We're Home!!

Everything went great last night, and we did get to bring the boys home! We are so glad to have them here, and they are doing great.

Good News All Around!

Both boys have their feeding tubes out! It is so nice to see their beautiful faces without those tubes! They are doing so well. They also had their hearing tests and car seat tests yesterday - all passing grades. So, what does all this mean???

They (hopefully) get to come home tomorrow!!! We are so excited!!! We are heading to the hospital in a few minutes for the day...and the night! We get to "room-in" with them. That just means they put us in a hospital room and we take care of them all night - with the nursing staff right down the hall, if we need them. I cant believe that our boys are 10 days old and we haven't gotten to spend a night with them yet. It is so hard to leave them at the hospital everyday! If everything goes well tonight, we will get to bring them home some time tomorrow! Please pray that everything goes well!!!

Thanks to all for the prayers and support! We cant wait to share our little guys with you!

Pictures

Ethan

Ethan
Grayson
Grayson

Two of a Kind...Working on a Full House

Our twin boys are doing great, but they don't get to come home quite yet...




I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update, but the last few days have been jam packed! I was released from the hospital on Wednesday. It is so nice to be home, but we hate that the boys aren't with us.




The boys are still in the NICU. They are doing great! The doctors said yesterday that all of their blood work, etc. is excellent, they just have to learn how to eat! Fortunately, it does get better every day and we are only two steps away from them coming home! We are hoping that will be on Monday, but it may be a little later in the week.




They eat every three hours (8, 11, 2,and 5) , so we are going up to the hospital for half of their feedings. We get up there for the 11 AM, then stay around in that area the rest of the day. We have lots of errands to catch up on before they come home, so we are taking advantage of that time between the feedings.




I am doing well - tired, of course. It has been difficult getting back into the swing of things. After being on bed rest for so long, my body is rebelling a little bit. We are just asking it to do A LOT!! But it is getting better every day.

Parenting - Day 3

Well, I can one thing for sure...it has been a whirlwind! But we have the most precious, beautiful little boys! They continue to amaze us!!! They are doing so well. The doctors all seem very happy with their development so far, and their blood work has been good. The only thing we still need to get a bit better at is feeding. They still haven't really figured it out; both boys still have feeding tubes. The doctors say that feeding is sort of like a light switch - one day that switch will turn on and they just figure it out. We hope that day comes quickly, so they can come home!!! I will probably go home on Wednesday, and they will have to say until Friday at a minimum. They will remain in the NICU until they go home. Alan and I go down to see them for every feeding during the day - taking turns to hold and love on each of them. They eat every three hours, and then we come back to the room to pump. So, once you add in some eating and a couple of naps - that's our whole day!!

Thanks to everyone for all your calls, e-mails, and messages. We truly appreciate all of your love and support!!! And we are very sorry that we haven't been able to talk to most of you! We are all doing well, and look forward to all of you meeting our precious angels!!!

Parents - Day 1

Well...one day down. A lifetime to go. It's been amazing so far. Tons of firsts. Not a lot of free time. Imagine that. The boys are doing well, but will remain in the NICU for most of next week. They are being a little stubborn feeding and the nurses are watching for jaundice. The staff has been awesome. We get to go see them as much as we want. The downside of the great NICU care is that they are not available to see or hold outside of the NICU. So anybody that wants to see them will have to wait until they come home probably. Sorry!



Jennifer is doing well. Still swollen and a bit groggy. She has already started walking a little bit today. We will probably be here until Wednesday.



We are at Harris Methodist HEB in Bedford, TX, Room 119.



The Mississippi Girls have been bugging me plenty to see their Fairy Godsons. So here are some pics. Captions come before the pictures. I'm too tired to write more.

Jennifer at 35 weeks 3 days before she left the house for the last time pregnant.

Getting ready for birth.

Grayson at 4 mins old.

Grayson and Mama.

Ethan at 6 min old.

Ethan and Mama.

The whole family in the operating room.

Mama with her boys.

The new Boone clan in the NICU.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Mark it on your calendars. April 18th is a great day! Grayson Alan Boone was born at 1:01 PM weighing 5 lbs 7 oz and stretching to 18.5 in. Ethan Bennett Boone was born at 1:02 PM weighing 5 lbs 7 oz and stretching to 18 in. The boys are in the NICU for observation, but the doctors and nurses say that everything looks normal for the first hour of life on the outside. Mom is doing great. C-section went well. Jennifer is in recovery now, and hopefully we will get to see the boys again within the hour. More to come later. Thanks to all of our friends, family, and folks we don't even know for the thoughts and prayers. God has surely blessed us today. You all are part of and share in our blessing.

As promised...

So, it is a little later than expected, but I did promise an update, so here it is...

