Reunited!

Full House...

...is what we will have tomorrow, Wednesday! Cole is ready to come home! Keith and I will be heading back up there tomorrow to pick up the Big Cheeked One. We cannot wait. Here is a picture of Cole (sitting with me) we took before we left the hospital on Sunday, and a pic of Grady (getting dressed by dad) getting ready to come home.

Grady's Home!

Keith and I survived the hellish rooming-in experience (and the boys survived two nights of being under our care), and late Sunday night we were given the OK to bring Grady home! Grady is now adjusting to life here at our little house, and we are all waiting eagerly to get the word that Cole may come home. He is still in the NICU, but is making great strides, and should be home within the week. It was incredibly difficult leaving him behind, but we know he is receiving great care from the nurses and doctors at UT Medical Center. Only a few days and we will get to see him again!

Go Directly to Jail, Do not Collect $200

It’s not exactly Monopoly, but Keith and I have been given the “Directly to Jail” card. It’s actually a good thing, it’s just a little weird. For UT Medical Center’s NICU, parents have to “room-in” with their baby(ies) for one or two nights before the baby can be discharged from the hospital. It’s almost a trial run, where you get a room that is more like a hotel room, and the baby comes to stay with you in the room. You provide all of the care, just like you would at home. Except, it’s nothing like being at home-you’re stuck in one room, no kitchen, no natural light coming through windows, no Nana to come save you when you need a nap. Instead, you have the ambiance of a hospital (albeit a nice one), hospital food, and even worse, a hospital bed.

Keith and I were lucky enough to be assigned not just one, not two, but THREE nights of rooming-in. How lucky are we!?! We’re technically rooming in with Grady, but Cole will also be in the room with us, he will just be monitored more closely than Grady. We’ve been assigned three nights thinking that the three nights might give Cole a chance to catch up so that by Monday he might also be ready to go home. Doesn’t really mean that either one will for sure go home on Monday, but that’s the goal! The doctor’s will be doing assessments during the weekend to see if either boy is progressing as they want them to, and that will determine if/when anyone goes home.

So, I will not be doing any updates until Monday since we’ve been sentenced to our hospital room. At least we have two really cute babies to play with, and that’s all that matters.

Here's to hoping my next post is done from the comforts of our own home.

What's that? You want more pictures of the boys? Certainly!

MORE good news

Guess who got his NG feeding tube removed? This guy! And who ate more than half of his last feeding? This other guy!

More good news

Here are some random updates and thoughts from the last few days:

• Cole is completely off oxygen! No nasal canula (tube you see many old folks using to breathe)



• Both boys now only need to take all their feedings by mouth consistently before they can go home. Grady has eaten the majority of his feedings-yes, the whole bottle!, but he still has his NG tube in. If he takes eats the whole bottle consistently today and tonight, his tube might come out tomorrow.



• Cole is also eating some, but only about 25% of his bottle. Perfectly normal since he was on oxygen for a week. He did eat 50% of his bottle for me yesterday, but the night nurse said he didn't show much interest in it during his early AM feedings. I think it's probably because she wasn't bribing him with a car when he turns 16 (but shhh...don't tell your dad) to get him to eat like I have been, but whatever, he'll catch up when he's ready.



• Otherwise, both boys look great! Cuter and cuter by the day. I know, I'm not surprised either.



• Aunt Karen is doing OK. She's had some post-pregnancy blood pressure and headache issues, so everyone needs to please continue thinking good thoughts so she can bounce back to her normal self. When I talked to her last, Rhett was keeping her company in the couch. Good job, Rhett, take care of Momma.


• Tomorrow their Papi comes back to Knoxville! Whooohoooo! I miss that guy.

Cutenesses

Here they are, just after eating today. Grady on left, Cole on right.

Random Updates

I'm short on time, (hustling to get back to feed the boys), but here are a few updates:

• Cole is also in a crib! Out of the isolette, and is maintaining his temperature very well, so he's going to be able to stay in the crib.



• Both are starting to feed a little by bottle, but it's a little slow-going.



• Grady loves to sleep, Cole loves to stare at the green circle pattern on the back of the chair I sit in when I feed them. Sure, he'll occasionally look at me, but the kid loves the circles. Here they are in their cribs.
• Cole should be off the oxygen by tonight. YEAH!

