What a Great Day!

Well, Kristi and I had one of the greatest days yesterday. Maybe one of the greatest days since we've been married. It was surely one of the best days of my life. We went to our local doctor for a regular appointment and things went well. The doctor used words like "wonderful" and "great" and "beautifully." After that appointment we drove to Temple for the supper-dupper ultrasound. I was wrong by the way in my last blog; it wasn't in 3D. It was just a really good machine. Anyway, I got pulled over on the way there for speeding because I was doing 40 about 100 feet after the speed limit had dropped to 30. What happened next was just a sign of things to come. As the policeman pulled me over, I pulled into the parking lot of Erwin's Chicken. As soon as the car was stopped, Kristi jumped out of the car and ran inside to go to the bathroom. I guess the cop saw this and had a change of heart. He did what no police office has ever done for me (and I have met a lot of police officers); he gave me a warning. I couldn't believe it. Looking back, it was just a sign for what a great day it would be.

Next, we went to lunch in Temple and got chocolate mints before we left. On the way to the hospital, Kristi dropped some of her mint on to her seat. Why this is interesting is that Kristi always has the seat-warmer on in the car these days. Well, you guessed it, the chocolate mint melted to her stretchy pants. She ran inside to the bathroom with a book covering her behind so people wouldn't think she pooped her pants. She did eventually get the chocolate out, but she made me promise not to tell you on the blog how she did it. I can tell you, it was funny.

The First Week at Home

My gosh! Now that we’re home it has occurred to Kristi and me that we didn’t really think this thing all the way through. Not that we’re complaining. We’re very happy to have the kids and it has been a wonderful week. It’s just that I feel I just took a second job and the pay is crap; literally.

Having the kids home for a week has been a combination of really busy and nothing. We have the kids on a three hour schedule (most of the time) where we change them, feed them and put them back to sleep. This occurs 24 hours a day. It’s really not too bad until, like last night, one of them decides to change the schedule on us. Really, I think maybe the kids are part vampire. It seems that they stick to the schedule and sleep great all day. And then, when the sun goes down, they’re up all the time. Kristi was really working it last night with Mackie. I knew Kristi had had enough when, after a couple of hours of trying to get Mackie quiet, Kristi came to bed, laid Mackie next to Ozzie, one of our poodles, and said, “Ozzie, see if you can quiet her down.” Ozzie leaned over, sniffed her, then got up and moved to another part of the bed. Apparently he was tired of it also.

We came home from the hospital last Tuesday. The kids stayed one night more than Kristi just to make sure they could maintain their temperatures. They can. It was pretty stressful thinking that Kristi would have to go home and leave the kids at the hospital but St. Joseph’s hospital in Bryan has a great deal where you can stay one extra night on what they call their “Bed and Breakfast” plan. For $50 we were able to stay an extra night and then all go home together. I can’t say enough about the wonderful nurses and staff at St. Joseph’s. They were friendly, knowledgeable, and caring. We hope to stay in touch with a few of them. Here are a few pictures of everyone at the hospital and going home.

This is their first ride in a car. I think they look like ocean explorers about to take a deep-sea dive.

Me putting them in the car for the first time.

This is the dogs getting their first sniff of the new babies. The dogs have been really wonderful around the babies.

Now that we’re home, we’re having regular visits by friends and family to come see the babies. Here is a picture of them their first nap in their new home.

Nonni and Pops holding them.

Nanna and Roo coming for a visit.

Aunt Mary and Uncle Johnson came down for the day.

Aunt Katy and Uncle Dave. They're actually our cousins but we're not telling Mackie and Nate that.

And just becaus I like it so much, here is a picture of me with my two kids.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers throughout the pregnancy. It’s obvious that it worked. When you think back it’s really amazing that Kristi was able to go 37 weeks into a multiple pregnancy with minor complications and nothing that ever posed a significant risk to Kristi or the babies. We truly feel blessed to be on the other side with everyone healthy and happy. We also feel blessed by all the friends and family that have supported us and cared for us on this journey. Now that we’ve crossed the starting line, I can’t wait for Mackie and Nate to come to know each of you and learn for themselves why each of you are so special to us.

Until next time, I hope you have a wonderful week.

Dr. Daddy.



They're Here!!!!

They're Here!

Mackenzie Kaye and Nathaniel David Sikes arrived just a little before 8:00 am on July 7, 2011. Mackie weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and Nate weighed 7 lbs 2 oz. Can you believe Kristi had over 13 lbs of baby in her on Thursday morning? Kristi is doing great. The babies are doing great. We have all spent the last 36 hours feeding, peeing, pooping, changing diapers, burping and doing all the other million things that I have learned goes into having two beautiful babies. I know you're all really ready to get to the pictures so here are some of the best from yesterday.

This is the first picture of the family.

Here is a picture of Kristi and the kids just a few hours after they were born.

Here are a couple of pictures of Mackie and Nate for the first time in the nursery.

