...And Even More Pictures

Wyatt wearing my wedding ring with his feeding tube in

Wyatt holding the pen like a javelin

Who does Parks look like? (see below)

Why it's Randi as a newborn

More Pictures

Randi and I with the boys for our first family shotWyatt "kangaroo-ing" it on mommy

Wyatt alert and curious

Parks and Wyatt holding hands

Parks held by me

Answers To Questions

I wanted to answer a few questions that have been raised over the last couple days that I might have failed to address earlier and give an update on the day's event.

Wyatt was 15 1/4 inches long, and Parks was 17 inches long at birth. Almost two inches makes a lot of difference. They have both started to lose a little weight, which is to be expected. Wyatt has lost less than an ounce, and Parks has lost 3 ounces. They have started taking to the feeds, and Randi is doing a lot better with the pumping. Every drop of that stuff is "liquid gold." I've been trying to help her out as much as I can, and I will NEVER look at those things the same way. We have seen a couple lactation consultants that have been very helpful, and I have to say that they were not shy to give demonstrations. It was quite odd to see a woman my mother's age massaging her breast in front of me, and I not think twice about it. I was too focused on the technique and form she used to get "weirded out" about it. As Randi will probably reaffirm, you gain a lot of humility and lose a lot of unabashed modesty throughout the course of this whole process.

Wyatt and Parks are doing very well also. They are still located in the Intensive Care Nursery (ICN) Level III, although they have been stepped down in the hospital's system to the Level II ICN. This is great news. We have found a couple great RN's and NP's that we really like taking care of our boys. Wyatt is still under the bili lights in the isolette and hates to get turned over on his belly. Every time they try to put him in this position, he looks like he is trying to swim out of his fish bowl. We figure that this is his first chance to stretch out, and he is taking advantage of every second of it. Parks's bilirubin levels are also becoming elevated. So, it is most likely that he will be under the bili lights soon. They are also trying to find an appropriate level on the feeds. Wyatt is going slow, and they are not trying to push him too much. I believe they are being a little more cavalier with Parks because of his size. He has resisted a few feeds, but they are working to find a happy medium to put more weight on them both.

The perinatologist made his first visit this morning. I believe that he was very excited to see the boys and check their progress. He is still amazed at how well the whole situation turned out. He told us flat out today that if Randi had not of been able to put up with what she did, he would have delivered weeks ago and put it in the hands of the ICN. We are going to try and do something for his office and bring the boys around when we are able. They also had to put up with a lot for us.

Updated Video of Wyatt and Parks

I am sorry for the technical difficulties any of you might have experienced with the video I recently posted. It was an error on my part. Hope this works out better.

Emerson Parks

Samuel Wyatt

Today In The ICN

Wyatt's little hand

Wyatt's little feet

Parks's accommodations- a crib

Parks next to a pen for reference

Wyatt next to a pen for reference

Wyatt's accommodations- an isolette under bili lights

eMotion Pictures (Nice Double Entendre)

I am posting videos above of the boys shortly after birth.

Randi and the boys are doing well. Randi is up and around, and she is feeling exponentially better today over yesterday. She is eating solids and trying to get some nourishment to the babies. More on that later. I want to stress again our gratitude to everyone out there for the phone calls, emails, and comments on this blog. Also, I wanted to let you all know that I am printing off copies of the posts I am writing while she is admitted and their comments for her to read in the hospital, since we still have no internet and spotty cell phone reception. She enjoys the encouragement.

They started feeding both babies last night, and so far, they have taken the food well via feeding tube. We are trying to give them as much natural food as possible but are having intermittent results. She is trying her best not to get discouraged here at the beginning but push on through. They have moved Parks out of the warming drawer and into a regular crib because he is regulating his body temperature so well. He is taking the feeds and is looking great. Wyatt is still in the isolette only because of his weight and lack of body fat stores. Both boys are most likely getting put under the bili lights for neonatal jaundice. This is common in premature babies and usually lasts at the most 14 days. It is presumably a consequence of metabolic and physiological adjustments after birth.

We are getting to see them both several times a day and hold them twice a day. Randi held Wyatt for the first time last night. She has to hold him skin to skin to her chest, in what's called "kangaroo care," since he loses body heat so fast. We are also hoping that it will help him want the breast and aid Randi in pumping. Randi most likely going to be discharged tomorrow. I'm sure she will be happy to go home and get rested better in preparation for the boys coming home, although it has been nice to just walk down the hall to see them. We are so thankful for the outcomes thus far. For as many REAL concerns as we had, it only shows that God it good.

