Acts 2 and 3 - the boys

our life as we knew it

We went tent camping at Fort Stevens the weekend before the twins arrived.  It was a great time of bikeriding and sleeping in the tent with friends. After 3-1/2 years of being an only child, our daughter Charlotte Laurel, was excited to be a big sister.  Once she was able to accept that they were boys, she declared that they will be named Mason and Orion.  We love her so much!  You'd never know that Kristen is carrying 2 babies in this picture here.

Char hamming it up the day before we went in for Surgery (wearing Elyse's pants).

and here come the identical boys, day 1 ...

My beautiful wife and the babies outside of Emanuel hospital.  We were diagnosed with Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) in our identical twins.  One baby gets more of the blood flow and has more fluid, with the other getting less.  We found out at 18 weeks and rotated between Seattle and Vancouver for twice a week consults.  It never progressed past stage 1 and looked like it was getting better, but took a sudden turn.  We delivered a day before 28 weeks, C-section in Portland.  We're so lucky to have had such a good Dr. team in both Vancouver and Seattle - and now in Portland; and such great friends and family to help us out especially with Char.  


retroactive update on day 3: Dr. Carey Winkler and his team were our Maternal Fetal specialists at PeaceHealth Southwest in Vancouver and he delivered the babies.  Dr. Walker and Dr. Paek were the TTTS specialists at Evergreen Hospital in Seattle.  Their thorough explanations of our condition along with the support of Melissa and Donna were exactly what we needed.  We really appreciate the referral from our local team of experts.  Dr. Newman was their neonatologist after delivery and throughout the first night and Dr. Rogers helped get them through the next 2 days at Legacy Emanual in Portland.   There were so many more people who helped us including the sonographers and mostly the round the clock nurses were the best.  Thank you everyone.

Oxygen pre-surgery to help the babies.

self picture while I wait to go into the surgery

Bennett Aaron Wilson 2lb 1oz (940g) born at 8:35 pm June 11, 2012.  He came out first and let out one cry which really surprised since I had no idea what would happen.  He was not able to breath on his own and is very pale due to anemia.  He was the donor twin and his brother got a lot of his fluid.

Andrew Reed Wilson 2lb 14oz born June 11, 2012 at 8:36pm.  He let out several cries when he came out, but he was not able to breath on his own.  Here he is 10 minutes after birth.  He's the recipient and is very purple because he has too much blood.

Baby Andrew is more red than purple now that he had a blood transfusion to thin his blood.  He has high blood pressure that they're treating with morphine.  They say it's better to give than to receive when you have TTTS.  Nurse Meghan stayed by his side the entire first night and was with both of them the 2nd night.

Look at my beautiful wife with Andrew.

Andrew grabbed my hand and squeezed.
It was a wonderful moment.

Baby Bennett is much pinker now that he got his blood transfusion to add more blood.  He's now doing better than his brother with his recovery even though he's such a little guy.  Nurse Tara took care of him. 

look at the happy mother!

Holding Bennett's hand

Awesome poster from the Adelmans, our good friends with twin boys who have given us hope and inspiration that things will turn out.  They have 2 wonderful boys who were born premature 10 days before Char.  Of course, the dietitian has fruit and veggie stickers.

Char and her big sister cake that Juli made.

Day 2

Day 2 - 12 hrs after birth and everyone is in recovery mode.  Kristen is on some pain meds that are making her groggy.  The boys had 3 exchange transfusions each, with Bennett receiving more blood and Andrew having blood replaced with saline.  Overall, Bennett is doing better than Andrew.  He is peeing (not standing up yet), and his stats are stable.  He's able to breathe on his own now, so the breathing tube is coming out and CPAP going on.  Andrew has low blood pressure after it being really high and his blood gasses are not stable.  He's under close observation.  He is not moving much except for when I touch his hand and talk to him.  They are both jaundice so under the blue lamp.  Yes, we take our kids to the tanning booth, who are you to judge.

