Wednesday, March 23, 2011

We are SOOO Lucky and Blessed

Hi to all of our blog followers! This is Kendra making an appearance on her own blog site (I told you in the beginning this is not my strength) but I have a few things I was laying awake last night and thinking about.

As you have read, we have MANY things to be thankful for right now. I wanted to share a few of those things that are actually not directly baby related but that are completely huge in their story right now. The following are being shared in no particular order-I just have no way of making them all first :)

I have an amazing husband!!! I already knew I had a great guy before all of this but Clayton (or Eric or Hutch :)) has just been a ROCK. From the time we decided I was going to the emergency room on Sunday morning he has been there for me and the babies every step of the way in ways that I could not possibly have imagined. He was calm and collected throughout the emergency room craziness and every time I looked at him, he had a look in his eye that made me feel like everything was going to be OK (even though I now know he was probably more scared than me).

For the past three days he has juggled taking care of me, the babies, and all extra things that come with having 2 babies in the NICU. He listens to the doctors and asks questions that I would never even think about wanting to know. He loves these babies with all of his heart and I love to hear him talk about them because I can hear the joy in his voice. I am just so excited to see him grow as a dad because he is already so great, I know that things can only get better!

I've been working on pumping breastmilk (more to come on this later) for the babies and Clayton is my cheerleader. He encourages me daily and shares my pumping success with others at the hospital to help me feel good about the little things (and he is seriously "pumped"-ha, no pun intended). Now this may seem small but pumping is one of the few things I can actually do for the twins and it makes me feel so special that he gets excited for me.

I probably could have devoted an entire blog entry to Clayton with all the big and little things he's done but I'll stop for now because I've shed too many happy tears :)

Our immediate families are the BEST: Again, of course we knew this before but having Mamaw, Grammie Sue, Grampa Ken, Aunt Jennifer (and Uncle Steven), and Aunt Stefanie (and Will) here with us has made these last couple of days so much easier. As you know if you've been following the blog, they all have played an important roles up to this point and will continue to do so as we continue this journey. As a nurse just told me tonight, what we have is not the norm. The fact that we have had at least one person (at many times 3 or 4) here since Sunday is not something they normally see. To have the mental and physical support of loving family around means so much to both of us. And all the little things that each of them provides each of us in unmeasurable. I mean, all you blog followers wouldn't have had anything to follow up to this point except 2 pictures had my mom and sister had not stepped in and wrote their entries. Mom Hutch's nursing background has been super helpful as she totally understands what they doctors and nurses are telling us and can translate to us if necessary. Obviously, I could ramble again about all the little details but basically, we have a FANTASTIC family and support system and love them all dearly :)

YOU GUYS: It is so encouraging to hear the messages from you daily. We CANNOT believe how many people are following this blog. It is just awesome to hear from close friends and family AND from those of you that we haven't kept in touch with but care about these babies because of our families or friends. Whether you've wrote to us or not, we know there are a bunch of thoughts and prayers heading in our direction and are thankful for that. We just can't respond back personally to many of you but please know that whatever you are doing, please keep doing it because it is working! Again, we are very lucky to have so much love and support so THANK YOU.

**Blog "earmuffs" for boys and my younger crowd-I'm going to talk about breast pumping :) ** 

MY BOOBS: Yes, I am thankful for my boobs :) Now, I have debated putting this in as I know we have a wide variety of followers and if it makes you uncomfortable to read about pumping, please skip this section. As I talked about earlier, pumping is one of the few things I can physically do to help out Keagan and CJ.  Every single doctor and nurse has told me that if the babies can get my colostrum and milk, it will help their developing immune system and growth and that it is soooo important. So, I started pumping on Sunday night and have continued pretty much every 3 hours since then. To my mom friends-oh my goodness-how do you do this when you actually have children to take care of as well? I feel like it is a full time job-you are amazing people! I have been extremely blessed that I started having enough colostrum to save on Monday and got milk in yesterday. I am now way ahead of the babies as they started getting my milk into their feeding tubes today-YAY! It is something that I can feel great about because it is hard to know that they are in this condition because my body failed them once but is able to provide some help again. On a totally inappropriate side note :) they are also getting quite large, so that is fun too!!

Okay by this point, you are probably thinking that you will never want me to blog again because I've taken up way too much of your time with my stories and you haven't even gotten an update on the babies for today! So here you go real quick because I've been working on this silly post since 7 am and I just need to submit it (or you WILL never have another post from me!).

