Izzy & Seth say "Merry Christmas!"

We are winding our way down on Izzy and Seth's first Christmas.  They really don't know this day is different than any other except for the extra attention they got with daddy at home and Poppi Breen, Uncle Kev and Uncle Drew visiting for the day plus the insistence their crazy parents had on getting pictures of them together in their Christmas shirts. The kiddos were visited by Grandma Rinehults on Christmas Eve and received some cool toys and clothes.  All in all it was a great first Christmas spent with people we love.

Am and I are going with the "crazy" concept of not giving the kiddos presents from us for Christmas.  Our plan is to use the Christmas season to teach them to bless others without the need to receive a ton of presents for themselves.  We want to try to use this as a way to further place the focus on it being Jesus's birthday and less on it being about us. This is a big stretch for me as I am naturally a gift giver and absolutely love that part of Christmas but we are going to try to redirect that passion of mine to reach out to others.  A lot of the inspiration comes from a blog that Am reads that is written by the author of One Thousand Gifts.  It is worth a read:  http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/12/the-grateful-christmas-project-7-ways-to-have-more-grateful-kids-this-christmas/.  I am not sure how this will play out in the years to come but we are praying God will give us wisdom in developing kids that desire to use what they have been blessed with to bless those around them (both near and far).

We did manage to get the kids into their Christmas outfits and side-by-side without screaming.  They both have an amazing ability to sense when a camera is near and the smiles and laughs always seem to cease.  This really drives their photo-happy father nuts!  But they semi-cooperated below in a resigned effort to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Izzy Rolls Over Video

Let it be known that on this the 14th day of December at the age of 2 months and 23 days, Izzy Kate rolled over for the first time...twice!  This is one of those monumental moments where you can't help but rejoice despite the knowledge that your life is about to get a whole lot crazier!

Izzy & Seth at 2.5 Months

It has now been over a month since my last blog update.  It is amazing how easy it is to get out of the habit.  And once you miss a couple weeks, there is so much to update that it is easy to just continue to put it off longer and longer.

The kiddos have continued to grow well and now weigh in at over 10 pounds for Seth and over 8 pounds for Izzy.  Just in the past two weeks they have both hit the point where they smile and laugh often.  While it can be extremely stressful taking care of twins 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (and here I am talking about Am and Momma Breen as they are taking the brunt of it - I get work breaks and don't take as many night feedings), it is rewarding to see that we have two happy babies...most of the time.

We set out this weekend to take some Christmas pictures of the twinsies.  The plan was to put them both under the tree in their Christmas outfits.  Challenge #1 was finding a time when they were both awake and fed.  We finally accomplished that this evening.  Challenge #2 was getting them both under the tree while still smiling and happy (they don't particularly love being put down).  In that we were definitely not successful.  We got Seth under the tree without incident but when Izzy joined, she wailed...which made Seth wail.  We never recovered.

Fortunately we did get some trial shots of Izzy sporting some cool hats and we have some shots of Seth under the tree while waiting for Iz.  So operating under the belief that something is better than nothing, here you go:

Seth says "Merry Christmas everyone!"

Little Man posing in front of the Christmas Tree.

Our Christmas Angel.

Iz in her reindeer hat.

Little Miss Sunshine.

 Seth is in place waiting on Izzy.  So close...and yet so far away!

One Month Old!

Today marks the twins one month birthday and the ten day mark from when they came home.  For me, it is hard to believe that it has been that long.  But then again, I have been working long hours and have not really been home a ton over that ten day span.  For Am, it feels like it has been longer than ten days as she is the one who is with them around the clock (along with Mom-Mom Breen).  It is amazing how fast time does go by though.  Only twelve months make up that first year of life and one of those months has already past.  It really drives home the importance of being present and not missing any more moments than you have to.

Izzy and Seth have now been to the Pediatrician twice and both times were deemed to be completely healthy.  Seth is now up to 4 lbs 15 oz (1 lb 1 oz over his birth weight) and Izzy is now up to 4 lbs 9 oz (14 oz over her birth weight).  Izzy met her growth goal for the past week (1/2 to a full oz of weight gain per day) and Seth exceeded his.

