A new evening ritual

I'm not quite sure how Matt managed this newest trick, but he has Bentley trained. Every evening before heading down to bed, Matt asks Bentley if he wants to give the babies a kiss. Bentley agrees! I'm impressed, since I still haven't convinced that kid to give his Mother a nice good night kiss on the cheek. :-)

The twins are bulking up

It may be a slight stretch to call our babies huge, or even bulky, but they are certainly gaining weight at an admirable rate! Despite the Dr.'s assurance last week that I didn't need to bring the twins in again until their 2 month check up, I took them in today for a weigh in. Jackson is now at 6 lbs 11 oz, and Genevieve is at 6 lbs 8 oz. Despite the fact he "wastes" more time awake Jackson is maintaing his 3 oz lead on his sister. Both of them have gained almost a pound in the past week - wow! Due to their healthy gains, they have been given permission to cut back to 22 cal formula from 24 cal. A 10% cost savings in the formula bill... I'll take it, gladly!

1st outing for the twinks

While Bentley frolicked at Grandma's house in his frog pool, Jackson and Genevieve enjoyed their first social visit. I call it their first outing, since it doesn't seem right to count the multiple visits to the Dr.'s as "firsts". We enjoyed the visit to see Great Grandma and Great Grandpa!

1st family portrait

Actually, this is the 2nd picture of the 5 of us. In the first picture, however, Genevieve is only shown in the background: (far right)


That doesn't count, right?! :-) (Genevieve was still hooked up for some breathing assistance, so we couldn't hold her at the time).

Here's take 2, what I will call our first family picture:

Thanks to our official family photographer, and his assistant - they are a great team! We're hoping with some coaching we can convince the twinks to look at the camera when directed to, but we understand that they're still a little young to follow directions.

The circus performer in training

Bentley is feeling forced to try daring new tricks to get our attention:


He came up with this newest trick when he noticed there were 3 adults in the room, and 2 of them were feeding babies and the other wasn't providing him with the attention he felt he deserved. It's a bit hard to see from the picture (you can blame me, the photographer - our regular photographer was at work so I had to capture the moment on my own!), but this vehicle is motorized and was moving at the time of the picture. Our daring young stunt master pushes down on the go button, and then maneuvers himself into a standing position on the seat. What a clever kid!

He likes them! (I think?!)

Bentley is handling the addition of the twinks to our household, giving in with his usual good grace to all the changes around him. As I mentioned earlier, he enjoys helping to feed the babies:


He also likes to keep tabs on them. When he gets up in the morning, when he comes in from a walk, ... he always runs to the back room and climbs the side of the play pen to check and see that his babies are still here. I'm assuming this means he likes having them around?


In other helpful behavior... he collects pacifiers and on occasion manages to put them in their mouth. On other occasions he rips the pacifiers OUT of their mouths... and rips their blankets off. BUT - he normally does this a little before feeding time, so I think he's doing it to help wake them up so they can eat better. :-)

Clock watcher

Bentley can already tell time. I know it! Matt was feeding Genevieve this evening and, as does happen some times, fell asleep on the couch with her. This was around 8:40 p.m. Bentley was chilling out in the swing (see previous post!), and I told him that we would let Dad nap until 9:00 and then maybe we could convince him to head out for a walk. At around 8:59 (honest!) Bentley hopped out of the swing and ran to the living room to wake his Dad up. This was with no prompting from me. So - I present that as my evidence that the child can read clocks already. :-)

An advantage of being a small big brother!

We pulled out Bentley's swing a couple days ago to see if we could trick Jackson into getting a little more shut eye during the day through using it. No great luck on that count yet, but today our other son discovered he could climb into the swing... it's good up to 24 lbs, so we turned it on and he spent at least 20 minutes happily rocking..

Zen of the faucet

Bentley has found a place to find his center, to stay calm, and to reflect on life. The kitchen sink! Unfortunately he doesn't QUITE grasp the concept of washing the dishes yet... but I think he'll be there soon. His current favorite past time is playing with the water in the sink. Simply watching it run over his hands, or transferring it from one container to another. When given the chance he will stand there for 30 minutes. Who knows - maybe longer, but his caretakers grew weary. We're trying to use the timer on the stove and train him that when the timer goes off it's time to quit playing. This is intended to prevent the meltdowns that occur when he's torn away from the sink. Only time will tell if it works!