Cole with the white blankie, Grady in the dark blue.

A very, very good day

Today was a great day! I got to go see Karen & her gang for a little birthday song singing and candle blowing. Greg and Sara were kind enough to help their mom blow out the candles, tomorrow I will post a picture of them taken right after the singing and candle blowing. Rhett didn't help blow candles out, he spent that time being fixated on the matches that were used to light the candles, and at one point he had a gleeful smile and said “FIRE!”. He sure is an interesting kid…

And today I also started to care for the boys, meaning I am doing some of the temperature checks, umb.cord cleaning, diaper changes (this was exciting for the first few times, then I realized why the nurse was smiling so widely when she asked me if I wanted to start changing diapers and I said YES! ), and all of the feedings I am at the hospital for (NICU has strict visitation rules and parents get the boot for a few hours a day). Both boys are eating a bit of the feed from a bottle, the rest through a tube. It will just take time to eat the entire feed from a bottle. Until then, they get to just relax and have food delivered right into their tummies. Not a bad gig, in my opinion.

I’m also happy to report that both boys are very mellow. We previously thought Cole was a bit more fussy and needed more TLC to calm down, turns out he was just not happy with the bright light hovering above his isolette and having to lay there with nothing but a diaper, and really, who can blame him? Since he’s been weaned to a crib and is snuggled into a cute outfit and some blankets, he’s been as content as brother Grady. That’s it for now, more updates and a picture or two tomorrow morning!

Follow Up: Here are the pictures! To the left is sleepy Grady, next to him is alert Cole.

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday to Aunt Karen! For obvious reasons, I won't divulge her age, but trust me, she looks fabulous! Keith and I saw her a day or so ago, and it's really hard to believe that she gave birth less than a week ago. We are hoping that she will get to come to the hospital a little later this week so she can see the two little bundles of perfection she made for us.

Happy birthday Karen, we hope you have many more happy, healthy birthdays. We love you!

I'm back!

Figuratively, at least. Not back home, but back in Knoxville with the boys and back online. Thank you so much to Sara for keeping the blog going and updating everyone on their birth and their progress. The boys are still in UT Medical Center's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU to those of us in the know); we're not sure for how much longer, we're just taking it one day at a time. I'll be posting everyday to keep everyone updated-but just to let you know, there will be no sappy emotional meltdowns here, motherhood has enhanced my funniness and the town of Knoxville and the boys give me lots to work with. Back tomorrow, with pictures and recaps of the week-what I can remember of it, at least.

In the meantime, enjoy this picture of me and Cole, I got to hold him for a LONG time tonight. We have not been able to hold him because he was on the bubble ventilator-type thing and he didn't tolerate it well when someone held him, but he's getting stronger, so we cuddled for a bit tonight. I did not get any pics of Grady tonight, he was sleeping really well and I see no need to wake a sleepy baby.

Baby Pictures!

Grady on the left and Cole on the right!

Sounds like everybody is healthy, hopefully Grady will be released early next week and Cole not much after that. Yeah!

Cole and Grady

OK, got some more information about Grady and Cole, apparently they both had to go into an oxygen tent after they were born because they both had fluid in their lungs.

As of right now, Tuesday afternoon, Grady is out of the tent and the nurses have fed him a couple times. Trudi says he's "hysterical" (funny, not out of control), just lying on his back but flailing his arms out to the side, like he's trying to get everyone's attention.

Cole is still in the oxygen tent and he's being fed through a tube right now, he gets fussy when the nurses come and check on him. They're working towards getting him out of the oxygen tent and stable in regular room air, but it doesn't sound like there's a timeline.

Both boys are in the nursery still, it sounds like once they get Cole stabilized they'll be able to leave the hospital, and Trudi and Keith will bring them on back to Atlanta to get to their pediatrician and get into a routine.

Karen is doing well, but in pain of course. She'll be in the hospital for another day or two, but it sounds like she's recovering well from the surgery.

