Saturday, May 29, 2010

Milestones

Logan made another milestone last night by surpassing his birth weight. He was 5lbs 13oz last night (5lbs 12oz at birth). He also has hit the magic number of taking 60cc's (2 oz) of milk every three hours for the past couple of days now. Logan's umbilical cord also fell off this morning and he no longer fits in preemie clothes. He is in full newborn size now.

Ella is right behind him. She weighed 5lbs 3oz last night (5lbs 4oz at birth). We are hoping she hits her milestone tonight. She is up to 55cc's every three hours so is very close to the magic number of 60cc's. She does drink 60 quite frequently, but her goal is still 55 at this point.

(These notes are more for me since I haven't had a chance to buy their baby books yet! I'll need to go back and read these posts to fill them in later on.)

Grandpa and Grandma Bartmann Arrive

Grandpa and Grandma Bartmann surprised us this morning by heading out for the weekend from South Dakota. We put them to work right away feeding the twins!

New Park/Water

After feeding the babies yesterday afternoon, we took Torin to a new park that has this awesome water sprinkler part to it. He absolutely loved it. With the weather so nice, we might head back there this weekend.

Friday, May 28, 2010

first meeting

Torin was able to officially meet Logan and Ella yesterday. Before he looked through the glass window of the nursery at them, but we let him come in and touch them yesterday. He helped Daddy feed Ella. I'm still not sure that he realizes these babies are coming to his house soon! He is fine with visiting them in the hospital, but now he still gets Mom and Dad to himself at home. We will see how things go once the twins are home.
Daddy, Torin and Ella

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

One Week Old and Thank You's

It is SO hard to believe that Logan and Ella are a week old already. We feel like time is passing us by since we have been in the hospital so much. They both are doing absolutely great and are still working on feedings. We have our list of things that the twins need to accomplish before they are released and they are doing a great job of checking them off one-by-one at this point. The average stay for babies in the nursery is 14-21 days. They are rarely to never released before 14 days of age, so we are looking at a minimum of another week to two weeks with them in the hospital.
The biggest thing with preemies is that they need their rest. We literally only see them every three hours when they get a diaper change and eat. The rest of the time they aren't held or stimulated at all as they need their rest to gain weight so they can come home. This is why we haven't invited many people to the hospital at this point. We look forward to having visitors once the babies come home. We can't wait to show them off to all of you.


HELP: So many of you have asked, 'how can we help?' or 'can we bring meals?' At this point, we are managing well with my mom here. Can you bring meals? Absolutely...especially when the twins come home. That is when we will need the most help. If you have a meal to put in the freezer for a later time, we won't say no. :)
THANK YOU: Our lives are completely hectic and crazy right now. To be 100% honest, the chances of us getting personal written thank-yous out to everyone are slim to zero. We want all of you to know how thankful and appreciative we are for the outfits, flowers, food, gifts, phone calls, cards, etc. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends and family in our lives. So from both Paul and I, THANK YOU!

Grandma Herding

Grandma Herding had the chance to hold and feed the twins today. She wasn't able to be at the hospital for a few days when both she and Torin were sick this past week. She has been here a week so far and is planning on helping out for three more weeks. We couldn't do this without her and are so thankful for the help.

Big Brother

Torin is doing a great job so far with all of the transitions going on this past week. He has survived his first ever battle with the flu without Mom and Dad there to help. Thank goodness Grandma Herding was around to help out. Unfortunately both Grandma and Daddy caught that nasty 12 hour bug after Torin did, but we are a healthy household once again.

