Statton gets a haircut!

So my cousin Analee was kind enough to cut Statton's hair when she met me at my house so we could go to SLC for our girly weekend. It was pretty cute since it was his first haircut. I'd been hesistant about cutting it myself so I left it to someone who's been trained to cut hair. He liked having his hair combed with the water but wasn't sure about the trimming with the scissors.

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We've been enjoying the holiday season. We went to Pocatello to Blair's sisters house for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed spending some time with Blair's family. I recently got back from a weekend getaway to SlC with my mother, sister-in-law, Aunt, and some cousins. We've started a tradition where just us girls (no kids allowed) go to Utah for some fun shopping, eating, and just a good ole time! We had a lot of fun this year and rented a suite with enough room to sleep all of us. We thought next year it would be fun to go down during October when Gardner village has their Witches night. We hear it's a lot of fun so we think we'll check it out. It was the first time I had been away from the twins for more than a day so that was different. Blair's such a good dad to stay home all weekend watching 9 month old twins. What a man! Well I hope everyone's having a fun and safe holiday season. Merry Christmas!

Halloween Pictures!

Well Halloween is probably one of my favorite holidays. Even though I don't get dressed up usually for it I just love the whole fun atmosphere of the holiday. So I couldn't resist and I took the kids to kiddie kandids and had their pictures taken in their Halloween costumes. They're only little once, right?!





Just in case you were wondering Cassidy is a bunny and Statton is a frog. I really had a hard time finding a cute costume for Statton so I was glad when I ran across this frog costume online. Cassidy's was a no brainer.







I thought the pictures turned out pretty cute and I'm glad I did that with them. Statton did great and smiled for the ladies but Cassidy has been a little unsure about strangers lately so she got pretty teared up during the pictures. The ladies were nice enough and photo shopped out some of her tears for me. Well Happy Halloween to everybody.

October Update

I haven't put a post out for quite awhile. So I thought I would do just a quick little update on our little family. The twins had eye doctor appointments down in Ogden the first part of the month. They both checked out fine, no lazy eyes or cross eyes which I guess is common in premies. We'll take them back in a year for another checkup, they like to keep a close eye on them(no pun intented.) They put some drops in their eyes to dialate them and then we had to sit for 20 minutes for the drops to take effect. They both cried for just a minute when the drops were put in their eyes but then they were over it. Then we sort of celebrated Blair's birthday on Oct. 4. I had to work that weekend so we wouldn't be going out to dinner or having much of a birthday celebration. I figured he celebrated his birthday the day before by going to the BYU vs. Utah State football game. He went with my dad and brother a couple of uncles and cousins that all met in Logan that morning for a round of golf and a late night football game. They had a fun time. It's kind of becoming a yearly tradition. That's pretty much been the highlights of the month. We are so excited for Halloween. Cassidy is going to be a cute pink fluffy bunny and Statton is going to be a cute froggy.

How many babies can you spot?!

So we had the opportunity this last weekend to get a visit from my cousin Glenden and his wife Paty and their cute little twin girls. Paty and I were both pregnant with twins at the same time and due just one day apart. Well we know my story but Paty was able to carry hers almost all the way. What a woman! So our twins are a little over a month apart. Anyway so we tried our best to get some pictures of the two sets of twins together.

This was hard work trying to get all four kids to look up at the same time.

(Aubrey, Cassidy, Statton, Naomi)


What a good little boy to put up with all these women.
These were probably some of the best pictures I was able to get. Paty and Glenden we'll have to do that again when the kids get a bit older. It'll be fun to watch them grow together throughout the years.

Cousins Are Here

Well it's certainly been a fun few weeks. My sister Sarah flew in from Missourri to spend some time with her family before she starts nursing school. My brother and his wife and their kids flew in from Maryland to spend a week. So we've had most of the whole family together.(Sarah's husband couldn't make it.) So we decided since we were all together we would get a few quick shots of all our kids together. So we went to Kiddie Kandids and took some pictures of all the cousins together. After that I did a few quick shots of Statton and Cassidy since they are about 6 months old now. We had just gone to the Temple open house that morning so we had some tired and hungry kids. All in all the pictures turned out pretty cute considering what we had to work with. Those girls at the photo place I'm sure don't get paid enough to do their job.

