Our little miracle

We just wanted to give this small update regarding Dean. Tuesday he had another chest x-ray done and Wednesday we had our follow-up with the Pediatric Specialist to go over the x-rays, CT scan, Echo & EKG done on Dean since birth. The doctor met us in the exam room and asked us to come into to office so he could show us the x-rays on his computer. He started with the very first one and proceeded through all of them showing no change to the mass on Dean's lung. Prior to the one on Tuesday, his last x-ray was 5 weeks ago. At that point the mass was still the same: no change. However, when he pulled up Tuesday's x-ray, there was nothing there. Nothing there! I said, "I don't see anything." The doctor responded saying that it wasn't there! We just kept looking at the x-ray picture. I found myself staring really hard just to see if I something would appear that maybe even the specialist hadn't caught. All we saw was the tiny ribcage. We started asking questions like, "Do we need to have another taken? Maybe the x-ray was a false negative?" The doctor said the only way to know "for sure" was to have another CT scan done but he didn't feel it was necessary right now. It would mean more radiation exposure to Dean and he would rather not do that right now if it wasn't necessary.


When we met with after the first exam right after the boys were born, he had explained to us that when this type of mass is found on the baby while still in the womb, it is possible for the baby's body to reabsorb it...that is if the mass appeared closer to 20 weeks in the pregnancy. However, when it doesn't show up until later, there isn't enough time for that to occur. So, if the baby is born and still has the mass, it is very rare that it would be reabsorbed. There aren't very many of these cases to begin with, so when he talks percentages, it's out of a very small population (the largest case study only involves 40 patients!). He had fully prepared us to expect surgery from the beginning. We had asked for family and friends to pray that Dean could hold off until closer to 6-months-old to get the surgery and/or that it would disappear and he wouldn't need it at all. Even though we prayed that it would disappear, we really believed he would need the surgery.

As of right now, the next steps are to have another chest x-ray done in March when he's 6 months. If that is clear, he will have another CT scan when he turns 1 in September. If Dean ends up with several chest colds, he wants to know about it because he would have us get the x-ray sooner, just to be safe. We are amazed that it's gone and can't stop talking about it! These boys were a miracle to begin with, then their birth was a miracle and now this! We are so thankful and we wanted to let you all know how much we have appreciated your calls, prayers and emails.

We are looking forward to seeing more family in California next weekend...ESPECIALLY our roley-poley nephew, Gregory!! I've told Joanna that this will be one very disappointed aunt if Grisha's roles aren't as chunky and juicy as they appear to be in pictures and on Skype! I'm hoping the "object in the computer is larger than it appears!"

I've changed the picture at the top of the blog. If you want to see more, come to Westmorland on Saturday, 12/18 to see them and hold them in person.

"Enjoy by..."

So...I have lots of pictures and moments to write about and post for the month of November.  I seemed to only get one post on the blog though.  Just in case I forget some of those things, I wanted to post this short one. 

I hadn't cleaned out our fridge the weekend the boys were born until the end of October (don't judge!).  When that spare moment did come, I seized it, and everything in the fridge that had to be pitched.  Well, one of those items was a carton of eggs (really only 4 or 5 left).  When I opened the carton to take a look, I noticed our eggs had been stamped with the date by which you need to consume the eggs or toss them.  We obviously hadn't used them by that date (since it was the end of October!), so I was about to trash them when I realized the date on the eggs was the date the boys were born.  Now, before you start wondering if I drained the eggs and had the shells preserved, I will save you the time and tell you, no, I did not do that.  Instead I took advantage of the opportunity to take yet another picture.  Scott knew I was in the kitchen cleaning out the fridge, so he was surprised to see camera flashes.  I'm pretty sure he thought I was a bit sleep deprived when he saw I was photographing two eggs in a carton on the counter.  After explaining to him what I was doing, he said "ok," and walked back into the living room.

Here's the picture...

Now isn't that pretty cool?  See why I just had to take a photo of those eggs??  Even though our plan was to deliver the boys a few days later, the boys knew their "enjoy by" date and made sure we were going to enjoy them that exact date!  Okay, I'll stop now.  I should really get in a quick nap before the boys wake up again...we'll see if that happens!

