farmer's market

Facepainting, balloon animals, a jumpy, fresh crepes, strawberries for Marlo and REAL tomatoes for me.

It's just over the hill from us at CSU San Marcos and we're gonna go every week.

i love this picture

maybe because it captured a calm moment...so few these days.

Cash

Graham

helloooo

I haven't even had time to take pictures. How sad.

The good news is the boys are growing. They each gained almost another pound this week. So Cash weighed 6 pounds 10 oz and Graham was 6 pounds 14 ounces. The bad news is that means they're eating all the time! I can hardly keep up!




These are little onesies that my Aunt Dianne sent. We've gotten such nice gifts for these boys. I was just unprepared and overwhelmed and friends and family really came through! Thank you :)

chunkers

these guys each gained a pound in one week! no wonder I feel like a dairy cow.

cousins

My brother and his family are in town. Sabrina is so grown up. She didn't play with any toys, she just wanted to see the babies. So tall and tan with her painted nails and pierced ears...she's killing me.
And my nephew Luke is as cute as they come. He is such a boy. The only toys he played with were those that had wheels.

blue steel

This is actually the face they make when they hear me talking. Because if they can hear me talking, they must be hungry. At least someone likes the sound of my voice, right?

just like old friends

looks like they're having a serious conversation, doesn't it?

Marlo's lullabye

first doctor visit

These boys are so good and sweet. They were stripped down for weigh in and poked all over and they hardly made a peep. Graham weighs 4 lb 13 oz and Cash weighs 4 lb 11 oz, so both are up from discharge day.

I only took a photo of them in their fancy new seats. I was feeling too bad for them in the exam room to pull out my camera. I don't know. These little guys have been through so much already. And the doctor wanted to talk shots. Not quite yet, thank you.

first pedi

Marlo was soo serious about it.

home...

Cash and Graham came home Saturday and they're doing really well. The rest of us could use some sleep.

Almost home...

Cash is still beating on his brother, even outside the womb.


Graham


Cash


Right now Mark and I are in the Parent Living Unit at Sharp hospital. They want to send the boys home tomorrow and I was a little nervous about that because we can't seem to get as much food into them as the nurses can. As one of the doctors told me, "These nurses can feed a rock."

So here we are to practice. The boys room in with us, without any monitoring, and we're completely responsible for our own kids! I'm so grateful that they offer this because I want to make sure we do everything right before they come home.

When I was still pregnant, I kept thinking how a week in the NICU seemed like such a bad thing. Now that week has flown by and I'm apprehensive about taking them home. I'm just worried about balancing everything and still trying to heal. Coming off of bedrest and recovering from surgery and its weird side effects, not to mention the emotion of it all...

Well, we'll certainly make it. Wish us luck!

Marlo's personality in a nutshell.

We went to her preschool performance yesterday. Her class did a song called "If All the Raindrops Were Lemondrops and Gumdrops". It was the cutest thing ever watching her singing up there with her friends.

So in love...

...with these little angels. You're going to get a lot of these goofy videos with my mommy blabbering.

Big sister

Marlo begged and begged to hold her brothers (I have a video of that too). She is so sweet with them...just melts my heart.

here they are....

Cash Eldredge and Graham Sutter

4 lbs 10 oz

17.75 inches long

each
(yes, exactly the same)

After an appointment on Thursday, we found that the fluid surrounding the boys was low and that they hadn't been growing as much. It was determined that they'd do better on the outside. So they were born via C section Friday morning, June 26th. They were 34 weeks and 2 days old.

They came out crying (a big relief to me). Graham's cord was wrapped around his arm and each of his legs, so it was a good thing we went ahead with delivery.

They needed CPAP for the first 15 hours or so. It's forced air that enables their lungs to expand so that they can breathe easier. The had IV fluids for the first two days, as well as feeding tubes for a day or so. They only needed the tubes a few times for feeds when they got tired, otherwise they've been taking bottles and even breastfeeding!

I'm so grateful that they're okay and I'm so proud of their progress! They're in the "step down" NICU, not needing any assistance. They're just monitored for heart and breath rates. Hopefully they'll be home in less than a week. They just have to start gaining weight, which will happen in no time because they're eating more every day.

Graham

Auntie Amy & Cash

Cash & Grandma Pat

Graham & Grandma

Big Sister in my room

tomorrow I'll try to post some videos. It's taking me awhile because it's hard to figure out who's who (even for me). I think it has something to do with the lack of sleep and the pain meds.

oh, and I think I need to change the name of my blog...