Yeah Tech!!!

It was a little nerve wrecking - but glad we pulled out a win!

Getting ready for Christmas

Charlie & Jon spent the morning out back, decorating our outdoor Christmas Tree. It is complete w/Moose! After Charlie spent the afternoon pulling around his dumptruck and picking up sticks, we came in and pulled out Christmas ornaments. He is definitely related to his GG Aunt Betty. He looked at every ornament and said, "Oohh, Ahhh." I was amazed to see him sit still for so long!
I'm not sure if he fully understands the concept of Santa Claus, but he is starting to know who he is... We are reading our elf book or Santa book almost every night.

The twins are great. We've had a run of good nights since Tues. night, so that is very helpful to mom and dad!

PS

Hope you feel better Margaret!

And thanks for all the yummy desserts!

Happy Thanksgiving

What a great day - Our twins are exactly 1 month old today and boy, do we have a lot to be thankful for... We are really lucky to have such healthy children all around. It is amazing to think of all the advances in modern medicine since just a "few" years ago.
We spent the morning at the Wood's with Yaya, Tommy, Joe, Elizabeth, Grandma, Papa, G Uncle Earl and G Aunt Alice.
Instead of turkey, we went for a fantastic brunch.

Thanks to Alice for the beautiful crocheted blankets and to G Aunt Margaret for the quilts. Since we're doing a lot of laying around, they'll come in quite handy :o)

this is what life looks like in the Nystrom household

Disheveled!

This is from 11/10.

making it!

Things are going well here- we had a nice weekend. Charlie made it out to the Maymont Nature Center and had some of his friends visit to play. A nice entertainment break!

We are looking forward to seeing all our Aunts, Uncles, Cousins this week!!!
Hopefully we will get some good naps today (meaning MOM!). Matt & Will couldn't quite get comfy last night after there 2:30 am feeding and kept us up a little bit.

P.S. Yesterday's Weigh In

Both boys had picked up 5 oz since TUESDAY! That is quite remarkable.
Matt was 7 lbs even and Will was 7 lbs 4 oz.
We have another "weigh in" this coming Tuesday, but not sure how many more we'll need.
Hopefully not many :o). I just opened the pediatrician bill... yikes!

schoowee!

I will say, it is very nice to have use of my own body again!!! I can run up and down the stairs and walk to the mailbox w/o the need to sit down immediately or an aching back. Even though I never made it to official "bedrest" it was pretty much not an option to be moving around there at the end. It is great! I even bought a pair of jeans this week so I can wear a non elastic pair of pants ;o) (and we'll keep working on getting back into my old jeans! but for now I'm happy!)

Now off to 3 loads of laundry & daily dishwasher run...

Wed.

Things are going well here. Matt, Will and I attended an infant massage class yesterday. It is being offered at church for free, a 4 week class. They decided to sleep through most of it, so I had a baby doll to practice on!

Also, we are continuing with the weight checks. After our visit with Dr. Christian (pediatrician) last Friday, she thought we'd continue for another 2 weeks or so.

Yesterday, Matt weighed 6 lbs 11 oz, Will weighed 6 lb 15 oz. So they are both putting on weight at a reasonable pace.

Our big "night out"

It's always an adventure at Marilea Road. Yesterday our power went out about 3:30 in the afternoon. No biggie, but for a mom that is only "pumping" and not nursing, I need electricity!!!
Jon & Charlie were very helpful in getting many flashlights set up and providing light. Charlie also enjoyed trying to flag down the power man but no avail.
Therefore, we called our friends Mark & Kylie who were nice enough to let us go over to their house while they weren't even there... after packing up Charlie's PJ's, Twins, bottles, burb clothes, diapers, change of clothes, pump, etc. and picking up a Happy Meal from McDonalds.
Although not planned, we rather enjoyed our night on the town. And were able to catch up with Mark, Kylie & Noah when they came home. This was my 1st trip out of the house besides St. Mary's Hospital, Henrico Dr's Hospital or the Pediatricians (Lordy!) office in 3 weeks!
This week we have more on the schedule, and hopefully won't have to rely on a power outage to motivate!

Go Hokies!

Charlie is geared up for tonight's game!

sleeping babies

This picture was taken just a minute ago... Things are going really well. These guys have managed to get themselves on a coordinated schedule... Eating around:
7:30-8:00 am
10:30-11:00am
2:00 pm
5:00 pm
8:00 pm
11:30 pm
3:30 am

It's working out pretty well. Pump, eat, diaper, sleep... Takes a bit to get used to getting up in the middle of the night again. Jon is much better at staying on task and getting babies back in bed quick. I move slow and just sit there staring at the wall :o) but am getting better at cutting down the time awake.

We've had a lot of help this week from Grandma's and Papa. And dinner from Christy Hunter!