Gooey Geysers!!

Blair and I thought it would be fun to get away for a few days and go somewhere close by. So neither one of us had been to West Yellowstone since we were young so that's where we went. Blair's sister Lacey and her husband Brett and their two kids came up thursday night and went with us into the park the next day. We drove out to Old Faithful and walked around and saw some of the mud pots while we were waiting for Old Faithful to explode.
We certainly had a lot of fun. Our little nephew Tyler kept calling everything we saw a gooey geyser.It was pretty funny so I had to title my post gooey geysers.
We were also able to take the kids swimming for the first time. It was cute to see the kids in their little swimsuits. It was a fun but short trip and the first away from home I've had to do with the kids. So it was a good trial run with the twins.
It was pretty hot that day and we wall got sunburned so in the pool you can see our nice little farmer tans.

Out and About!

So the kids and myself were all a little tired of being in the house all day so we loaded up in the stroller and went for a little walk. Statton has to sit in the front since he can hold himself up better and the front of the stroller doesn't lay down like the back does. Cassidy gets in back laying down and usually ends up falling asleep. Either way it's a nice outing for all of us and a nice change of scenery. I didn't think I would end up using the stroller very much but now after having the kids we have used it more than we anticipated. Certainly a good investment.

4 months old

Well the twins are 4 months old so I thought I better post some new pictures of them. It's been awhile since I've put anything on my blog, it's hard to find the time to get things like this done. We took Statton to the cardiologist the first part of May. The doctor said that he still has a small hole in his heart but it's not causing him any problems. She said from what they know about the size of the hole it's small enough that it should be completely closed by the time he's 4 years old. So she'll see him again when he's 4 to check on it. So that was some good news. Both Statton and Cassidy have both been just fun little babies. They are both starting to smile and make those cute cooing noises. I just love watching them grow and reach these fun milestones. I've gone back to working part-time. I work two days a week. It's bittersweet going back as most of you working mom's probably know. I like to have a little break even though I miss them but I think it makes me a better mom. My sister-in-law Andrea has been kind enough to watch them for me when I work and Blair gets to have them when I work a weekend. I think Blair has re-thought his idea of me working full time and him being the stay-at-home dad. A few days in a row of watching two little babies certainly makes him appreciate me more. So working a little bit certainly has some nice qualities to it. So the pictures I'm posting are from an idea that was given to me by my Aunt Marie & Uncle Mike. It said to take a picture the same day of every month in the same chair with the same stuffed animal. It's a good way to see how your children grow. So heres the picture I took for June to show them at their 4 month mark.

Blessing Day!

On Sunday May 4th we were able to take Statton and Cassidy to church and have their baby blessings. We blessed Cassidy first and then Statton. We thought this only fair since Cassidy was the first to be born. Everyone kept asking Blair if he was nervous about doing the blessings and of course he just laughs like it's not a big deal. Well he got up their and did a wonderful job, a little fast paced, but it was still very nice. He said afterwards that he wished he would have slowed it down a little bit and taken a little more time. Mister macho was a little more nervous than he thought he was. It was a good time and the kids both slept through the whole thing. Whew! I was nervous they would scream the entire time. We went out to my parent's house after the blessings and had a Barbeque with the family. I forgot my camera at home so I didn't get any cute pictures of our little family all dressed in their nice clothes. So we have the kids looking cute but the rest of us are pretty casual. The booties on Cassidy are ones that Anita had given me for the kids to wear when they got blessed. I didn't get a picture of Statton in his because he had kicked his off and I didn't find the other bootie until I got them home late that night. Anyway enjoy the pics.

