Making progress

Happy Friday everyone.  We just got back from the NICU.  Owen and Olivia continue to endure.  They are eating ever so slightly better.  They've switched to a different formula to try to fatten them up a little bit in hopes that will in turn grow their appetite.  Owen made some pretty fun faces today, although he might have been working something into his diaper at the time.  We're not sure. I've put a link to our UStream page in the right hand column in case we randomly decide to do some more live internet video, so you can check that.  It usually sends out a twitter blast, so if you follow me on twitter @justin_schmidt, you'll always be informed.  Otherwise my tweets are to the right as well. Anyway, here's a new, non-live video, enjoy.


NICU from Justin Schmidt on Vimeo.

Fun clothes

Some photos from this evening, we took the ducks from the maternity board and put them on the cribs.

Olivia demanding presents already.

We found Owen and Olivia in some fun onesies when we went to visit at noon today. Looks like the grandparent's expectations have already gone up. Hope you all are up for it.

Justin

Lindsay's Update - I just wanted to point out that the babies have been wearing hospital provided clothing. We obviously did not provide a Christmas onesie for Olivia to wear. We took some of their own clothes today, so hopefully after their midnight baths tonight, they will be dressed cute!

Babies first live shot

Just because I'm a tech nerd, we're going to try something new.  We'll be heading up to the NICU for the noon feeding. I'll be "broadcasting it over the internet.  You can watch at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kujts or I'll embed it here.  All you have to do is be at one of the sites, and you get to watch.  Seems fun right?  We'll see you at 11:30 or so.
Justin



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March of Dimes

Some new pics.

First things first. Things have calmed down a little bit for the babies. Olivia is receiving every other feeding by bottle, and the other feeding by tube. She loves her bottle, but forgets to maintain her other stats while eating. Owen on the other hand, just doesn't like his bottle. He is perfectly content receiving his formula via tube. The doctor insists that once he gains some weight and gets stronger, he will have more of a desire to bottle feed. Both babies are sharing a room now, which I was very excited about. They hadn't seen each other since birth day, and I hope they can share some secrets on how to eat!

We still haven't been able to hold them up next to each other, so it's still hard to tell if they look alike! Although, Mimi said tonight that she guessed wrong when trying to determine which was which. For now, their woobies are the defining factor in their cribs!

For those that ask about Justin and I, we are doing well. It's hard for us to be off work, but not have babies at home, but we are very busy! We usually run errands in the morning, run back and forth to the hospital a few times, and finish the day with the 8:30/9:00 PM feedings before heading home for the night. All of our NICU nurses have been fantastic, and we feel very confident in their care while we aren't there.

Obviously, this is a busy time for us to be thinking about charities, but I wanted to mention the March of Dimes. This organization provides amazing support for NICU families primarily with resources (baby books, NICU guides with medical terms, equipment explanations, etc) in addition to comfort items for the babies to have in the nursery. The March for Babies Walk in Kansas City is this weekend, so it's not a great time for us to encourage participation. But, I just wanted to let everyone know that if you are looking for a charity to support, March of Dimes is a great one. I know that all NICU families appreciate their work.

Lindsay

Passing time

So Olivia (pictured above) passed Owen in the bottle feeding race last night.  Owen is just simply not interested eating from a bottle. He's only taking about 15ml from the bottle at a time.  The rest of his food is being delivered through his feeding tube.  Oliva is all about the bottle though.  (Let's hope this statement doesn't apply in 20 years)  She's taking close to 20ml a time by bottle.  

The great news is that they are both sharing a room now that Olivia is in a crib. She no longer requires extra heat to keep warm.  We're hoping that they start to take notes of how well the other one is doing.  Olivia does still have some issues eathing, breathing, and keeping her hear rate up all at the same time.  

We're hoping we'll be bringing one of them home before too long.  

