Home From the Hospital

We are now home from the hospital! We were a little worried they were going to make us stay another night because Caden's temperature dropped a few tenths. We were able to get his temperature up with some skin time and they released us! Now, it is just Amy and I against the twins. There are no nurses to back us up... That is a lot to handle but I know Amy is up to it. As for me being up to it, only time will tell. I'll try my best.

Three Days Old

Our twins turned three days old today and we are still here in the hospital. The current plan is to take the family home tomorrow afternoon. There are just a few more things to do here before we can leave.

Today, it was just Amy and I with the kids. Well, us and all the hospital staff here helping us. Everyone at the hospital has been great...especially the nurses. They are all soooo nice and helpful. We will definitely miss that help when we get home. :) We've taken pictures of several that I'll probably post later.

On our second night here, we decided to let nurses take the kids to the nursery in between feedings. Doing this let's Amy and I get a little more sleep. We plan to do the same tonight. It was very helpful and I think we need to take advantage of it while we can.

The kids ate a lot better today. Breast feeding has definitely been difficult but Amy is getting the hang of it. Both the nurses and myself think Amy is doing really, really well. To help keep the kids weight up, we are following up a breast feeding session with a bottle. It helps supplement everything they need a little bit. It is hard for someone to generate enough food for twins.

That's it for now. Our next post might be from our house.

Happy Two Day Birthday(s)!!!

The twins are now two days old! The time has flown by.

Caroline, or as Amy likes to call her, Miss Caroline, does a much better job sleeping than she used to. About the only time she gets fussy is when she is feeding. Neither twin has masted feeding yet. Amy is being very patient and I have no doubt they will get their soon. They have both improved a ton in their first 48 hours outside the womb.

Caden is having a little bit of trouble keeping his temperature up. Nothing to be too concerned about but we need to make sure he can regulate it before we leave the hospital. They would like it to be over 97.6 and he normally reads in at 97.4. We are giving Caden a lot of "skin time" trying to keep him warm. I think he enjoys that a lot. He definitely eats better after getting some skin time.

Here are our little guys hanging out in their bed. Sometimes, they like facing each other while they sleep. This was taken just a few minutes before their 6:35pm two day bday.

We Made it Through the Night

Here is a picture of the two of them. They sleep nicely side by side. We can definitely see the differences in their personalities already.

We made it through the night just fine. Caroline did a lot of crying and often needed to be held. On the plus side, she was a really good eater. Caden NEVER cries and is a great sleeper. He's not the best eater yet but I'm sure he'll get there.

36 Weeks and the Twins Are Here!!!

We hit 36 weeks today (September 26th) and we were planning a C-Section on Monday. The Monday plan did not quite work out. Amy woke up not feeling well and we went into the hospital to get checked out. The doctor said that we might as well deliver today. We called our family and thankfully, everyone was able to make it in time. We needed to wait until 6:00pm for the C-section because Amy had breakfast at 10:00 and they wanted to make sure here stomach was empty. That gave people enough time to drive in from Dallas.

Everything went very well. Both twins are healthy and are staying in our hospital room with us tonight. They struggled to breath at first but both of them got the hang of it quickly. Amy is recovering nicely from the C-Section and is doing very well. She is already showing what a great mom she is going to be.

And with no further ado, meet Caroline Abbie Case! Caroline was born at 6:35pm. She weighed in at 7 lbs and was nineteen inches long. So far, Caroline is the crier. She is either sleeping or crying. Not much else.


The second twin to come into this world was Caden Brian Case. Caden was born at 6:37 pm (less than two minutes after his big sister). Caden topped the scale at 5 lbs 10 ounces and was also 19 inches long. Unlike his sister, Caden almost never cries. He is way more active and interested in the world. Caden loves grabbing hold of fingers and is much more willing to open our eyes.


We'll post more later. For now, mommy and babies need to get some sleep. (Daddy is still trying to track down a cot.)

