Updates

I wanted to make sure and update my loyal blog readers to let you know that Jason and I had a little talk with the boys before bedtime. We let them know that they weren't allowed to throw a party last night. They said they understood, and they were very good about going to sleep last night. They were even quiet during their 2 AM feeding. Reed waited very patiently (okay, he was asleep) until I was finished with his brother. I think Jason was actually able to sleep through the whole process. I also wanted to point out that today is the day the boys were supposed to be born. They still would have been 3 weeks early from their due date, but today WAS the scheduled big day. My mom's favorite thing to say to the boys is, "You're not even supposed to be born yet". So, I guess she'll have to stop telling them that.... although I have a feeing she'll keep on for 3 more weeks. Finally, if you check out our comments from the last blog, my cousin, Lu, says that she is going to replace my "blueberry muffin" story with the "party time" story about the boys for her Homemaking Class. (I know it's not called "homemaking" anymore, but I like being retro) Anyway, in case your curious about the blueberry muffin story.... When I was in college a friend of mine (it was Jon Sacks for my those of you that are college friends) and I were trying to make blueberry muffins. We got a little confused on the directions, so we called the number on the back of the box to ask for clarification. The people on the phone were really nice and explained what we needed to do to finish the muffins. So, the moral of the story is: you should use the phone numbers on the box if you need cooking help. Of course this story is hilarious to people who can actually cook because they can't believe that:
A. There is a phone number for people who are having problems following directions
and
B. That people actually pick up the phone and call to ask for help

Sadly, my cooking skills aren't much better now, I guess I better get to practicing...I've got all these boys to feed around here now!

Par-tay Time

Our new little additions to our family thought it would be fun to throw a party last night. They seemed to forget to run their plans by Jason and me first. Looks like they are already ganging up on me, as party time started at 1:15 AM last night. They slept all night (except for feedings) on Monday night, so I guess they were ready to get rowdy. Having party time start at 1:15 wasn't too bad since they eat at 2:00, but being that they take after their parents, they weren't ready to shut down the party so quickly. Oh no. Party time went right on through until their 5:00 AM feed. At 5:00 they had partied enough and went on to bed. They've been recovering all morning/afternoon from their festivities, and I'm not sure I've even seen their little eyes open. They're even eating with their eyes closed. Let's hope they've had enough and decide not to whoop it up tonight!

On My Own...Sort Of

My mom is here to help, but I wanted to try and feed the babies on my own last night to see if I could do it. Jason still helped with the 11 PM and 5 AM feedings, but I did the 2 AM myself. Kyle decided that it would be fun to wake up at 1:15 AM and fuss, so I actually got up for the 2 AM feeding then. I was able to do it, and I was climbing back in bed at 3, so I think I did pretty good. I started with Kyle and fed him, then put him in his boppy and then fed Reed. Kyle is the more vocal and hungry of the two, so it's best to start with him. One of their nurses in the NICU told us not to worry if they didn't always want to eat a lot because "sometimes they want steak and sometimes they want salad". I think Jason and I are getting pretty delirious at our 5 AM feedings because we came up with our own code words to describe how much they are eating. If they drink all their milk then we say "they had double meat", if they drink almost everything we say, "they had the salad bar", and if they only eat a little bit then they "had a salad". I don't think Kyle has ever had "a salad", and he's only visited "the salad bar" once or twice. Reed doesn't love eating as much as his brother; so he'll eat "a salad" every now and again...he must take after his Granny Sherry.

I thought these pictures were pretty funny...

Kyle kept hitting Reed (you can see Kyle has just pulled his hand back) so Reed is giving him the "talk to the hand" sign.

Here they are in their boppys after eating. They seem to sleep really good in them. We just happened to have them faced toward the TV and when Jason came home he said, "They're in there watching E! News".