First visit to the Dr. for the twinks

Today was Genevieve and Jackson's first official Dr.'s visit. We did go in for a weigh in on Saturday, but today was the first full appointment and another weigh in. The twins are up to 5 lbs 11 oz (Genevieve) and 5 lbs 14 oz (Jackson). The Dr. was very impressed with their weight gain since Saturday, and with the fact they are both up over their birth weights already. Way to go babies!

In other news from the appointment, the nurse claims that both babies are measuring 19 3/8 inches long. I find it hard to believe they've grown an inch in the week since their discharge at the hospital, but it could be possible. We're sticking with the ultra spendy formula for preemies for the time being, as apparently it helps with brain development - hard to argue with that. On a positive note, however, Dr. Ryan tells us we are already at the point where we can let the twins sleep as long as they're able to at night without waking them to eat. Now if we can just convince Jackson that means 5 hours without waking and not 3...

Bentley adapts to his new life

Today we managed to get our first picture of all three kids together. Bentley has been very helpful with the twins today - he helped feed Jackson, and he points to the back room when he hears one of them crying to alert us. I think maybe he's getting used to having them around!

It's either that or he's just biding his time until he can manage to get the phone number right and find someone to come rescue him from this crazy home. :-)

It's already Day 1 with 3!

We were thrilled to be able to bring Jackson home from the NICU today. Yesterday around 11:00 a.m. the Dr. came by and told Genevieve she could leave. She removed the tape from Jackson's feeding tube because she was going to reposition it, but she turned around for a minute and he managed to rip it out while she wasn't looking! She told him that he didn't have to have it put back in until he needed it, and for the next 8 feedings he behaved like a champ and met his feeding requirements all from the bottle. So now he's home too, and we couldn't be happier that we don't have to make anymore trips back and forth to Providence at all hours of the day. :-) The 10 day stay in the NICU with the challenge of having someone there every 3 hrs to feed the twins makes me think having them home might not be so hard after all...

Day 1 with 2

Today Genevieve came home from the hospital!

She was right under 5 lbs at the time of discharge, and now our instructions are to feed, feed, and feed her more. We will see what Bentley thinks of her. We had him visit the twins a few times in the NICU, but he wasn't a big fan of the hospital since we refused to put him down and let him push buttons and pull on dangling cords. I'm not sure he knows the twins are human, like us. From his perspective they're just little blanket bundles with tiny hats sticking out of the top. I think she's happy to be home in her own bed with her own blankets - she's looks like it, right?!

Feeding and the NICU

While I was pregnant with the twins I often wondered what exactly they would be like. Because my only experience to date was with Bentley, it was hard not to picture them as being just like their brother. Matt and I may be biased, but we think Bentley is close to perfect. He's always cheerful and full of joy. He's bright, inquisitive, energetic... and a delight to be around! I found myself thinking that the only thing I would change about the twins, if I could, is eating habits. Bentley doesn't like to eat as much as I think he should and it's been a cause of stress to me - I'm always trying to get more calories into him.

So now I find myself with twins in the NICU, who are there because they have to learn to eat. In order to come home they have to be able to take a full days worth of food from the bottle, and they have to be gaining weight. Sometimes it seems like one step forward and two steps back.

They are fed every three hours. Every day the Dr. comes by and sometimes increases the amount of formula they have to eat in order to maintain/increase their weight. If they don't drink at least a certain percent of their bottle, then they have to be tubed (gavaged) so they can get adequate nutrition to stay hydrated and grow. Every 12 hours the nursing staff rotates, and you never know what you're going to get next. Every nurse is assigned 3-4 babies, and every nurse has some different thoughts on how to feed the twins, and the best "plan" for them. Because of this constant change, we (with a very large amount of help from my parents!) have made a point to be there at EVERY feeding. We know the babies and are starting to learn what works/what doesn't.

Genevieve has been a champ with the bottle from the get go:


Jackson started out great,


but now has started struggling to get the bottles down. Apparently this is common with preemie babies - they get off to a good start, but don't have the energy to keep going. They're still learning to suck/swallow/breathe (and all in the right order!) and for a tiny baby that's a lot of work. One of the nurses likens each feeding to running a marathon for them - they're exhausted when they're done and if you make them work at the bottle for too long they can actually burn more calories trying to eat than they get from the bottle.