Trudi sounded good, strong and I could hear Keith in the background. She said they can't do much for the boys right now, the nurses are taking care of everything, but they're able to be in the nursery with them. They were going to the hotel to get cleaned up and get something to eat right now, then head back to the hospital. Say some prayers for them, or send "good vibes" as Trudi says;-)

~Sara

Grady and Cole have arrived!

Hi everyone, I got a call from Trudi: Grady and Cole have arrived! Wooo!

5:02 and 5:03 p.m. EST, 6 lbs 14 oz and 6 lbs 11 oz. Of course I was so excited when I was on the phone with Trudi that now I can't remember which is which.....

Mr. Bothma should be sending some pictures and I'll post them as soon as I get them!

~ Sara [friend of the Ellerman family (!)]

Keith, pre-21

This song by Corey Smith should make anyone who knew the pre-marriage and pre-babies Keith chuckle. And if you don't know, Clayton Street is one of the three major streets in downtown Athens, GA, our college town. Good times were had there! The last verse is particulary accurate...

Strike, Day 2

A few of my favorite pictures from Greg and Sara's birthdays, back in April of 2006. Sara turned 3, Greg turned 5. The last one is my all-time favorite picture of Greg-he opened one of his presents, and the expression you see here is what he thought of getting an article of clothing for a birthday present, "awww, man, a shirt?". Priceless! The other present was a lego kit, which went over much better.

Strike

I'm going on a writer's strike until I get my babies, so enjoy a few random pictures for the next few days.

Here is Elvis checking out two puzzles the boys got from their Grandma GG and Grampie Dean.

C & G

Now all we need are the babies to go in these...

And today marks Karen and The Boys making it to 35 weeks. Way to go Aunt Karen!

35 week ultrasound video

Here they are, Cole & Grady. This is a shorter video, and no sound (so you can watch it at work without your boss hearing. You're welcome).



And yes, they are ridiculously cute.

Things We Learned This Week

What a crazy week it's been so far! Here are a few things we learned in the last few days:

1. A shot of Magnesium is used to stop contractions. So, let's say for example, a woman carrying two adorable twins boys goes to the doctor for her weekly checkup, and they discover that she's a few centimeters dilated and having contractions, they'd give her a shot of that stuff to stop contractions. Did all this happen to Karen? Well, yeah, I said the person was carrying two adorable twin boys-who else could I be talking about? Once the contractions subsided, said person was sent home with instructions to take it easy until her next appointment on Friday.

2. When making beef stew, it's important to not confuse the cinnamon for cumin. They look the same in the jar, and they look the same going into the pot, but they sure don't taste the same.

3. From the ultrasound today, boys are estimated at about 6lbs each. Alright babies, way to grow! We do know that Baby A is in breech position, with a foot dangling towards the exit. Baby A is Grady. And him being in breech means Aunt Karen will most likely be having a C-section. C-section's date might be moved up, all depends on what the doctors decide on Friday. Here are the pics of their faces from Wednesday. First is Grady, turn your head to the right and you'll see his chubby little face.


Next is Cole, turn your head the other way, and you'll see his chubby face.



4. People who are currently buying homes are not very smart. The house isn't being sold furnished, stop worrying about how my furniture looks and how many items I have displayed on the mantle. It's a small house, use your imagination to figure out if your stuff would fit. And yes, the house will seem dark when you come to view it on a cloudy, rainy day. Funny how everything seems darker when the sun is obscured by clouds.

5. We are definitely having two boys. I asked Karen to have the ultrasound technician double double check. After having two dreams where one baby was born a girl, I wanted to make sure. So anyone having a girl is welcome to use our just-in-case girl name, Adelie Karen. Really, I'll be happy if you use it. I will probably take every opportunity I get to remind your daughter that I picked out her fabulous name, but that's only fair.

5. A broken DVD that is taped together will not play in a DVD player. Take note NETFLIX, and please don't send us another broken DVD. With the writer's strike, there's hardly anything on TV and talking to Keith is only entertaining for so long. What did people do before TV? OH right...

Nothing Yet

We got many calls and emails yesterday asking if the boys were here. No, no babies yet, but later today we'll have some sort of update as Karen has an ultrasound/doctors appointment/non-stress test to check on her & the babies.

Later!

Tick Tock

Does it seem like time is standing still to anyone else? Or is it just me?