A month ago you girls arrived and were place in daddy's arms for your first hug. Daddy and I cried happy tears. It was one of the happiest days of my life. In the last month we've had to deal with alot. Aida being in NICU and then Kallison being in NICU and the sleepless nights and tears of frustration and worry. But there have been so many great things come out of all of that. Both of you came home 2.5 weeks ago. and are doing well. watching you grow and do things is amazing. Your personalities come out more and more everyday. Kallison, you are our "on demand baby" when you want something you let us know and you want it right then and there. Aida, you are our more relaxed go with the flow baby. Ya'll have had alot of visitors and everyone says how beautiful you are. Kallison has alot of fuzzy hair dark hair and blue eyes, Aida you have thin light hair with blue/green eyes. You are both gaining weight beautifully, just as you should. Aida weighed 6lbs and Kallison weighed 6.8lbs at our last visit to the doctors. You also got your first shots, and you cried, but I am pretty sure that it hurt mommy more than it hurt either one of you. Daddy said that Aida rolled over while you were doing tummy time. I haven't seen it yet but I am going to keep looking. You girls have had a very exciting first month. Welcome to the World!!! Love you lots.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Meals on Wheels :)
We have such a great group of family/friends/co-workers/church group, between these people we have been well fed, I don't think we have cooked a meal since the girls have been born. We just want to say thank you to everyone (you know who you are) who has brought/made dinners for us, it has helped out a lot more than you know. Without these meals it would have been difficult to find time to make meals since we have had our hands full. Thanks to all!!!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Mommies
"There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child."
I'm 24 years old and my mom is my best friend. We talk everyday, and not just once, I am pretty sure that we talk about 3-5 times a day and text message the rest of the day. So of course when we found out we were having a baby, it was just a given that no matter what she was going to come and stay with us for a while after they got here. So, among the other things that she did for us, she came to the hospital on the day that they were born, and she stayed with us and when we brought Kallison home she held her all night while brian and i got some much needed sleep. And she rocked her on many occasions, and when Aida was in the NICU she spent her days there with her and home at night while brian and I went to the hospital. And when they were both there we all went to the NICU to hold them. Then she left...but came back when they both came home. And she stayed up late nights with the girls, and woke up early for feedings, and massaged tummies for poop, and gave suppositories and took rectal temps. She cooked and cleaned. And gave tons of hugs and kisses. And took lots and lots of pictures. And then she had to go home. So she left yesterday, and we survived without her for the first 24 hours. But the time that she spent here was invaluable, and we could not thank her enough for everything that she did. And I hope that I have the opportunity one day to do that for my girls as she did for me and her mom did for her!!!
Thank you for every thing Mommy!!!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Father's Day Gifts
Ok so i was a little rushed in the first post and didn't explain what Kristi and the girls got me, and the meaning behind it. First i will say I am not into wearing jewelry of any kind, although in college i had both of my ears pierced.. But we went to James Avery one day and we were looking for something and I saw this great cross necklace (http://secure.jamesavery.com/jewelry/search/product/C-1156/Leather-Cross-Shield-Necklace/) which really spoke to me. I feel like the girls have really strengthened my faith and have given life a whole new meaning. I really can't explain it, but its just a feeling that i have that was not there before we had the crazyness the last two weeks with the NICU.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Brian's First Father's day presents :)
I must say this has been an awesome father's day and many people were wishing me well (and luck).
These are some of the cards I got, check out the actual photo on flickr for a more thorough description with notes.
I want to send a special thanks to Gateway Fellowship who recognized us Dads today and I was the newest dad, since the girls are about 2 and 1/2 weeks old. They gave me a tie that has Noahs Ark on it and a really cool Home Depot gift card which doubles as a tape measure and a level!!! Now i just need to learn how to build things without having extra pieces left over, Kristi hates when i have extra pieces. The people at Gateway have been really good to us, bringing us meals and praying for us in our time of need, they will never know how much this meant to us. If you live in Helotes/San Antonio check us out at http://gatewayfellowship.tv/ it is a great church.
Happy Father's Day!!!!
Its about 3am and the girls have been fed and are back to sleep :) so now its time for reflections about some of what I have learned (so far) about being a new dad.
From our home office in San Antonio, Texas...
10. Sleep is a luxury when you are a parent of a newborn
9. Girls can pee like a water fountain, we always see boys shooting pee in the Americas Funniest Videos, but girls can do it too.
8. Number 9 goes for poop too....
7. A trip to the store alone is like a mini-vacation
6. When people ask if they can help say YES!!!! :) (Thanks to everyone who has been helping out, you know who you are)
5. Babies do not let you watch movies in one sitting, it may take three or four
4. Sounds that are rude for adults (burps, farts, etc) are time for celebration for babies (ie. Great Burp!!!!!, Yeah for poop!!!!)