It was another fairly uneventful day-a great thing!! As I told you already, both kiddos are now feeding from the feeding tube with breast milk or colostrum. I got to change CJ's diaper for the first time this morning and he peed on me (he is Clayton's son!). Then I changed him again tonight and he had a poopy diaper, so I really am getting a small dose of motherhood! Both babies are showing improvements daily and it is so fun to see their little personalities developing. CJ is calm and laid back almost always, where Keagan is quite particular about what she wants and lets us know if she isn't happy.

Tomorrow is a big day with their head ultrasounds so please be thinking about them or putting them in your prayers. We will be getting the results of those tests on Friday, so please check back then for an update.

Love,
Kendra

10 comments:

  1. Thank you Kendra for sharing every little bit of that. It is wonderful to know that that you have so much support. That is so very important! You are doing so much more than providing milk for CJ and Keagan whether you feel that way right now or not. They are in this place where they are receiving the very best care because YOU did all of the right things...listened to your body, followed your instincts and sought help from those around you. I know you are an amazing mother and that Clayton is an amazing father. I never thought for a moment that it would be any other way. We will definitely be thinking of those precious babies during their big test today and await the results. Please don't forget to take care of yourself. Remember, you are healing too! We love you all very much!! Love, Aunt Patty and family

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  2. Kendra,
    I just loved reading this blog! You are such an amazing mom and I just knew that Clayton would be an incredible dad through all of this! I can't tell you how many times I have thought about you guys, and will continue to keep you all in my thoughts as the days go on! Sending my love to the Nuggets!!!
    Love you!
    sil

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  3. HAHAHAHHAHA!!!! BLOG EARMUFFS!! I love you, this was a great update!! Have a great day sister!
    XOXOXO
    Stef

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  4. Dear Kendra and Clayton,
    This is Annie and Nicky's Aunt Sue, remember me? Congratulations! Your babies are absolutely darling! You are all in our thoughts and prayers all the time ~ especially for the head ultrasounds this week. We are loving the blog and so appreciate being able to follow your precious story and see your babies' progress. And great job on the pumping!! It's so hard to get that "liquid gold" ~ what a great Mom you are (as well as an entertaining writer :>)!!
    P.S. Emma and Mia send their own special congratulations!

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  5. Hi,

    You don't know me, but I am Jill Edstrom, Karen Edstrom's daughter-in-law. I have heard your story and read your blog and just wanted to let you know we are praying for you. We had a difficult time with fertility, pre-term labor, and an early twin birth. While our story doesn't even come close to yours, I can empathize with what you are going through (even the part about being excited about your boobs :). My heart goes out to you. You sound like you have a very strong and supportive family as well as a good team of doctors. Stay strong - I know it is not easy. If you ever need an ear, you can contact us jilly0803@comcast.net
    ~Jill Edstrom

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  6. Dear Kendra-
    Jeff and I say prayers for Keagan, CJ, you and Clayton each day. Everyone is praying, and you know how powerful that is. You are an amazing niece, and definitely an amazing mom too. You always have such a positive attitude, and it shows even in the toughest of situations. I think about you all every day, and can't wait to see the babies!

    The moment a child is born,
    the mother is also born.
    She never existed before.
    The woman existed, but the mother, never.
    A mother is something absolutely new.
    ~Rajneesh

    Love you- AuntJanet

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  7. Dear Hutchinson Family: This is Susan, your labor nurse from Bloomington-Normal. I want you to know, you, your family, and those
    miracle babies have been in my prayers every day and will continue. As I told you there will be ups and downs but they are strong babies with enormous love and support who will help all of you get through. I am so glad you and your family are taking the time to post to the blog! I like to see the achievements of CJ & Keagan. Take care.

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  8. Love you guys! Kendra, Congrats on the pumping success!!! ;) You're little nuggets are going to get so big and strong with your help :)

    Much love,
    Elizabeth

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  9. I'd tell you to stop making me cry, but I'm so darn happy for you and Clayton and your amazing family. I'm also really happy for you that you KNOW and SEE how lucky you are...even in all this ironic beauty that is life.
    xoxoxoxo

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  10. Oh Kendra I am so proud of you! You are such a great mom and I can't wait to see you with them! Glad you are doing ok and I LOVE every detail you post because I miss u so much and HATE that I can't be there to see u and meet your precious babies! Miss u so much, love u and am so thankful to God for your miracles!
    Jenni Austell

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