The Boys' First Three Weeks

The boys were born on a Tuesday and came home on a Tuesday, three weeks later!

What an emotional time for both Jonathan and me! We were very thankful for all the family that came to be with us when the boys arrived, but this is about the way I was feeling throughout the time my boys were in the NICU.

September 1, 2010 - Neither of the boys could keep their oxygen levels at a sufficient level and they were both put on the ventilators. Even on the vent, Jacob had low oxygenation so they determined that a venous line was necessary so they wouldn’t have to keep sticking his foot to test his levels. What a heartbreaking sight, to see your child with a line going in through where his belly button should be. I was still having a hard time getting around and I had to be wheeled to the NICU to see the boys, but as the day went on I started walking a little and was able to stand without fear of falling. My ability to stand meant I could stand next to their beds and place my hand on each of them. First contact with my boys!!

September 2, 2010 – I changed Jacob’s diaper for the first time. I was ecstatic to have that contact with him and also saddened that my child was 2 days old and I had not even had the small pleasure of changing his diaper. To this point the best I could hope for was to lay my hand on one of the boys while they were sleeping, we were not allowed to rub the boys because that sensation would have disturbed them. The time I had with the boys was regulated by their “touch times,” so I could not go anytime I wanted to see them, I had to wait until the hours of 5, 8, 11, or 2. While I was in the hospital, I didn’t miss a touch time, not even the 2 am time. Both of the boys came off the ventilators that evening and they would spend the next 5-6 days weaning them off the CPAP machine. (I am far from a medical professional, but my understanding of this machine is that it forces air down into their lungs so they don’t have to work as hard to breath, but there was no tube down into their lungs.)



Me holding Jacob before his bath.

September 3, 2010 – Every small thing that other mothers might take for granted was a huge step for me! Today was the first time I held Jacob in my hands. It was for his first bath. I didn’t get to snuggle him, but I had both of my hands under him. Today was also the first time I got to change my Caleb. I was starting to feel like a mother, finally!

Caleb with his "cool" sunglasses.

September 4, 2010 – Today we found out that both of the boys were jaundice. They both spent the day in phototherapy and got to wear cool little sunglasses. Today was the first day I actually held Caleb in my arms. Waiting 4 days to hold my child was very hard on me, but it was so wonderful to have that time with him. To be able to look down at my child the way a mother is intended (of course it would have been better without all the cords and IV’s).

September 5, 2010 – This day was especially hard for me. I had been discharged from the hospital the day before, but since the boys were still there in the NICU, I was allowed to stay for an additional night. They called it lodging, but could only allow me to do this for one night. I stayed for the 5 pm “touch time” and then came home. I cried so hard when Jonathan brought me home that night. CJ, Sandhya and Chad were all at the house and CJ and Sandhya had prepared a wonderful lasagna and salad and garlic bread. The house was full, but empty of the two people that should have been there!

I spent the next two weeks going back and forth from the house to the hospital. I didn’t go for every “touch time” because it was just too much back and forth while I was trying to pump. These two weeks held ups and downs and Jonathan and I rejoiced with every small step each boy took forward, but we also had moments of extreme sadness when the boys were not progressing the way the doctors hoped. We also had a bad experience with a nurse. To keep the story short; she ripped tape from Jacob’s face, he screamed, and that little blonde nurse is lucky I couldn’t reach her ponytail because I would have yanked it off her head!

By September 9th, both boys were completely off any oxygen. Now the boys had to learn how to take 8 bottles a day. While they were on oxygen, they had been tube fed so any instinct to suck had been lost. On September 18th, we walked in to see the boys and there was no tube going down their noses anymore! It was so amazing to see my boys’ faces with no tape or tubes, just their perfectly beautiful faces! Three long days later, September 21st, we finally got to bring the boys home! I can touch them whenever I want and hold them without turning off a machine. They were finally mine!



On our way home!!



The Arrival of the Bransom Boys

Yes, I know it has been entirely too long since I have posted here, but I think the story of how the two boys arrived is worth sharing, or at least documenting for the boys to see at some later point.

It was Tuesday, August 31st and I was not expecting the boys for at least another week; I was 35 weeks pregnant exactly. I was on home bed rest because I was having a difficult time controlling my blood pressure. It is amazing what a little bit of rest will do! The day had started out pretty normal, but the events unfolded pretty quickly:

10:00 am - I was starting to feel off. I was so dizzy; lying down did not make the room stop spinning. I took my blood pressure and it was 160/110. Dangerously high!

10:30 am - I called Jonathan to ask him what he thought I should do, but he was busy so I just called my doctor.

11:30 am - I hear back from my doctor's office that he wants to see me right away.

12:15 pm - Jonathan and I arrive at the doctor's office. My doctor (Dr. Sandmann) was not in the office that day, so I saw Dr. Luciani from the same office. He took my blood pressure and we listened to the boys. My blood pressure had returned to normal and the boys sounded fine, but Dr. Luciani felt like it would be safer to go over to the hospital and monitor me for a little while. After we got over to the hospital, Jonathan called his sister, Jennifer, and asked her to come out to McKinney after work. We still did not think we were going to have the boys, but we thought "just in case".

1:30 pm - I get hooked up to two baby monitors and of course a blood pressure monitor. They continue to watch me and the boys for an hour or so. Thank goodness neither of the boys were in distress.

2:30 pm - Dr. Luciani comes in to talk to me. He asked me if I was having contractions and I replied no. Dr. Sandmann had described contractions to me and I had not felt anything like that. Dr. Luciani then informs me that my contractions were every 2-4 minutes and I had dilated to 3 cm. He had discussed the situation with Dr. Sandmann and they decided there was no benefit to trying to keep the boys in. He told me the nurses would be in shortly to prepare me for my C-Section. All we were waiting on was Dr. Sandmann to show up. Now we started calling all of the family that wanted to be here when the boys arrived and they all started coming this way as soon as they could.

4:30 pm - They had me ready and we were still waiting on Dr. Sandmann to arrive. The time seemed to pass so quickly and I also remember thinking it was taking Dr. Sandmann forever to get there. I told Jonathan it was a good thing I didn't have time to prepare for this day because I was a little nervous about the C-Section.

5:15 pm - Dr. Sandmann arrives and they wheel me back into the operating room to start the C-Section. Not only do I have my doctor, but Dr. Luciani was also in to help. I am pretty sure the total count of medical professional in the room at this point was 8! It took a long time for the spinal to really make me go numb. It was cold on my skin when he cut me open. I am not saying I felt it, just a cold sensation.

5:36 pm - Jacob arrives and I hear his first cry. There is no better sound in the world when you have spent the past 8 months worrying about this little person.

5:37 pm - Caleb makes his grand entrance, reluctantly. As soon as Jacob came out, Caleb flipped and was breach and he moved up into my uterus as far as he could. Caleb let out a good scream and relief washed over me. Both of my boys were out and I knew they were breathing.

At this point time had no meaning, so I cannot tell you what time it was when the rest happened. I got to see both of the boys for a brief moment after they had been cleaned up a little. Unfortunately, the pain of sewing me up was really starting to affect me and Dr. Sandmann knocked me out with morphine. When I woke up I was in the recovery room with Jonathan. Jonathan told me that he didn't know where the boys were; he had gone to the nursery several times and couldn't see them. This is when we found out the boys were having trouble breathing on their own and they had been moved into the NICU. On the way to my room they pulled me up to the window and I could barely see them. All I wanted to do was hold my boys. I couldn't sleep that night, I still had not been able to touch them so when the night nurse came to check on me at 1:00 am, I told her I wanted to go see my babies! She wanted to make sure I thought I could stand up to get to the wheelchair. I could have done anything they asked me to do in order to see my children. I am sure any mother out there in the same position would tell you the same thing. She wheeled me in to see them for a few minutes and I could have stared at them all night! I could not stand up next to them yet because they didn't want me to fall in the NICU, but they got me close enough to see them better! They are the most incredible things I have ever had a part in; they are my little miracles!



Caleb at 1:20 am 9-1-2010



Jacob at 1:15 am 9-1-2010

Baby News

What a wonderful few days we have had! On May 2nd, Jonathan was able to feel the babies moving around. It was so wonderful to see his face light up as he realized what he was feeling. His jaw kept progressively dropping as he felt the gentle flutters. At this point their movements are still very subtle, but I wanted him to feel them so I made him just wait until he felt them. On May 5th, Jonathan and I had an appointment at 11:00 am to see the babies and try to find out what the genders were for these two. It took about 10 seconds to locate the "boy parts" on both babies! While we were discussing names, the boy names seemed to be easier for us to agree on. I guess it was a sign that I really knew we were having two boys. These two boys have great names; Jacob Daniel and Caleb Thomas. Now we just need to start shopping for all the things these boys will need!

Family and Fun

Well last weekend was supposed to be a weekend of "Family and Fun". It wasn't ALL fun, but we did get to see some family. Jonathan's parents and James, his brother and James' family were all in town (his sister Jennifer lives up here already). On Friday night we went to see the Frisco Roughriders play baseball. We had a great time and I enjoyed getting to talk with James and his three youngest kids, Hannah, Liam, and Sarah. We stayed until the end of the game to watch the fireworks, because I love things that sparkle! On Saturday morning we got up and went to see James' oldest daughter, Mary, compete in a Speakers Tournament. Mary did a great job and it was fun to see a different part of the competition than we normally get to see. So far, so good on the weekend of "Family and Fun." Saturday night is when things started to go downhill. I started bleeding and I was more than nervous. I already love these two pumpkins, they can't leave me yet. So Jonathan and I spent 6 hours in the emergency room, so they could tell me that both babies looked okay and they weren't sure why I was bleeding. A little bit of a relief to hear that they were both ok, but I was not comforted by the fact that they didn't know why this was happening. I had a check up with my doctor today and he thinks I have a Urinary Tract Infection and that I definitely overdid it this weekend. But so far the news is still good, we will just keep watching these two to make sure they are strong and healthy.

How we reached this point... (not a short story)

In trying to make sure everyone is "caught up" in what is going on in our lives, I feel like just saying "we are pregnant with twins" doesn't really tell anyone how we made it to this point.  Unfortunately it wasn't exactly the road we anticipated, but we tried to take it all in stride...

Of course we started trying to add to our family like any other couple.  After a few months of praying and hoping we were not getting the result we wanted.  So I mentioned in passing at my yearly check-up in February 2009, we were trying to have a baby.  My doctor decided to check everything out to make sure there wasn't anything affecting my ability to get pregnant.  This was the first "test" we had that didn't go exactly our way.  The doctor told me I had PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome).  It was a "minor setback" according to my doctor.  He said he would put me on Clomid and I would be pregnant in no time.  So we tried the Clomid for a few months and it was Jonathan that said he didn't understand why we weren't testing him also.  So he went to get tested so we would know whether it was just me keeping us from having the baby of our dreams.  We didn't get great news and Jonathan was placed on a couple of prescriptions.  We were sent to Dr. Barnett, our fertility specialist.  We met with Dr. Barnett and we were very encouraged.  He said with such confidence at the end of our first meeting "I will give you a baby!"  What fantastic words to hear from this man we had just met.  It is crazy to think how assured we were, but we were both willing to listen to anyone that had an idea on how to get us to our end product, a baby!

