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You've reached the home page for Lauren and Katelyn Laddish of Sonoma County, California.
News
May 4th Update: Everything is good! The girls are healthy
and are 11 and 13 pounds. Hard to believe they were just 3.5 pounds a few
months ago. The past month has seen a few changes - they focus on our faces
now, and sometimes smile for more than a few seconds.
On May 3rd, we just posted ~50 new photos to our
April and May photo collections!
... and more detail than anyone but Mom would want is in the
log section.
What's up?
On Feb 4, 2010, our family grew by 4 feet! Our girls were born 7 weeks
premature.
Both babies are doing great right now, no problems at all.
Initially they had the expected sorts
of preemie problems: feeding tubes, UV lights for Jaundice, and initial oxygen for
premature lungs. They are now past all these stages and getting breast fed
followed by bottle feeding. (they get too tired to get it all at the boob)
Both girls had to stay in the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit) for 3 weeks
after birth. They don't release based on birthweight, but on common sense
questions, such as can they maintain their own temperature? Can they eat?
The NICU nurses were all awesome, most had their own kids, some with twins,
all with their own wonderful tips . Thanks,
Sutter, for all your amazing care!
Thank you for all your kind words of support!! We are humbled and
appreciative!!
Photos and other links
May: First carrier walk with Marilyn (last updated
Mon, May 3rd; new - added 12 photos)
April: Morris, Bob/Dad, Judy, Suzanne, Frog
outfits (last updated Mon, May 3rd; new - added
35 photos)
March: Oliver,
Tim & Chris, Jen, First Stroller walk (last updated Mon, May 3rd)
Feb: First 3 weeks in Hospital/NICU (last
updated Wed, March 3)
This is probably boring to most of you - it's for our benefit to look back on
and remember how they're doing! The count of weeks below is towards
their due date (i.e., -7 is 33 weeks, 40 weeks is fully developed).
Kerstin & Rob's life: The girls are home and need to
eat every 2-4 hours. Milk product and sanity drops if Kerstin doesn't get enough
sleep, so we do it in shifts. During the day, a standard cycle of changing
diapers, feeding, burping usually takes about 1.5 hours for both girls, although
sometimes they get hiccups or need another change, so it can extend to 3 hours.
Rob still tries to do all the cooking, cleaning, yardwork, cats as Kerstin's
breastfeeding and pumping take a lot of time. We have dinner ~6pm, Kerstin gets
to bed ~7pm, Rob takes care of things until 1 to 2am, then Kerstin takes over
until 9-10am. Our shifts are completely unpredictable. Sometimes it is non-stop
crying for both babies and intensely frustrating and nerve wracking, other times
they'll sleep lots and we'll have some free time or more snuggle time.
Month of May 2010:
Their necks are getting stronger. The dr. said wait until 6
months before we use a baby backpack and go hiking, but that is
was ok to use our baby carriers that hold them against our
chests. On May 3rd, Marilyn came up and we took them on a walk
around the block for the first time in the carriers. Cool!
Month of April 2010:
Focus! The girls are now focusing on our faces. This is
awesome, they seem to have more presence. Of course, the focus
is often a glare for the first 30 seconds or so when we feed
them, as if to say, I've been starving for 10 whole seconds,
what took you so long?
Smiles! Before April all smiles were quick transitory
expressions, such as between a frown and mouth wide open. In the
last part of April, we've caught them smiling for a few seconds
at a time. It's not consistent yet, but oh so beautiful when it
happens.
Fast growth - at our checkup on the last week of April, they
were ~11 and 13 pounds. Wow! The dr. said they were growing a
bit too fast / too big, and as we're bottle feeding them (breast
milk) we should stop after 4oz / 120ml and if they are still
starving give them room temp water.
Out of milk! We went through a whole freezer of stored
breast milk that Kerstin pumped while they were in the NICU and
not eating much. We supplemented with a little bit of formula.
Kerstin started pumping every 2-3 hours with some "power hours"
of 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off. She's doing everything she can
to increase her milk supply, but they do eat a lot. Now that we
are stopping at 120ml, we seem to be at equilibrium and not need
formula.
Weekly log from Feb 4th (birthday) to end of March:
Week -7:
Thur 2/4: Happy Birthday! Babies were born! The plan
was to keep them in longer but they were very
excited to be part of things. Both were
put on IV's for electrolytes,
Lauren was put on an oxygen tube.
