The Oldroyd Family

Today was my due date! So glad they're already here... Enjoy the video!

Today is a sad day for me. My mommy just left after being here all month! She has been a WONDERFUL help & I promise, I'm not just saying this because she could read it, I never wanted her to leave! In fact, I wish she would just move right in! Not only was she so helpful in helping me with the babies, making me food, doing laundry, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, etc... she was just plain fun to hang out with! It's a scary day when you realize that you have the same sense of humor as your mother... but I do! And there's no one I laugh with more! She sacrificed a lot to be here for so long & I will never be able to express how grateful I am for her. Now I'm just worried about the babies... since they've spent as much time with her as they have with me, they're going to wonder, "Where's our other mother??" She is the best grandma any kid could ask for. She even tolerated her "grandpuppies," Roxy & Pepper! I love ...

Nathan & Alexa are growing like weeds! Here is a cute video I took of them this morning. They are so much fun! Many of you have asked if I'm getting any sleep, if I'm completely exhausted, etc... Well there are many answers to that. The short answer is that I'm actually getting more sleep than a mother of 3 1/2 week old twins should. Don't get me wrong... it's not much but it's enough to keep me going. I'm not even a zombie most of the time. Want to know my secret? Are you sure? It's *gasp* keeping them on a schedule! And I even *double gasp* wake sleeping babies to eat! Now I must admit, I had a head start because they came home on a 3 hour schedule because of the NICU but "parent directed feeding" rather than "demand feeding" was the plan anyhow. We eat, have wake time for up to an hour, than lay down for a nap until time for the next feeding. No wake time in the middle of the night, of course... & I actua...

Nathan & Alexa are 3 weeks old! It's so strange how time has gone by so quickly yet we can't remember life without these babies! They had their first pediatrician appointment together today. Here's the update: Nathan: 6 lbs. 12 oz. & 20 1/4 in. long (which we don't think is right-- we think he's longer than that!) Alexa: 5 lbs. 6 oz. & 18 1/4 in. long. Nathan is in the 5th percentile & Alexa is still to little for the growth charts. She's our little peanut! It's funny how she makes Nathan seem so big! But seriously-- he doesn't even weigh 7 lbs! I love these tiny little babies; I know this stage will go by so quickly! Although I am looking forward to getting more than 1 1/2 hours of sleep at a time, I will miss this newborn stage!

On Monday when Amanda (my sister) came down for my birthday, she took some pictures of Nathan & Alexa. Lexie had to be woken up & she was not a happy camper so a lot of the shots of her didn't turn out. Nathan, of course, was as calm as ever. Here are a couple of them together that are cute: But this is the one that had my mom & I cracking up! We are constantly laughing at the funny faces that Nathan pulls. He is one funny boy!

We're getting some more alert babies during "playtime" after eating. They really like their tummy time! Nathan & Alexa are growing well & keeping us busy!

Friday I had a new experience. My first time ever being home alone with Nathan & Alexa during a feeding time! Sam was, of course, at work & my mom had gone shopping. Overall it went pretty well & we made it through! I fed the babies in their bouncy seats which was kind of hilarious since they're so little. I took a video so you can see... We're all doing pretty well... a little sleep deprived but who isn't when you have a newborn or two? Here are some pictures we've taken of the babies. We can already tell they're getting bigger! Nathan's blue hat no longer fits him & we don't have to fold over Alexa's preemie diapers anymore! They're becoming more alert & it's fun to interact with them. They're doing well on their schedule & that keeps me sane. We think they're the most beautiful & best babies ever! We might be biased... nahhhh.... :)

Nathan is home! Everything is going well & Alexa is happy to have her brother back! Here is a short video of the babies together. They're just so cute! There is just no better feeling in the world than having these sweet babies here at the same time. I just can't believe it! We of course took a bunch of pictures... it started with Nathan at the hospital. Click Here to see the photo shoot!

Nathan & Alexa turned ONE WEEK OLD yesterday!!! Today's the big day-- we should be getting Nathan home! I'm waiting a bit to call up there to see how things are going. I'm just nervous to get my hopes up & then have something get delayed. But we're crossing our fingers! Nathan has been doing well in his open crib. When I got there yesterday, I walked over to his corner & almost thought he wasn't there anymore because I didn't see his big ol' isolette! Then when I walked over to him, expecting to see him asleep, I looked down & there he was-- wide eyed & looking around! It was so cute! I wish I had thought to get my camera out right then. But anyway, here are a couple of pictures of Nathan in his crib from yesterday. Yesterday was Alexa's first pediatrician visit. I got her all dressed up in a cute preemie onsie with a headband... doesn't she look adorable??!?! She did very well, except didn't like being weighed beca...