Pins And Needles

Emerson Parks

Samuel Wyatt

I'm sure that this is the feeling everyone is experiencing now. Sorry for the delay. We are not able to get Internet access at the hospital we are in now. No Internet access is like a restaurant being "cash only" now days. Who does that? So, I ran home to gather supplies and try to get more pictures out there. Mister Toad ain't got nothing on this wild ride. So, finally an update for everyone.

Randi and the babies pulled through the C-section great. Wyatt came out first, and we were able to hold him for about 10 minutes while they cleaned-up Parks. Then, we got to hold him as well until they whisked them both off to the NICU. The perinatologist was amazed at how big Wyatt (and Parks) was. He remarked that the umbilical cord for Wyatt was not as bad as he predicted.

Late last night, the grandparents and I were able to visit both babies in the Level III NICU, sans Randi, who had to wait until she was up and around to see them. Both babies, as you can see, are on room air. NO VENTS for either of them, thank you kindly steroids. Parks had a little bit of a groan from left over fluid in the lungs, and Wyatt had low, 53, blood sugars from lack of glycogen stores in his body. Both as predicted, and both conditions corrected themselves through the night, with Wyatt's blood sugars being 93 at last count. Randi was able to visit them today for the first time. She was also able to get pumping today since they are going to start trying to feed them tonight, extremely slowly. I am talking about 1 cc every 6 hours for Wyatt and 3 cc every 4 hours for Parks. They are also suggesting that they may have them stepped down to the Level II NICU observation. We may be able to take Parks home in 4-5 days, but it will be 4-6 weeks for Wyatt. He will need to be at least 4 pounds before they discharge him. He is going to stay there as a feeder and grower. They are going to perform an ultrasound on the head to check for any brain bleeds. We are praying that both boys will be free and clear. We thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We feel that we've got one set of prayer requests marked off our list and a whole new one opened up. I will try to come home once a day for an update to the blog and new pictures.

Hot Off The Presses

Jennifer gave you the skinny. I got the visuals. We get to visit them for the first time around 8 p.m. We will give a lengthy update after that. Enjoy.

The Boys Have Arrived

Jennifer here, reporting for Randi & Todd:

Praise God!
Samuel Wyatt was born at 4:55PM weighing 2lb 5.8 oz.
Emerson Parks arrived at 4:57PM weighing 5lb 2oz.
Randi is doing great!

There will be a lengthier post once the dust settles, hopefully to include pictures.

To God be the Glory!

Fever Pitched

It's 1:30 a.m., and we just finished a biophysical profile via ultrasound with the perinatologist. Poor guy never gets any sleep, and he still has a surgery tonight. Both boys passed the biophysical proile. Wyatt still has absent end flow but no consistent signs of reversal. He also has very little deep pockets of amniotic fluid, as the doctor said, "he's saran wrapped to the side of the uterus." They are both breathing regularly and moving well.

To the events of the day. We found out that the C-section is not scheduled until 4 p.m. tomorrow due to either the OB or the OR, anyways it's one of the O's. Randi was not very happy after seeing the bad heart rate tracings and remembering that Wyatt has been in reverse end diastolic flow for over a week. She was ready to evict these babies today. We were very close to transferring hospitals today and taking our chances there. At least that way, if the situation becomes emergent, we would all be at the right location. The only flaw in that plan is that the nurses at the other hospital would cut our perinatologist out of the loop if something went wrong, and we didn't want that.

So, at 8 am in the morning Randi and I are transferring hospitals. The perinatologist is going with us to expedite the situation. Hopefully, we will have time for a consult with the neonatologist that will be taking care of the boys when they finally do come. From what I understand, the OR will be a packed house of controlled chaos with standing room only.

Whooa Nelly

Looks like the plan is to throw a birthday party for Wyatt and Parks tomorrow either at 7:30 am or at noon. The OB is trying to get the OR scheduled. In the meantime, Randi and the nurse have decided that it would be better if Wyatt stayed on the monitors continuously. We have continued to see some intermittent decelerations in his heart rate. If we continue to see these bad tracings, we might be delivering tonight in an emergency situation. Let's pray that that will not be necessary. If we deliver here, the babies will have to shipped off to the big hospital with the Level III NICU. I would also need to follow the babies to the NICU to make sure everything goes as planned there. This would leave Randi at our current hospital without her babies or husband and 3-4 days until she was well enough from the C-section to be discharged.