There is No Need to Worry About "Our Final Sonogram"

Apparently my previous blog post about our final sonogram has worried some people. Sorry about that. There is no reason to worry. Everything is fine. It was just a little stressful going through the minor ordeal. After the sonogram, Amy asked the sonographer if there was any reason to worry and she said no and that worrying would be a waste of time.

Our Final Sonogram

Amy had her last sonogram earlier this week. Normally, the sonograms are a lot of fun but this one turned out to be somewhat stressful. On every other sonogram we've had (other than the slow lady in the ER), it took the sonographer just a couple minutes to take measurements, watch the kids move, and look for some other stuff like breathing practice. This time, our little boy was not cooperating.

In the last several sonograms, it was obvious to everyone in the room that the twins were moving and practicing their breathing (you see their stomachs go up and down). This time, the boy was not moving nor was he practicing breathing. His heart was beating at a normal rate, but that was about it. The two hours before the sonogram, the boy had been moving all over the place causing all sorts of discomfort for Amy. By the time the cameras were on him, he seemed to have worn himself out.

We watched him for what seemed like a very long time to see if he would practice breathing. To pass the breathing test, a baby needs to breath somewhere in a fifteen minute period. At 14 minutes and 30 seconds, he finally took a breath! (He sure cut that close.) Amy and I completely missed it but the sonographer saw it and our boy passed his test.

Now, we need to make it just a few more days.

We Hit 35 Weeks!

We're at 35 weeks today! We want to make it just one more week (and a couple days). With Amy's preeclampsia and high blood pressure, her doctors don't think it will be worth keeping the twins in any longer than 36 weeks. We are planning to deliver on Monday the 28th. Hopefully we can make it until then.

All things considered, Amy is doing really well and her blood pressure has been under control. Amy can never get comfortable and is understandable tired of being stuck on the couch/bed/lazy boy. With her frustration of being on bed rest, Amy often tries to do a little more than she is suppose to which typically leads to her being scolded by me. Thankfully, Amy has had a lot of people stop by to visit and bring her food. We both appreciate that a ton. Each visit makes Amy's day much more bearable. Bed rest would have been far worse without the visitors.

We Made it to Week 34!

Jason and I just returned from a visit with my Perinatologist. The babies are getting big! Our little girl is 6 lbs and 2 oz (80th percentile) and our little boy is 5 lbs 4 oz (34th Percentile). That's over 11 lbs of baby in me!

Overall, the perinatologist was actually surprised at how well I am doing. He basically told me to keep on bed rest and recommended delivering in week 36 now, instead of week 37. So, back to the couch for me. After this experience, I am not sure I'll ever want to sit on the couch again!

My Personal Chef

While I've been on bed rest, I haven't been able to cook. I've missed it more than I thought I would, but in the meantime, I've still been eating some great homemade meals!

Jason comes home from work every single night to make me dinner. You would think that I would be eating a ton of delivered Pizza, or drive-thru meals, but no, he makes everything from scratch! He even does the grocery shopping on the weekends!

The sweetest thing that he does for me is make me a salad every night. Sounds like an easy task, but, if you know Jason, you should know that he believes the only condiment that should be allowed in the house in BBQ Sauce. Mayonnaise or Sour Cream based products literally make him gag. So, the fact that he'll make me a salad with dressing every night, and then cleans it up (all while holding his breath) is a really sweet gesture! I appreciate it more than he'll ever know!

I took a picture of a few of his meals. I should have taken pictures of more! Here is the homemade Chicago style deep dish pizza he made. Not the healthiest of meals, but it sure was delicious!

This is the Beef Tenderloin, Rice, and Green Beans he made tonight. Yummy!!

We've had Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Pasta, and Stir-Fry to name a few things! The meals have been great! Plus, since I'm on bed rest, he does all of the dishes too! I don't have to clean up! Thanks for taking care of me Jason!

We have our 34 week appt at the doctors office tomorrow. I'll post more updates tomorrow evening!

Baby Updates - Week 33

Yesterday was Tuesday! That means I was able to leave the house for the first time in a week! Yay! Unfortunately, I only left for a few doctors appts, but still, it was so nice to be out and about!