3. The camera should never be more than arms distance away, preferably in your pocket or within reach (See Flickr for details :))
2. Household chores can wait, time with the babies is much much more important
1. You NEVER stop worrying
Ok veteran dads, in the comments let me know what you have learned.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
On May 28th....
From Wiki and other sources
These things happened:
1774 - American Revolutionary War: the first Continental Congress convenes.
1930 - The Chrysler Building in New York City officially opens.
1936 - Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication.
1937 - The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington, DC, who pushes a button signaling the start of vehicle traffic over the span.
1952 - Memphis Kiddie Park opens in Brooklyn, Ohio. The park's Little Dipper roller coaster would become the oldest operating steel roller coaster in North America.
1999 - In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece "The Last Supper" is put back on display.
These people were born
1779 - Thomas Moore, Irish poet
1888 - Jim Thorpe, American athlete
1934 Quintuplets - Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne - were born to Elzire Dionne in Ontario, Canada.
1936 - Betty Shabazz, American civil rights activist
1944 - Gladys Knight, American singer and actress
1945 - John Fogerty, American musician
1945 - Hunter "Patch" Adams, American doctor
1964 - Phil Vassar, American country music singer
Any of you have Birthdays or events on May 28th? Let us know in the comments.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Ok we need answers
Ok we need suggestions as to what to carry in our Diaper Bags, in the comments leave a list of what you carry or carried in your diaper bag(s). On a side note Kristi has a really fancy one, but she forgot to put diapers in it...LOL sorry honey had to let the people know, love you though :).
Comment away!!!
Our Angels have Arrived!!
I would like to thank everyone who has been praying for and thinking of us, it has been a tough couple of weeks, but now the girls are home and doing well. They are on medicine (Zantac and Regalin) but other than that they are doing great. I am very tired, but i just wanted to let everyone know. Check out more pictures posted of the going home outfits at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cordeaupics/sets/72157605314224670/
God Is all around us
Wow it has been an insane week. Kallison had to go back into the NICU IMC due to her not being able to keep her temperature up, Aida had several desats which are very scary, if you have been in the NICU you know what it feels like for the monitors to start beeping without knowing what the problem was. These monitors are high tech, but sometimes they give false readings and it makes it difficult to know when there is a true reading. It is still so hard to leave them at the hospital every night, but we know it is best for them to get the care they need since they are premature. I guess Kristi and I were naive in thinking that because their weights were high enough they would be ok and it would be smooth sailing home. Moving on...
Thursday was probably the worst day i had in this journey, but it ended up really helping. I got sick, not sure with what, but I was coughing bad and it was productive (as our resident nurse says) so I called the nurse on duty and told her and she said to stay home. It was tough but i knew it was best for the girls and the other babies in the NICU IMC so I stayed home and tried to rest, i say tried because I had not been able to get much (if any) sleep since Sunday and it finally caught up to me. By Friday night I was feeling better to drive, but not to go in so I drove Kristi up and dropped her off at the door, I didn't know what i would do so I went outside, walked around for a while and finally stopped at the entrance to the hospital. I was just kind of sitting there and knew the Chapel was there but didn't figure it would be open, so i sat for a while longer, until i felt it calling which was strange so I went and checked the door and sure enough it was open. I went in and wrote a little prayer for the girls, and sat down to pray, and finally everything came out, all of the stress, pain, emotion came and I was looking and feeling pretty bad. I kept praying for God to give them strength and for Him to give us the strength we needed to help our little angels. And as I was continuing to pray an older lady came in and did the Rosary at the alter, and by this time I was a wreck. She continued praying for her husband (I found out later) and when she was done she came and sat next to me and gave me a big hug and told me her story. Her husband had been in for two months and on Saturday they got some good news. She has amazing strength and we sat there talking for a while reassuring each other and I had Aida's hat and i gave it to her, not sure why, but then she took it up to the alter and had it blessed, I will keep it with me until they are released and then Aida can have it back :)
So after all this I felt a lot better and Friday evening I was feeling good enough to go see the girls and was not coughing or anything. The girls were doing great and it was nice to see them again, but hard to leave them. Saturday we felt God talking to us through the people around us. At the car dealership we met a guy who had a son in the NICU who was born at 1lb 9ozs at 24 weeks and he is now 11 years old and doing awesome!! This made our day knowing that there are others who have been through what we are going through makes it slightly more bearable. Then we went back to the hospital in our new CR-V and when i say our i mean Kristi's :), and were sitting with the girls and getting them ready to eat when the phone rang and the nurse asked if we would allow our Pastor to come by and see us. It was awesome that him and his wife Stephanie were able to come by and pray with us and give us some reassurance that everything would be ok. If you live in Helotes or the San Antonio area check out Gateway Fellowship, it is a great place to go to church, even if you are not a "church person" (whatever that is). Its not your traditional church, if you like contemporary you will love this church, John has a lot of energy and he has a positive message. His wife is also the Nursery Director at the church so we will be seeing a lot more of her with our two little angels. They both held the girls and prayed with us which made our night.