First Night/First Day

I'd like to begin today by stating the obvious...two babies are a lot more work that one baby. Actually, they are both really good, it's just a lot more time consuming to feed two babies every 3 hours. Jason has been awesome, he has fed one of the babies at every feeding, so I'm not actually sure how long it is going to take me to feed them both by myself. I'm thinking it's going to be about around and hour and half minimum, as Jason and I can get everything that needs to be done in about an hour. Jason has taken on the job of bottle preparer, which is great. He gets all the bottles that we will use in 24 hours ready at one time. You should see what 16 bottles all lined up looks like, not much room for anything else on the top shelf of our fridge! They seem to be enjoying being together. I keep moving them apart so they won't wake each other up, but they somehow seem to keep scooting closer together. Kyle seems to always be touching Reed's face or arm. One time I walked by and he had Reed's hand in his mouth! I guess they are used to each other, they don't ever wake each other up, even if one is crying.


We got out of the house for a little while today. JR's fever hasn't come back, and he seems to be back to normal (although he is taking a nap right now). We decided to go outside for a little while. So JR rode his 4-wheeler around while I pushed the babies in their stroller. They slept through the whole thing, but it was nice for all of us to get some fresh air!

The Big One Comes Home...FINALLY!

All the Ingersolls are under one roof tonight...Woo-Hoo! No more trips to Katy twice a day...Woo-Hoo! JR's didn't have a fever all day...Woo-Hoo! So, let's start with the oldest and work our way down. JR stayed home from school again today. His teacher even called to check on him. He had a fever this morning, but Jason started giving him Tamiflu last night (and that is a procedure in itself because it tastes so bad) so that has kept his fever down the rest of the day. Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw were here all day to keep JR and Reed, and when I got home tonight JR had a new Transformer, so he was very excited about that. I got to the hospital at 11 today and the monitor lady met me about noon. The monitor is quite easy to work, and she was literally with me about 10 minutes. The NICU wanted me to have 2 feedings with Kyle to make sure I was comfortable with it, so that's where the 6 hours came in. We just hung out in a little room off from the NICU all day. I actually got to take about an hour nap, which was awesome. We left the hospital a little after 6 tonight. The nurses were so sweet and told us how much they had enjoyed the boys. They really took awesome care of them. If your having a baby and need NICU for them, I highly recommend Memorial Herman in Katy, my nurses and the boys' nurses just couldn't have been nicer or more helpful. For those of you keeping score, Reed spent 10 days in the NICU and Kyle spent 18. I didn't get to see much of little Reed today since I was at the hospital, but he seems happy to have his brother next to him again. Here are some pictures from today...Kyle coming home from the hospital, the boys in their bed, and JR and Hunter.

Big Day

Here's Reed at his first doctor's appointment today. His pediatrician said he is doing great, and he is weighing in at 5lbs 11oz now. Since he was breach he will have to go for an ultrasound on his legs and hips in 6 weeks just to make sure they are developing right. He also had his first real bath tonight. I have a picture of that, but I won't post it. Basically it looks like everybody's first bath picture...he's red and screaming. Looks like Kyle will be coming home tomorrow. I am supposed to spend the day at the NICU tomorrow learning how to use the monitor that he will be on for awhile. His sleep test showed that he does have reflux. He holds his breath when he is refluxing (since it hurts), and that is what makes his heart rate slow down. They told me to be prepared to spend about 6 hours there tomorrow. This must be some fancy piece of equipment if I'm going to need 6 hours of training! Hunter wants me to tell everybody that he also had a big day because he had to go get groomed....he seems to think that's worse that Reed having to go to the doctor. JR's fever is back, so he missed school again today...not such a big day for JR, hopefully he'll get over his flu soon so he can get back to having big days too!

Another Award

Oh yes, the Ingersoll Family has won yet another award...Kyle has now been in the NICU longer than any of the other babies in there. Jason and I were sure that a baby girl named Jordan would still be there when Kyle went home, but Jordan went home today, so Kyle wins. To add to his winnings, he is now weighing in at 6 lbs 3 oz! We are still awaiting his test results. They told us today that they won't let him go home until they know what the test says. Our nurse told us that Texas Children's is supposed to read the test tomorrow, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will pass on the results tomorrow, so it's just a big waiting game. Reed will have been home a week tomorrow so he is having his first trip to the pediatrician. Hopefully he will have gained some weight so he can try and keep up with his brother. Poor JR still isn't 100%. He went to school today, but his teacher sent home a note that said he didn't eat any of his lunch and he went to lie down early for nap...Now you know JR is sick if not only is he napping, but napping early!