Fri 2/5: Both Katelyn and Lauren started UV
treatments for jaundice because of high
bilirubin tests (this is really typical for
premature babies).
Sat 2/6: Katelyn started to feed. (gavage tube into
tummy)
Sun 2/7: Mommy and Daddy finally decide on
names other than Twin A and Twin B. Pretty
perfect ones too.
Mon 2/8: Lauren's breathing is good, started
to feed (gavage tube into tummy). Mom
comes home from the hospital.
Week -6:
Tues 2/9: Transition day for mommy and
daddy. Mommy visiting with girls during
the day and both parents coming at night after
dinner for a second visit with more cuddle time
for all and girls' dinner.
Wed 2/10: Lauren no longer using oxygen!
Her
SpO2 is near 100% now. Perfect. Katelyn off UV
for a while. Katelyn tried non-nutritive
exploring at the breast without much success,
but she is being fed through the gavage tube so
does not have that much interest in it.
Lauren missed a few feedings because she wasn't
digesting her food.
Thur 2/11: Happy 1-week birthday, girls!!
Lauren's bilirubin test came back good so she
was off the lights as well. She was so
alert through the day without her 'purple
shades.' Mom got to hold both girls at
once for the first time ever. Both girls
were eating - Katelyn ~18 ml. every 3 hours and
Lauren up to 10 ml. every 6 hours.
Fri 2/12: Mom held the girls again
together and they cuddled up close and all three
were extremely happy. Virginia got to meet
the girls and gave mom and dad some chocolates
which were consumed that evening, and then were
told that night that it doesn't go so well with
breast feeding. Oops! Yummy treat
nonetheless. Daddy changed his first
poopie diaper ever on Katelyn, and the poop kept coming.
Katelyn thought she was being very funny.
Sat 2/13: Katelyn was off the IV completely.
Lauren is still being weaned off of it (increase
in food successfully, decrease in electrolytes).
Awesome - Katelyn started to breast feed today
using the nipple shield with some success.
She needs the shield as the nipple is huge
compared to her mouth! She gets tired quickly,
so we breast feed what we can, then gavage feed
the rest. They weigh her before and after to see
how much went in. Clever! She did 12 ml in
the afternoon and 13 ml in the evening. 1mg
weight gain = 1 ml consumed.
Sun 2/14: Happy Valentines Day everyone!!
The night staff in the NICU made Valentines from
the girls on Friday night - the best ones mom
and dad have ever gotten. The
parents went out to a sushi dinner and brought
the girls along (well, the Valentine's).
We got a lot of congrats. Lauren was taken
off her IV with a strong feeding schedule.
Mon 2/15: Dad had the day off and
continued with house chores. Mom wasn't
allowed to help at home so spent the afternoon
with the girls. Lauren breast-fed for the first
time and got a whopping 18ml.
Week -5:
Tues 2/16: Lauren took a little step
backwards with a minor complication. They
stopped her feeding for maybe a few days (!!!)
and put her back on the IV, just as a
precautionary measure. It was
heartbreaking to see, but we were told this
might happen. The doctor told mom that she
was 'pissed at not being able to eat, which is a
good sign.'
Wed 2/17: The doctor
examined Lauren and has okay'ed gavage feeding,
starting back at 10 ml. She will keep the
IV in and the antibiotics will run their cycle
through tomorrow.
Thur 2/18: 2 weeks old already!!
How time flies. Mom had her two week post
partum follow up and learned of an infection.
They had to open the c-section wound a little
and pack it to let it drain. Ugh!
She had been cleared to drive, with the driving
privileges quickly revoked. She was unable
to see the girls in the evening, but Daddy went up
and fed Katelyn with a bottle! Yeah - one
step closer to release.
Fri 2/19: Katelyn's isolette is down
to 29 degrees Celsius - at 27, she will go to a
regular crib and if she is able to maintain her
temperature, will be almost home!! Katelyn
is eating 36 ml! She got a lot from the
breast at her evening feed and was able to
nipple the rest - very exciting. Lauren is
up to 13 ml, also through the nipple. We
have updated weights for our babies. Lauren is
now 4 pounds, 9 oz (+1 oz over birth) and
Katelyn is 4 pounds, 3.5 oz (-1 oz over birth).
Katelyn is pretty active and Lauren sleeps a
lot.
