Finny Meets His Baby Sisters

Since Lourdes and Sabine are doing so well, they were finally ready for a visit with their big brother. He came straight from soccer practice and was such a good boy. He held their hands, gave them kisses and then read books with Daddy while the girls were fed. He is still a little confused about the fact that there isn't just one baby named "Lourdes Sabine," but he is starting to understand that he has two new baby sisters who hopefully will be home with him very soon.

Finny and Sabine
Finny and Lourdes

The Girls Are One Week Old!

And because they are now off oxygen and IVs, they can wear cute clothes!

Lourdes
Sabine
Daddy and Lourdes
Mommy and Sabine

Big Brother's Time With Gigi and Papa

While Dad and Mom were at the hospital with Lourdes and Sabine, Finny spent the weekend with his Grandparents. He had a great time. He took them to his soccer practice, made pesto and listened to them read Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are multiple times. He also came each night to visit Mom and Dad at the hospital. He was such a good boy and we know he will be a great big brother!

Welcome To The World Lourdes and Sabine!

To say that the girls arrival was unexpected, emotional and chaotic is an understatement. On Wednesday September 15, I was finishing up a settlement letter for work until about 1 p.m. The whole time I was revising the document I was having contractions. but I had been having contractions of varying intensities for the last few days and so I didn't take it too seriously. Finally when I was having them about every 3 to 5 minutes, I called my doctor's office. My doctor's nurse wasn't too concerned as my cervix had just been checked the Thursday before and was only 1 cm dilated even though I'd been hospitalized twice with contractions. But to be safe, the nurse told me to go to the triage area of Prentice Hospital to get my cervix checked and have my contractions monitored for a bit. So I proceeded to the hospital, and watched tv in triage for about four hours. I was having contractions the whole time, but my cervix hadn't changed. The doctor finally came in and said that they were going to keep me overnight in Labor and Delivery for monitoring. Joe and Finn came to visit around 8pm to see how things were going. The contractions were getting progressively more painful, but the resident came in while they were there and said I was only 1.5 cm dilated and I would be moved to antepartum for further monitoring. So I sent Joe and Finn home and got ready for a night of watching tv.

About a half hour later, my doctor came in and the first words out of his mouth were "I have a feeling you won't still be pregnant tomorrow." As I was just 34 weeks along, I got panicky. The doctor then checked my cervix and said that I was 3 cm and stretchy and he wasn't going to wait any longer because the girls were breech. When I explained that it would take my husband at least a half hour to have Rosa come over to watch Finn and then for him to get to the hospital, the doctor said it couldn't wait and we would start prepping for a c-section immediately. He thought it would take about 25 minutes to get ready for surgery and hoped that Joe would make it in time. I called Joe and told him to get back to the hospital immediately. I then woke up Michelle who was in Atlanta for work to panic for a few minutes. Things got really scary when I was on the hospital table with a needle in my back, worried about my premature twins, and my husband nowhere in sight. Thankfully the nurse took pity on me when I started crying and took Joe's phone number to check on his progress. He made it right as the doctor was making the first incision. About 10 minutes later at 12:01 and 12:02 a.m. on September 16th the girls were born. If Lourdes would have been born one minute earlier they would have had different birthdays! The girls were quickly taken into the next room where a team of NICU doctors and nurses were there to take care of them. Sabine Mari weighed 4 lbs 8 oz and was 18.5 inches long. Lourdes Helen weighed 4 lbs 11 oz and was 17 inches long.

While the initial diagnosis was that they would be breathing on their own and discharged in 5 to 7 days, the next few days proved to be a bit rougher than expected. Although Sabine was initially moved down from a nasal tube (CPAP) to a nasal cannula, she wasn't ready for it and ended up having to be ventilated and given surfactant to help her lungs expand. Lourdes regressed from breathing on her own to going back on the nasal cannula for several days. Lourdes also needed a biliblanket because she was a bit jaundiced. During this time, Joe and I have learned more about breathing aides, residuals, bili levels and other "preemie problems" than we ever imagined we would. We have also been on a roller coaster of emotions. These setbacks meant the girls weren't able to try to eat for a week and are still in NICU. But the last few days, the girls have turned a corner. They are attempting to nurse or take a bottle at every feeding. They are both breathing on their own and Lourdes no longer has a biliblanket. It looks like they could be home in the next week or two. They are gorgeous little girls, just miniature sized, and Joe, Finn and I can't WAIT to bring them home!

Sabine Mari right after birth

Sabine with her CPAP

Lourdes when she initially got her cannula out

Finnegan's First Day at Tots

This year Finn started pre-preschool at Alphonsus Academy. The school has a Tots program for two year olds that meets once a week for two hours. During that time, the kids have recess, participate in an art project, have snack, read books and play with toys. Finny was especially excited to start because he is taking the class with one of his best friends, Matthew. So here is my big boy on his first day of school.

Any Time Now...

As of today, the twins have been baking for 33 weeks. Quite the accomplishment given that the first time I was admitted with preterm labor was 27 weeks with a repeat admission at 31 weeks. As you can see from my big belly, these past six weeks on bed rest have given the twins plenty of opportunity to pack on the pounds. It has also given Dad, with a lot of help from Gigi and Papa, time to finish up the nursery. It looks adorable and we are so ready to meet our girls...but hopefully not for a couple more weeks.

Finn is getting so excited to meet his little sisters!

Go Irish!

A crisp fall day and Notre Dame wins its opener. Who can ask for more?

Elmo is clearly a Domer.

Aunt Michelle and Uncle Greg come to Chicago!

The third weekend of August, Aunt Michelle and Uncle Greg flew in to visit and help relieve my bed rest boredom. Finny LOVED having them here! Seriously, I think he started a little adoption campaign for them. There were tons of cuddles for Aunt Michelle and Finn was greatly distressed if Uncle Greg ever left his sight. Given my bed rest limitations, it was a pretty low key weekend. We could only partake in activities that allowed me to sit or recline. So Friday when they arrived, we went to Montrose Beach and Michelle and I relaxed on the sand while Finn and Greg made sand castles and played in the water. Saturday, Daddy was off work so we all went on the Architectural Boat Tour down the Chicago River. Very cool! Sunday, since their flight left in the early afternoon, we just went to the park and watched Finn play in the sand. At night after Finn went to bed, there were movies to watch. Even though the activities were limited, we all had a great time and hope Michelle and Greg come back very soon!

Relaxing on the beach.


Helping Uncle Greg construct a sand castle.

Admiring the finished product.....

and DESTRUCTION!

Finny taking in the skyscrapers on the Architectural Boat Tour.

Our Sunday excursion to the park.

Getting some last minute qt with Aunt Michelle.