The big news is that he is getting a much needed hair cut tomorrow. That was just one of many things on the 'to do before babies arrive' list that obviously wasn't taken care of.
We are trying to love on our big boy as much as possible before his brother and sister come home. He is really attached to me right now when I'm home since I'm splitting my time between the hospital and home right now.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Together Again

Monday Update: The twins are now 5 days old and doing very well. Today is a huge milestone for them. They are now in the same bed together for the first time since they came out of me last Wednesday. Both Ella and Logan are on a very low amount of oxygen yet. It is mostly for when they get into their deep sleeps their O2 stats drop some. Other than the oxygen, food tube, and a foot wire that monitors their heart rate and O2, they have no more tubes and wires connected to them at all! YES! They also gained weight for the first time yesterday which is HUGE! So the next goal is for both babies to continue to increase their feedings and gain weight and take all of their feedings from the bottle vs. needing the feeding tube. The feeding tube isn't used for either that often...they only get it if they don't hit their CC amount for the feeding or day. Today Logan's goals are 54 CCs every three hours and Ella's are 49 CCs every three hours. I also get to try and nurse Logan for the first time today. I am VERY excited about this as pumping is just not the same as nursing them.
I was able to hold both of them together for the first time today. What a precious moment.
Yes, I still am that pale. I am very anemic yet and working toward healing myself after the surgery. I was released officially from the hospital yesterday afternoon, but still have a room on the floor to stay in until the babies come home. I went home last night and gave Torin some much needed Mommy time. We are all trying to figure out a good balancing act of being at the hospital and at home so Torin gets his time too.
We are so unbelievably blessed to have the twins doing so well at this point. We hope this continues so we can bring them home in the next couple of weeks. It has been a rough 24 hours for us. Torin got the flu on Friday and now Paul and my Mom both have it last night and today. So I'm running this operation right now 5 days post-op. Exhaustion and stress don't even begin to describe where we are at right now. Hopefully we can get over this hurdle, get everyone healthy so that we are set once these babies come home. Thank you everyone for your continued support and prayers for our family. Keep them coming as we feel them from all over the country.

Daddy and Logan

Mr. Logan is the most laid-back, go with the flow baby you have ever met. He literally eats, sleeps and poops. We did finally hear him make what we think is a cry last night. He is so mellow and calm. The twins personalities at this point are VERY different and we love them both so much.

Diva Glasses

Ella had the opportunity to spend some time sun bathing (we think she was dreaming she was in the Bahamas) over the weekend under the lights to lower her biliruben (sp?) levels. They are much lower now and was able to get away from the lights yesterday.
These were quite the glasses though. Her personality thus far is very diva-ish. She is much more vocal and outgoing than her brother, Logan.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Ella Kathryn

Ella continues to improve by the hour in the nursery. She now is on a feeding schedule just like her brother. She isn't eating as much as he is at a time, but she's getting there. They have now put her under the lights to get her jaundice under control, so she's wearing her purple diva shades while she sun bathes!



Logan David

Here are some photos from last night and this morning of Logan David. He was wide awake and alert this morning for an hour and a half! He is eating like clockwork every three hours now taking an ounce every feeding. He is doing great!
Mommy, Daddy and Logan
Daddy was able to feed Logan this morning and even change his diaper. He then had to change his shirt because he didn't get the new diaper on quick enough and Logan gave him a pee shower. :)
Daddy and Logan having good conversation this morning.
Mommy and Logan last night.
Eyes wide open!
Hmmm...what to do next...sleep or eat?

The Birth Story

Here is my last pregnancy photo as I'm headed in for the c-section. I made it 34 weeks and 6 days.
The Story