Andrew playing it cool

Bennett likes to pose and show off now that he has room to.

I'm so proud of Kristen.  She wanted to see the babies so bad that it willed her to get up and going quickly.  She was on her feet (walking to the wheelchair) in just over 16 hours.  Derra was Kristen's recovery nurse and she was great at getting Kristen going at the right pace.

Kristen holding Andrew's hand.  He
opened his eyes and was looking around.

Andrew still has fluctuating blood pressure but he's come a long way in under a day.  The doctors are still monitoring him really closely.  They have their own full-time nurse.

Bennett is doing great!  The doctors say that he's stable.  He's breathing on his own without being intubated.  He was crying this afternoon and I got to change his diaper.  It's amazing to be happy about a crying baby.  He should be able to start eating through a tube tomorrow, yay!

Here's the full spread of the NICU.

Juli made sure to do the research and find out that they're Geminis.

Day 3

Day 3 has been a day of improvements for everyone.  Kristen has been insistent on walking around which means that she's doing well (feistiness is back).  She gets discharged tomorrow which will start us into phase 2 of figuring out when to be where.  Today Grandma Garnon brought Charlotte in to see them.  It was the sweetest thing.  She was being really quiet while she spoke to them through the doors to their incubators.  She was able to hold Andrew's hand.  Char has been such a great girl during all of this.  Bennett is breathing well and had his first feeding (he was on TPN before and still is while they get him going on milk).  Andrew is now breathing on his own, although it took a while to get him stabilized after extubation.  As Char said "He got his bubbles" (this has to do with a container of bubbling water for the air that they get through their nose - I guess you had to be there).  Most of their levels are stable although they've both had their scary moments.  They are both down to one lamp and their color is getting much better.  Bennett is moving around a lot and cries more.  Andrew is getting jealous and trying to catch up so he's moving around a bit more.  The doctor said that there's a decent chance that they'll both make it home in 3 months but the long-term prognosis is not clear at this point.  I'm really happy that we get to spend this time with them.  If this keeps up we'll be able to hold Bennett tomorrow.

Here I am all swaddled up in the same red Rutgers hoody that got me through the hospital stay and the first few months with Char.  I got a good night sleep last night. 

Bennett opened his eyes and we got to see his entire face when they changed his CPAP.

Kristen changing Andrew's diaper (w/ Nurse Adrian).  His body is working better.  He soaked through a diaper and all over his sheets.  Adrian was with us for several days and was great at explaining stuff to us.

definitely a boy (Andrew)

Bennett's diaper change (also a boy).

Andrew got his breathing tube out.

Char coming to visit with 2 roar roars and her big sister shirt (thanks Grandma Massing!).  She's really excited.

The big sister activity toolkit thanks to the Graves family.  Coloring books, Dora towel (of course there's swimming paraphernalia), all kinds of good stuff.  She loved the backpack so much that she wore it around before she even knew there was anything inside.

Pushing mama in the wheel chair with her heavy backpack on!

Charlotte holding Andrew's hand.

What a great time having Char here with us (for a short visit).

The family with baby Andrew.

The family with baby Bennett.

Grandma G holding Andrew's hand.  She'll be in town for a while helping out.

Twin stuffed friends from the Schlossers; and 2 nittany lions - one that Char got from the Mory's when she was born and a new one for the boys 

Here's their tiny diapers.  On the left is Andrew and on the right is Bennett.  (Kristen's hand as reference.)

As I write this at 8:25 PM PST, I realize that even though it is day 3, it is only really 48 hrs since they were born.  Crazy!  Andrew just weighed in at 2lb 7oz (1110 g) and Bennett at 1lb 13.5 oz (840 g).  This weight loss is normal since they're peeing so much, which is good.  Signing off until tomorrow.

Day 4

Day 4 and continued improvement.   Kristen was discharged and we will be spending tonight in our bed.  I don't think we'd sleep for 3 months if we decided to try and live in the NICU.  Glad we're only 2 miles away.  Charlotte woke up and the first thing she wanted to do (after watching a show, of course) is to come in and play in the NICU family room and see the boys.  She's also had some visitors and friends to play with at the house.  