I am back in the hospital. And no, I was not exactly thrilled with this development. The good news, however, is that the boys are still doing great. But here is the rest of the story:
- Ethan's amniotic fluid is low
- My blood pressure is getting high
- I'm having lots of swelling
- I'm having contractions about 5 minutes apart, especially in my back

My OB came in a little while ago and here is the go forward plan. The specialist will check Ethan's fluid level in the morning. If his fluid is regular and my blood pressure is back to normal, then we will get to go home. The more likely scenario is that things will be the same or worse. If that's the case, we will have a C-section sometime tomorrow.

We'll keep you updated as we can.

35 Weeks!!

I know, I know - I was supposed to update yesterday. So sorry for the delay. So, the doctor's appointments yesterday went fine. The boys are doing great! They didn't measure them, but I promise they've gotten bigger. Only one small issue - Ethan's fluid was "borderline" low yesterday. This is not a big deal, as long as it doesn't get lower. I go back to the specialist in the morning to check it again. If it has gotten a lot worse, then we go straight to the hospital and have the boys tomorrow. Yes, that's right - I would have to have a c-section tomorrow. It's hard to believe!!!

But, if the fluid is better, we will just keep doing what we are doing. It has been so nice to be off the medicine, and I really haven't felt any different - no more contractions that before. And the doctor said yesterday that I haven't started dilating yet. So, if they don't do a section tomorrow, Alan and I think it will be another week or so before they are here.

Thanks for checking on us! I promise that one of us will post tomorrow to let you know what happens!

34 WEEKS!!!

Well, we actually made it! As I have mentioned before, we still want to make it a while longer, but everyone got to breathe a collective sigh of relief yesterday when I hit 34 weeks. I have been at home for a several days now, and we have pretty much gotten the hang of everything now. The first couple of days I was having lots of contractions and was on the home monitors for HOURS at a time. After going to the doctor yesterday, they increased my threshold (the number of contractions I can have in an hour without having to re-monitor). So, yesterday and today have been much better! I will remain on the monitors and pump until next Wednesday - then it's game on. Alan and I think we will be in the hospital by that next weekend. I am not dilated at all yet, so we will just have to wait and see how fast it goes.

The boys are still doing great - and growing tons! Yesterday Grayson was 5 lbs. 7 oz. and Ethan was 5 lbs. 3 oz. They both grew over a pound in two weeks!! As you can imagine - their Mommy has grown a little bit as well. And yes, I actually took pictures. But please keep in mind...bedrest for two months - I don't look so hot!

Home Sweet Home!!!

No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. And no, I'm not being ironic either. I finally got to come home!!! It was so exciting. The doctors had told me that it wouldn't be until Wednesday, but they surprised me yesterday morning with another sonogram and test to see if I was at risk for pre-term labor. The sonogram looked great, and the test came back negative. We got the good news about 10:00 yesterday morning, and we were out of the hospital by 11:00. We wasted NO TIME getting out of there. We captured the last time I was wheeled out of that door! After 4.5 weeks, I had pretty much moved into that hospital room! Fortunately, my husband is a master packer! It's amazing we got it all out in one trip. Here's the cart...

I don't think I have ever been so excited to see my house! And Buddy was very excited to see his Mama, too. I thought that you would all get a kick out of this picture. This was my greeting when I got home - there was no stopping this dog from kissing his Mama!

So, I will be 34 weeks on Wednesday. All of the doctors are thrilled that we have been able to hold off labor for 5 weeks. However, they still hope for me to make it to 37! I will remain on bed rest at home until at least 35 weeks, maybe 36. I am still on the tributalene pump, and also have to monitor my contractions and blood pressure from home. This will continue until 36 weeks. After that, its time to get moving and try to get these babies to come meet us! The ideal situation is for me to go into labor naturally between 36 and 37 weeks.

Thanks so much for all your love and prayers. I truly believe that God has honored all the requests brought to Him, and blessed us throughout this time. We look forward to meeting these two little guys (in about 3 weeks) and for you all to meet them too!!

Special Request

I am so thankful for the many prayers we have received throughout the entire process of our pregnancy. Alan and I are so blessed to be surrounded by such love and support. Our boys continue to be healthy and strong, and I will most likely be able to go home next week and let these boys come in their own time.

While we are celebrating so many blessings, this is also a time of great sadness for me and my family. As many of you know, my dear cousin Kim lost her 3.5 year battle with breast cancer last year. This week marks the one year anniversary of her death. I miss her more that I could ever express. I want her to be here for this so badly - and I know she would want to be here as well. But I also know that, on the day these two little ones are born, she will be up in heaven jumping up and down and celebrating with us!!

So, my very special request for this week is for all of you to please pray for Kim's family, especially her husband, Bryan, and six year old daughter, Madeline. We all miss her dearly, and this life is just not the same without her. Pray for us to remember all the wonderful times that we shared, and to get through this week praising God for putting her in our lives.

This one's for you, my beautiful angel...

HOOK 'EM HORNS!!!!