OH MY GOSH - I HAVE A BROTHER!!!

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It was quite an incredible weekend, the boys started to interact with one another. They have finally discovered that they have a brother!

Santa Claus Came to Town!

Santa Claus came to town so of course we took Jay & Will. Some liked Santa better than others - guess who!

Back to Work

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I returned to work last week, it was really hard to leave the boys. I cried the first few days but after I got into a routine it got better. The team at Save-A-Lot is so wonderful, they had treats waiting in my cube on my first day back and everyone stopped by to say welcome back!

Amanda's First Day

Amanda became part of the Green Family today and we are pleased to share that she will be back tomorrow. Even after the crying symphony and Jay's Labor Day Fashion Faux Pas!

Green Family Visit

Will and Jay had a very special weekend. They got to meet their Great Grandma and Grandpa Green and their Great Aunt Julanne for the first time. They also got to spend time with Grandpa Green. The boys got lots of hugs and kisses from everyone and had plenty of hands to hold them. Lots of spoiling!















The 3 Joseph's! II, III, I















Jay and Will with their Great Aunt Julanne

Foot Booties & Therapy for Will

Will was fitted for his first pair of booties to correct his foot alignment. The material used to create them is really neat, it's like a wax that you can mold and keep melting until you get the desired shape. He was a real trooper, he let the therapist do whatever she needed. We're going back next week for a new pair and more therapy lessons. She did give us one warning, keep the booties away from the dog! They like the plastic/rubbery texture. Something tells me this statement applies to Aunt and Uncle's dog - Trey! We'll see if Aunt and Uncle are checking the blog :)

Get Out And Vote!

Jay and Will wanted to encourage everyone to get out and vote!















The lines may be loonnnnggggg, it's certainly okay to yawn!















But not okay to stick your tongue out at the other party.















Definitely should not scream, no matter how much you are provoked!















Oh my - Jay no punching!















Will - That includes slapping!















Just smile .....















And relax .....















Enjoy your right to vote!















This advertisement is provided by the Green Twins, and was not authorized or approved by any political candidate or committee :)

Happy Halloween

William and Joseph















William, our Red Hot Chili Pepper! Joseph, our Pea Pod.















mmm ... do costumes match personality?















Daddies boys or veggies :)















Family Snap - Wait, where did Gizmo go???















We picked this as the Best Costume of the Evening - Joe the Plumber!

MIA

Dear Friends and Family .... sorry we are behind on return phone calls and emails! The boys are keeping us super busy and TIRED! We're hoping (any praying :) ) the evening sleep patterns get longer and that we get even better at multi-tasking. We'll call/email soon!

Down on the Farm!

Jay & Will's first visit to Rombach Farm.

William's Hearing Test

William had his hearing test yesterday. He has perfect hearing in his right ear and almost perfect hearing in his left ear. He doesn't seem to pick up some of the lower frequencies. We were told these are vowel sounds. They'll keep an eye on his left ear and test it again next year to be safe. By then it may correct itself, ie. a slightly retracted ear drum or maybe a small amount of fluid in his ear.

And I also must brag on him a bit. He was a perfect angel/patient yesterday. He had to lie still for two hours to do the testing. That's a tall order for a baby with equipment hooked up and clicking in the ears. Lets just say Joseph, who came along to support his brother yesterday, may have had a problem with that requirement :) !

Gizmo has approached the Aliens!

Gizmo and William napping.

Dreaming

Looks like William is having a funny dream and

Joseph is having a peaceful/sweet dream.

William's Hearing Test

Little William will be going to the doctor on October 21st to check his hearing. When he was in Special Care he failed the first few tests then passed the last test. The staff couldn't determine if the machine was on the fritz or if her was really having hearing problems. They set up a follow-up appointment at Children's Hospital. We'll know soon. If I had to gage from the level of his screaming, I would say he inherited his feet and hearing from his Father. Of course Joel's may just me Selective Hearing!

Dr. Kasper Visit

Joseph and William had a check-up today and they are growing like little weeds! Joseph is up to 7 lbs 1 oz / 20.5 inches and William is up to 7 lbs 7 oz / 21 inches. We were calling Joseph our "Little Peanut". Grandma asked if that meant that William was a "Cashew", which became little nicknames for them. After today, I think I left the doctor's appointment with two Cashews!

The doctor said Joseph's hematoma is healing nicely (developed from the head suction cup used at birth) and that he has reached the fifth percentile which is good for a twin. And William is on track to have his foot booties cast on November 6th to correct his foot alignment. Physical therapy needs, if any, will be determined at that time.