After we left we went to Walmart and I HATE walmart yes i know I am not supposed to, but it puts so many places out of business and lowers the wages and extends the work hours of every place around it...ok time to take sociologist hat off....
Ok that's better. So we were walking around walmart and trying to find stuff to get organized because my babysitter from 20 or so years ago said we have got to get organized, she runs a daycare from the house so she knows what it takes. We found a lot of stuff that we needed and finally we went to the baby section (our new favorite section of any store!!!!) and were looking around when this young couple next to us asked Kristi and I if we went to Gateway and we said yes and they had been a part of John's fellowship team on Thursday and had been praying for us and asked how the girls were doing, man the love from God was flowing in walmart because on our way out the lady at the register asked how we were doing and we said tired, we got to talking and apparently her daughter had a preemie, and the lady in line behind us had a preemie as well and they were telling us their success stories. Wow it made us feel a whole lot better to hear these stories and has taken some of the edge off. Also quite a few of the babies from the NICU were released today as well so we were happy to see that they were able to go home. Now we are just praying that it will be our turn soon.
Well I am going to get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be a long day...
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Fortune!
Brian got a fortune cookie last night that said "Ask not what your fortune cookie can do for you but what you can do for your fortune cookie."
For my fortune cookie, I can eat it!!!!
So I want to know what you can do for your fortune cookie!!!
Its been a while....
Since I have posted anything. And as you know if you read our blog on a regular basis that this last week has been rather hard for us. But there have been some really great times in the last week also. And we have managed to keep a sense of humor about things this week. You know laughter is the best medicine. And although I cannot think of any of those moments right now... just know that there have been some. I believe i am suffering from some Post-Pregnancy Amnesia. And I am sure that the lack of sleep has not helped at all with that minor memory loss. Anyways, the important thing is that the girls are doing great! and rumor has it that they may get to come home on Sunday! But we are not going to get our hopes up just yet. we will see and let you know.
We would like to thank every one that has and is praying for us and our girls.
Friday, June 6, 2008
The Twins, Live and in Concert :) (that means video)
Check out a couple of videos posted of our angels
Introductions: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cordeaupics/2554815617/
Music to our ears: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cordeaupics/2555640630/
Time to sleep, for real this time...
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Update on Kallison
Kallison was readmitted to the hospital NICU IMC today because she was having trouble keeping her temperature so the Dr. wanted to bring her in for observation. Please keep our girls in your thoughts and prayers and we are going to rest right now so we can be strong for our little angels.
I know they are going to be ok, the Admitting lady Selena had a daughter two years ago who had brain surgery at 3 days old and she is doing great. God put her in the right place to talk to us about the issues and she even had a photo book of her daughter on hand which was so nice to see that she was in the NICU and now she is doing great. Time to rest it has been a whirlwind of a week.
Update on Aida
This one is just for Aida, she is doing well, still having some preemie issues with feedings and burpings, but she is in great care at Methodist, Tina is taking care of her tonight and let me just say she is AWESOME!!!!!!! And i bribe her with a 20oz coke in the morning to take extra special care, although the bribe is not needed, she really loves her job and she is awesome at teaching us what we need to know about Aida and how to care for her. Go Tina!!!
In other news Aida was seen by a pediatric cardiologist today and we found out that she has a condition known as Aberrant Right Subclavian Artery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberrant_subclavian_artery) which basically means that one of her arteries is pushing up against her esophagus and it may cause some minor respiratory problems.
The Good news is that the Cartiologist did not find any abnormalities in her heart, so thank God for that, we were worried about that and when the doc gave us the good news we were jumping up and down at the house.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Kallison's First Outing
Today Kallison got to go with Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma to Target yeahhhhhhh!!! We got lots of good stuff for the girls and the nursery is fully stocked now. Aida got lots of visiting today and Mommy got to feed her and she was so happy about that, she missed her mommy so much, right now mommy and grandma are reading her a book about Clifford the dog. (I thought it was the big red dog, but in this one he is just a puppy). Daddy is going at 4am to keep her company because the night shift is funny and nice and quiet.
Update 2
Aida is doing great in the IMC which is a step up from the NICU, Daddy even got to feed her this morning and she did great, no desats or anything and I learned a new way to burp our babies, which makes number 4, hopefully this works better. Kallison is doing great as well, sleeping like a log right now with mommy so everyone is happy. I even put some pictures up on Aida's Bassinet at the hospital so she could see her mommy and daddy all the time. Katy (or Mary I can't remember her name it was hazy at the end) was her nurse this morning and she was great and super supportive of getting Aida fed properly and showing me some new tricks :), thanks!!!
