A Family of Five

On August 7, 2010 at 4:25 a.m., our little family grew from three to four and then one minute later from four to five.

Alex Jacob Rasmussen

4 lbs. 0 oz.

16.5 inches

4:25 a.m.

Colton John Rasmussen

4 lbs. 1 oz.

17.5 inches

4:26 a.m.

As you can tell from my last post,these little blessings were not expected so early. I am not going to bore you with the details but they were born 8 weeks too early. As you can tell, they are fraternal twins. Alex looks like a little Zohner baby with his dark skin and brown hair while Colton is a little Rasmussen/van Leerdam baby with his light skin and reddish hair. I now have three totally different looking babies!

This past month has been a blur. The boys were in the NICU for a total of 24 days. When they were first born they were in separate incubators in the most critical unit of the NICU. They shared a room with some very sick babies including a 2 lb. born at 28 weeks. As you can see from the above pictures, our little boys were hooked up to so many tubes and monitors. It was heart wrenching to to see them like that. I had massive amounts of guilt. I wished that I hadn't complained so much about being in Idaho Falls. I have truly learned the lesson of being careful what you wish for. However, for being born at 32 weeks, both boys were doing exceedingly well. They were only on oxygen for a few days and being so early they were being tube feed because of the lack the feeding reflex. FYI-when people say that they are born to eat, that isn't the case! They do not learn the eating reflex until about the 36 week of pregnancy. Colton was doing fabulous while little Alex had some hurdles with stomach issues and just in general wasn't doing so well. We decided to have the boys receive a blessing and long story short, those poor young missionaries. They were totally unprepared for the NICU experience! That is something I am sure that either elders will forget. The blessings were absolutely beautiful and I am 100% positive that they helped because the next day, Alex started improving.

After a week, the boys were moved into a step down room of the NICU. The nurses hadn't called or warned us of the move until I walked into the NICU and seen my babies gone. I have never been so close to fainting without actually doing so. The nurse came running towards me saying that they are OK, they just got moved. I was sure that something had happened to them both and they hadn't called me. I shook for all day after that. I was also so relieved to see them in another room and in the same incubator! After a week of being separated, they were finally together and doing so well. You could just see how much more relaxed and healthier they were. It made me cry. OK, so a lot of things made me cry but this was happy tears.

After a week of being with Alex & Colton, I decided that I needed to go home to Victor and see Sam. He had been such a trooper. He had spent hours with us in the NICU and had never complained. For being a very busy boy and spending a couple of hours being quiet and still, he did very, very well. The nurses kept commenting on what a well mannered boy he was and how he is more than welcome to come anytime. That made me one very proud mama!

Anyway, the first time I left the twins to come home to Victor, I sobbed and sobbed. It felt like my heart was being ripped into two pieces. After being with the boys for almost 8 months and all the sudden not be able to see them or touch them was a feeling that I will never forget or ever what to relive. Once we arrived home, I immediately called the hospital to check on them and upon hearing they were doing well, I cried again. I had originally planned on staying home for a day and then going back but Sam and Blaine got some kind of stomach bug and for the safety of the babies, I had to stay away from them for a few more days. Those poor nurses were probably so sick and tired of me crying in their ears and me repeatedly saying that I was so very sorry I wasn't there.

I started going back and forth to Idaho Falls every other day so that Sam didn't feel neglected and so that I had time to rest. It never did get easier to leave the hospital but I was learning to stay busy while I wasn't there. Richard and Betty were at the house helping with Sam and doing all my little "honey do" things, so that helped. I even rode into hunting camp on the four wheeler only 2 weeks after my c-section. I couldn't stay at the house for another second and when Blaine & Sam were going in to help set up tents, I took my chance to go. I was a little nervous about going but it never hurt! I was shocked! In fact, four days after the boys were born, I went shopping all day with Betty! I guess my obsession with Pilate's before getting pregnant and during the initial few months helped a lot! I am such a firm believer of being in shape before you get pregnant.

Initially, we were told to expect Alex and Colton to stay in the hospital until their due date of September 28. So it was a complete shock when on August 28, we were told that they would be released early that week. Both boys were eating well on their own and were doing well enough to come home! They had also lost over a 1/2 lb. after birth and had now gained that back plus another pound in less than a month!

Blaine was unable to be with me when we brought Alex and Colton home on August 31 so Grandma Zohner came with me. The ride home was very nerve wracking and after all the time of wishing that they were home, now I was wishing that I could take them back to the hospital where someone would hold my hand. The teaching that they gave us before EIRMC would release them had me in a pure panic state! There was so much to look out for and not do and things to do that normal babies wouldn't require, I was terrified that I would screw up and do irreparable harm to them.

My fears have been calmed immensely and they are still healthy. I have now got into the swing of things. They are both wonderful babies that sleep, eat and poop on a regular basis. The hospital had them on a three hour eating schedule that I just have to maintain. It has been wonderful and I am so glad to be done with the whole hospital experience.