Nathan got his feeding tube taken out today! Boy did he hate that thing. As you can see in the picture, he would grab onto it & try to pull it out himself! It was so wonderful seeing him tonight with no tubes or tape on his gorgeous face! The more we get to see of him, the more we think he & Alexa look alike. He has more than a pound on her & they have different mouths, but I think they definitely look like brother & sister! Another exciting thing happening to Nathan is his night nurse is moving him to an open crib tonight! No more isolette! That's pretty much the last step in him coming home now that he has been breathing room air for a few days, is eating all of his food through a bottle & is maintaining a good temperature! The Neonatologist told Sam & I think morning that he should be coming home Tuesday! He is one amazing little guy. He started off a week ago in the highest level of NICU & has only improved from there. (Knock on wood) We...

I'll start with an update on Nathan. He is doing fantastic & was moved down to the level II NICU yesterday afternoon, just as Alexa was moved into the general nursery. He continues to improve! He no longer needs help breathing. He still breathes too quickly sometimes but has done well enough to have all of his feedings last night & today through a bottle! He is a good eater & it was fun to feed him & burp him. He still has his feeding tube in just in case it's time for a feeding & his breathing is too erratic to do a bottle. He is still in an isolette by they are slowly lowering the temperature to see if he can maintain his body temperature. He's doing well so far. It's currently at 31 degrees Celsius (87.8 degrees Fahrenheit). He has too keep his body temp above 87.7 to be able to go home. The Neo-doc that saw him today thinks he should be home sometime next week! It was really difficult to leave him today & go home. While we're...

Just as we had hoped, Sam & I got to hold Nathan for the first time last night. His wonderful nurse waited for us to get there to take him out of his warming bed, change him into his clothes (bought by Grandma Marie!) & then we got to hold him. It was wonderful & so healing for me because I had a really rough afternoon. We are able to hold him 3 times a day. Since he's in an isolette now, it's hard to get him out & he needs to maintain his body temperature so he can move to an open crib soon. I did get to go hold him again by myself at about 1 am for about an hour. He gets very agitated when people mess with his sleep (sound like anyone? Sam maybe?) but settled right down as soon as he was in my arms. It was nice to hold him for so long because earlier, we only were able to be there for a few minutes because Alexa needed us. Her temperature had dropped pretty low & they couldn't warm her up. Her neonatologist thankfully asked the nurses to wait ...

I can't believe it's only been 2 1/2 days since Nathan & Alexa were born. My C-Section seems like an eternity ago. I think time moves in slow motion in the NICU. I wanted to post some updates on each baby & some pictures. Things are always changing! Nathan is doing very well. His ventilator was removed last night & he now gets help breathing through the C-Pap (tubes in his nose). They've been able to decrease the amount of help they're giving him little by little. They should have already taken out his umbilical lines or will do soon, which means we will finally be able to hold him for the first time! He will also be moved into an isolette from his warming bed. We are headed up to see him soon in his new digs! Here are some pictures with his tube out. Isn't he handsome? And no, we have no idea where that hair came from! It's so cute! Alexa is still in the NICU. She was almost ready to go to the regular nursery but during the car seat te...

Nathan McKay Oldroyd Born August 4th at 6:37 a.m., weighs 5 lbs. 8.5 oz, & is 20 in. long Alexa Dawn Oldroyd Born August 4th at 6:38 a.m., weighs 4 lbs. 5.5 oz, & is 1 6.75 in. long We are so excited that they are finally here! The C-Section went very well & Alisha is recovering well, with the help of pain meds! Nathan needs quite a bit of help with breathing but is improving. We’re told that he may get his ventilator tube out today & they would help him breathe using a C-pap. He breathes ok on his own so he mostly now just needs some pressure to remind him to breathe. He is still in the highest level of the NICU but is doing well. He’ll be in there for at least a few days after we get to go home. Alexa is tiny but doing extremely well. Alisha was able to hold her while still in the OR before she needed some oxygen help. She only had to stay on the oxygen until 11 a.m. and is still in the lower level NICU. She should get to move to the normal nursery tomorrow m...

We made it to 36 Weeks today! Tomorrow is the big day! Sam & I have to be there by 4:30 a.m. so we're leaving home at 3:45 a.m.! Just wanted to post the last pictures of my big pregnant belly!

My mom & dad are here from Salt Lake so I don't want to spend too much time on here but I know some of ya'll have been waiting to hear how my dr appointment went. We went with bags packed just in case... Dr. Adam did the ultrasound & the babies have not grown enough so she says they need to come out! So we went over to the hospital to be monitored. If something would have been "off" with them on the monitors, we would have stayed & she would have taken them tonight or tomorrow morning. But they are still very active & have great heartbeats! So we got to come home & the C-Section is all scheduled for 6:30 a.m. Monday morning! I'll have Sam post pictures when we can Monday. It won't be super soon because they're so small (both estimated to be under 5 lbs still), even if everything else is fine, they'll spend a mandatory 6 hours minimum in the NICU for "transition." We'll get info out as soon as we can-- but don...