Justin

Snip snip

Can you guess what this post is about, considering the title? Just a little fun there. I really hope once Owen is old enough to read, we'll remember to show him this. Maybe on a prom night or something fun. ANYWAYS, Owen was circumcised today. He handled it pretty well, only crying a little bit. Although he's not handling eating very well today. For some reason he shows little to no interest. Even nurse Larry, who is awesome by the way, can't get him to eat much. Tonight they put in a new feeding tube to make sure he's getting enough formula. The good news is that he's still gaining weight. We're told this is rare in the first week. Especially rare considering he's a fussy eater. (10pm update- We went to help with the 9pm feeding- Owen took his whole bottle fairly well. He also apparently took his whole 6pm feeding no problem. Probably just out of spite since they had put a new feeding tube in.)

Olivia had a slightly less exciting day, no cutting of any kind. Olivia is eating though. Lindsay bottle fed her for the first time this morning, and once again this afternoon. She's only getting a few milliliters at a time, but it's progress. She seems to be taking to the whole eating thing pretty well.

Last night there was some talk of Owen coming home. We went through the whole "going home" checklist and instructions. He even aced his car seat test. Unfortunately his hunger strike is putting this on hold for now. We hope early this week he'll show some improvement.

Well you've read this much, so here's your reward. Some pictures:

Lindsay and Olivia

Owen

Lindsay and Owen

Owen sleeps tonight

Olivia and Lindsay

Olivia and Justin

Leaving

Happy Saturday.  The doctor gave Lindsay the ok to leave the hospital this morning.  We'll probably take off sometime this morning, after we've been upstairs to check on the munchkins.  Still no idea when they might be ready to come home.

I can't believe it's taken me this long, but here is a video from the kids' first day.


owen and olivia day 1 from Justin Schmidt on Vimeo.


Have a great weekend.

Day 3 of O&O

Hi everybody.  Hope you are doing well. Lindsay is making some great progress.  She'll most likely be discharged tomorrow.  She can do most things on her own now.  She's still using a wheel chair to get up to see the babies, but we did walk to the end of the hall and back, so that's good.

Owen continues to do very well. We fed him this morning and at noon. 

Olivia had some medicine put into her lungs to try and make breathing a little easier.  It seems to already be paying dividends.  You'll probably notice from the pictures she does have a few more devices attached now.  But the doctors continue to assure us she is doing well. 

Click here for even more pictures from today.

Olivia Marie Schmidt- 3 days old

 Owen Joseph Schmidt- 3 days old

Status!

First, thanks for everyone's kind words since the babies have arrived!  I know everyone is asking for more pictures, but I will have to leave that up to Justin.  I'll just give you a quick status update!

Since Owen was born first, his update will be first!  I can imagine that will be an argument these 2 little ones will have for the rest of their lives.  Owen is a rockstar!  He has been doing fabulously in the NICU.  He is now in a basic bassinet, and is no longer under a heater.  Justin gave him 2 bottles this morning, and I was able to give him one this afternoon.  Apparently he then decided he no longer wanted his feeding tube and pulled it out himself. He is not ready to go home yet, but is doing better hour by hour.  

Olivia is struggling a little more than Owen, although I gave her a strict talking to this afternoon.  Olivia has had more trouble breathing and is still under an oxygen bubble.  Because of her breathing, she is not ready for bottle feedings just yet, so she still has a feeding tube. She is also under a heater to manage her temperature.  Olivia is under the care of a neonatologist, and we are reassured that these are common issues for 34-week old babies.  Since Owen is not connected to any tubes, he may be able to make a visit to Olivia's room soon to help her out.

A great friend Lindsay M brought some darling woobies (blankets) yesterday and we were able to wash them and then I cuddled with them this afternoon.  Now each baby has their woobie with them in the NICU and a little smell of me!

As for me, I am improving,  The delivery unfortunately left me with some severe anemia and therefore I am not allowed out of bed on my own because I am very dizzy.  They are monitoring me constantly and will decide soon whether a blood transfusion would be a good idea.  So far, not sure any of us are getting discharged soon!  I was finally able to get up to see the babies today. Aunt Erica was here and pushed me up in a wheelchair and I was able to hold and feed Owen and sit with Olivia for a bit.