Doctor Appointments

Dean had his appointment with the Pediatric Cardiologist this week. He had an EKG and an Echocardiogram. The purpose of the appointment was to see if Dean’s heart chambers were enlarging and see if his heartbeat was normal or too fast. The worry was that his heart was pumping more blood faster due to some of it shortcutting the circulatory system by going from the heart to the lung mass and back to the heart. This would cause his heart to beat faster than it should and, since it’s a muscle, it would grow larger than it should for his age.


I’m happy to report that the EKG and Echocardiogram showed there was no enlargement of his heart and he has a fairly normal heart rate for his age. There is a slight murmur but we had been told about that before because it’s due to his condition. Once the mass is removed or disappears, that murmur should go away. The appointment went well. Thanks to Grandma Esther, we got there on time and had enough hands to hold, feed and change babies. Here are a few pictures from our appointment.

Grandma Esther and Dean

Dean hooked up for his EKG

Mom holding Dean’s arms down and attempting to calm him with a bottle during the Echo.

Dad holding Dean after the Echo. We had to keep his clothes off so the doctor could listen to his heart. Dean doesn’t like to be sans clothes unless it’s warm, and it was not warm in there!

The next day, I had my follow-up appointment with my OB/GYN. We had promised to take the boys this time so she (and the office girls) could see them. Plus, we never got a photo with her in the hospital. We had planned on taking one in the delivery room, but that all changed with the complications. So we took the camera and snapped this photo.

Left to right: Mom holding Dean, Dr. Lori Carrillo and Dad holding Daniel

We absolutely LOVE Dr. Carrillo! If you live in the Phoenix area and need an OB/GYN recommendation, let me know and I’ll pass along her info.

In other news… I decided to take some pictures and video clips of our tummy and back time on the floor. The boys don’t always love it, but on this particular day they did pretty good. Appreciating tummy time takes time, so we keep plugging away at it. I had promised to post the video clips here, but they're not uploading, for some reason.  I'm going to have to figure it out and post them later.  That's all for now.

The last two weeks: Part Two

Picking up where I left off…

We had more visitors last weekend. Edward & Lala Agundez! They’ve been friends of the Hamby family since I was about 8 or 9 years old. They had 6 children-1 girl and 5 boys (one is named Daniel)-so they know a little something about raising boys! I know we’ll look to them over the coming years for advice with raising Dean & Danny. I failed at taking very many pictures, but here are two.

The boys have just found their “social smile” skills and here is a quick snapshot of Dean testing it out on Lala. Unfortunately I wasn’t ready for it so I have a blurry Dean and a sharply focused couch. At least I caught it though! I haven’t been so quick as to catch Danny’s smile yet.

Here is Danny and Lala. I didn’t get any pictures of Eddie with boys but you can see a bit of his arm in this photo.

We went to dinner and then stopped by the last home football game of the season at the high school where Scott works (he announces the home games). We wanted to let daddy show off the boys to some of his coworkers and students. Thank you Eddie & Lala for the gift! We will take the boys shopping for some special outfits!

Our family and friends have been so generous in giving us gifts and hand-me-downs for the boys. This last weekend we had another gathering where such gift giving occurred. My sister-in-law, Laura, had a little get together at her house where the boys could meet her mom (Linda), Grandma (Mary) and Aunt (Lori). The boys had a good time (they were held the ENTIRE time), we had good food and we came home with new outfits! Thank you so much for your help in keeping our boys clothed, which in turn keeps money in our bank account! Well, it frees it up to spend on more diapers anyways!

 Grandma Mary with Dean

Linda with Dean

Lori & Cousin Rebecca with Danny

My favorite picture of the day is this one of Dean (Linda is holding him). Two reasons it’s my favorite: Dean is smiling AND he’s sleeping peacefully!

Our weekend was pretty packed with visitors, the get together at Joey & Laura’s and then the Harvest Festival at church Sunday evening. Here are two pictures from the evening.

Cousins Hannah (Safari girl), Rebecca (Spy girl) and Benjamin (Storm Trooper from Star Wars).

The Smith family of four. Everyone wanted to know what the boys costumes were going to be. My response was “Twins who don’t look alike.” They weren’t dressed up really. Just wearing their jammies and wrapped in blankets.