On Tuesday night, I began having contractions off and on at 7:00 P.M. I noticed through the night that they started getting stronger and by 4 AM I had woken Paul and said I think I might be in labor since all of the home remedies to stop contractions weren't working. We decided to wait and call my OB's office at 8 when they opened. They of course said head to labor and delivery at the hospital which we had done before to get the contractions stopped. So Paul called our neighbors Scott and Janna to watch Torin for the morning as we figured it would only be a couple of hours of iv fluids and meds to stop the contractions. We brought NOTHING with us!
When we arrived at the hospital around 9:30 I was contracting every 2 to 3 minutes. Luckily my actual OB doctor was on call and at the hospital on Wednesday. They started my IV fluids and gave me some Procardia to stop the contractions. Unfortunately neither worked and I still was contracting every 2 -3 minutes at 1:30 Wednesday afternoon. My doctor came in and said it was time for the c-section as I was in labor and there was no stopping it this time. We signed all of the paperwork and we headed back to the delivery room at 2:15.
I went in first and received my spinal (numbing medication from the chest down) and they laid me on the table. Everything went downhill from there and I only remember bits and pieces of what went on for the next few hours. My blood pressure started to drop as a result of the spinal and then one of the babies heart rates dipped significantly from the spinal as well. The doctors moved very quickly at this moment and Paul walked in just in time. The doctor cut into my uterus to get Ella out and blood went everywhere so I'm told. Paul said it was the scariest thing he had ever seen. I ended up having placental abruption (Ella's placenta had torn completely away from my uterus) and things went downhill quickly from there. They got Ella out first and within 30 seconds Logan too was out. The babies looked great but I was in a bad situation. I had lost 2 1/2 -3 Liters of blood (you only have 5 total in your body) so essentially I lost half of the blood in my body in a matter of seconds. They rushed the babies and Paul out of the delivery room and into the nursery. I spent the next few hours in ICU getting blood put back into my body. Because it was Ella's placenta that broke away, she ended up inhaling and swallowing some of the blood that I was losing at a rapid pace. We learned later that if we would have waited even minutes later to do the c-section Ella wouldn't be here with us today and I wouldn't be either since I was bleeding internally so quickly. God was looking out for us yesterday, and both Paul and I are so thankful that our miracle happened.

Recovery - I am recovering nicely now and am feeling better as each hour passes. I haven't needed any more blood transfusions to this point, but they are monitoring me carefully to make sure my blood counts continue to improve.

Logan David - He is a champ. He hasn't needed extra oxygen at all and has been breathing room air since he was born. He is eating an ounce of formula/colostrum every three hours and continues to improve hour by hour. He is a calm baby and only cries when hungry or poopy. I was able to hold him twice today and Paul was even able to feed him once. They aren't allowing either baby out of the nursery at this point so we are spending lots of time in the nursery loving on them. Logan does have an iv and is receiving some antibiotics as a precaution in case infection would come up since he is a preemie. We will get lab results done tomorrow to see if there are any signs of infection. If everything looks good they will be taking out his iv.

Ella Kathryn - She is a fighter to say the least. Because she swallowed the blood they ended up putting a tube down her mouth and into her stomach to pump the blood out. She also needed some help with breathing so that is why the pictures below show her in the oxygen hood. She is doing so well now that she hasn't been under the hood most of the day today. She still is receiving a small amount of oxygen through her nose, but her stats continue to improve. They were able to take the tube out of her mouth this evening and she too is now able to eat some formula/colostrum from a bottle. We continue to see improvements from her each hour. I was able to hold her for a very brief time today, so we are hoping to be able to snuggle her more tomorrow if she continues to improve.

Timelines for release - They have told us the standard answer that babies can stay up to their actual 40 week gestation time if needed. So that would mean they could be in the hospital for 5 weeks yet. With both babies improving at a rapid pace, I don't see them taking 5 weeks to come home, but we aren't jumping ahead of ourselves either. We want to make sure they are completely ready to be home with us before we put them in the car. I haven't been told of a time for my release either yet. We are thinking Saturday or Sunday, but they are allowing me to stay up until the babies come home if needed. We will keep everyone posted as to when the release dates will be and also how the twins are doing.

Torin - Thanks so much to Scott and Janna, Anne and Josh, and Tracey for taking care of Torin for us. My mom is here now so she is taking care of T for us while we are at the hospital. He did come and see Mommy, Logan and Ella today, but I don't think he as a clue that the babies are coming home yet. Since they are in the nursery he could only look at them through the window, so the connection isn't there yet that they will be coming to our house.