Anyway, we worked very hard with Jackson to get those bottles down, but he started getting too tired to handle it. It was a hard decision for me, but we ended up taking the advice of the Dr. and giving him a feeding tube. So now he takes a bottle every 6 hours, and we feed him the other bottles through the tube so he can rest and build up his energy. It felt like a huge step back to agree to the tube, but the poor baby wasn't able to handle bottles yet. When he's able to take the full amount for his bottles at every bottle feeding, then the plan is to wean him off of the tube.

The most exhausing part of the NICU is never knowing what's going to happen next. The doctors and nurses can't provide a guess as to when any baby will be able to go home, because it's not something they can predict with any accuracy. Babies can be eating well for a week and suddenly quit. Babies can be eating through a tube and suddenly it will "click" for them on how to use the bottle. They have no way of knowing, and so we just go from one feeding to the next. Every feeding feels like a high stakes game, where you're watching the clock and trying to get as much as you can down them before the 30 minutes are up and you see if they "pass" - if they're closer to home, or if they're perhaps getting a little closer to needing a tube.

I'm very thankful that feeding is the only reason the twinks are in the NICU, and that they are otherwise healthy - but I still can't wait for this experience to be over. I was discharged from the hospital yesterday and had to leave without them... I can't drive yet, so the logistics of getting back to the hospital for feedings is fun. My Mother goes over for a large number of the feedings (even at night!) and that has been wonderful. Even with that help, between trying to catch a little sleep, spend some time with Bentley, pump/pump/pump to provide a meager supply of breast milk, and then travel to and from the hospital to feed and hold the babies - I now have a great deal of empathy for any parent who has a child spend even a short amount of time in the NICU.

The twins are here!

Jackson Matthew Altman (right) and Genevieve Amelia Altman (left) are here! They were born at 1:53 p.m. on June 26th, 2007 at the Providence hospital here in Anchorage. Jackson was 19 inches and 5 lbs 8 oz, and Genevieve was 18.5 inches and 5 lbs 4 oz. They were born about 20 seconds apart, so both at 1:53 - pretty cool! Jackson has short hair that fuzzes up/sticks straight out like down and is adorable. He is very alert (when awake!) and loves to look around. Genevieve has longer hair (and more of it) than he does, and huge gorgeous eyes. Although - we more often see Jackson's eyes as Genevieve already seems to know that girls need their beauty sleep.

I was admitted to the hospital on June 25th for monitoring, and due to some preterm labor complications on June 26th my Dr. recommended delivering the twins via a planned c-section versus keeping me on bed rest in the hospital and still potentially ending up with an emergency c-section. Apparently planned goes smoother than emergency... go figure!

Because the twins were born at 34 weeks 2 days, they both ended up in the NICU. Jackson is a "grower", meaning he just needs to learn to eat. Genevieve had a tube to help with her breathing, but the tube is now out and she's in the "grower" category too. Hopefully they will make it home soon, it is rough having them in the hospital!

Great Outdoors Fan

Bentley loves the outdoors. If he keeps at it he might even convert me into being a fan! The midnight sun is confusing to him, however, and sometimes he wakes up at 3 am and points to the door. He's ready to go out, even after we try to insist that it is still time to sleep! I can relate, though, as it's hard for me to sleep at night when it seems like it's noon outside.

Yesterday Bentley used his new froggy pool for the first time. It was the 2nd attempt to use the pool. The day before Oma had filled it from the outside faucet, after encountering difficulties hooking up the hose to the warm water inside, and Bentley refused to get into it because it was cold. He also has a problem with the feel of the grass on his feet - silly boy! Yesterday there was success hooking up the hose to the water heater, but that made the pool too hot. We had to let the sprinkler cool it for a while with cold water from the hose before he'd give it a try - he was acting a bit like Goldilocks... :-)

He is also a fan of the hot tub. Oma and Opa have turned down the temperature on their tub a bit and Bentley goes out there with them once in a while. It's a blast for him, and it has me thinking he's quite the pampered tot...

The park is another favorite. He's already mastered going down the slides by himself! The first couple of times we went to the park he wanted someone to go down with him, but very quickly he moved past that - too independent! We haven't completely convinced him the "bouncy horse" at the park is fun, but the slides and the swings are a big hit.

Bentley also learned to roll down hills at Grandpa Tim's house this past week. After getting a good running start he would roll down on his side, laughing with glee - or so Matt claims. I wasn't there to observe this but I did see the grass stains on the clothes that seem to back up the story!

