Nate and Owen

After giving Owen a bottle. I'm the one with the larger head.

Owen

Awake and sucking his thumb.

Jen and Owen

Jen walked all the way to NICU to feed the twins. Considering she couldn't walk at all in the morning, that's huge! Good job Jen!

Hospital run

We have forgotten a bunch of stuff at home. This is Leanne making one of several hospital runs, and helping with some Elliott transportation.

First 5 Family photo

Jen and I got married in March of 2001. This is the first picture of our completed family. Pretty cool!

Elliott meets Owen

Elliott meets James

Happy Birthday

Dad and James

Jim and James

Owen gets visitors

Jen and James

Jen's first trip to NICU

Good morning babies

Owen sleeping this morning

Good night sleep

James and Owen slept well last night. So did Jen (finally). Jen is up and moving and will head down to see them, for the first time in 20 or so hours, in a few minutes. Both babies look great and are breathing at a slower rate. We should get them in our room tonight or tomorrow morning. Now that Jen is up, we can spend as much time as we want with them in NICU.

Here is James sleeping this morning.

Goodnight sweet baby #2

Owen resting comfortably and posing for the camera in the NICU.

Goodnight sweet baby

James resting comfortably in the NICU.

Dinner

Dad and Elliott at La Bamba, drinking margaritas, eating queso dillas.

Life doesn't stop

Taking a little break from the hospital to take Elliott to soccer. He will meet the twins tomorrow. Jim and Nien are hanging out with Jen, and I think she is finally getting some sleep.

A visit from the babies

The twins are breathing at about 80 breaths per minute. Normal is 30 to 60. The amount of oxygen they are taking in is normal. They are just breathing fast. So, they have been admitted to the NICU. They stopped by to say hi on their trip down, and got to see mom.

They could be under observation for a day or two. Jen and I can visit them starting in a few hours.

It's a bummer that they can't be with us, but a trip to NICU was always a possibility.

Good group shot

Jen and I were looking through all the pics I took and thought this was nice. It's right after delivery.

Jen in her hospital room

Greeted by an anxious family

Owen in nursery

Update

They decided to take the twins to the transitional nursery for a few hours. This is where they get extra monitoring and they will make a determination on whether or not to go to the NICU. They are breathing a little fast, but look great. This is James in the nursery.

Family Picture

Jen and James, Dad and Owen

Dad and Owen

Jen and Owen

Jen and James

Mom and babies

Jen' first time to hold. Both stopped crying as soon as they touched her skin. She says when they wiggle it feels just like when they were in her tummy.

Baby B

Owen Orion Schmidt
6 pounds 2 ounces

Baby A

James Rainier Schmidt
5 pounds 6 ounces

Great sounds

Meet our new family

James and Owen. James has his eyes open.

Perfect babies

Healthy mom

Still Waiting

To go back

Apparently

What I meant to say was that Jen was heading to the OR. They left me behind while she is prepped. They'll come get me in 10 minutes. So for now I'm alone in the hospital room.

Next time you see Jen know you are looking at someone really tough.

Heading back

Epidural

Is in progress. They kick me out of the room for this, I guess for fear that I'll freak out. I'm not freaking out yet. I'm at the gift shop buying chapstick.

Visit from Kathy

Jen didn't sleep last night, but says she feels good and ready to go. Kathy just stopped by to say hi. Jen is off for an epidural in the next few minutes.

Tomorrow

We just got done talking to the nurse, and getting a better idea of tomorrow's festivities. First of all, Jen is hooked up to heartbeat monitors and they will keep tabs on the twins all night. She also has an IV in, but I don't think it's hooked up to anything. She'll need to be up at about 8am tomorrow. She'll be able to skip breakfast, take a shower, and get an epidural at around 8:30am. At 9 they will take her to the operating room. Her doctor is scheduled to come in at 9:15am. If things run on schedule, the babies should be born by 9:30. After they are born, they are cleaned up, given to Jen for a few minutes, and then taken back (along with me) to Jen's room while she is stitched up. About 20 minutes later Jen will be brought back to the room and we'll all be reunited.

I'll be interested to see how close the nurses account of tomorrow will match reality!

Checked In

We have arrived at the hospital and Jen is resting comfortably in Labor and Delivery Room 12.

Last 3-Family Photo

I'm getting ready to take Jen to the hospital. I just got back from taking Elliott to Nien and Jim's. Before he left, Leanne snapped this photo of us... The last shot we'll take as a three member family.