Right now the majority of Izzy and Seth's day is made up of sleeping and eating.  We are currently feeding every three hours and, for the most part, the twins know exactly when some more food is due and don't wake up until slightly before feeding time.  They are in good spirits most of the time but we have experienced a few hysterical crying fits over the past few days (primarily when one of them didn't quite get enough to eat and we told them they were done).  Yes, we have now joined the ranks of parents who have experienced the absolute despair that comes from holding a screaming baby and not having a clue what to do to resolve the crisis.  Fortunately Am is the amazing mother that we all knew she would be and she has the patience and wisdom to make it through those moments (and some coaching from Momma Breen certainly helps).

We haven't done a very good job of keeping up with pictures but that will change as of today.  In the move to our new house, I managed to misplace my point and shoot camera which was the easy way to snag quick pictures and video.  Am's smaller DSLR is on loan (and it wouldn't be ideal anyway) which leaves us with my monster of a DSLR.  With me not here a ton, that means not a lot of picture taking is going on!  When I attended "Daddy Boot Camp" prior to the twins birth, they told me of a ritual called a "Push Present".  Am and I had never heard of it but apparently it is customary for a new dad to buy his wife a present as a thank you for going through the rigors of pregnancy and delivery.  I seized the opportunity and bought Am a new camera today that takes great pictures and video.  So stay tuned for more pictures!

(Izzy and Seth love their swing)

(And did we mention that they love to sleep and eat?)

(And while the twins haven't really gotten out and about much, they have made some trips out to the front yard for some sunshine and fresh air!)

Thank you for your continued prayers!!!

Izzy & Seth are Home!

Today was the big day for Izzy and Seth as they were released from the NICU and finally allowed to come home after a three week stay at the hospital.  They had both experienced two straight days of strong weight gain with Seth now weighing in at 4 lbs 3 oz and Izzy at 4 lbs 1 oz.  The docs felt that was good enough to release them (and we were certainly not complaining!).  Funny thing is that we were targeting 10-11-12 as the kids birth date (since we were married on 9-10-11) but we ended up getting it as their coming home day!

It was somewhat bittersweet in that we really have fallen in love with the professionals in the MCV (VCU) NICU.  The nurses treated our babies as if they were their own and the care they received was amazing.  I expect a lot when it comes to health care but this far exceeded my expectations (I plan to attempt a more appropriate thank you post to the NICU folks down the road).  It was hard to walk away from that top notch care but, at the same time, it has been awesome to be home where we can begin to get into a routine and not have to live out of suitcases.

Please be praying for us as we now assume care for the twins 24/7.  Thankfully we are surrounded by loving family and friends who are helping us at every turn.  Pray that God will give us the stamina to keep up with the demands of caring for two newborns and that He will give us wisdom as we make decisions that affect the twins.  And please continue to pray for physical growth and good health for the twins and for Am (ah, just the good health part for Am - I don't think she would appreciate you praying for physical growth for her).  Thank you all for praying for us so faithfully over the past few weeks.  We cannot thank you enough!

Here are shots of Seth & Izzy their last morning in the NICU:

We decided to dress the babies up in their snazzy Halloween costumes to exit the hospital.  Our primary nurse since moving over to the healthy baby side of the NICU dreamed up this parting shot:

The twins went on a goodbye tour of the NICU.  We had a lot of different nurses care for the twins and even more stop by regularly just to see them.  They have been quite popular so it was nice for them to get a chance to say goodbye.  The first shot is of the twins with Marty (the primary nurse I mentioned above) and then with a group of nurses and NPs.

And then it was time to hit the road.  The twins did fantastic in their car seats and slept the entire way home (a 50 minute drive so not a small accomplishment for their first trip).  But as you can see below, the seats tower over them.  We actually had to go out and buy a different set of car seats this week as the ones we purchased a few months back have a minimum weight of 5 pounds.  Fortunately we were able to find a couple with triplets who were selling the 4 pound minimum version on Craigslist.  Craigslist has been a Godsend!

