Jonathon's 8th Grade Graduation - 6/18/2010

I keep meaning to update the blog, so here we go!

This is Jonathon's Eighth Grade Graduation on June 18, 2010.  He's wearing the white shirt and walking over to get his "diploma".

Now he's walking down the ramp...

Since I had just recently had the babies, only Michael went to his graduation.  The school said it was mandatory, which I'm not sure I understand...maybe because I moved from middle school to high school without needing to "graduate".

Twins Well Visit

I had thought about e-mailing Michael all of this information, but thought I would put it on here for documentation purposes.  Feel free to ignore it, since it's probably boring for most of you...

I took the twins to the doctor today for their 9-month check-up (they are now 11 months).  Zac is now 23 pounds 1 ounce  and 29 1/2 inches.  He is in the 60th percentile for height and 50th for weight.  Sam is 20 pounds 12 ounces and 28 1/2 inches.  He is in the 25th percentile for both.  The doctor has okayed them both to be eating everything except honey.  They can start having that after they turn one.  They should start having vitamins again in their first bottle of the day, PolyViSol is fine.  I'm so glad that we can give them whole milk and stop spending so much on formula!

Both babies have conjunctivitis and Sam has the beginning of an ear infection from the conjunctivitis.  Katie went to the doctor on Monday for conjunctivitis and was given a prescription.  The doctor said that if any of the other kids get it, they can use her medicine, so both babies started on the eye drops last night.  Sam is on Amoxicillin 1 tsp twice a day for 10 days.  I wonder if I will remember to give it to him longer than a few days?  I usually don't...

Zac keeps falling down the stairs and hitting his head, so we have taken to moving the couch in front of the stairs.  The doctor says that if he falls, we should watch for vomiting or extreme sleepiness and take him to the hospital for a cat scan.

Sam's front, bottom tooth where the gum is a little lower, is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about.

They both got their Hepatitis B vaccine today.  Zac had just fallen asleep when the nurse came in to give it to them.  Needless to say, he wasn't pleased.  They both only cried a little, though. 

The doctor gave me some homework.  I have to go get their blood tested for lead and anemia.  Luckily, the lab that I have to go to is only 5 minutes from home.

It's quite an adventure taking all the kids to the doctor at the same time.  Timmy and Katie had a couple skirmishes that I had to break up, but all in all, were pretty good.  We went to Walgreens after the doctor visit.  The prescription wasn't ready yet, so we spent the 15 to 20 minutes wait time having KFC for lunch.  I don't think the kids minded waiting.

Not a Gourmet...

My husband and most of my kids say that I'm a good cook.  I admit that I've found some really tasty recipes.  However, Katie will not eat most of the food I put in front of her.

That said, if I EVER leave the powdered formula on the counter, within five minutes, she is eating it with the scoop and making a big mess.  Another thing I can't leave out is the butter.  She will eat it like it's a candy bar.  Cheese is also a favorite of hers.  I had some shredded cheddar out because I was making omelets and she dragged a chair over and was eating it by the handful.  

At least she will usually eat her food if I put cheese on top. 

Maybe I should try putting formula or more butter on her food...

The First Two Crazy Weeks

Back to when the babies were first born...

The day that we were discharged from the hospital was on Friday, June 4th.  My doctor decided to have us stay in the hospital an extra day since I had had twins.  The babies' pediatrician came in to check on them and ordered a bilirubin count test to be done.  Even though they had had one a couple of days before, she thought they were looking kind of yellow.  It was starting to get late in the morning and they still hadn't done it, so I reminded the nurse and she came in and did it.  I started to get ready to be discharged and she came in with the discharge papers and we got those all signed.  The nurse assured us that we didn't need to wait for the results of the bilirubin count, so all of us went home.  It was kind of fun riding in the wheelchair holding both babies.

When we got home the kids and Grandma were all waiting to see the babies - and me, I hope.  After a couple of hours, Michael reminded me that the doctor would like to see the babies on Monday, so I called to make an appointment and the receptionist asked if we were home - she seemed a little surprised.  About 10 minutes later, the pediatrician called and was pretty upset because the hospital was NOT supposed to release us until the results from the bilirubin test had come back.  It turns out that the bilirubin count was high enough that Zac should not have been discharged.  She told us that she was very sorry, but that we would have to take him back to the hospital to be under the lights for jaundice.  I was a little too emotional to do it (and I had another baby to take care of), so Michael took him back to the hospital armed with a diaper bag and a few bottles of breast milk.  The procedure was to put him under the lights for 4 hours, take another bilirubin count, wait 4 hours for the results while he was still under the lights, take another bilirubin count, etc, etc, etc.

Michael, Sam, and I went to visit him on Saturday.  I was able to nurse him while we were there for a couple of hours and then we went back home.  It was very difficult to leave him, but I knew I had to take care of Sam and that Zac was receiving the care that he needed at the hospital.

By Sunday early morning, his count had gone down to about a 10 (it had to be under 12) so they took him off the lights and took one more test to be sure that the count didn't skyrocket again.  It only went up to an 11, so he was able to come home later that morning.