That’s it for now. The next post will be about Dean’s cardiologist appointment and some tummy time, video included. 

Last two weeks: Part One

I’m a little behind in updating the blog. We’ve done a few things in the last couple weeks but I haven’t exactly had free time to post anything. Dean’s lack of sleeping has taken a toll on us, so anytime they are both asleep, we’re furiously cleaning, doing laundry and prepping for the next feeding. Here’s part one of a summary of the last couple weeks…

Aunt Elainea came for a visit and stayed two nights with us. She was such a big help! She did a lot of holding and even assisted us on our first Costco outing. It took us a while to get everyone and everything in the car, but once we were on our way the trip went smoothly. Here is a cute picture of Aunt Elainea holding Dean.

That evening after Aunt Elainea left, we took the boys outside for some sunshine before the mosquitoes came out. It was a little chilly so we wrapped them up and put on some hats. Unfortunately, the newborn size hats we have are too small and the next size up are too big. We opted to use the bigger ones. This made for some pretty funny pictures.

Here’s dad with the two boys

Dean in the too cool hat with sunglasses

Danny in the “Born to Ride” hat. I call this picture, “Pope Daniel Wayne I.” Doesn’t it look like the Pope’s hat?

The next three pictures are just funny. I snapped them as we were hanging out on the couch together. The way they interact when next to each other is sometimes so funny!  I'm pretty sure they're carrying on a conversation but I have no idea what they're saying.  Maybe one day they can tell us.

I realize most pictures here are of the boys and dad or the boys and someone else. It’s easier to be the one behind the camera…especially when I’m desperately needing a shower and clothes that don’t have spit up on them! However, we were able to get a couple shots in these last couple of weeks.

                                          Mom and Daniel

Mom and Dean

Here is a cute picture of the boys sleeping during naptime one morning. I can’t remember the exact day this was taken, but I know it was a rare moment because both boys are sleeping at the same time. Lately it hasn’t been the case. Poor Dean is having a hard time going down for naps and going back to sleep after night feedings. We’re all out of ideas as to what we could possibly try. If any of you have any tips, send ‘em our way. We have tried everything and are now just letting him cry himself to sleep. This is quite painful though because he will cry for an hour sometimes! He just wants to be held and walked around. I’d honestly be tempted to do that if it weren’t for having two babies. Danny wouldn’t get any attention if I held Dean as much as he wanted me to. It is really exhausting for Dean AND me! Thankfully, my wonderful mother-in-law comes over to help out a couple times a week. This gives me just enough of a break to either clean up the house a bit or take a shower and a nap. Sadly, the one I choose is really based on how much I smell like spit up milk. If it’s not so bad, cleaning wins out. If it’s pretty ripe, a shower and nap win. Let this be a warning to you all: if you plan on coming by to visit, it’s best to let me know in advance so I can, at the very least, change into some clean clothes and possibly take a shower!

Part two is coming up...

First overnight helper!

Last week we had our first overnight visitor/helper.  Aunt Cathy spent a night with us and helped with the boys.  She also did some laundry and cleaning for us.  We were able to get out for a walk while she was here.  We walked to the local Wildflower restaurant for lunch.  It was a beautiful day outside and the boys loved it.  In preparation for the walk we dressed the boys and I decided that it was chilly enough for hats.  Danny was fine with wearing his.

Dean, on the other hand, was a little upset that I made him wear the hat.  Once we started walking though, he calmed down and enjoyed the ride.  Here's Aunt Cathy soothing Dean.

THANK YOU, Aunt Cathy!  Come back and help see us soon!  We'll be right where you left us.

"Luke alike"

We know that Dean looks like the Hambys and Daniel looks like the Smiths.  However, this picture of Danny really shows his similarity to Uncle Luke's baby picture.  It'll be interestin to see who Danny looks like when he gets older.  I'm pretty sure Dean will still look like a Hamby boy when he gets older.

1 month old!

I’m a week late in posting this, but Danny & Dean are a month old! We can hardly believe it. How is it that we feel like it’s been forever since we’ve slept the whole night through, yet it seems like the boys can only be a couple weeks old?? Time is flying by right before us and we’re trying to hold on to the moments as they come.