We arrived home to balloons, a freshly mowed lawn, groceries in the fridge, and a clean house thanks to Am's dad and my mom (Am's mom has been living out of a suitcase with us in Richmond so she could be with Am every step of the way).  And then Drew showed up and made enough chili to last us a long time.  We are well cared for!  Here are the twins taking in their new house (even if they are peering through the back of their eyelids).

It is so great to be home after four weeks of hospital adventure.  Thanks again to our parents who have been so supportive through the past few weeks, to Drew and Kevin for providing housing, food and lots of visits, and to everyone else who has played a part in the story, whether it be through visits, shower gifts, other acts of service or prayers.  We love you all! 

Am, Izzy & Seth - Day 16 Update

For years I have continually commented on the busyness of my schedule.  Between crazy work hours, church activities and relationships, I would tell you that I had no free time and was always on the go.  Many times when I brought this up, wiser people responded with something along the lines of "just wait until you have kids".  I didn't quite grasp the depth of that statement until the past two weeks.

With two kiddos in the NICU, our schedules are definitely busier than ever (and as crazy as it seems to me, it is 10x worse for Am).  We are constantly feeding, soothing, changing diapers, talking to nurses and doctors, and occasionally trying to sneak in some sleep.  I had grand plans of doing blog updates every 3 days but have fell quite short...and heard about that failure from many of you...repeatedly.  So I start with yet another apology for leaving you all hanging.

We are still residing in the MCV NICU but are definitely getting closer to our greatly anticipated release.  Both Izzy and Seth are still off the respirators, out of the incubators, and are now off the feeding tubes!  They are getting all of their nutrition from breastfeeding which has been another big step forward for them.  As of this morning, Seth was up 3.5 ounces over his birth weight and Izzy was up 3.0 ounces.  Both babies have passed their hearing tests and received their Hep B shots.  Seth survived his dreaded circumcision and is healing up well.  The last remaining hurdle they must leap before receiving their release papers is some additional weight gain and we have found this to be a slow but steady process.  If they can knock out some strong weight gain numbers over the next couple days, there is a possibility they will be able to go home the middle of this week!  Please keep praying for continued progress and good health.

Am continues to feel better and better as the fluids that were pumped into her body before the delivery continue to make their exit.  She looks like a completely different person from the lady they wheeled back to surgery (I would make a comment like many others regarding how gorgeous she looks now but I never thought she lost that trait!).  We are holding up pretty well on the limited sleep that we are getting.  We moved to sleeping at the hospital (instead of at Am's brother Drew's) Friday evening so we could breastfeed around the clock.  This has cut the sleep down to just a couple of hours a night but God keeps providing what we need to make it through each day.  Again, we would appreciate prayers for God's continued provision in giving us the strength to make it through the long days and short nights.

Here are some pictures from the past week.  Enjoy!

We will start with some shots from when we put the two of them in a crib together and allowed them to interact for a little while.

(Great profile - still think it is obvious which one is the boy and which one is the girl!)

("Oh yeah Seth, you may be bigger but I can pack a powerful smack!")

("I'm ripping the monitoring cords out Izz, we're blowing this joint!")

("Oh Seth, will you please stop singing - you're killing me!")

("Let me check your pulse Seth - those monitors can't be correct!")

("Not a lot to do in here sis, how about we hold a karaoke night!")

("Rumor has it that if we hold our tongues out like this, mommy will give us a treat.")

(Best buddies!)

("Nice duds Seth, is that cotton?")

(Seth is a ladies' man - the nurses think he is super cute!)

Here are some of the many crazy faces of Izzy:

Our nurse the other day decided she needed to do a Halloween shoot with the candy containers that have been providing a constant flow of sugar to our nurses:

(Izzy does not look thrilled.)

And here is one of the most brave people I know, my awesome son.  I couldn't be more proud of him!

And some miscellaneous shots:

(Just to provide some perspective on how tiny she is!)

(Izzy loves to hold fingers.)

(Here's the crazy equipment they use to test hearing.)

(Power to the people!)

(Izzy's hands always seem to end up in front of her face for pictures - including ultrasounds.  I think she got those genes from a certain brother of mine!)

(Another cute hand-holding moment.)

("Now this is the life!")

We have tons of pictures of people holding our babies and are going to create an album on Facebook to showcase them.  Thanks again for your prayers!