There aren't very many updates from the doctors visits. My blood pressure seems to be controlled well by the bed rest, so for now, we wait. Both doctors told me to keep up the bed rest and come to see them next week.

We scheduled a c-section for October 5th, that's the first available date that the hospital will allow a scheduled c-section. We'll be at almost 37 1/2 weeks at that point. Until then, I have been told all of the symptoms of severe pre-eclampsia and pre-term labor. If I either go into labor before the 3rd, or have syptoms of advanced pre-eclampsia, we'll deliver right away.

While the thought of not delivering until week 37 sounds great, the thought of being on bed rest until then does not! Oh well, we'll just take it one day at a time and do what's best for the babies!
Oh, and one last thing....my belly measures the same as a singleton pregnancy at week 43. This is probably the reason for my extreme discomfort and inability to breathe! :)

We Have Names...

Amy and I have finally decided on baby names. That's all for now. I think we are going to make people wait. Thanks. :)

My Latest Visitors

I had three small, but loud, visitors come see me this weekend. My niece and nephews were in town passing through on the way to attend a wedding in San Antonio and they stopped by twice to entertain me! Grammie and Poppa brought them by on Saturday, and then their mom & dad (My brother & sister in law) brought them by on Sunday. They loved seeing the babies rooms, playing with the babies toys (which are mostly hand me downs from them) and of course, seeing Uncle Jason...he's easily the family favorite!

Here are two shots of the trio....I like both pictures, so, posting both!

The funniest comment overheard while they were here was when they saw all of the hand me down toys (straight from their rooms to our house)..."y'all sure have a lot of good toys, we have the same toys at our house too!" I guess they haven't noticed them missing just yet! :)

Thanks for visiting Michael, Amy, Ella, Will & Cal! Thanks for bringing the kids (and the pizza & sonic drinks) Grammie & Poppa! We loved having you stop by! The babies are excited to meet you all!

Jason's Labor of Love

We moved into our house in July of this year and since then, Jason has spent hours of work getting the babies rooms ready. Here are a few pictures of the rooms, along with a picture of him, with his "sweat heart". When Jason sweats, he gets the shape of a heart in his clothing, he finally let me take a picture a few months ago. I think it's a great reminder that the work he is doing is out of love for the babies and I!

When my niece Ella saw the babies rooms earlier today she says..."wow, Jason sure has done a lot of work for Amy." Very perceptive for a kindergartner! She was definitely correct!

Jason's heart:

Here is the boy's room. Note the crown moulding in the upper right of the picture. Jason and my dad installed the crown moulding and then Jason caulked and painted it all. He also put together the crib!

The boy's bedding is from Land of Nod....we're going to try to accent with primary colors....I just never got around to doing much decorating before bed rest. We'll get it done eventually!

Now, the girls room. So sweet! Jason painted the room brown and pink, installed the chair rail, the crown moulding, put the crib together and put her dresser together. The white rocking chair is a loaner from my brother and sister in law, they used this rocking chair for all three of their kids!

Can't wait until our kids our snug in their new beds enjoying all the work their Daddy put into the rooms!

Why my Small Group is the best Small Group at Grace!

Jason and I received a HUGE blessing and surprise from our small group on Wednesday night! You see, we normally host small group at our house every Wednesday, I was particularly looking forward to this week, even though the house wasn't in tip top shape, I was looking forward to the human interaction after being on bed rest! What actually happened was way better than I could have imagined!! Instead of going through our study of Luke, the small group turned Wednesday night into "Help the Case's" night. It was awesome!!

They loaded our attic (Jason finished putting flooring in earlier this week), cleaned the kids playroom, organized the kids closets, organized the Paper Graces inventory, sprayed for bugs, vacuumed the house, put together our guest bed, put the bed-skirt on our bed, programmed the remote on Jason's car, moved furniture, installed kids car seats and in general helped us get ready for these two kiddos that are arriving a little earlier than planned.

Here is a pic of the group at the end of the night.....