Sunday, June 6 - Zac (L) and Sam (R) on the day Zac came home

We took him to see the pediatrician on Monday and she felt that he still looked pretty yellow, so we took him back to the hospital for an outpatient bilirubin test.  The test came back at a 12, but he was a little older, so it was still okay.  She sent us back to the hospital Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for the bilirubin counts and the numbers kept climbing.  By Thursday, the numbers were about 18.2, so on Friday (which was when we got the results), he was again admitted to the hospital.  I took him and Sam to the pediatric unit (since he was now too old to be in the newborn area) and he got a nice corner room.  I stayed there for a couple of hours and Michael came to see how he was doing.  We left about an hour later - I mean, it IS a hospital with a bunch of sick people there.  With Sam still being so young, we didn't want him to be exposed to all those germs if he didn't have to be.

The nurses at the hospital were so good, they moved Zac to a room straight across from the nurses station so that they could keep a close eye on him.  He had some really wonderful nurses while he was there.  The hospital sent down nurses from the NICU to take care of him since he was so young.  

Saturday, June 12 - Zac in the Children's Hospital

I was able to visit him on Saturday morning (without Sam this time) and stayed with him for a couple of hours.  I fed him and got to hold him for a while, then went back home to feed Sam.  Zac's bilirubin count went way down by Sunday and he was able to come home.  When Michael brought him in, I immediately noticed how wonderfully pink and light his skin was.  It was wonderful to have him home with his brother!

Wednesday, June 16 with the quilts that Aunt Betty made

Above: Zac and Sam, Below: Sam and Zac

Thursday, June 17 - Zac with Katie

Sam with Nathaniel and Zac with Eliza

Happy New Year!

2011 already. These years go by fast! Anyways, this New years we went to my Uncle's house for a mix of Christmas and new years. at 4:15 we went there and... Well, I'll split up the evening in about 4 different parts. The first part was the dinner part of the evening. We had tried a bunch of delicious foods that my uncle prepared.

The second part of the evening we had our Maldonado Christmas. I got a giant Rice Krispes Treats bar and a gift card. Gabriella got a 5 pound Gummy Bear so we told each other we'd save them and get many more worlds biggest foods. Third part is the movie part. We watched The Curse of the Were-rabbit and Kung Fu Panda. After that it was just mingling and then we left at 10:00. But that's not all... After we went home we turned on the TV for 2 minutes to watch the Ball Drop and we went to bed.

So yeah that's how we spent our New Year's. I can't wait for my Birthday! I'll be 15!

Oh, the irony...

Child: Mom, so-and-so is coming to tattle.

Mom: So, you're coming to tattle first?

Child: [silence]

One of the joys of parenthood...coming up with the unanswerable!

Birth Day Times Two

Since Michael did so well documenting the day that the twins were born, I'll just add some pictures and fill in any gaps.

This is just before we went to the hospital. Eliza and Nathaniel left for school just before we left.

In the labor and delivery room.

I was hooked up to two heart rate monitors and a monitor for my contractions. The pink strap had Zac's monitor on it (on the right side of my belly) and the one on my left was for the contractions. The blue strap had Sam's heart rate monitor.

After we went into the OR, they prepped me by giving me a lovely hat, oxygen and a pulse monitor on my finger. We waited for a while until I was a 10 and felt the urge to push. Meanwhile Zac's heart rate monitor kept slipping, so they put a monitor on his head. I started feeling cold so they put a warmed blanket on my legs. I started getting pretty sleepy after that.

A few minutes later, I finally felt like I had to push and my doctor had me push through a contraction. I then asked him if Michael was allowed to come in. There were so many people in there and I think he was so focused on the babies and me that he forgot about Michael!

After a few contractions, Zac was crowning and the doctor turned around to grab something. Zac continued to progress and the nurse told me to stop pushing. I told her I wasn't, so my doctor turned around real quick! A couple more pushes and he was born at 5:51 p.m. on June 1.

Immediately after Zac was born, Jen, the resident doctor, did an ultrasound to check the position of Sam. I know our prayers were answered because he had continued from transverse (sideways) to vertex (head down). I had to push A LOT to get Sam down.

It was strange because after Zac was born, I didn't feel the urge to push anymore. It was difficult to tell if I was pushing the right way. The nurse kept telling me to push down the center and I couldn't really tell if I was. Maybe if I didn't have an epidural I would have been able to feel it better...

After almost 20 minutes of pushing, Sam was born at 6:13 p.m.

When Sam was born, the cord was wrapped around his neck and he was having trouble breathing, so they had to take him to the NICU. I was pretty sad because I didn't get to see him and scared, too. But I was glad that he was getting the medical attention that he needed.

They gave me Zac and took me back to my labor and delivery room. I got to nurse him and hold him for quite a while. Michael held him when they brought in my dinner and went with him when the nurse came to take Zac to the nursery.

When the nurse and Michael came back, we went up to the NICU to see Sam. I noticed when we first got there that Sam looks different than Zac, but it was sad to see him with so many wires. The tube in his mouth was for oxygen and the silver heart on his stomach was for his heart rate. The pink spot on his chest was to monitor his breathing. He also had an IV in his hand and a monitor for the amount of oxygen in his blood.

Even though I couldn't hold him, I got to hold his hand. It was really hard to leave him, but I wanted to go see Zac, too. I felt like my heart was in two places at once.

After we saw Sam, we went down and I got settled in my room. They brought me Zac after a while and we got a little better acquainted.

It was a physically and emotionally long day, but I was so happy that my babies were finally here!