In the morning, Kristen was able to hold Bennett for the first time.  He's now off his bilirubin light and only has the blanket.  He loved it when she held him.  He was so calm and just slept.  

Later in the day, she got to hold Andrew.  He still has his light and blanket so he wasn't as comfortable.  He's also had a bear of a day with his bubbles and has been really irritable.  It's good to see that he has some spunk after being so motionless his first day.

Big Sister Shirt

Andrew's face during CPAP change

Andrew on belly

Andrew got his feeding tube and is eating.

Bennett on belly with plumbers crack.

Bennett no bili lamp (just a pad), able to be swaddled.

Holding Bennett for the first time

Char playing Candyland in the family room at the hospital.

Holding Andrew for the first time

Bennett gained weight since yesterday and is now 1lb 15 oz (880g).  Andrew was too agitated to get weighed and they gave him a small dose of morphine to calm him down and relieve any pain he may have.  His has been sucking on his pacifier which pleased the care providers that he had that ability at this point.  Bennett's breathing has been a little fast, but he's been comfortable resting on his side with his blanket.  They had a pretty good day.

Day 5

Today is Kristen's birthday, and it had a Mexican theme.  I'm calling it el quinto dia de vida, the preemie version of cinco de mayo.  The boys both got their lights off so they could both be made into burritos (swaddled) so we celebrated with eating mexican food for lunch (and a margarita for Kristen), and we had lots of visitors.


When we found out that they had TTTS, it was our goal to make it to Kristen's birthday since it was just over 28 weeks and the odds are better.  We almost made it, but we're glad they were born when they were because waiting longer would not have been good.


Today was the Fiddler family reunion back in Erie.  My 87-year old grandpa decided last year that this was going to happen and I'm glad that it did.  I was hoping to be there as was my mom, but I'm glad that she's here to help me, and especially Charlotte.


Dr. Newman who delivered the babies came back as our primary doctor.  She was please that they were agitated yesterday because it showed signs of progress.  Today she decided to give them a siesta from a bunch of stuff.  They got rid of their lights, and stopped feedings for a few days (don't worry, they're still getting all of their nutrients via TPN until their intestines start working better).  They loved being swaddled and held after the initial shock of being moved.  They were so calm most of the day and Adrian got a chance to take a breath too.  It had been a crazy few days.  We found out that Adrian will be our primary day nurse for the duration of our stay which we're thrilled about.  The doctor told us that based on their progress she is cautiously optimistic about their outcome.  


There was some fun when the respiratory therapist (RT) came in to take care of Rose and Blanch; and was totally confused that they were boys.  We all had a good laugh and Kristen didn't hesitate to bring up how the Golden Girls was one of my favorite shows as a kid and my mom didn't like me watching it 'cause it was racy.


We had a bunch of friends come and celebrate Kristen's birthday on the outdoor patio of the Children's hospital.  It was really nice to do some normal stuff today.

This has been a good day. 

Brad and Kristen w/ Bennett

Mommy holding Bennett in the morning

Laura with Andrew

the daily update

Andrew burrito

Bennett burrito

Happy campers all tucked in.

Fiesta at Cha-Cha-Chas!

Mommy holding Andrew in the afternoon

Blowing out the candles with Char and the twins; the other twins Mason and Orion.  

singing Happy Birthday

the girls - Carolyn, Katie, Kristen, Sarah, Juli, and Laura

A beautiful roof terrace that reminds me of the one at the new Port of Portland headquarters - it's the same architect (ZGF).

Rainwater feature turned running trench.  Unintended design feature?

great views

Fiddler reunion in Erie, PA - great grandpa Will front and center

Day 6

The boys did well today, although it is alarming when they stop breathing every once and a while.  Nobody here seems to get too concerned about it though because they recover very quickly.  I got to hold Andrew in the morning, the first time for me.  His heart rate and breathing really stabilized while he was laying on my chest.  