As for Justin, he quickly took on the role of super dad.  When he is with me, he helps me move around the bed and get to the restroom.  He spends hours at a time with the babies, feeding and reading and making sure they are ok.  He is great at relaying their status back to me.  In his spare time, he went to work today.  We both decided it would be better if he took his paternity leave once we are all settled at home.

It has been fantastic to have our families here for the last few days.  We need a lot of help even though we are at the hospital.  I can't imagine what it is going to be like at home!

Thanks again for everyone's wonderful messages.  And to reiterate what Justin posted yesterday, we do love visitors, so feel free to come by, but please understand that the babies visitors are very limited.  We'll keep you updated on their status!

Pictures

Ok, here are some pictures from today's festivities.  Owen and Olivia arrived today at 7:44 and 8:13.  They are both in the NICU, being watched very carefully, but so far so good. We also wanted to welcome anyone who does want to drop by for a visit.  I know Lindsay will be happy to see everyone.  However, because the babies are in the NICU, we won't be able to show them off just yet.  So here are some pictures in the meantime. Click here for a few more.

Lindsay holding Owen for the first time.

Olivia in her breathing bubble

Re: Update

Owen was born at 744 am, he's 4 lbs 13 ozs. Olivia came at 813, she is 5 lbs 3 ozs. They are both in the NICU but so far so good. Lindsay is resting. I'll try to have some photos up on facebook and kujts.blogspot.com

Justin
Sent from my iPhone

It's almost time!

Lindsay and I are checked into the hospital. This time we're actually going to have babies. Lindsay's water broke about 6:40 Tuesday night. She called me at work and I rushed to the hospital. We are planning on delivering some time in the next 24 hours.

Sent from my iPhone

Itchy

Remember a few months ago, when Justin blogged about my itchy belly and said that we only need to worry if I get itchy all over? Well, I got itchy all over. That led to some lab work to evaluate my liver function. I didn't hear results back for a few days, and had a perfect sonogram and non-stress test on Wednesday.

Then on Wednesday evening, I got a call from the doctors office that my labs came back abnormal and I needed to head to the hospital. So, hospital trip #3 began. They monitored the babies and checked my liver enzymes every 6 hours. This was the first hospital trip that included an overnight stay and it was a great practice run. We definitely learned the things we needed that weren't in our bags, and the things we didn't need. About 24 hours later, I was finally released.

I have now been diagnosed with cholistasis of pregnancy, or what I like to call the itchy disease. I will continue taking benadryl like drugs to help the itching, but it won't really go away until the babies arrive.

Each of these hospital trips make us a little more prepared! But, I think it will be shocking when we finally go to the hospital to actually deliver the babies! I am so excited to meet them, but I know they need to wait a little longer to make their big arrival.

Checking out the hospital food menu. Not too bad....

Baby bbq (no babies harmed in the making of this blog)

So the Molzer's aka Flozer's and the Glass's hosted one hell of a baby shower/ bbq.  Thanks for that.  Lindsay and I had an incredible time.  The Molzer's and Glass's are Lindsay's parents cul-de-sac crew.  They're always good for a great party.

A few of my friends also got in on a bit of baby shower action, but I like the term Baby bbq better, but that name is a bit suspect.  (we did't grill any babies, just chicken steak and fish)  I hope everyone had as much fun as we did.  Even though we were a bit worn out from the unexpected hospital trip the night before, I can't say enough about how nice the evening was.

I think we checked just about everything we could possibly need off the list.  We are very blessed to know so many generous people.

We spent part of today assembling the loot from this weekend. Lindsay is particularly happy with the new stroller. (thanks Mr. B)

We are now pretty much just waiting around waiting for Lindsay to pop.  This is apparently going to happen fairly soon, judging by the contractions she's had in the last week or so.

Here are some pics from the bbq.

Chillin in the Lanai

Lola and Grady

Opening presents, Lola's very good at this.

The Boob cake, there's a belly there too, but who notices that first?