A Tribute to Anita Heward

On Friday April 4th, 2008 Blair's mother Anita suffered a massive heart attack and returned home to our Heavenly Father. She was only 55 yrs old. Blair received a call from his dad around 11:30 a.m. that she was in the hospital and it didn't look good. She went quickly and didn't suffer which is probably how we would all like to go when our time comes. We will all miss her very much and wish she didn't have to go so soon but when the lord calls us home theres not much we can do about it. She was a wonderful woman and always treated me like one of her own kids. She really helped Blair and I out a lot during my extended hospital stay and with the kids in the NICU. She came and stayed with me a couple of days when I was first in the hospital just to keep me company. She told me one time that as a mother you can give service that is needed freely to your own daughters, but as a mother-in-law it's hard because you have to sit back and wait to be asked to give service to your daughter-in-laws. I think she really appreciated being able to help me out and do what she was able for me. I'm grateful for my good relationship with my mother-in-law and that she was always very sweet to me. Blair and I and the rest of her family will miss her dearly. Blair and I are grateful she was able to see our kids before she passed we are just sad that our kids won't grow up knowing their grandmother. It's good to know that we will one day be reunited with her and that there is life after this. She was a good wife,mother, and grandmother. We love you Anita!

We're HOME!

So the rumors were true and the kids were released home Sunday. It was four weeks to the day. Blair met me in Ogden at the hospital that morning and we loaded up all their stuff put them in their car seats and onward home we went. Needless to say they are sooo small for their car seats that they look uncomfortable. I was jumping over the seats about every 15 minutes just to make sure they were both still breathing. We made it home a little after 5:00 that evening and it was so nice to finally be home. Now we have a lot of sleepless nights ahead of us.

Were Breaking Out of Here!!!!!!

These are just some pictures of Cassidy and Statton getting tub baths. Can you guess who is who?! These were taken about 1 1/2 weeks ago.
So we thought the day would never come but it looks like we finally might have proved ourselves worthy to get the heck out of here. The doctors and nurses have been talking to me about releasing the kids on Sunday. Statton is finally meeting his minimal feeding intake requirement. The nurse told me that his little light bulb finally went on but I'm still wondering if it's more of a dim switch. He eats so good for the nurses and then mom comes along and he'll only take about 2/3 of what he needs. Whats up with that?! All in all he's doing well and has really picked up in the past few days. I'm pretty proud of the little guy!
As of right now we have been getting things in the works so that the kids and myself can all finally go home. This includes discharge worksheets, shots (yuck!), and teaching me how to mix up their formula cocktails. I haven't seen my house or even Burley in 2 months. My family and Blair's were super nice and went and cleaned my house this last weekend in anticipation of us coming home. Either they didn't think Blair was the best housekeeper for 2 months or that we have a filthy little dog. Probably both. Anyway I was very grateful and touched by the sweet gesture. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that this all isn't some cruel joke and that Sunday afternoon/evening we will be on our way home to Burley.

Blair's got his hands full

I thought I needed to get a picture of Blair holding both of his children. The top one is of Statton. I just thought it was a super cute picture.

Still hanging out

I'm beginning to think that I've taken up permanent residence at the hospital. I've been contemplating if I should go see if they have any job openings in the Radiology department to help pass my time and help pay for these soon to be outrageous hospital bills. Maybe they would give me an employee discount!? The nurses here keep promising me that they've never kept any babies past kindergarten age. That makes me feel better(roll eyes here.) Thats my little tangent for the day so heres the update.
Cassidy is still eating like a champ. She doesn't care if the food is cold or warm she just wants to eat. She is currently sitting at 4 lbs 7 ounces and 18 inches long. WOW! She started having some specks of blood in her stool again. The doctor thinks that the inflammation she had is still healing but isn't concerning. To be on the safe side they are switching her to yet ANOTHER type of formula that is designed specifically for babies with blood in their poop. We will just have to keep an eye on her.
Statton is the one who might be the death of me. We just can't get the kid to want to take all of his food. He eats a little bit and then passes out and I can't wake him up enough to finish the rest. When he does eat he gets so excited that he puts all the milk he can stand in his mouth before trying to swallow and then forgets to breath. Then we have the monitors going off because he dropped his heart rate and his oxygen levels. ARGH! I've been trying to be the patient mom but it's been hard to watch your child choke on his food and not eat what he needs. At the rate he's going I just might have to take a job here. All joking aside he's actually improved from the previous week. I keep praying that the little light bulb inside his head will flip on and he'll learn to eat overnight. I'll let you know how that goes.
Either way I couldn't ask for two healthier little kids. I'm just so glad to have them here after all these years that I should be able to handle a few weeks of waiting for them to come home. I'll work on that.

Let's try sharing again.

