Hudson is Home!!

So this is where I can be found the majority of the day....a toddler Princess on my lap and 2 new baby boys on each side of me!! It seems like a lot to manage when I look at this first picture but we are just so thankful to have everyone home. The second picture is of the boys finally home together. ;)

Most of our friends and family know our little guy Hudson had a rough start. A lot of you have asked how we are doing now but also what exactly happened. I thought this would be the best way to explain. I put the pictures in the order we experienced everything.......what a roller coaster ride!!

I started having contractions around 1:30a on Sunday, August 21st. I was planning on having a c-section on September 6th so the boys were born early at 35 weeks, 6 days. Although they were early they were a good weight (5.7lbs & 5.14lbs) and not THAT preemie for twins....so we thought. This 1st picture was the first and only time I really was able to see Hudson for quite some time after he was born. I could see Jaafe taking pictures of both boys as I lay there being put back together after both boys were born. For some reason, Jaafe kept blocking my view to see Hudson and kept saying, "He's fine. They both look great." I learned later he was blocking my view on purpose. Jaafe could immediately see Hudson was really laboring to breathe when he was born and did not want me to see.

Hudson was taken to the NICU and given this little dome of oxygen to help him breathe.

Later that day the neonatal doctor determined Hudson had "mildly immature lungs" and needed a little more assistance. Hudson was put on CPAP which was held on his nose by the mask thing you see in the picture. It was heartbreaking to see your little guy hooked up to all the machines and tubes. In the coming hours Hudson's breathing did not improve as much as they had hoped. His lungs were not re-inflating themselves as they should after each breath. He was given a dose of medicine which was supposed to help his lungs start re-inflating on their own and it worked.

Jaundice is fairly common in newborns so by day 5 in the NICU Hudson was placed under a light to help with the jaundice.

Staring at this monitor became a bad habit for Jaafe and I both when we visited Hudson in the NICU. I caught myself looking at the monitor every time I walked into the NICU before I even looked at my baby!! You cannot help but look at that screen when alarms are constantly going off....it was so unsettling!

It was stressful enough to have Hudson in the NICU needing so much help just to breathe. It was even more stressful having a baby I was not able to bond with...until day 4. I was able to hold Hudson for the first time! It was really emotional for Jaafe and I both!! One of the NICU nurses asked if I wanted to come down and do Kangaroo Care with Hudson. They told us placing Hudson skin-to-skin on my chest dramatically impacts his road to recovery by helping to regulate his heartbeat and breathing. ;)

Jaafe held him for the first time too. ;) It was such an intense feeling holding your brand new tiny baby attached to all those machines and tubes...

Eventually Hudson did start breathing well enough on his own to remove any assistance he was being given. The next thing Hudson needed to learn was how to eat. Hudson was being fed through a feeding tube until his breathing was stabilized. This was the first time we got to see Hudson with only a small feeding tube and not a huge breathing thing covering most of his face.

Hudson was released from the NICU 9 days after he was born which was a Tuesday. We were only home 5 days before we had to take Hudson back to the hospital. Hudson turned blue on us while we were feeding him!! He recovered on his own but was enough to scare us for sure! When we took him to Cardon Childrens that Sunday, I was shocked and super sad when they admitted him into the hospital within minutes of us getting to the ER.

The first diagnosis was severe acid reflux. The doctor recommended having a Swallow Study done which is a test showing where the food goes after he swallows. They wanted to make sure Hudson was not getting the formula in his lungs when he spits up causing him to stop breathing while he eats. The test also tells us how thin or thick of formula/milk Hudson can tolerate. The thinner the formula/milk the more likely he is to spit it back up. This picture was us waiting for the study to start.

And after the study was done....worn out!

After the test, the doctor determined Hudson stopped breathing just as a symptom of prematurity and the sever reflux. Just when the doctor felt comfortable sending us home with reflux medicine, Hudson stopped breathing twice during the night setting off the alarms. Jaafe was staying at the hospital most nights with Hudson. This night I stayed though. Now that his episodes were not centered around eating the doctor ordered a few more tests.

The first test was a heart echo. They wanted to rule out any heart issues. The echo looked like just an ultrasound of the heart and seemed painless for Hudson.

A CT scan was next. The doctor wanted to make sure nothing was going on in his brain causing him to stop breathing. Hudson looked so small going into that big machine! ;(

This is where our journey got really stressful and super sad! An EEG was done one evening when I had already gone home to feed Steel and put Jaaten down for bed. Poor little guy! The EEG would look at the brain activity and look for any neurological reasons Hudson stops breathing. Jaafe called me when we got the results from the EEG. Jaafe said the neurologist had found Hudson was having seizures causing him to stop breathing and the doctor was starting him on seizure medicine that night. I will never forget the way I felt when Jaafe said the word seizure. My heart sank into my stomach and I was instantly nauseated. Jaafe and I talked long enough to decide I would come back up to the hospital that night and we would both stay with Hudson. When I walked into the hospital room we both were so emotional and talked about how this could change the course of our Little Guy's life. Hudson was given a large dose of seizure medicine that made him so drowsy that night I could barely feed him. We were told the neurologist would be in sometime the next morning to discuss what type of seizures Hudson was having, the treatment, etc. Neither of us got much sleep that night...

The neurologist did come in the next morning with his head down and let out a huge sigh before speaking. Of course I thought he was going to tell us something horrible. Instead he apologized for making a "huge mistake". He told us he had read the EEG results incorrectly and Hudson was NOT having seizures. WOW!! You would think most people, especially me, would be REALLY pi$$ed about that kind of mistake. Jaafe and I were both so thankful Hudson was only having reflux that we didn't really care. After talking to a few friends, family and other doctors, we are even more thankful the doctor admitted the mistake and apologized.

The doctor ordered one final test, and MRI and then we were able to go home the next day. We are home now and Hudson is doing SO MUCH better! Hudson is on an apnea monitor which lets us know if he stops breathing. So far so good. ;)

Jaafe and I are forever grateful to our friends and family who called, text, emailed and just sent love and prayers our way. Having twins has been a little trickier than we anticipated. We are especially thankful for my parents and Abbey who have helped us everyday since the boys arrived. We would not have been able to do this without them! Love you guys!