 Dean

Daniel

We haven’t given an update on Dean for a bit because there wasn’t anything to share. Last week I took him to the hospital for his chest x-ray. The Pediatric Cardiologist and the surgeon wanted an x-ray done at 4 weeks old so they could see if there was a change in the mass on his lung. I got a call the next day saying there was no change (didn’t get smaller or larger). The next appointment will be in a week with the cardiologist. He will do another echocardiogram to watch the blood flow to the mass and see if his heart chambers are enlarging.

While we were up feeding the boys in the middle of the night sometime last week, we were discussing our boys’ traits. Daniel is the one who kicked and punched my internal organs during pregnancy and I just knew he was going to be the child that would test the boundaries! Dean was calm and hardly stirred in the womb (unless antagonized by Danny!) and now he’s the one who is testing the limits.

We call Danny “Mr. Patient” because no matter how hungry he is, he will wait and wait until he’s feed. He usually won’t scream, but instead will often put himself to sleep while waiting. Danny makes some of the funniest faces and keeps us laughing at them all the time. The thing that upsets him most is having his diaper changed at night when it’s cold and we’ve unwrapped him from his warm blanket! Even then, his scream isn’t piercing.

Dean doesn’t have a nickname yet. He does seem to carry the Hamby boy trait of loving his food. Once he’s hungry, there’s no transition between calm baby and starving baby. He goes from being perfectly fine to screaming with hunger pangs. The last couple of weeks Dean hasn’t been going to bed without a struggle. We let him scream for a while in bed before putting him in the living room to scream himself to sleep. For some reason Dean isn’t giving in to sleep. I go through the routine of making sure there is nothing wrong with him…fever? Hunger? Dirty diaper? Gas? Need another blanket? Every time (so far) it ends up being one thing; Dean wants you to hold him while you’re standing up. He’s not happy if you sit down or lay down, you must stand up. Well as soon as I stood up and held him he closed his eyes and went to sleep. I’d stay that way for 10 minutes and then put him back in bed. He’d wake up and start screaming all over again. So, for the sanity of the household, I put him in his little saucer in the living room and I go back in the bedroom and shut the door. This way, Dad gets the sleep he needs for work, Daniel doesn’t get woken up to a screaming brother in his ear and I will possibly get some sleep. The first few nights Dean screamed for about an hour. Yes, I let him cry that long. Joanna tells me I’m a mean mom! I went and checked on him several times to make sure nothing else was wrong, but I didn’t pick him up. The crying has progressively become less and less. In fact, last night he only cried one time!! I’m thinking he’s finally learning. Just so we don’t upset anyone by making it sound like Dean is a bad child, here are some of the compliments we pay Dean… “You have an amazing set of lungs!” That shade of redish-purplish you’re turning as you scream is beautiful!” “What a strong appetite you have!” “You’re resolve to stick to your guns is commendable!” See? There’s always a compliment we can pay our little guy, no matter the situation.

Since we don’t have another regular pediatrician appointment until they’re 2 months old, we thought we’d weigh them ourselves and see if we’re doing a good job of fattening them up. Here are their current weights according to our scale:

Dean = 10lbs

Danny = 9.5lbs

Can you believe it?? They’re getting so big! Let me tell you, that 1/2 lb difference between the two is noticeable when you pick them up. They will never catch up to their cousin Gregory’s weight, but we’re trying to at least fatten them up a bit before Gregory arrives in December so our boys don’t look like preemies next to him!

I haven’t taken a ton of pictures the past couple of weeks so there aren’t many to add, the main reason being that we really haven’t gone out much. I’ll try to take more in the coming weeks.  Here are two funny ones that I think already show these two are brothers...

 Dean screaming in Daniel's ear.  Daniel's face is priceless!

Just when Dean was taking a drink, Daniel took revenge and screamed in Dean's ear.  And so it begins!

More pictures and first "bath!"

Here are a few pictures from the first week of October.  Though you may not notice it, the boys are already changing.  They're getting bigger each day!

 Dad holding Dean like a football.  Dean hangs on to dad's arm with his legs.  So cute!