Here the first picture of both the kids, that is the first not of ultrasound quality. Nate is on the left and has really blond hair. Mackie is on the left and has dark hair. Nate yelled for the first hour or so after he was born. Since then both have become very good babies.

Here's a picture of me with Mackie.

Pictures of all the grandparents with the kiddos.

Mimi

Nana and Roo

Nonni

Pops

And with my nephew Bradley.

I'll have more to write next time but things are pretty busy these days. I just wanted to get some pictures of the kids up for you to see.

I hope you have as great a weekend as we're having. I have to tell you, it would be pretty hard to beat what we're up to though.

Dr. Daddy

We’re Near the Finish Line

We’re near the finish line. Or is it we’re near the starting line? Either way, the pregnancy of Kristi Sikes is just about over. We just passed 36 weeks last Friday and the doctors say they don’t want Kristi to go beyond about 37 or 38 weeks. That means if Mackie and Nate don’t come out on their own, we’re going in after them. Huh. I guess it’s starting already… “Mackie, Nate! Come out here. You don’t want us to come in there and get you!”

Kristi is really uncomfortable these days. She’s finding it hard to sleep because she can’t stay in one position for more than 30 minutes or so. She does however still have a great outlook and is pushing hard to the end; not literally pushing just yet though. The other night, as she was trying to get comfortable again I heard her saying to herself, “Just a few more days, just a few more days.” Kristi is on a mission. Despite her being really uncomfortable, she is doing a great job. We went to the doctor last week and she said Kristi is healthy; blood pressure is good, blood tests are good, etc. While at the doctor we received a few more ultrasound pictures. This is either an alien or a monkey baby. Actually, it's Mackenzie.

 This is a picture of Nathaniel. See if you can guess what part it is. I'll give you a hint, we're SURE it's Nathaniel and not Mackenzie.

The swelling of Kristi Sikes is still spreading to new and interesting places. The latest part of Kristi to swell is her lips. She thinks they’re big but I think they’re supple. Check out these bad girls.

As I told you in an earlier blog, we’re having family paint small canvases to match the rug we purchased for the babies’ room. Dad and Sandi came up last weekend and painted theirs. What’s fun is they sign them with what the kids are going to call them. Sandi is going to be Nana and Dad is going to bad Rod.

Okay, Dad is actually going to be Roo but his painting looks like Rod.

Here is a picture of Kristi this week. She’s taking up a bit over half a doorway these days. If she gets any bigger, she'll be a fire hazard.

We go to the doctor again Tuesday. I’ll let you know what’s going on after the visit. Until then, I hope you have a good week.

Dr. Daddy

Things Are Getting Hard

So I’m thinking this pregnancy is starting to get kind of hard for Kristi. There were two events which really drove this home. Last Saturday, when she got out of bed, she walked to the bathroom and from the other room I heard her say to nobody, “I’m ready to evict these squatters!” 

The next was that evening. Kristi was going to have some peaches and ice cream after dinner. She cut up the peaches and put them in a bowl but the ice cream was too hard to scoop out so she asked me to do it. I dutifully scooped out three scoops of ice cream and put them on the peaches. I then handed the bowl to Kristi with a smile on my face. To my surprise, I was greeted with a look of disparagement. Our eyes met and we stood, staring.  After what seemed like hours she said, “I’ll let you know when I’m on a diet.”

 “More?”

“Uh huh.”

I actually knew before that tense moment that Kristi was finding it hard to do her daily things. Her feet, ankles, hands and fingers have swollen quite a bit over the last few weeks. Just to show you how much her hands have swollen, here is a picture of her wearing her wedding ring.

She has also been a bit down about not being able to do much around the house. I was cleaning last week and she mentioned that it was no fun sitting around watching me clean (yeah, I think maybe she’s lost it too).  Anyway, I told her just to pretend that she was on a cruise ship. To help make her feel like she was on vacation I made my first towel animal. What do you think?

In case you can’t figure it out, it’s a snake.

The reason I was cleaning was that Kristi’s father came to stay with us for a bit this week. Here is a picture of Kristi with her dad.

And, so you can get the full Kristi for the week, here is just Kristi.

We went to the doctor Tuesday. Things are still going good. Kristi’s blood pressure is good, her weight is a bit elevated but not too bad and her protein count is holding steady. This means, no babies this week. We go back tomorrow for a check-up. I’ll let you know.

Thanks for checking in this week. Have a great weekend.

Dr. Daddy

Things are good.

Hi Everyone,

I just posted a couple of days ago but since we went to the doctor this week, I wanted to get you up to speed on what’s going on.

First and most important is that Kristi is doing great. Her blood pressure is down since last week and she lost the excess weight she had gained. Additionally her protein level is the same as last week and has not risen. All of these results point to Kristi improving since last week thus leading the doctor to be more optimistic about making it to July. We’re still on a week by week basis but we’re keeping our fingers crossed. The longer the babies stay in the better. With that said however, we’re still at most three weeks away from meeting Mackenzie and Nathaniel. I can’t wait!