Trip 2

Ok, this is getting a bit ridiculous. 3am Saturday morning, let's go to the hospital again. Same story as last time. Contractions got closer and more intense. During the last trip to the hospital they told us to call if the contractions got closer than 10 minutes. Last night at 3, that's where they were.

Lindsay made the call. The on-call doc, who was surprisingly awake, had us come in. My parents and sister were staying at our house, so we snuck out of the house. We knew going in there was a very low chance of actually having the twins, so we didn't want to bother them. I haven't confirmed if we were successful in not waking them.

3 hours later, no babies. They stopped labor once again.

My only comment is that I hope the father's chair/sleeping arrangement is more comfortable when we actually have these little devils. Hanging out is a triage room from 3-6am was not ideal for sleep. The one little chair in there was far less comfortable than an airport terminal chair. (yes, these are the things I think about) The bright spot of the night/morning is that we were able to pick up some yummy McDonald's biscuits and gravy on the way home.

We're getting very close. Can't wait to share some good news soon.

Justin

Ladies and gentlemen-- she's ok!

Lindsay is back at home.  They monitored her contractions for a few hours.  They gave her a shot to slow down the contractions, because the two little chicks aren't quite ready to hatch just yet.  Apparently the whole ordeal started because Owen and Olivia might have been trying make an early exit.  We'll give them a little talking to tonight about patience.  Never too early to start teaching. 

Justin

1st trip to the hospital

Lindsay is at the hospital. She had a doctors appointment this afternoon. During the non stress test she had 4 contractions. That's apparently a few too many, so they sent her to the hospital for an extended monitoring session. Everything is ok, they're just being cautious at this point. We'll let you know if anything else develops.

Sent from my iPhone

Contract and expand

Our weekend is winding down.  It was a pretty good one.  Lindsay has started feeling her contractions.  They're coming about once an hour.  She gets short of breath.  Has to sit up. She's pretty much uncomfortable.  We're hoping this is a sign of things to come.  I just found an iPhone app to track the contractions.  Yes, there is an app for that.

I think we're pretty much ready to go.  I know her comfort level will be greatly increased once the little buggers are out of there.  Although I'm not sure we're psychologically ready for the little buggers to be here with us.


We've switched up the reading material from pregnancy to birth.  I'm starting to wrap my head around what's ahead.  I've also put together a text message list to notify everyone when Owen and Olivia arrive.  Of course we'll also make sure to post here when they arrive.

I hope everyone had a good weekend too.

Easter

The weekend's off to a busy start.  We've been swamped with housework.  Trying to get everything done before we're too busy to breathe.  Speaking of breathing, Lindsay's having a pretty tough time doing that right now.  I guess the feti are enjoying living on her diaphragm right now.  

Here's a little video from last weekend's Easter egg dying with the Bakalars.

spring from Justin Schmidt on Vimeo.

I'm also doing research on which bike trailer to get once they're old enough to ride in one.  Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.  

Almost 4 lbs!

Good morning! I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful KC weather. I am appreciating sun dresses and the occasional walk around the neighborhood!

Yesterday we had our weekly sonogram and non stress test and both babies did great. This was the first time in 4 weeks the babies were measured and the estimates are....
Owen - 3 lbs 9 oz
Olivia - 3 lbs 13 oz

The doctor said that 5 lbs would be good weights at delivery, so I feel like we are making progress! And, it makes me feel better about how big and uncomfortable I feel - because I am carrying almost 8 lbs of baby!

I'm not sure if we posted since I failed my 2nd gestational diabetes test, but I am now testing my blood sugar 6 times a day and attempting to stick to a regularly scheduled diet. Don't worry, my diet is set to get tons of calories, but still keep my blood sugar regular.

It seems that with the 31 week milestone, my ability to sleep has gone away, and my allergies have arrived. At least the nice weather helps my attitude!

We are looking forward to a busy weekend - Kelsey and my Dad's Birthdays, Easter, and the Final Four. I don't have any pictures at the moment, but if Justin does, I am sure he will add some!