Evan, Aidan, Bella & Sophia » January 2005 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Mon, Jan 31, 2005 9:00 AM
Today was Evan & Aidan's Due Date!!!!

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Sun, Jan 30, 2005 1:19 PM
Today was our 1st official family outting together! We took Evan & Aidan to their first Mass at our church. We had a wonderful morning together.

When Slawek and I went up to receive communion, the deacon at our Church blessed little Evan & Aidan. We were touched! And after Mass was over, our Priest (Father Pennington) asked us to come up in front of the congregation. He announced to everyone how much little Evan & Aidan had been through - being in Good Sam's NICU for over a month. Everyone applauded and a nice prayer was said.

This is only the beginning!

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Tue, Jan 25, 2005 4:56 PM
Today was Evan's follow-up Pediatric appt. for his reflux and weight check.

Evan weighs 7 lbs. 2 oz!!!!!!!!!

Dr. Heaton was VERY impressed with his weight gain - it's even higher than the 1 oz. per day average weight gain. He's doing AWESOME.

Evan's reflux has improved with the zantac 3 times per day. I haven't seen an A&B (Apnea/Bradycardia) episode since he has been home (no blue lips, no breath holding, etc.) Dr. Heaton said he will keep him on the zantac for probably another couple of months, and then ween him off.

I asked Dr. Heaton when the Twins will be able to go anywhere or see anyone. Dr. Heaton said the boys can go to church with us (or to the mall) as soon as they turn 2 months old! That's in 5 days!!! They are 8 weeks old today. Dr. Heaton said we can't take them to any form of Daycare, and we shouldn't have them in small, enclosed spaces with lots of people. But - as long as people aren't touching them and we aren't letting the free world hold them, we can actual do an outting. So - our first outting will be to go to Church! We'll see how that goes.

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Sun, Jan 23, 2005 8:34 PM
Week 1 of Daddy going back to work went just fine. Grandma and Grandpa Campbell did come over during the day to help out, so all went pretty well.

Thursday night/Friday morning was horrible. Evan & Aidan screamed ALL NIGHT. Here I have been bragging that our 2 little ones are on such a schedule, they never cry unless it's time to eat. Not that night! I think they got used to Grandma & Grandpa holding them, and they missed them at night! Things are back to normal, thank God.

Tuesday is our next Pediatrician appt!

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Tue, Jan 18, 2005 8:56 AM
Daddy went back to work today. I have to say this is going to be such an adjustment period. I am not worried about being home without Slawek, but I am worried about the fact that one baby could be screaming for food while I am feeding the other. I only have 2 hands. Oh well, like I said.... this will be an adjustment period.

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Mon, Jan 17, 2005 4:53 PM
Evan & Aidan received their Synagis injection (RSV symptom prevention) and they were weighed!

Evan weighs 6 lbs. 4.2 oz.
Aidan weighs 7 lbs. 8.9 oz.

They are making major progress on their weighs! Dr. Parks will be very pleased on Friday when we go for another checkup.

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Thu, Jan 13, 2005 11:29 AM
I have to say we are on a pretty good schedule here at home. The NICU got Evan & Aidan on a pretty strict schedule. They feed at 12 pm, 3 pm, 6 pm, 9 pm, 12 midnight, etc. Every 3 hours like clock work they wake up to be changed & fed. I have the NICU experience to thank for that. Our boys are great about sleeping.

I will have to pump & add additional calories & vitamins to my breastmilk until the boys are at least 9 months old, so I am told. I am allowed to breastfeed each of them 1 time per day right now, if they can do it. But, so far, it hasn't really worked out. That's okay - whatever works for them at this point. They rule the house.

Speaking of pumping, my hands-free pumping bra is AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I received it today and LOVE it. I read a magazine while I pumped, ate some lunch and talked on the phone easily. And tonight, I can't wait to try it out while I am napping. I am a little afraid of what will happen if I fall asleep. As it is, I have to pump every 2.5 hours because I get so engorged it becomes painful. If I accidentally fall asleep for a lengthy period while pumping, I will only stimulate more milk and be in pure & utter pain! I'll have to set an alarm or something, but at least I won't spill milk down my pants anymore.

Slawek goes back to work on Tuesday, and boy am I scared. Currently we get up with each other all night and one feeds Evan and the other feeds Aidan. Typically I am in charge of Evan, as he is the more challenging baby. He has to be coaxed into eating... he just doesn't enjoy it yet. Aidan, on the other hand, sucks his bottle down like there is no tomorrow. He just has to be paced so he doesn't breathe the milk down his lungs. Slawek and I are a good team. I just don't know how things will work out once he goes back to work. :(

Okay, here is something cute about the boys. Aidan is your typical chubby, happy baby. He has HUGE eyes that seem to smile at you all the time. He only cries for 1 thing - to EAT. That's it. When he looks at you, he gives you typical, cuddly baby looks. Evan is a different story. When you look into his eyes, it's like you are looking into the soul of a grown man. Seriously, I don't know how else to describe it. He is the size of a baby and everything, but his eyes tell a different story. He looks at you like he is *watching* you and like he really understands. It's scary sometimes. Everyone that meets the boys comments about it. Our primary NICU nurse told us that "Evan has an old soul". She said it seems like he has lived on earth before, whatever that means. Our neighbor brought over a gift for the boys (annual passes to the Cincinnati Nature Center) and she told us that "Evan looks like a philosopher." You just can't believe what you are staring into unless you see it yourself, but I thought I would try to share as best I can. Aidan's godfather (Chris) told us when he first saw them, "Aidan is going to be the ladies man, and Evan is going to be the brains in your family." Little comments like that let us know that we aren't the only ones who see it.