We made the rest of the day Charlotte's day.  She's doing so well and we wanted to give here a bunch of attention today, and remind her that even big sisters still need to listen to their parents.  We went outside and hung out with the neighbors for a bit, which reminded us that we are lucky to live in such a nice neighborhood with great people.  Everyone's offering to help and we really appreciate it.  Char and I rode our bikes to the park and we played board games, then we came back to the hospital at bedtime and held Bennett.

I'm so proud to be a father of 3.

Brad holding Andrew

Char out for a special big sister brunch

Kristen holding Bennett

Andrew all comfy, holding his tube.

This is Bennett during his CPAP change.  He opened his eyes and grabbed his nose and looked at us as if to say "don't put that thing back on me."

Day 7

Day 7 and it's father's day.  I got to hold Andrew in the morning and Bennett in the afternoon.  Char came in to visit the boys (and play ipad).  We went out for BBQ to celebrate father's day and it was super good - ribs, brisket, and pulled pork with all the fixings - yummy!  The boys weight has now stabilized, so they should start growing next week.  We had some fun today sizing them up.  They are now eating again (1ml = 1/5 teaspoon every 3 hours).


I'm going back to work tomorrow.  I think that my plan will be to come and see the boys early in the morning for a few hours, then go into work, and see how the day goes as to whether I come back in the evening.  The blog postings will likely decrease.  This has been really therapeutic writing and I'm glad to hear that everyone has enjoyed it as well.

Outdoor children's garden where we had a change to call and talk to our dad's.

Holding Andrew in the morning

Holding Bennett in the afternoon.  Kristen is so sweet that she let me do the holding today.  This is the first I've held Bennett.

with Char

Russell Street BBQ!

Andrew bear

Bennett bear

Char Bear

Here's my wedding band on Andrew's foot.

it fits on Bennett's hand - he's the littler guy

Day 8

Today is my first day back to work.  I stopped in to see the boys on my way in.  They are both having apnea and bradycardia issues this morning but none bad enough that the nurse's had to intervene.  Kristen and I are going to need to take preemie CPR classes so we can help out with this as they get closer to going home.  I remember how Mason stopped breathing one day after they were home.

I rode my bike in today, and wouldn't you know it, we had some heavy rain.  Fortunately, I was partially decked out in the rain gear Kristen got me.  I'm hoping to keep riding since the hospital is half way between out house and work; and I think it will help keep my mind clear.

Here's a sonogram that I've been carrying around in my wallet since week 12.  We were amazed at the ability to see them like this so early.  When we first found out that we were having babies at 6 weeks, they were identical triplets!  The doctor said that the heartbeat of the 3rd was weaker and didn't expect it to last.  When we went back a few weeks later, we only had twins, which seemed a lot more manageable.  Wow, that seems like so long ago.

Day 9

I don't think I'm going to make it in to see the guys today.  I have a little bit of a sore throat so want to be really careful to not expose them to it.  Super bummer!  In good news, they are taking really well to their feedings so they will likely start going up in quantity and I think they'll go off their lights soon if not today.


We got the rest of their measurements today for the first time: 
Bennett - 1lb 15oz, 13.1 inch long, 9 inch head circumference
Andrew - 2lb 10oz, 15.25 inch long, 9.8 inch head circumference

Grandma got to hold Andrew

Day 10

The doctor said that the boys are doing "wonderfully".  They are improving in every way, so much so that our nurse has a 3rd patient to take care of too.  Char had her first day back at school today and was really excited to tell her friends about being a big sister.  I did not go in again today as I still have the sniffles.

Erin picked up Char from school and took her to the fire station to see Rick.  This was an exciting day for Char.

Day 11

Andrew is back to his birth weight and Bennett has reached 2 lbs!!

Both boys are off their lights and swaddled.

Andrew

Bennett

 Kristen got to hold both of them!!