I know this is a long informational post. It is mostly so that Paul and I can go back and read everything that went on over these past few days since it has been a crazy ride to say the least. We will keep updating with photos, videos, and news while we are here. Thanks to all of you for your prayers. Please keep them coming so that our two new miracles make their way out of the hospital and home with us soon. For now, I am going to try and get some more sleep while I still can!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

The Twins Are Here!

I'll fill in the birth story later, but here are a few photos of our miracles.
Below is Baby Boy Bartmann (still unnamed, but it's between two!) born Wednesday, May 19 at 2:45 P.M. Weight - 5lbs 12 oz Length - 18 1/4 inches
Baby Boy again.
Baby Girl Bartmann is Ella Kathryn Bartmann. She was also born on May 19 at 2:45 P.M. They were born very quickly due to complications so they share the day and minute born. Weight - 5lbs 4oz Length - 17 3/4 inches
She is wearing an oxygen shield to help with breathing, but both are doing very well for being born at 34 weeks 6 days.
I will get into more details later, but here are the first few shots. Mom and babies are doing okay right now though. So...top two photos are of baby boy, and bottom two are of Ella Kathryn.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

So Long Old Friend...

We pulled the trigger and gave Cooper away tonight. A wonderful family with three kids (11, 7, and 4) and a 1 year old pug already came and took Cooper home with them. Their pug and Cooper played in the backyard for a while and the kids warmed up to him right away. We think he will fit in well with his new family.
How did it go as the car drove away? Torin was crying hysterically and waving out his bedroom window at the car which in turn made Mommy start crying hysterically wondering if the right decision was made. Only time will tell I guess, but we hope he loves his new family and has a wonderful life with them. He will be missed as he was a great dog to us for the past 5 years.

Jumpin'

The Weiland's came up and we went to Jumpin' yesterday at Centerra. Torin and Ava loved it...as did Paul and Kurt. Here is one of the videos I took. I'm trying to get the second one uploaded but am having trouble. Hopefully I can get it in the next couple of days.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mother's Day and Belly Pics 33 Weeks...3 Days

Happy Mother's Day to all moms! Here I am 33 weeks, 3 days pregnant. My latest measurement from the doctor this past Thursday at my 33 week appointment was 45 weeks! That's right, I'm measuring 5 weeks overdue right now.
I've still only gained 30 lbs total this pregnancy, so I am on a strict eat, eat, eat diet right now from my doctor.

This is for my mom as she requested a photo of me laying down to see how high my belly really goes.
Today has been a great Mother's Day. Paul and Torin bought lots of flowers for my beds out front and planted all of them for me.
Paul made homemade chicken fettucinni alfredo for dinner tonight...my favorite.
Thanks boys for making my Mother's Day so wonderful! I love you both!

21 months

Happy 21 months, Torin! On Friday Torin began his last month as an only child. His last month of having Mommy and Daddy all to himself. Before June 7th, when he'll turn 22 months, his baby brother and sister will have arrived. We are going to soak up these last few weeks with our only son and make sure to show him just how special these past 21 months have been having him in our lives.
Because these moments pass us by WAY too quickly. It seems like yesterday we were here. And in 26 short days, I will again be on this table. Only this time, I'll have to fit two babies in my arms.
We love you so much, T! We can't wait to see what a great big brother you are going to be. Happy 21 months!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

32 week doctor's appointment

I had another ultrasound and doctor's appointment yesterday and both babies look great yet. Baby girl is measuring right on track and weighs in at 4lbs 6oz and baby boy is still measuring over a week ahead weighing 5lbs 1oz. Yesterday marked 5 weeks until they are here and it can't come soon enough for me. It has been a rough week for me and I am ready for this pregnancy to be over. I am so glad that these babies are healthy and I want them to continue growing inside me for as long as possible, but the selfish person in me is so ready to have my body back. To be able to go a day without a contraction, swelling, leg cramps, utter exhaustion, difficulty breathing, and all of the other joys that I am experiencing would be great.
So I am in countdown mode...4 weeks and 6 days to go...34 days. I'm not down to hours and seconds yet, but I'm sure I will get there as my other dear twin mom friends did.