So begins the battery of tests to make sure I am capable of carrying a baby. I don't like to admit the first step he asked me to take but it was a crucial one.  He told me I needed to lose some weight.  It took me no time to jump on that wagon and in six months I had lost almost 35 pounds.  I was proud and so was he.  The next test was a hysteroscopy.  This one was a little painful but I kept reminding myself this man promised me a baby, so he can put me through any torture necessary.  The general idea of this test was to look inside my uterus to make sure it was ready to hold a baby, which means no cysts, fibroids, or other lesions. The results of this test were the first good piece of news we had been given.  Next step was trying to make sure Jonathan and I knew how to administer all the drugs I would have to take during this process.  Yes, I was a little nervous about the idea of giving myself shots and even more nervous knowing Jonathan would give some of them.  For those that know me well, I have a need to be in control and obviously I was no longer in control.  We decided to start our first IVF cycle in December 2009.  It took us this long just to get to the point where we could try IVF.  So I ordered all the drugs, including the birth control pill prescribed.  This was odd to me, but Dr. Barnett's words were "I want to be in total control of your cycle" and I understood from that perspective of control that I was giving over to him.  I started my first injectable drug, Lupron, on December 22nd.  The purpose of this drug was to keep me from releasing the eggs too early. The next drug I started on January 2nd was called Gonal-F.  This one made me produce multiple eggs.  Both of these drugs were daily injections that I gave myself into the tissue right around my belly button.  The first few times I was scared.  I don't like shots very much!  I eventually reached the point where it seemed like nothing to give these little shots.  They overlapped for about 7 days, so my stomach became very bruised from all these little pricks.  I couldn't wait to be done with these.  Of course during this time it seemed like the nurses must all be vampires because I was constantly in the office having blood drawn to check some hormone level or another.  They also did several sonograms to check and make sure there were enough follicles that had been stimulated to do the egg retrieval.  I know this all seems very clinical, but during this time all I could think was to not mess up the dose or the timing of each shot.  One had to be before 10 am every morning and the other had to be between 6 pm and 8 pm.  My way of dealing with the timing of each shot was to set an alarm.  The most uncomfortable part of this piece of the process was the bloated feeling I had from what I can only assume was my ovaries swelling to what must have been the size of watermelons.  On January 10th, Jonathan gave me my first "big" shot.  This is what I lovingly called the shots that he gave me in my rear end.  In order for Jonathan to know where to give these shots, the nurse kindly drew large circles on my backside.  This should keep Jonathan from accidentally hitting my sciatic nerve. The HCG shot was to signal my ovaries to release all the eggs that they had been preparing.  My egg retrieval was scheduled for January 12th, and I had heard this was an excruciating process.  However, it wasn't painful since Dr. Barnett knocked me completely out for this one.  I was a little sore afterwards, but I was so glad to hear they had taken 14 eggs out.  This meant that I might have two good ones (picture attached below is the two eggs they put back in) to put back in and even better yet, there might be a few to freeze in case this first attempt didn't work.  Because of our specific situation, we had an additional procedure added to the IVF process called ICSI (Intracytoplasmic sperm injection).  This just means that they actually injected a single sperm into each egg.  Of the 14 eggs they took out, only 9 of them were mature enough to be fertilized.  Between the 12th and the 17th (the day they put the eggs back in) there was nothing for us to do except sit and hope the eggs were dividing like they were supposed to.  On the 17th, we went in that morning knowing this could be the day we get pregnant.  Of the 9 eggs they fertilized, we ended up with two eggs that were mature enough to implant.  The others wouldn’t mature enough to freeze for later use.  If this didn't work, we would have to start over.  Neither of us let this fact dampen our spirits.  We were sure this would work for us!  It was an emotional day for so many reasons; what if it didn't work and for that matter what if it did!  Were we really ready?  I know you would think we had already asked ourselves that before we entered into the whole process, but this was the first time it seemed real.  The placement of the eggs was painless, of course my fear was that they would fall out.  Thank goodness the nurse we had that day knew exactly what we were thinking and before we left, she assured me they wouldn't fall out.  For the next two and a half days I laid in bed.  I was very bored, but luckily I had family and friends who talked to me until all my phones were dead.  On the 26th, I had a blood test to see if I was pregnant.  The result of this blood test was exactly what we were hoping! YES! We are pregnant!  The doctor then scheduled an ultrasound for February 16th to look and make sure everything was going according to plan.  On February 11th, I started spotting and I was terrified.  We hadn't known for long that we were pregnant, but I already loved this baby!  Overnight Dallas recorded the most snow ever, but we ventured out in all the snow to go see Dr. Barnett.  We went into the ultrasound room and the tech started looking over our paperwork and noted that two babies had been implanted.  She started the ultrasound and immediately said "and there they both are!"  Jonathan and I both stared at the screen as we waited to hear if there was anything else she would tell us and then we both saw them...both hearts beating away!  I cried.  I was so excited to know both babies made it!  Apparently the spotting was coming from a blood clot that formed in my uterus and Dr. Barnett told us that it would continue until the clot was gone.  He also cautioned us that if the babies had attached to the clot in anyway, it was possible for us to lose one or both of them.  Dr. Barnett asked us to make an appointment with my regular OB in two weeks to check everything out, but he was releasing me.  So we left the doctor's office and called our parents to let them know they were getting a double dose of grandkids all at once from us.  Though difficult to imagine, they are coming, both of them!!  While I know this was difficult emotionally on both of us, I never could have made it through this process without my supportive husband who was there to constantly keep me focused on the end outcome instead of the daily process.  He is definitely the rock in my world!

Since we were released from Dr. Barnett, we have seen my doctor every two weeks and at a sonogram on February 23rd, we were able to see and hear the babies’ heartbeats.  On March 10th, we saw them moving around for the first time.  We are now 16 weeks pregnant.  Our next step will be learning the genders of our two miracles!

How we started...

Jonathan and I met very unconventionally; I guess you could say we do a lot of things that way.  We met through an online dating service.  I don't think either of us ever really thought the process would work so well, but we had no idea what was really waiting for us out there.  We met on July 23, 2005 and shortly after we began dating we both knew this was "It".  We were married on September 23, 2006.  Life was good!  We bought a house and enjoyed taking trips together. Eventually we started thinking about growing our family and sharing this huge love that we have.  This is where our real journey began, we just didn't know it yet...