Thank you! Thank you! We appreciate you more than you'll ever know!

More Bed Rest Updates: Pre-Eclampsia and Steroids

Just a quick update from Monday. I told you they put me on bed rest - but probably didn't mention why. My blood pressure all of the sudden spiked from a cool and consistent 120/80 to 145/90 in a matter of about three days. So, what does this mean? My perinatologist seems to think it's the begininning stages of pre-eclampsia. While bed rest doesn't stop pre-eclampsia, it can slow it down, or, make it more bearable for a little longer.

High Blood pressure can sometimes put the babies in distress because it's harder for them to get oxygen. I sat on a fetal heart monitor for about an hour earlier this week. All indications are that they are thriving and don't seem to be affected by the spike in blood pressure. Additionally, we had an ultrasound on Tuesday that confirmed that they are still very active! Instead of measuring their sizes at our Tuesday appt, they look for development markers to ensure that there are specific things that both twins can do....simple things like moving their tummies up and down. Both kids passed the test with flying colors!

Because of the risks of pre-eclampsia, the perinatologist seems to think there is a 50/50 chance that we will deliver next week and a 90% chance we'll deliver the week after that. You should have seen our jaws hit the floor when the doctor shared that news. WHAT? We're not ready! Neither are the babies! I started taking steroid shots on Tuesday to help the babies develop. The steroids won't make them bigger, but, they will progress their lung development and tissue development by a little over two weeks in just a few days. That's encouraging! Additionally, if I don't deliver by the Tuesday after next, we'll go through another round of steroids to even further their development. This should hopefully reduce or eliminate their stay's in the NICU.

The steroid shots have been great for the babies and for me. Despite a few sleepless nights that they promise will go away soon, I feel better than I have in weeks! The normal aches and pains of carrying twins seems to have all but gone away (at least until the drugs wear off). I'm already looking forward to the second round of steroid shots! :) It's just too bad I feel this great, but they only thing I am allowed to do is lay on the couch!

So.....next on our list of things to do? Pick names. :)

Bed Rest - Day 1

That's right, you read correctly. My doctor officially put me on bed rest on Monday morning. What does bed rest mean? Basically, I can get up out of a lying (not sitting) position to shower, use the restroom or go get food from the kitchen. Other than that, I am supposed to be lying down at all times. This could be a long few weeks!

So, here we are on day 2 and I have already noticed that some things are more difficult when you can't even sit up! Typing is a little slower than normal, the couch gets really hot when you never get off of it, and my pregnancy induced acid reflux isn't helped by the fact that my body is always horizontal!

That said, it's only been 24 hours and bed rest has also made me realize how incredibly blessed I am to have so many people around me that love me! Here are a few examples:

My dad brought me and my mom dinner last night from Chilis, then stayed to put together a bouncy seat for one of the kiddos (he was the perfect person because he'd already put together the first bouncy seat!)

My mom was over here putting away the tons of clothes that she had taken to her house to wash and fold (dad says you couldn't even see the hardwood floors in their house for all the onesies and burp cloths everywhere). She's seperated all the clothes into bins by size and is now working on putting them all away in their dressers and closets. Oh, and did I mention that she also irons? Both babies already have lots of ironed outfits hanging neatly in their closests! I think she knows that if she doesn't iron, it just won't ever get done and her grandchildren will be forever wrinkly.

Jason is amazing. He seems to be a never ending flood of energy and he's done soooo much for me lately! I am going to save the big stuff for a blog post later this week (complete with pictures), but I have to mention the little stuff he does......getting the mail, doing all the grocery shopping, cooking dinner for me, cutting up Watermelons and Pineapples so I can quickly grab them out of the fridge and constantly refilling my glass of water. The list could go on forever! I am so appreciative and thankful to have a husband that will do literally EVERYTHING for me without any complaining!

We are going to the Perinatologist today to get another Ultrasound, so, I'll let you know more about the size of each baby tomorrow. Expect to hear more from me in the next few weeks....after all, what else am I doing??