This morning the twins seem to be doing great. Cassidy's taking well to the new alimentum formula and her poops are looking yellow/green. Who would of thought we could get so excited over the color of poop. She's back up to her full feedings and not needing her IV anymore. So once again the nurse has capped it off and she will probably take it completely out later today. Cassidy's out of her isolette AGAIN, and will once more try sharing a crib with her brother.
Statton has been trying to take a bottle for a few days and he's very sporatic in how much he takes each time. This morning the nurse told me that he's been taking all his feedings by bottle through the night and tolerating them well. So I got to feed him this morning with a bottle and he took it great. I didn't even feel like I was drowning the poor child. Hopefully he can keep that up and get his feeding tube out of his nose. Sister pulled hers out last week so the nurses just left it out since she was eating so well.
I'm hoping they can both keep this up for a few more days and possibly get released.
Cassidy weighs 4 lbs 4 ounces
Statton weighs 4 lbs 14 ounces

And up again we go!

So as always things are up and down from day to day. I got back to the NICU after lunch today and Cassidy's xray of her abdomen is looking much better. The doctor is still going to withhold her feeding for another 24 hours and see how her xray and labs are looking in the morning. So good news this afternoon so I hope things stay that way. If things look good in the morning they will start her on a formula called alimentum(i hope i spelled that right) This is suppose to be very broken down formula with little to no cows milk in it. It's suppose to be very gentle on her tummy. The doctor wants her to be on that for atleast 3 weeks before I can reintroduce her to breastmilk or regular formula.
Cassidy is now weighing 4 lbs 1 ounce. We finally exceeded her birthweight. YEAH!
Statton is now weighing 4 lbs 10 ounces. What a chunky baby!ha ha
-It's funny how they've started to not look so little to me anymore.
It's turned out to be a pretty good day so I hope it continues.

Rollercoaster Ride....

Well having two babies in the NICU is certainly a roller coaster ride. Saturday morning we arrived at the hospital only to be told that Cassidy's eating so good and doing so well that she'll be ready to go home as early as monday but Statton was dragging his feet in the eating department so they would probably release her before him. Well talk about panic mode. How do I take care of one baby at home without the other? Who would watch her for a bit while I ran to the hospital to take care of him? So the doctor was having us get things arranged in order to make this new series of events feasible. Blair and I had to make a quick panic run to the Baby store and pick me up the items I would need to take care of a newborn here in Ogden. All my stuffs at home in Burley. This wasn't how this was suppose to go. AAGH! Well then Sunday evening I had come back to the hospital only to find out that Cassidy has started having bloody stools again. So she was taken off the milk, IV was put back in and back in the isolette she went. :( The xray of her abdomen was showing a concerning area where it might just be inflammation. So once again were back to square one. The Dr. is going to try and rest her belly again and see if that spot will clear up on its own. Were hoping thats all it is and nothing serious.
So once again we are on a rollercoaster ride. Good news one moment and within a few hours your whole situation changes and your back to worry and feeling helpless. Statton is slowly taking to his feedings but keeps dropping his heart rate once in awhile. It was scary on Sunday evening when the nurse had to walk over and rub his back a little bit and give him oxygen because he had dropped his oxygen levels and wasn't coming back up on his own. We continue to worry and pray for these little babies. We thought things were going well enough that these babies might be home by this weekend but with all these new turn of events it's looking like it might be longer. Everything changes from day to day so you never know what might happen. We are certainly grateful for the blessings we have received and continually pray to Heavenly Father to help us get through this difficult time and help these babies.

Together at last!