We are still adjusting to everything, but I truly believe we are handling everything just fine. We'll see what it's like next week without Daddy around.

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Sun, Jan 9, 2005 9:40 PM
Today was a BIG day! We had our Christmas at home. Evan & Aidan finally received all the nice presents from Grandma & Grandpa Campbell - and also Aunt Melissa, TJ and Richie. We received LOTS of nice things.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful gifts! Evan & Aidan will love playing with all their new toys.

Mommy and Daddy got the best gift of all...

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Fri, Jan 7, 2005 10:42 AM
Evan had his 1st Pediatrician appt. today. Everything is going okay, although Evan has been put back on Zantac again.

Evan weighs 5 lbs. 6 oz., 18.5" long
Aidan weighs 6 lbs. 6 oz., 19.5" long

Evan was still having Apnea/Bradycardia spells right after he ate and when we burped him. We voiced our stresses to our Pediatrician who decided to try him back on Zantac again. Honestly, Slawek and I weren't getting much sleep (due to worrying about Evan having a spell while sleeping). So, this will work out better as far as not worrying quite so much.

Both boys are doing great, although they are 1 month old and <5 percentile as far as growth goes. This is to be expected, as they were 9 weeks premature. Hopefully by Age 2 they will catch up with other children their age.

Poor Evan hadn't had a bowel movement in 75 hours by the time we got to the Pediatrician's office, either. The Home-Nurse visited and did a rectal stimulation on him, and I did about 4 more rectacl stimulations on him since then. Nothing worked. Finally, the Pediatrician decided to let me give Evan a glycerin suppository. That did the trick. Poor little Evan was grunting, groaning and pooping all evening. At least he is cleaned out, and he is eating much better now as a result.

Aidan is doing just fine - taking everything as it comes and getting chunkier and chunkier.

My 6 week post-partum check up is on Tuesday. Are they really 6 weeks old? YIKES!

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Wed, Jan 5, 2005 9:46 AM
I just got the OFFICIAL word! Evan has been released from the Hospital. We can come and pick him up anytime today!!!!!!!!!!! What a miracle!

Evan was in the NICU for 37 days; Aidan was in the NICU for 33 days.

I know it will be exhausting, as we are already exhausted after having Aidan home since Saturday - but at least we won't have to drive back and forth to the Hospital anymore.

Evan weighs 5 lbs. 2.7 oz
Aidan weighs 6 lbs.

Feeding both babies is a real challenge. Aidan is eating 75 ml. per feeding (just over 2 oz) and Evan is eating 50 ml. per feeding (just under 2 oz). Aidan likes to gulp his bottle down with such force that he nearly chokes on the milk. We have to really work with him by pacing his access to the milk (tipping the bottle down so he can't gulp anymore and watching his breathing). Evan is a different kind of challenge. Evan is pokey about eating. He likes to play with the nipple in his mouth and roll it around for 5 minutes or so. And you can't force him to drink the milk by trying to squirt a little in his mouth, because he holds his breath and goes into a self-stimulated apnea/bradycardia episode. Evan also has difficulty with burping. He likes to (again) hold his breath and go into an apnea/bradycardia episode. We are very aware of the difficulties and challenges with each baby, and we are hopeful that with time (closer to their due date), they will grow out of these premature issues altogether. We have also taken an Infant CPR class to prepare us for any unforeseen disasters.

I had hoped that by the time they came home, I could be breastfeeding. Maybe sometime in the future. Right now, the boys need additional calories. Breastmilk and formula have only 20 calories per oz. Right now the boys are being fed a breastmilk "milkshake". I have to mix 3 oz. of my breastmilk with 1 tsp. of Neosure premature infant formula. It thickens up the milk and provides additional calories needed for growth. I am also fortifying their breastmilk/formula mixture with infant multivitamins once per day, as prescribed.

We are very thankful for our little ones and how well they are doing. We are so proud of them!!

Aidan's First Foto is showing on the Web Nursery now, see link:

http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/babypage_view.asp?URLID=4M6G8O2C3D

Have a good day!!

Love, the Gorczyk family

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Mon, Jan 3, 2005 9:42 AM
Today was Aidan's 1st Pediatrician visit. Our Pediatrician said Aidan looks absolutely PERFECT. He weighs right at 6 lbs., and continues to gain weight each day. He looks like a little chunker to me (considering his birth weight of 3 lbs. 12 oz) - but the Pediatrician's office all told me how small and cute he is. Oh well, I guess they don't realize what "small" really is until they walk through the NICU.

All is well - we are exhausted. How will we manage with 2 babies is what I want to know. We will, there is no doubt about it, but I am beginning to wonder what sleep used to feel like.

Slawek is a God-send. He changes and feeds Aidan during the night-time shifts (3 am and 6 am). While he is taking care of Aidan, I pump; which I have to admit is getting overwhelming & exhausting with everything else going on. During the day, I drive to the Hospital to see little Evan and when I come back, Slawek drives back. We can't miss seeing our little Evan, too.

On a WONDERFUL note ~ Evan is doing great. He managed to yank out his gavage feeding tube on Saturday and has been (luckily) finishing all his bottles. This means no more tubes and if he continues to do so, he will be released in 48 hours!! Keep your fingers crossed!!

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Sat, Jan 1, 2005 9:41 AM
We brought Aidan home from the Hospital. It is hard to say if we are excited or sad - as we had to leave little Evan behind. We are very worried that they will miss each other or react in a negative way. Time will tell. Hopefully Evan will be released within the week - he just has to learn how to nipple all his feeds and stop relying on a gavage tube to finish his bottle for him. He can do it! In the meantime, we will try to adjust to having 1 baby at home.

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