Sat 2/20: Mom spent the day with the
girls, breastfeeding Katelyn a little and
holding Lauren who nippled her whole feeding
from a bottle again. Katelyn got a little
fussy so Mom held both girls together again and
there was peace. Katelyn got a CBC
(complete blood test) because her heart rate
seemed irregular, but all came back clean.
Daddy came up for the evening feedings and the
parents went home to a turkey dinner. Good
job Daddy!
Sun 2/21: Mom spent the day at
the hospital, and had to again see a doctor
about packing her infection spot. Lauren
was breast fed at noon, although they didn't
weigh her because of her IV. Mom got to
bottle feed Katelyn at 2:00. Daddy came up
for the 5:00 feedings - Katelyn got 6 ml and
Lauren got 42 ml!! Lauren's might not be
accurate because they weighed her with the IV.
Rob joked to nurse Tina that Twin A was named 'Twina'
after her. This caused mommy to belly
laugh and gave poor Lauren an earthquake!
Mon 2/22: Mom was up breast feeding
both girls at 11 AM and noon. Katelyn got
13 ml and completed her feeding by bottle and
Lauren got 29 ml! Both girls are doing
great. Lauren still has her IV although
it's set pretty low, but they both have their
gavage tubes out as they are nippling. The
girls are moving to the small room in the NICU -
reserved for babies that are close to going
home!!! Very exciting indeed.
Week -4:
Tue 2/23: We got a message from the
doctor this morning - bring clothes to the
hospital to room in (stay in the hospital with
the baby in the room) as Katelyn is ready to
come home! Wow! This put things in
perspective. Mom brought a car seat up to
the NICU for the car seat test, which Katelyn
passed, and gave Lauren lots of snuggles.
Mixed emotions for sure. The hospital told
us for sure at 5 pm that there was a room
available. Mom and Daddy went out for a
last supper of sorts (just to Mary's Pizza) and
then headed up to the hospital where we watched
a CPR video and brought Katelyn to a hospital
room, still hooked up to the monitor and nurses
standing by in case of need for help. Poor Dad was on the floor.
Neither of us slept much. Babies are
pretty noisy!! We had lots of laughs about
the cute noises.
Wed 2/24: Katelyn adjusted to her new
home pretty well - she looks so small in her
crib! Kerstin and Rob adjusted to a new
split-shift. Kerstin goes to sleep at 7pm, Rob
stays up until 1 or 2, and then Kerstin gets her
shift. Luckily this is close to our old
lifestyle - Rob's a night owl, and Kerstin used
to get up between 3am and 4am to go work out at
the gym.
Thurs 2/24: A truly horrible evening.
Katelyn was fussy and crying unless held. 6
straight hours of worry. We found out later she
was too cold, and got a space heater for her
room. Nice and toasty now! [house was already at
70F for her homecoming, but her room is better
at 75-80F when she's chilly]
Fri 2/26: Rats ... Lauren is still not up to
temp at the NICU, so she can't come home yet.
Katelyn is doing better. Rob went out to Target and got
more bottles and a baby monitor while Mom and
Katelyn went to see Lauren - life was too
stressful and crazy hanging out in the nursery 90% of the
time.
Sat 2/27: Lauren got out of her
isolette this morning, the last step before
coming home. ... but ... she got too cold, so
she's back in again. It looks like she won't be
home until Monday at the earliest.
Sun 2/28: Mom went up to the hospital alone
to visit Lauren and to get her wound packed. Happy birthday Lisa!!
Mon 3/1: Mom breast fed both girls and
Daddy got some good cuddle time in. We are
hoping today is our last visit to the hospital.
We love the Sutter NICU - the staff has been so
great - but we want both our girls home!
Week -3:
Tue 3/2: Mom answered a call in the morning
from Dr. Miraglia, head of the NICU and the
girls' pediatrician, 'Bring your car seat and
get this girl out of here! We are sick of
looking at her!' We really like Dr.
Miraglia and are happy with our choice of him as
our pediatrician, which we made before the girls
were born. Yeah!! Mom woke Daddy up with
the great news. Today we gave Katelyn her
first bath. She did great and enjoyed the
experience, and then we went to get the fourth
member of our family. We are so happy!! They lie in the crib and look
at each other, it is very cute. Life is about to
get ... more intense!
Wed 3/3: Today was the girls first
pediatric appointment. They both peed all
over the scale and all over the bed when Dr.