The twins finally graduated out of their isolettes(plastic cages) on wednesday into an open crib together. It was so fun to walk in Wednesday morning to see them both bundled together and sleeping contently with one another. Well the togetherness didn't last too long. Cassidy started having some blood in her stool so they took her off her formula to give her belly a rest and put her on some pedialyte. The doctor thought since she was on antibiotics for her first 10 days that she didn't have a chance to develop the natural bacteria in her colon to digest things well. So she had to have her iv's put back in and given fluids and put back in her isolette. Friday afternoon she was doing much better and letting everyone know that she was starving so she's been taking her milk by a bottle. She was taken out of the isolette and put back in with her brother. Saturday morning we came in and she was being bottle fed again and taking it like a champ. The doctor seems to think if she keeps eating like this for another day or two she'll be ready to go home. Whoa! that was a lot sooner than we had been planning. We just need to get Statton eating good on his own and they'll send them home together. If it looks like he might take longer to grasp on to this eating on his own concept they might just send Cassidy home before Statton. We're crossing our fingers that he'll pick it up soon so they can go home together. They are going to start trying to bottle feed him today. Statton has exceeded his birthweight as of yesterday he weight 4 lbs 6 1/2 ounces. Cassidy is still a few grams short of her original birthweight but shouldn't be much longer. All in all things are looking good and we've been very pleased with it all. There's been a few bumps in the road but can't complain when theres a lot of babies in here with more problems. We definetly feel blessed and glad to finally have our babies here.

Twins are doing well

Statton
Cassidy

The twins are progressing right along. They figured out on wednesday that Cassidy had an Ecoli infection in her blood so then they were able to know exactly what kind of antibiotics she needed to be treated with. They also did a lumbar puncture on her later that afternoon to make sure it hadn't gotten into her spinal fluid. If it had they would just have to treat her a little bit longer. So far the results of the lumbar puncture came back negative so she just has to be on antibiotics for 10 days. She has been receiving her antibiotic since the sunday she was born. They drew her lab levels early this morning and they came back within normal limits but they will still give her the last dose of medicine. They have both been getting fed by a feeding tube thru their noses. They have both been tolerating the feedings well. Since they have tolerating feedings well and are taking a certain volume of milk the nurse took them off their fluids that go to their IV's. They will leave them off for 24 hours and if they tolerate that well they will be able to have their IV's removed.
The nurses weighed them saturday night and Statton weighs 4 lbs 1 ounce and Cassidy weighs 3 lbs 11 ounces. They had both lost some weight at the beginning of the week which is normal for newborns. They are finally starting to turn around on their weight gain and starting to put it back on. Blair and I are just both thrilled with how well they've progressed in just a weeks time. It seems like every time we come in to see the babies the nurses always have a tidbit of good news on their progress. I was talking to the nurse this afternoon and she thinks at around 36 weeks they should be ready to go home. They were 34 weeks on Saturday so hopefully only another 2 weeks and we can have these beautiful little babies home in their own beds. I was discharged from the hospital on thursday afternoon and have made arrangements to stay with my cousin Scott and his wife Becky. They have been gracious enough to take me in for a few weeks and I'm glad to have some family close by.

The twins have arrived!

Cassidy
Statton

February 17,2008 our twins were born. They were taken by c-section at about 4:18 sunday afternoon. I went into active labor at about 1:00 that afternoon and the nurses and doctors weren't able to get me stopped so I was prepped and whisked off to surgery. Blair had just arrived home in Burley when I called him and told him that our kids were coming tonight sometime and that he needed to get back to Ogden. He didn't make it in time because things moved a lot quicker than anticipated. He was going over Sweetzer summit when I called him to tell him he was a dad.Our little girl came first and weighed 4 lbs and 16 3/4 inches in length. Our little boy came about 5 minutes later and he weighed 4 lbs 5 ounces and was 18 inches in length. They were both taken to nicu right away and I was told they were doing well. I was taken to recovery for about 45 minutes and then they wheeled me into the nicu to see the babies before taking me back to my room to rest. She was intubated right away and given some surfactant for her lungs. He was intubated awhile later and then was taken off late that evening. She was able to have her intubation tube and oxygen taken off late monday night. They did some lab work and found that she has an infection in her body so they are currently treating her with antibiotics but are still unsure exactly what kind of infection she has. The Nurse Practioner told us for as sick as her lab work says she is she doesn't act sick at all. She's very active and responsive. They will keep checking her labs and will treat her with antibiotics for atleast 7-10 days. He isn't showing any signs of an infection so were hoping he'll stay that way.
I ended up running a high fever sunday evening so they took some blood cultures and also started treating me with some antibiotics. My blood work came back showing a high white cell count which means I've also got an infection somewhere so they are going to keep me on antibiotics for awhile. The doctor figured that between me having an infection and our little girl, between the two of us that's what probably put me into labor. So all in all it's probably a good thing I had the babies when I did so they could get our little girl treated. We've officially named our twins. We named our boy Blair Statton Heward, he will be called Statton. We named our little girl Cassidy Heward. They were born at 33 weeks and 1 day. We all did pretty good!