Time to go - The Little Peanut and Cashew are calling! They will always be my peanut and cashew.

Poop Happens

I learned a new lesson this week. "Picture It" (like Sophia used to say on the Golden Girls), it's 2:00am and it's time to change William before his feeding. He's a little poopy so I decided to let him finish. I open the diaper a few minutes later to see if he's done and full projectile poop on my shirt, my pants and in my hair. I didn't throw up, although I definitely thought about it!

So Joel and I have been peed on more times than we can count but poop, that was a FIRST! Going forward we'll be waiting 15 minutes to change what I call "Poop in Progress".

And to add to the chaos, when I turned away to start wiping poop off my hands and shirt, William began peeing everywhere including his face! There were two very unhappy people in the house at around 2:05am!!!

Abbie

Personality Differences

Joel captured this special moment to show

some personality differences. We have a bib

in house titled "I'm the boss!". Guess which

baby wears that bib? The baby on the Left

or the baby on the Right :)

Updates!

What a crazy week, no time to post! William was at the hospital all the way up until Thursday. He made continual progress throughout the week. On Sunday the CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) was removed and later that evening his feeding tube was taken out.

On Monday, Joseph had his first pediatrician appointment and we said good-bye to Grandpa Green. Later in the evening William's oxygen tube was removed. Big celebration, no more tubes!

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Abbie had some post delivery complications and had to be admitted back into the hospital. And William had to finish his last round of poking and pricking before he could go home. Rough two days for Abbie and William.

On Thursday, the boys were finally reunited!!! They had their hospital pictures taken and we brought William home! Link to their pictures: http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/Default.aspx?SM=ByFamily&BY=2008&BM=9&BD=17&FC=&FCY=US&FS=MO&MLN=gre

On Friday, WE SURVIVED :)

Picture 1: Boys were reunited and hospital pictures were taken. William Left/Joseph Right

Picture 2: Welcomed William home and showed the boys the nursery.

Picture 3: Abbie surviving Tuesday and Wednesday.

Picture 4: Daddy and William, no more tubes!

Picture 5: Joseph's first pediatrician appointment. The weigh in!

Picture 6: William with the CPAP and feeding tube.

Praying for My Little Brother

Praying for my little brother William, that his lungs will grow strong so we can be together again.

Joseph

New Visitors in Town!

Grandpa Green arrived from Michigan -
holding Joseph.















Uncle Nate and Aunt Jen came back from
their Honeymoon - holding Joseph.
















Uncle Nate at Barnes Special Care Nursery -
holding William.

Blessed with Twin Boys

Abbie and I were blessed with healthy twin boys on Wednesday night September 17th--at nearly 37 weeks gestation. Joseph Clyde Green, III was born at 8:37 p.m., weighing 5 lbs 6 oz and measuring 19 in. William Charles Green, I was born at 9:23 p.m., weighing 6 lbs 11 oz and measuring 20 in. Each were named after their Grandpas and Great Grandpas.

Joseph, while a little small, is doing fantastic. He went straight to the regular nursery and has been with us ever since and will get to go home with us on Saturday. William, while much bigger, was not quite done growing. He is doing very well, but has been in the Barnes Special Needs Nursery (intermediate nursery which provides more monitoring and direct care, but not as significant as the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) to help his lungs finish maturing. There is also some concern over possible infection, so he is receiving constant antibiotic drip. They expect to be able to remove the feeding and breathing tubes in the next couple of days and then he will just need to wait out the antibiotics. He is making great progress and we expect that he will get to come home around the 24th or 25th.

We are looking forward to introducing everyone to Joseph and William and we are so thankful for all of the prayers and support we received over the last nine months.

Preeclampsia Testing

We had a check-up on September 15th and due to a Blood Pressure spike I was admitted into the Birthing Evaluation Center at Barnes to ensure Hypetension Preeclampsia wasn't setting in. First reading was 150/110 and second was 142/100. The first day of testing looked positive, strong heart beats, little if any contractions, good blood counts, etc. I'm on Day 2 of testing, we'll have the final results tomorrow.

Growth Scan

We had another Growth Scan on August 28th, 2008. Baby A weighed 4lbs 12 oz and Baby B weighted 4lbs 14oz. Baby A has really caught up in size to Baby B over the last five weeks. The doctor said everything looks great.

They are just going to keep an extra eye on Baby B, his kidney was a little larger than they like to see. Not in the worry range yet (measurement higher than 7) but he measured a 6. They will look at it again on September 22nd. They are hoping he just needed to pee!

The sonogram shows the boys head to head, as if you were looking down at them. It is also the first Abbie "Green" sonogram. Joel is quite happy!