Brent's Mini-Me

Brent has succeeded in cloning himself! It's almost creepy!

The Tank is Free!

Today, Brent and I made the executive decision to free Frank from his stupid monitor! It's so nice having a baby that is not hooked up to a computer anymore. The monitor just seemed unnecessary and it was rubbing his skin raw where the band went around his chest. It went off randomly and the memory in it finally filled up. We wanted to run over it with the car but decided just to ditch it instead. Frank is much happier since coming out of his shackles!

So our first week with the kids being under one roof was LONG! It was very tough but it wasn't as horrible as I was expecting. However, I also feel like Wyatt has been home with us for at least 2 or 3 weeks. Brent and I have both just been operating in survival mode and floating in and out of consciousness. We eat only to subside the hunger pains - a piece of bread, a chip or two, TONS of cereal... we have both forgotten what sleep is... and peeing before my eyeballs are floating is a luxury I can only dream about! But, like I said before, the turdlettes are cute and maybe even worth it! (Although, they can create some stanky eye-watering smells that would make you assume that I was feeding these kids roadkill!) Nonetheless, we are both so ridiculously in love!

"Consuela Hernandez" and "Frank the Tank"

So the babies were two weeks old yesterday and Wyatt has already outgrown two of his preemie outfits! I can't believe how fast they are growing. I see these kids all day and still sometimes I'll wake one of them up from a nap and notice some little change like an extra layer of fat in their cheeks or something... I feel so torn hoping that they will get big enough to start sleeping through the night and also wishing that they would always stay this small. I know that I said no more kids but I can't bear the thought that this will be my only time to enjoy the newborn stage. I already want another one... is that bad?

Consuela and Frank had their first photo shoot together yesterday! (Grandma named Caroline "Consuela Hernandez" because she is so dark complected and swears she is part Mexican! Wyatt has been dubbed "Frank the Tank" because he's is so thick and stout... We are going to need to make a point to call him Wyatt because we only ever call him Frank!) Also, my mom was nice enough to watch both babies last night so Brent and I could go out to dinner for Valentine's Day. We hadn't even left the neighborhood before both of us were just aching to get back to them. It's weird knowing that only 2 weeks ago, Brent and I were content with spending time together as just the two of us... but last night, we felt like we weren't complete without these booger balls in tow. So weird how life changes that quickly!

Wyatt is Home!

Wyatt came home yesterday from Charleston after 12 days in the NICU and Special Care unit. He had to come home on a monitor for his Bradycardia which is a drop in his heartrate that he was experiencing while he eats. The monitor lets us know when he is having an episode and when the monitor's alarm goes off, we need to check on him quickly and kind of wiggle his body a little bit to get him to snap out of it. It's pretty scary but we have been reassured by so many doctors that his condition is not only very common, but also very manageable. He will be on the monitor anywhere from 2-4 weeks. I wasn't able to go to Charleston with Brent to bring him home because I had to take "girlfriend" to the doctor yesterday to make sure she had gained weight from her last visit. The chick likes to eat because she had put on 5 ounces in 5 days! She my fat girl now and we were just so relieved and proud of her!

The twins haven't really acknowledged each other yet. We have put them together a couple times and they have the same reaction to each other as if we had placed them next to a book or some other inanimate object. I'm not sure if it's just because they are blobs and don't get it yet, or if it's because they are so used to being close to each other that it's as normal as breathing air. Who knows, but Brent and I both look forward to when they show actual recognition towards each other. It's nice having everyone under one roof again - even if it means total sleep deprivation!

Caroline and Wyatt are here!!!!

Caroline Elisabeth and Wyatt Reid were born on January 31st at 2:12 pm and 2:13 pm. I went to the hospital for a non-fetal stress test and ended up having a higher blood pressure than the doctor's were comfortable with. Also, I started pounding out contractions as I was lying there and the doctor just decided that it was best to go ahead and take them right away. It all went so quickly and the next thing I knew I was in the O.R. getting prepped for a c-section. It was creepy feeling so numb knowing that I was getting cut open. I was puking during the operation like it was my job and then we heard crying. It was our little girl and she was 5 lbs. 3 ozs. Our son was born a minute later at 5 lbs. 10 ozs. Both came out crying and seemed to be doing really well. They quickly showed us the babies and took them to the nursery. They were so cute!

Wyatt started to show signs of respiratory distress soon after the delivery. They ended up taking him via helicopter to the NICU in Charleston where he has been ever since. It's been really scary not knowing what was going on with him and being stuck in a hospital in a different city. He was immediately intubated and put on 80% oxygen. Brent went to Charleston that night to be with Wyatt. It was so difficult on both of us being new parents and not even getting to experience that together. But Caroline was doing great and I got to spend a lot of time with her the rest of that day.

Wyatt has come around slowly and steadily for the last 5 days and while he is still in the NICU right now, he is breathing room air without any tubes or support and he took a bottle for the first time last night. Yesterday, I left Caroline at home with Brent's parents and got to go to Charleston to see him for the very first time with Brent and my mom. It was so weird walking into a hospital to meet him and not being able to distinguish which one was him. Brent had already spent alot of time there holding his hand while he fought to breathe. When I saw him, I immediately started seeing all these family resemblances and how much he looked like his sister. He's my chubby cheeked little man. Anyway, when I got there, the nurse let me hold him and although Brent had been there for several days in a row, he had never been able to hold Wyatt because he wasn't strong enough. It was nice knowing that while Wyatt and I had been separated for too long, I was still the first person who ever got to hold him. Brent is going back up to Charleston to be with Wyatt today and we are hoping that he will be able to come home tomorrow.