More

Jen is being admitted after dinner tonight. Babies at 9:15am.

Answers

Jen is 3cm dilated and they are scheduling her for a morning c section. Tomorrow is the day!

Ultrasound

Big babies

Baby A: 6 pounds 5 ounces
Baby B: 6 pounds 11 ounces

Heartbeats

We are at the doctor hanging out listening to heartbeats. Babies sound good. We will see the doctor in 45 minutes or so and should know more then.

Another Wednesday morning

Today Jen goes to the doctor at 2:30pm central. I'll give regular updates during the appointment. Both Jen and I feel like it's time for these babies to come out. Jen has slowed down considerably over the last two weeks (although she's still getting out, taking Elliott to school, and doing stuff around the house, which is amazing). My guess is there is a very small chance that the babies will come today. There is a good chance she'll be told to come back in early tomorrow morning. The most likely scenario is that they tell her to come in first thing on Monday. In any case, we're close and ready. Everything is in order and we're really excited to meet these little guys!

Calm Before the Storm

It's a lazy Sunday. We slept in until 9. Jen is hanging out on the couch reading to Elliott. I'm relaxing at the table surfing the web.

I have a feeling that next Sunday will have a slightly different feel!

Halloween Spoiler Alert

Final Outing

Jen got up the energy to go to Whole Foods. Pretty amazing at 36 weeks!

3 Year Old Soccer

Go Yellow Jackets

No Babies Today

Which is good news. Jen looks great and if she can hold out another week, it's likely the babies will get to come home with us!

Weights

Baby A: 5 pounds 13 ounces
Baby B: 6 pounds 4 ounces

See doctor next. If you put money on today, you probably are going to lose.

Update

Jen is going through an hour of monitoring (see photo from last week). We'll have an ultrasound in 30 minutes or so, and then see Jen's doctor. All the monitoring looks normal, heartbeats are strong, and the babies are moving like crazy.

Wednesday Update

Another Wednesday is here, and we're heading to the doctor a bit later than normal today. Jen's appointment is at 2:30, and if she is going to get admitted we'll know by around 4. I'll post and let everyone know the verdict as soon as we find out. My best guess is there is a 25% chance she'll have the babies today. Jen has definitely been less comfortable this week, and for the first time in her pregnancy seems ready to get the show on the road. I still think the doctor will want them to cook for one more week though. 

In the mean time, it's always fun to go back and read our blog the day Elliott was born (scroll to the bottom after clicking). I revisit that site once a year or so, and always really enjoy reliving the events of December 11, 2007. 

It's Wednesday

That means a morning doctor visit. Right now Jen is having her first antepartum fetal stress test. That means they monitor heartbeats, contractions, and baby movement. Right now baby A is beating at 128bpm and baby B 136. I don't think we are having these babies today.

Elliotts Playground

Now that we can get in the backyard, we have a new playground. It came in two big boxes, and had an intimidating number of pieces and bolts. After two late afternoons of work, it was up. Elliott loves it! He's been out there today for the last five hours.

Our new deck

We've been working a lot on our backyard lately. We envision it as a big hangout for us and the kids this fall. Project one was a deck that wraps around the house and gives us access to the backyard. It was quite a project that Jim and I tackled over the last five months, and it opened for business a few days ago.

Crazy video

Meet Leanne

Leanne Concordia moved from Madison Wisconsin to Birmingham to attend nursing grad school at Samford. We were able to convince her to live in our house in return for some nanny help when the twins arrive. She's like a new Abby that loves the Packers. In fact, she thinks that things might end up working out with her and Aaron Rogers. I've tried to convince her that odds are better with Brett Favre, seeing that he lives one state over.

Leanne and Elliott are already fast friends, and she's going to be a huge help once the twins arrive.

Baby Blogging Begins Again

We're starting up the baby blog again. This is going to be the spot where you can get updates, and where you can meet the twins for the first time. We had an appointment at the doctor today, and everything looks great. Both babies are close to 5 pounds, and are measuring 34 weeks. We're going back in every Wednesday from here on out, and have been told by Jen's doctor that she should be prepared to be admitted to the hospital after one of her appointments. Barring unexpected labor, the babies will most likely be born on September 14th, 21st, 28th, or October 5th. My money is on September 28th. Here's a shot of Jen taken today.