despite being on medications for reflux, they are doing well, gaining weight, and getting cuter everyday!

We had amazing nurses in the NICU, ones we will forever remember and be grateful for. Heather, Marie, Urvashi, and Megan, we wouldn't have been able to make it through the NICU roller coaster without you! Thank you! You all started out as nurses to our boys, and now we consider you our friends!

An attempt to keep you all updated...

I found out about blogging through another mother of twins, and thought it would be a great idea to keep everyone updated. I'm not sure how often I will be able to update it, but I will try my hardest. As you all know, the boys are now almost 3 months old. It seems like just yesterday the doctor was telling me it was time to have them, because they were coming anyway. Ethan weighed in at 3lbs 9oz and today weighs 8lbs 7oz. Christopher weighed in at 4lbs 3oz and now weighs 9lbs 9oz. They are continuing to amaze both Justin and myself with all they continue to do. They are such an inspiration, have endured SO much, and are hearts just grow with love everytime we look at them. Like I said I will try to keep everyone updated, but with twins and a 4 year old, spare time is almost next to none!! This picture was taken on Easter. It was the boys first Easter and we just had a relaxing day!