Miraglia was testing their walking reflexes.
Too funny. Lauren was a bit stressed at
having to go to the doctor's already after just
getting home - her eyes said, 'Don't leave me!!'
Thur 3/4: Lauren got her first bath at home,
and warmed up in her new ducky outfit afterwards. :)
Thursday night was back-breaking, lots of
attention needed non-stop for each of our 7 hour
shifts. Zzzz....
Fri 3/5: Happy birthday Mom (Marilyn)!!
Sat 3/6: Wow - what a night. :( During Rob's
shift, both girls cried non-stop unless held. It
was a really, really long night. At the very
end, they quieted down for 10 minutes and looked
at me with loving eyes. A very nice treat before
going to bed. Oliver came to visit and spent the
night and met his nieces. Very cool!
Sun 3/7: Uneventful - we were both really
tired all day. 1 diaper change used 4 diapers,
and Lauren got three new outfits!! Yikes!
We ran out of the newborn size (less than 8
pounds) and Kerstin went and bought some real
quick. We took them out in their twin Snap 'n Go
baby stroller for the first time, and went
around our court. Very quick, but it was the
most time they've had outside yet.
Week -2: 3/9 to 3/16 highlights
The girls are ready to see family now! They
have very weak immune systems, so we're limiting
total exposure for the next 2 months & also
making sure everyone is healthy. Later on when
they have neck muscles and a good immune system,
we'll take them out more. We can't wait to be
able to hike with them and show them our
beautiful county!
Mom (Marilyn) came over for the day and made
us a wonderful home made dinner with leftovers.
Dad came for a lunch visit, and Aunt Chris &
Uncle Tim made it over too! Oliver came by and
spent the night & we all got to catch up on
things on our various shifts. Morris, Wendy,
Anya, and Owen will be here soon - they've just
had some bad luck with colds & stuff and are
waiting get healthy.
Rob opened up some time during his night
shifts to see people. That's often easier now,
as the days are quite hectic and hard to plan
with frequently changing schedules with the 4 of
us. Judy came by with a yummy dinner and Cheryl
was also able to come for a quick visit. The
visits help Rob juggle and burp the girls
through the night too. :)
The MOM's club has been awesome, bringing
over huge dinners for us with leftovers for the
next night. Thanks!! We will return the favor.
Week -1: 3/17 to 3/24 highlights:
The girls are at their official due date -
they are now zero! We can now start counting
their gestational age to look for upcoming
changes.
The girls are now about 7 pounds and quite
healthy! They often don't poop for 5-7 days at a
time which is alarming but ok.
Rob went back to work full time. He found it
helps keep him sane to get a break away for a
while, but also means he misses them and enjoys
his time with them even more. It's hard to miss
someone that's with you all the time. :)
Week 0 - March 29th:
Wow - the girls are having a growth spurt -
and eating every 2 hours. Of course, they are
still random, so when one eats, another is not
usually hungry or can't be bothered to wake up.
This really puts the infinity into the 24x7
care. :) We have ~2-3 more months to go until we
can train them onto a similar schedule with some
sleep at night.
Cool development step - both their eyes are
focusing on us more now. When we feed them, they
look at us. So nice to be noticed!! Of course,
if we are running late to a feeding (usually due
to being busy feeding the other one) these
focusing eyes are quite stern. Pretty funny!
We passed on all the kind easter offers from
family - there's no way to be mobile with them
yet - not when 3 out of every 4 hours at best is
filled with screaming, pooping, feeding. It's
all about them!
Comments for our friends in the mom's club:
Life with the babies in the NICU: After the C-section and infection,
Kerstin can't drive, pick up things, nor do many activities. She can breast feed
and see the girls and this takes a *lot* of time. Our std day is to get up in
the AM, Rob to make breakfast/do dishes, work from home for a bit, then take
Kerstin to the hospital to see the girls ~11am on his way to work. After work,
Rob stops by the hospital, helps feed/change diapers & gets some good sleepy
cuddle time for a few hours. ~8-9pm we get home, Rob cooks/cleans, Kerstin pumps
milk, Rob gets some sleep while Kerstin gets up every 3 hours or so to pump.
Whew! And the kids aren't even home yet. :) Rob postponed his time off until
the girls were out of the NICU - a very good choice as Katelyn
was there for 3 weeks and Lauren for 4 weeks. Life is definitely
more intense with them home!