I think if we set up a tent in the backyard he would be happy to live out there. There are always screams when it's time to come back inside the house after playing outdoors, and half of the time when we're inside his nose is pressed to the screen door wanting to be OUT! I'm trying to learn to enjoy the great outdoors more since I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of our time in it during the coming years.... next up we'll have to see what the kiddo thinks of snow and cold. Will it keep him inside, or will I be investing in extra toasty snowsuits for him since he'll want to be out there 24x7? :-)

The fearless climber

This past weekend Bentley has been working on climbing skills. For a while now he has been able to climb on the couch at my parents' house, it's a little lower than most other furniture items, but that's about all he could get to. Over the weekend he figured out how to get up onto Oma & Opa's fireplace ledge, and - more importantly - the dining room chairs AND the dining room table at our house. I turned around when I heard "HI!" and saw him standing on our dining room table. Reckless! But at least the tyke is happy, right?

Score one for Bentley in the battle of the bottle. He was hardly drinking any liquids since having the bottle taken hostage, so I relented and gave it back. After doing some research I decided it doesn't matter if the doctor says to ditch it - so long as we brush the teeth after use and before putting him to bed. We're doing that anyway. His poor thumb was turning raw from all the extra sucking he did to compensate for not getting bottle time - it was pathetic looking! When we share bottle time, before nap and before bed, it's a time for Bentley to curl up and relax with the people he loves. Why take that away, right? :-)

Battle for the bottle

For the past couple of months I've been concerned that Bentley doesn't drink or eat enough food. Finally, after agonizing for long enough on my own, I decided to take him in to see the doctor. I made the mistake of mentioning the appointment beforehand to the little guy so he found some rocks in the yard to swallow, and stretched himself out on a stretching rack at night while I was sleeping... the doctor claims he is 21 1/2 lbs, and 30 3/4 inches. My home measurments had him at 20 1/2 lbs and 30 inches. They probably thought I was crazy when I insisted they check their measurements, but they did it. Bentley smiled, danced around like crazy to show them how much energy he has, and they told me he is doing just fine.

However - upon hearing that he still uses a bottle for milk, I was told to immediately discontinue this practice. So we came home, washed the bottles and boiled the nipples, and put them all away in a box in the garage. We're on day 4 of the new post bottle world, and it's not going well. He gets maybe 1/2 the amount of milk he had before, and today I think he had a total of 2 ounces. So, basically, I got the opposite result of what I intended from our trip to the Dr. Instead of getting more calories into the kid now I'm getting about 200 calories LESS a day. We'll give it another week, things can only get better (I hope)!

Other news:
Bentley is a HUGE fan of the outdoors. No matter the time of day, when he see's his coat or shoes he grabs them, goes to the door, and points outside. He cries when he has to come back inside, even if he's freezing!
We had a family picnic for Memorial Day, he enjoyed playing with cousin Felicity afterwards at our house. Bentley is a big food pusher, happy to feed her and other people as long as they don't try to feed him in return.
This past weekened I found a motorized little ride on scooter at a garage sale, and he loves it. I'm not sure if he knows that it moves on its own or if he's just into it for the noise the motor makes, but either way he is having a blast driving it all over upstairs. I predict he may want a bigger one when he's a little older... hmmm.... I still say no four wheeler or snow machine for my child though!

We're happy!!!

Bentley has learned a new word, and it's a great one to count among his first words - happy! Yesterday I heard him say it about 3 times, and then this morning he was wandering around muttering it over and over under his breath. For the unbelievers, in case there are any, I recorded it on video. I am particularly impressed that he chose this time to voice "happy" as yesterday night the poor kid woke up in the middle of the night with a case of croup. It's worse at night, when he has a horrible seal like bark and difficulty breathing. We're hoping it goes away soon - but - we're impressed with how happy he is despite it!

The Traveler Returns!

Last night Bentley arrived home from his big adventure in Florida. My parents took him down there so he could meet my Oma and Opa. He'd met all of his other great grandparents already, so I was very happy he had the chance to make this visit! Matt was also in Florida, partly overlapping Bentley's trip, for a conference in Tampa. Apparently the highlight of the trip (outside of meeting awesome relatives!) was the pool at Oma and Opa's house. From what I've heard, he really enjoyed it and would have spent all his time out there if allowed - maybe he's part fish?? :-)

On the plane and at the airport:

Adventures with the pool: Ready to go, in the water, and wanting to go back out...




Enjoying the good life (big cookies!), and then kicking back: