Gosh, we have some committed parents. They never leave and have the same expression at all times!

Ok, so today it was my turn to be held. My oxygen levels have been much better today. I think I just needed to get used to doing this breathing thing on my own. It’s still pretty tough work, but I’m getting used to it so my parents were able to hold me. As Quinn mentioned yesterday, I got pretty mad when I saw he got to be held first. I mean, after all, I’ve been working my hardest on this respiratory stuff, and HE is the one who is ready to get held first?! Whatever. I’m not going to get worked up about it because Mom and Dad say this “ain’t no competition.”

So today was my day to shine, and did I ever! Dad got to hold me first. I was a little nervous at first b/c there were nurses moving a bunch of wires all over the place, but I know they won’t let anything happen to me. Dad sat patiently as they lowered me into his arms, and boy did it feel good. I looked at him and mom for about 10 minutes because I just couldn’t believe we were there together rocking back and forth (Quinn was there too, right behind us in his isolette). It sure was a good feeling, and I can’t wait to get better so I can go home and have that feeling whenever I want (including multiple times throughout the night).

Late,
Coop

Today has been a very big day for both of us!

Cooper – He was taken off his respirator today at 8:20 am! The doctor said there is a 50/50 chance that he’ll have to go back on it because it’s so much work for him to breath on his own, but it’s great that he has progressed enough to have them try it turned off – even if for a brief period. I, on the other hand, am still working on getting rid of some fluid build up before I can get taken off. Maybe next week… Another thing – now that his respirator is out, mom and dad can hear his cry. Coop said that dad welled up when he heard him cry, but I don’t know if I believe him.

Me – Mom and Dad got to hold me today for the first time (see pic). And boy was it an ordeal! There were like 4-5 nurses all helping out to make sure that the transition to mom’s hands went smoothly and the respirator or tubes didn’t come out. I behaved really well and stayed relaxed while both of them held me. They kept telling me they love me and that I’m doing a great job. I could get used to this…

Both of us both took our mom’s milk today for the first time. Sure, it’s just 5 drops every 4 hours and is put in through a tube leading to our stomach (darn! I wanna taste it!), but the point is to give us nutrients to help fatten us up and to get our digestive track pumping along. Mom and dad said they have a lot of funny poo stories, so were thrilled when they learned that we both had our first poops about three hours after they gave us mom’s milk. Boy, that stuff goes right through ya!

May the progress continue!

Quinn

P.S. Cooper was NOT a happy camper when Mom and Dad were holding me. He was fussing up a storm. I think there might be a little hint of jealousy. Hopefully his day will come soon to be held, but he’s gotta get comfy breathing on his own first.

We’ve got a guest blogger for our condition report. Take it away, Mom…

What an honor and a privilege it is to appear on your blog – Thank you, Quinn and Cooper. I’ll be posting a special condition update from time to time in an effort to keep our friends and family up to speed on the progress (and trials) our sons’ are making. It will likely be a departure from our sons’ light-hearted blogs, but rather a simple explanation of the procedures and issues they face. And, if you are not interested in getting the nitty gritty on their condition, you can probably just read the 1 paragraph summary below, which I’ll try to post at the top of each condition update.

SUMMARY: Overall, it’s been a really good couple days. While I know they days won’t always be like this, it’s refreshing and encouraging to have some good days after a rough week. The biggest things we have to accomplish at this point are getting them breathing better on their own and testing their digestive system by taking milk.

Here are the dets:

* RDS (respiratory distress syndrome) – This is very common in preemies and something that requires them to be on a respirator or breathing device. While Quinn and Cooper have both been on and off different respirators, Cooper is the one that has switched the most. The doctors say that they have enough they are dealing with right now, so we’ll just let them tell us what they need with respect to breathing rather than force anything. The good news is that both are doing well on their current respirators and the NICU staff keeps turning down the support they are providing. They think that Cooper may be off his respirator as early as tomorrow, and Quinn shortly after. The downside to RDS is that the tube going down their throat increases the risk of infection in their lungs, which takes me to my next point…
* Lung infection – this is currently being treated with antibiotics, and they both seem to be responding well to it. This is something that will just take time to clear up.
* PDA (pulmonary something or other) – there is a valve that should be closed going from your heart to lungs. This often closes in the latter weeks of pregnancy, but since they were born so early, it was born open, causing blood to get into the babies’ lungs. So, they treated it with a couple rounds of medication, and it appears that that valve has closed off for both Q&C. Yeah!
* Head bleeds/hemorrhages – While this sounds super duper scary, it’s fairly common in preemies and something that is not really troubling unless severe. There is a scale of grade 0-4 head bleeds – Quinn has a slight grade 2 and Cooper has a grade 1. While I’d much rather those numbers be 0, we are confident that these bleeds will be absorbed and go away with time. A second ultrasound was conducted today and showed no change, so the good news is that they are not getting bigger. We’ll have another update in a week (they will do head ultrasounds every week until they are gone).
* Jaundice – looks like jaundice levels are down for both boys, but they have fluctuated a lot since they were born and could easily go on it again. Again, normal preemie stuff.
* Blood transfusions – Both Q&C have been losing a lot of blood because of the multiple tests per day. So, when AJ (auntie jackie) was in town, she donated a pint of blood for them to use at their leisure. The first blood transfusions happened yesterday for both of them, and it appears they are doing well with them.
* Poop – Quinn particularly needs to move some poo! I believe Coop had one poo, but they can’t start them on my milk until they can show that things are moving in there and they can take it. So, that’s one of the next big steps (along with getting them breathing on their own). We want to make sure their digestive track is working, but can’t do that until they show they are ready for the hard core stuff – MILK.

Ok – that’s probably waaaayyy more than you ever wanted to know, but hey, this is now my job until they get home.

Love to you all and thanks for the good thoughts and positive energy!

Back to you, Quinn and Coop.

Dad’s been cracking the nurses up at the hospital – as if they didn’t already think he was a good looking dude, now they know he’s funny. He went out and bought a bunch of brown paper bags and puts little messages about milk on them when he transports mom’s milk to the NICU. The first one said, “Quinn & Cooper’s Lunch.” He’s getting a little more creative with the messages on the bags, but we think he’s going to run dry of ideas soon.

So if you have any creative thoughts on how to describe Mom’s milk, please let him know!

Mom came in today glowing from an afternoon with her friends. Her good pal, Kimmy Tarantino threw a shower for us for all our soon-to-be Bay Area friends. Mom said Kim started planning this shower the first time she mentioned they were going to try to have a kid! Now, that’s a party planner if you ask us!

About 15-20 of mom’s best bay area friends came bearing overly generous gifts and big hugs for the new mom. I remember mom telling us to calm down when we were in her belly because our unexpected actions kept requiring Kim to change the location of the shower. First it was scheduled to be at her loft in SOMA; then it was changed to our house because mom was on bed rest; then it was moved to the hospital when mom was moved there; then it came full circle and changed back to Kim’s loft since we were born and mom was discharged! Thankfully Kim, and her sister Molly are so flexible and managed to pull it off without a hitch.

The gift opening session was concluded with a gift from Mom’s old babysitter, Molly. She gave our mom the gift that our late grandma (Mammie Joy) gave to her when her daughter Miranda was born. It was a beautiful sweater, quilt, hat and bootie set that Mammie Joy was so fond of. Molly also gave Mom a picture that our Mammie took of Miranda in the outfit that was dated 4/18/83 – 22 years to the day that we were born! Needless to say, there wasn’t a dry eye at the shower, and Mom was truly touched to know that she was there with them in spirit and to have something from her mother on the day of her shower.

Mom told us that after two showers (Mimi, Jackie, Nikki and Amy had one in Ohio in March), we are positively spoiled. Our parents were both gushing about their friends’ kindness and generosity. Not only for the wonderful gifts, but also for all the phone calls, flowers, thoughts and prayers.

Gosh, it seems like they have some pretty fly people in their lives – we can’t wait to meet them all.

The nurses told our parents that I needed changing and asked if they wanted to do the honors for the first time. Dad courageously volunteered, so props to him for his enthusiasm. While I look forward to surprising him with goodies in my pants for months to come, this was a pretty tame introduction. Mom told me a little story about Dad and poop, so now that I know he has a high tolerance, I won’t be so kind.

Nice work, Dad!

Quinn

Mom has been recovering really well (despite some pain in/on her belly and unmentionables) and was discharged from the hospital today. We’re really happy that she and dad get to sleep in their own bed and give our big brother Bernie a little more love and attention in between hospital visits.

Mom and Dad had a really hard time leaving the hospital without us today, but they are trying to teach us to be strong men, so they mustered up their inner strength and put on a happy face for us.

They thought today was a good day to teach us a little about Pooh:

“It is hard to be brave,” said Piglet, sniffing slightly. “When you’re only a Very Small Animal.” Rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up and said, “It is because you are a very small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us.”

So… things are moving right along. We have have a couple issues we are dealing with, but these doctors and nurses play a mad game and certainly know what they are doing! A couple issues we are battling now are PDA (trying to get the valve from the heart to the lungs to close), RDS (respiratory distress syndrome), jaundice and minor head bleeds – all things that are typical preemie stuff and things we know we can overcome – just need a little time. While we don’t like being poked every 3 minutes, mom and dad tell us we are in the best hands we can be in and that we’ll be able to rest peacefully when we get home. That is until Bernie (our other brother) decides to bark uncontrollably for no reason at all.
We got to meet Grandma on Tuesday which was a real treat. She was a little nervous looking at our monitors a lot, but we know it’s just because she loves us. Auntie Jackie also flew in from Chicago to visit us. Mom told me that AJ (auntie jackie) found some fresh/wet cement outside the hospital and carved our initials in it – good to know that rebelious behavior is tolerated. Mom and Dad keep bringing people in to meet us and we’re trying really hard to keep everyone straight. I believe there was a Mitch, Erin, John, Kim, Jenny, Cory, Molly… lots of people and they all seem really special to our parents, so we really gotta work hard to not get them mixed up with each other.

Cooper Blu – now if that ain’t a rock star name, I don’t know what is. My parents have already started to warn me about groupies and informing me of something called a pre-nup agreement. I guess I’ll understand that as I get a little older.

Rock on,

Cooper (AKA Coop)

Quinn Malcom, huh? What a political name. I guess I’m in this world to make some changes for the better. Here I come John F. Kennedy Institute for Public Policy at Harvard University!

Kindest regards,

Quinn M. Carmichael

After a month of bed rest for mom (and dad’s honing of his domestic skills), we jointly decided we just couldn’t wait one more day to meet the world.

Yep – we’re here and doing well. Despite being a little small (2 lbs 8 oz and 2 lbs 5 oz), we are passing tests with flying colors. Sure, we have a ways to go and will probably have some hiccups along the way, but given we were born at almost 28 weeks, the doctors are very pleased with our condition – which makes mom and dad very happy too.

To express our individuality early on, we decided to approach life outside the womb in a different way. One of us (Quinn Malcom Carmichael) came out first in the old school/natural manner, while the other (Cooper Blu Carmichael) decided to make things exciting and called for an emergency c-section. Thankfully, these doctors (yes, all four of them in the room) rocked and were able to get things moving quickly so we were born just 14 minutes apart at 4:53 pm and 5:07 pm – giving us each our hour to own on April 18th.

Despite our 12 week premature arrival, we both have lots of hair (Quinn dark brown and Cooper blond/light brown), finger/toenails, blond hair on our arms and legs and the vigor of a full term baby (AKA slackers).

Mom and Dad are taking it easy after a long day, but will be up and about in no time. They’ve told us great things about you and we hope to meet you soon.

Peace out,

Quinn (Yes, he signs first as the older brother) and Cooper (young and assertive)

P.S. You can’t see much of us yet, but here’s a link to our birthday album. Mom is not a big fan of how she looks, but understands it’s not about her anymore.