In addition to the regular doctor’s appointment we also had another measurement ultrasound—probably our last one. We found Mackenzie now weighs an estimated 5 lbs 2 oz and Nathaniel weighs 5 lbs 8 oz. With both babies over 5 lbs and hitting 34 weeks tomorrow, the kids could come anytime and be great. I can’t tell you what a great feeling it is that the babies will likely be born healthy (and ready to help with the household chores).

Both kids are moving around almost all the time now. Kristi said it feels as if they’re doing water aerobics. I put my hands on Kristi’s belly last night and Nathaniel kicked me. So I put my hand over Mackenzie and she kicked me also. Apparently they’re already learning bad habits from each other. We’re going to have to deal with that when they’re born.

I don’t have any additional pictures of Kristi just yet so to add some visual interest to the blog I’ll just post this.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I’ll post more next week.

Dr. Daddy

We’re Getting Close!

Sorry I didn’t post last night. I was busy watching the Dallas Mavericks win the NBA Championship over the Miami Heat. I’m sure you understand.

We are now past 33 weeks so we’re getting really close to having babies at this point. After going to the doctor last week, it appears we’re actually closer than we thought. The babies look great and are moving all over the place. It’s the greatest thing to see and feel them rolling around in Kristi’s tummy. They actually seem to be on a bit of a schedule right now with them getting very active between 7:00 and 9:00 pm. I’m sure the schedule thing won’t last once they're born. Of course, if I know Kristi, she’ll have them back on a schedule quickly once they’re born. She’s just like that you know.

Here is a picture of Mackenzie from last week’s doctor visit.

Here is the two of them head to head.

While at the doctor’s office, the nurse takes Kristi’s blood pressure and current weight as soon as we get into the exam area. The place they do this is out in a hall very close to the check-in desk and waiting area. The scale they use is a digital scale which pops up a number after Kristi stands on the scale for a few seconds. I guess Kristi was not ready for her weight this time. When that number popped up on the scale, Kristi screamed, “Ahhhh!!!!” making everyone—the nurse, the receptionist, people out in the wating room, the doctors—jump and turn to look. Kristi then started laughing as did everyone else in the office, except for the poor nurse who stood staring with eyes as big as saucers. All she could say was, “I’ve never had anyone do that before.”

While the weight gain led to a funny story, it wasn’t all good news. I mentioned we may actually be closer than we thought. Well, even though the babies are doing great, Kristi has begun showing signs of preeclampsia. For those of you who are like me and didn’t know what that meant, its pregnancy induced high blood pressure which is the result of all the added fluids in Kristi’s body along with various other protein things (I won’t bore you with what I’ve read about it). With it comes all the problems of regular high blood pressure except it can get out of control pretty quick. Because of this, we’re going in to see the doctor weekly now just to make sure things don’t get worse. They check it by measuring blood pressure, weight gain and proteins. While Kristi’s blood pressure is good, she did have greater than normal weight gain because of excess fluid and there were proteins found. Kristi is working to control it by doctor assigned "modified bedrest"-resting for a few hours in the middle of the day, which is much easier now that she is out of school for the summer.

The good news is there is a cure for preeclampsia; it’s having babies. With the babies pushing 34 weeks they would be early if they came now but would likely be just fine as their weights are good and their lungs are mostly developed. We would love for them to wait until July but the doctor thinks we may have them in June. I guess we’ll just see. Every week they stay in is good but we certainly don’t want to put Kristi at risk.

Kristi is still feeling pretty good however. And, as you can see is looking really good as well.

I’m very impressed with her because she is still laughing, smiling and sometimes still being an ass to me (in a fun way I assure you); basically she’s still the same fun Kristi that I have always loved. She’s just got two babies inside of her and can’t take baths anymore. I can tell you, she looks like a lunch-lady in the shower caps she bought. Here's what she thought of that comment.

With the news from the doctor, we have been thinking more about actually having these babies. Kristi has started packing for the hospital and I have started cleaning the house and keeping the yard up for when grandmothers and grandfathers come. I guess this has got Kristi a little on edge. For example, Kristi went to sleep in one of her maternity shirts last night instead of a PJ’s. In the middle of the night, she rolled over and felt a sharp pain in her side. She immediately thought, “Oh wow! This is a contraction.” She looked at the clock so she could time it and laid there with the pain. Eventually she moved a bit and the pain went away and she went back to sleep. A bit later she moved and the pain hit again. She again looked at the clock thinking it was a contraction. This time however it didn’t go away and in fact got worse the more she moved to one side. Well, turns out it wasn’t a contraction at all. It was the tag of her maternity shirt digging into her side while she rolled over. See what I mean by on edge.

We go back to the doctor this week. I’ll post after the doctor’s visit so you will know what’s going on. Thanks for all the wonderful thoughts and prayers you send to us. We’re still amazed with all the love you have shown us and amazed at how many people are taking an interest in our lives as we move toward our new family.

Until next time, have a good week.

Dr. Daddy.