 Aunt Kate with Dean and Mom with Daniel the day Aunt Kate had to go back to Minnesota. :( Sad day!

 Aunt Elizabeth with Dean at his 1am feeding on their stop through town.

 Uncle Luke with Daniel at his 1am feeding.

 Mom trying to take a nap with Daniel (L) and Dean (R).

Mom holding Daniel (L) and Dean (R) in the diaper bag Rosemary made for us.  That's about as creative as we get with photos!

I gave the boys their first "bath" on Tuesday.  Their umbilical cords fell off over the weekend except for a tiny little bit that's still lodged inside, so we're not able to give them an actual bath yet.  This was more like a washcloth bath.  Here are a couple pictures plus a couple video clips of the traumatic event.  Enjoy!

 Cue the scary music...

 Daniel in his "before" picture.  Poor guy has no idea what's in store for him.

 Daniel was cold and unhappy with momma in this picture.  He really is bigger than this picture shows.  It looks like the bath is pretty big compared to him but when his legs are straight he almost fills the length of the tub.

 He was much happier once he was wrapped snug in his towel...even though this picture doesn't show it!  Aunt Jennifer (dad's sister) made the boys some hooded towels but they're a bit large for them at this stage.  So, I just laid the boys on them once they were wrapped in their little towels.

 Dean looking so peaceful before his bath.

I didn't get a picture of Dean in the tub because he was so upset about being naked and cold.  So, here is the after shot.  He had worked himself up so much that he was hungry...again!  He's trying to chew on his towel in this picture.



And here is a video clip of Dean in the tub write after I finished bathing him.  I took a small clip of Daniel as well, but I forgot to cover him with a washcloth so I won't post that one on here.

Here is a clip of Daniel after the bath...



After their bath and feeding we dressed them up and took some pictures.  Obviously we aren't professional photographers, but I think they turned out cute anyways.

 Daniel (L) and Dean (R) lying on the quilt Grandma Linda made along with dad's teddy bear from when he was little.

 Daniel relaxin' against dad's teddy bear "Beeker" in the adorable outfit Rozella and Norville (from church) gave us for at the baby shower.

Dean snuggled up against Beeker for a little snooze during the photo op.  That little outfit is just adorable, especially the hat!



If you'll notice, the hat actually fits Dean nicely, but it's a bit large on Daniel.  Just one of the many differences between the boys.  Dean has the large, round Hamby head and Daniel has the longer, narrow Smith head.

Okay, I think I'm done with updates for the week!  You're now up-to-date with the pictures and stories we have thus far.  Anytime you want to stop by the house, let us know.  Come back and visit the blog soon!

Love,

The Smiths

First week home

The first week home was filled with more visitors, meals prepared for us, Dr. appointments and sleep in increments of 2-2.5 hours.  We thought it'd be funny to keep count of how many diapers and bottles we've gone through, but that idea quickly went out the window because neither of us had the extra brain power to remember to track them!  Just know that we've gone through A LOT!  It's roughly around 20-24 diapers and bottles every 24 hours.  We look forward to the boys sleeping in longer increments because that will mean fewer diapers and bottles! 

Here are some pictures of the first week home...

 Aunt Grace and cousin Finley with Dean

 Aunt Kate with Dean

                                                         Cousin Hannah with Daniel

                                                                Dean (L) and Daniel (R)

                                                        Cousin Oliver, Daniel and dad

           Dean getting his 'not-so-comfortable' rectal temperature taken at his 1st pediatrician appointment.

Mom holding Dean trying to keep him warm with only a burp cloth.  We didn't quite pack everything we needed in the diaper bag for our first outing.  We somehow survived though...thanks to Nana Esther and Aunt Elainea who were there to help out!

  Nana Esther and Daniel getting to know one another by staring deep into each other's eyes



Daniel getting ready to be weighed and measured

Aunt Elainea with Daniel at his first pediatrician appointment

Cousins Rebecca and Benjamin with Dean

Papa Joel with Dean and Grandma Linda with Daniel

Uncle Joey with Dean

Thanks to everyone who brought meals and held the boys while we napped or just sat and visited.  Even though we were incredibly tired, we enjoyed the company!

I'm sure after this post I won't get many more requests for pictures for awhile, but more will follow!