Charlie has been much more even keel after a week of regular routine. I think even towards the end of my pregnancy, he knew that something was about to hit the fan and was trying to adjust even then.

It is raining leaves at the moment. A nice dreary day to camp up inside.

Weigh in's

Matt weighed 6 lb 2 oz and Will 6 lb 3 oz today. Matt was discharged on Sunday at 5 lb 12 oz, so he is packing it on! Next weight check: Thursday. Stay tuned :o)

It's great to be home!

Will & Matt are both doing great. They both just ate at about 9:00 a.m. Hopefully we will get a normal schedule 1 day. Although, right now, I will settle for the fact that they are on the same schedule even though a moving target.
It is nice to get into a routine!

Home healthcare is supposed to come this afternoon for a weight check for Matt.

Charlie is adjusting pretty well, with only a few momentary outbursts. But who doesn't have those? (he is his mother's son :o)

3 feedings

well, we seem to have really turned the corner. Matt has taken 3 full feedings, 3 hrs apart. This is great, b/c in the hospital he was on a 4 hr schedule/same volume.
Also, Matt & Will seem to have self-regulated their schedules and last ate together at 5:00 p.m. Hopefully, we'll be able to keep up the synchronized schedule. They are laying face to face in the bassinet and so cute. Tonight is only our 4th night at home with everyone. Wow and it is Nov. 9th. Where does the time go?

Matt is home!

He checked out about noon today! He is doing much better.

Progress!

Matt has taken full feedings since last night at 9:00 p.m. and had his feeding tube removed today. He is really much more alert and waking up to eat. Should all go well tonight and he gain or stay at the same weight, he will come home tomorrow. Yeah!
It will be nice to have all my Nystrom boys under 1 roof!!!

Big Day

1- The twins 1st Hokie Football Game

2- 1st Bath

3 - Matt took 60 ml / 2 oz with the bottle and no feeding tube!

Matt seemed to be much more alert today and took his full bottle w/o the feeding tube at 5:00 p.m. feeding. That is a major accomplishment after struggling to get 20 ml. Hopefully, that trend will keep up. The speech pathologist says that the signs of hunger come in 2 waves. 1st, alert/open eyes. 2nd, turning the head looking for food/ crying/etc. It seems like we might have hit the 1st wave.

Matt will likely be at the hospital til he hits the 2nd wave and has a good 24 hrs. That is probably putting him there through Sun. at least.

Last night, Jon, Charlie, Will and I came home while Grandma W stayed overnight at the hospital w/Matt. Charlie & Jon went to school/work while Will and I went to stay with Matt during the day. We are at home again tonight and Grandma W is back.
It has been great to get home but also know Matt is in great hands.

GO HOKIES!

Day 3 of our hospital tour

On Monday Nov 3, we had our first visit to the pediatrician. We were concerned with Matt's eating over the weekend as he was not eating enough. We felt that he was not as alert as he should be. The Dr. agreed and suggested we enter the hospital to get feeding back on track. She felt that Matt was acting like a '35-week term preemie'.
We entered Henrico Doctors Monday afternoon. After observation the Dr. put Matt on a feeding tub so he does get the full amount needed.
We also met with a speech pathologist for infants and a nutritionist. We are adding calories (formula) to his milk for extra calories. We are also working with Matt on feeding positions etc to help. The speech pathologist believes he is experiencing reflux, wich is normal for preemies.

Today, day 3, Matt has put on some weight ( 2 oz) which is good, but Matt continues to be very sleepy during feedings. We are changing his feeding schedule from every 3-hours to 4 hours in hope that he gets more rest and wakes up hungry. This hunger issue should impr0ve with age and weight gain ( technically Matt should still be in the womb).
Meanwhile, Will is here during the day as a vistor along with his mom and Grandma W.
At night Will is home with his dad. Charlie is at school and Grandma K.
This has been exhausting , stressful, frustrating ans has its ups and downs. We are fortunate that this is the only problem we are having with the preemie twins.
We are not sure how long we will be in the hospital as we are just waiting for the 'hunger light to click.'
We are at a different hospital and in the PEDs unit as this hospital has a private room for Matt and mom stays as his guest. Matt and I are 'secret hsopital shoppers'. We miss the Wi-Fi at St Marys but appreciated the great nurses here.

Calls and emails are welcome. Marilea7716@yahoo.com and JonbNystrom@yahoo.com
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.
Sally and Jon

Charlie in Charge

Well, we made it home and survived our 1st night home together. Jane, Charlie, Linda & Ken were there to help us settle in. Charlie went with Jon around the neighborhood as Bob The Builder to load up on sugar. M&M's for breakfast, aint bad.... little Charlie has been a big help taking care of his new little brothers. little Charlie and Jon took a break away from baby duty to enjoy the nice weather and wear off the M&M buzz.