ultrasound

So I had my ultrasound on wednesday. They checked the amniotic fluid levels to make sure they were adequate and evenly distributed. Fluid levels looked good. They also checked placement of the babies. Our little girl is still breech and our boy is now more head down than transverse. They figured that's what might have saved my water from breaking a few weeks ago because she was sitting breech instead of head down which wasn't putting as much pressure on things. They want to wait atleast another week before doing measurements again but they figured the babies should have gained atleast another 4 ounces each. That would put our little boy at about 3 1/2 pounds and our little girl at almost 3 pounds. The doctor came in later and checked me again, I'm still sitting at 4 cm and 90% effaced. He was thinking of cutting my meds back to every 6 hours instead of 4, but after looking at things he said they feel they need to keep being aggressive with my meds. The doctor did say that IF I make it to 34 weeks they would probably think about taking me off the meds completely and see what my body decides to do. That would only be about another 2 weeks which gives me a timeline to look forward to. So far things are pretty boring. I'm getting in plenty of tv time and try to nap when I can. I appreciate everyone's emails and postings. I look forward to reading them and having contact with the outside world.

31 weeks!

Yeah- as of Satuday Feb. 2 I am officially 31 weeks along. I'm still on bedrest in the hospital and they are giving me a drug called Procardia every 4 hours to keep the contractions under control. So far this seems to be doing the trick. They will be doing another ultrasound on wednesday to check on the babies growth. They did an ultrasound about 2 weeks ago when I first got here. The babies were looking good, our little girl was weighing about 2 lbs 10 ounces and our little boy was about 3 lbs 3 ounces. So it will be good to see how much they've grown in 2 weeks. Our next mini goal is to get me to the 32 week mark. This last weekend was nice. Blair came down for the weekend and my parents came down on saturday. I was allowed to go down in a wheelchair to the cafeteria where we all had lunch together. It was so nice to be out of my room for just a short little bit. It's funny how simple things like that get you excited when you've been stuck in a hospital room for so long.

Thought things were fine

We have been very excited for the arrival of our twins. Our little boy and little girl. My original due date was April 6 but because of twins usually arriving early we were expecting them sometime in March. I had been having braxton-hicks contractions for the past few weeks. The doctor said they were normal as long as they didn't show a pattern. He told me to let him know if they became more frequent, more than 4 in an hour. Well sure enough on monday Jan.21 I had been noticing that I seemed to be having quite a few, more than normal. After a few hours of these I decided to call my mother and partake in her expertise as a former labor & Delivery nurse to see if it was worth making a fuss about and going into the hospital to be monitored. She assured me that with my high-risk status that it wouldn't be silly at all. So I called into the hospital and my doctor happened to already be there on another delivery. He told me to come in and we would check things out just to make sure things were fine. So I waited for Blair to get home from work so he could go with me to the hospital. Well once I got there the nurse hooked me up to the monitor and I was showing contractions about every 2-3 minutes. The doctor came in and checked me and I was diliated to 4 cm and 70% effaced. I was only 29 weeks and 2 days along at this point. They quickly decided that I needed to be in a higher care facility and it was arranged for me to be life-flighted to Mckay-Dee hospital in Ogden. After being given numerous pills and shots to stop contractions and a steroid injection to help with the lung development of the twins I was bundled up like a burrito and was fixed-winged to SLC airport where they transported me to the helicopter and flown back to Ogden to Mckay-Dee's. Blair and my dad followed down in the car, arriving about 4:30 tuesday morning. I spent the next 2 days in Labor & Delivery where they were able to get the contractions under control. I am currently stable but will be in the hospital on bedrest until I deliver at which time the twins will spend their time in the NICU until they are well enough to come home. I reached me 30 weeks mark on Saturday Jan. 26. I met with the perinatologist on tuesday the 22nd and he thought things were looking goood with the babies and that they should do fine once they are here. Blair and I are so grateful for modern medicine and having the facilities to be able to help with problems like these. Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers.