michael and james balsamo

We're heading to Seabrook, SC on Saturday for a week.  We're going with Aunt Shay, Uncle Danny, Brynnie, Caitlin, Aunt Lea and Uncle Murph!!  6 adults and 4 children (3 of which are a year old).  We think we're going to need a 2nd vacation just to recuperate.  It's going to be a great time - it's the boys' first plane ride so we're hoping all goes well.  I can't wait to play with the boys on the beach.  We should have a lot of great pix when we get home!! 

We had a beautiful morning for mother's day.  I got separate cards and gifts from Michael and James.  The card from James was perfect - it had a picture of Linus on the front - we call him Linus all the time because he carries his blankie everywhere and is very comforted by it!! He gave me a beautiful necklace.  Michael gave me a snoopy card and a multi-media card reader for the PC :) (this was perfect because it was what I needed to get the pictures off my camera and on to the PC so I can update their web page.    They are napping now so I used his gift the first chance I got.    Nanna and PopPop are coming over later for a bbq, and we're hoping Aunt Trish might make an appearance.  Aunt Lea too!!  I'll take some pictures so I have Mother's day pictures to post!! 

I had the boys outside in the stroller enjoying the day.  Nanna swears that James said 'rock' the day before, but May 9 I officially heard it- he was playing with a rock and said it very clear.  Then on Friday, we were out in the backyard playing and James went around picking up one rock after the other and saying it over and over again "rock, rock, rock, " each time he picked one up.  See a picture of James and his rock collection in the May 9-11 section of our recent photos.

Happy First Birthday Caitlin Caufield!!!  We love you!!

We went to Michael and Chrissy's to celebrate Nanna's birthday.  We had a nice cookout.. James fell on the patio and split his lip :(  , but was fine.  Both of them were a little bit cranky (unusual).  They are transitioning from 2 naps to 1, so I think they are kind of out of whack.  Everyone was patient though!!    We have some pictures to post soon.

I spent 3 hours on the phone with Patti Hayes (who built this beautiful website for us)  on Saturday morning learning how to make updates and changes myself.  It is not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be and Patti is a great teacher!!  Now that I can do it, I promise to try and be better about more frequent updates!!!  Many thanks to Patti from our whole family!

This was a rough 5 days for Michael and James!!  On Wednesday morning, James woke up with 102.5 fever.  By the afternoon, it was over 103.  Phil took him to the doctor, and the doctor said it was viral - not too much we can do, just give him motrin.  On Thursday morning, Michael woke up sick as well.  They both had a terrible cough.  We had to take them in and out of the steam to open their airways.  They were up all night most nights because they were so uncomfortable from the fevers!!  For 5 straight days, they kept spiking that high fever.  It would come down with the motrin, but spike as soon as it wore off.  We felt so bad for them.  They were very snuggly and just wanted to be held!!

We also had a scary incident when I accidentally gave James too much Motrin (he was fine), but I don't want to document the details of my mommy screw ups for eternity in their journal, so I'll have to give you the details when we talk. 

On Saturday and Sunday, when their fevers were down from the motrin, we took them in the backyard to play.  We thought the fresh air would be good!!  It was a beautiful weekend..  and nice to get outside.  We took some great pictures - although I think you can tell in a couple that Michael was still not feeling well!!  Thats where we got the new pic for the home page.  See the rest on the recent photos page. 

By Monday, they were much better, but still running a low fever!!  It was a rough one and took well over a week before they seemed to be feeling back to their normal selves!!

The boys have been walking for a while now, but mostly just inside and in their socks.  We started to buy shoes before, but thought it would just make it more difficult for them until they get really steady on their feet.  With the weather getting nicer, we thought it was a good time to finally get them shoes so they could play outside.  Aunt Shay and Uncle Danny had given them a gift certificate to Stride Rite for their Birthday so they could get a good pair of walking shoes!! So on March 31, I took the boys up town in Caldwell to go to Stride Rite..   Nanna and PopPop came along. 

Cute story,  Bill, the gentleman that fitted Michael and James,  was the same man that fitted me for my first pair of shoes!!!  See a picture of Bill fitting James on the recent pictures page.  

Tuesday, January 30 was the boys first birthday!!  I can't believe how far they've come in a year.  They are right on track for their age, in spite of their prematurity.  The Dr's told us that it usually takes about 2 years for premature babies to fully catch up - but you would never know it to look at them now.  On Sunday, the 28th, we had a little, low key party for the boys...  Pizza and cupcakes.  I wanted to do cupcakes so they could each have their own individual one.  I was determined to make them myself instead of giving them a store bought cake - bad move!!!  Even though I'm a terrible cook, I can usually bake pretty well.  Not this time, they came out like bricks - but the boys smeared them on their faces all the same!!!  See pictures from their party on their birthday page here.  I have a few up, but will post some more as soon as I get them from Nanna. 

On Tuesday, their actual birthday, I took the day off from work and spent the day with Phil and the boys..   We dressed them up in the adorable jean jackets that Aunt Trish gave them for their birthday and took them to get their 1 year pictures made.  You can see them on the professional pictures page. 

We had a great Thanksgiving and Phil and I hosted for the 3rd year. I think it is officially our holiday now! Well really Phil hosted - if I did any of the cooking we never would have hosted after the first time!!! As always, Phil made a great spread (with Angies help) and the boys had a wonderful day with all of the family around. We had a large crowd - Angie was home, Heather, Sal, Sharon, Matt, my parents, Michael, Chrissy, Jill, Bill, Meg, Ben, Billy, Stefany,Geraldine, Anthony. See pictures on Our First Thanksgiving page

November 2006 - We can pull up!!!

In October the boys really started crawling around.  They are not quite crawling on all fours, but rather doing the ‘army crawl’ with their arms and dragging their bodies behind!!!  None the less, they have become very mobile which makes things a lot of fun at our house!!  We’ve had to trade in the exersaucers for a giant play pen which allows them to move around.  What used to be the ‘family/tv’ room has now officially become a ‘playroom’ with wall to wall toys.

In mid-October Phil and I packed up the boys and took a roadtrip to VT.  Neither of us had ever been.  We were looking for a nice place to take a long weekend and enjoy the fall season.  It was beautiful!!  See pictures from our great weekend here.

On Oct 30 we took the boys for their second set of professional pictures – age 9 months!!  See them here.

At the end of October was the boys first Halloween!!  They were dressed as ‘two peas in a pod.’  We had a great time with the neighbors and Aunt Shay, Uncle Danny, Brynnie and Caitlin.  See our fun Halloween page here.

August 2006  – We can sit up!

July 2006

June 2006 – Rolling Over & Christening

May 2006 – SLEEP!!!!!!  Finally.

April 2006 - Roadtrip

April 16 was Nanna and PopPops 40^th Wedding anniversary (it was also Easter Sunday).  Nanna and PopPop wanted everyone to come down to their place on Seabrook Island, SC to spend Easter and their anniversary together.  The Dr said the boys were too little and still too susceptible to germs to bring on an airplane, so we packed them up and drove 1600 miles round trip.  We stopped along the way in Charlotte, NC to visit our family and friends there (we have many on both sides of our family there).  We had to stop every 3 hours to feed and change the boys, so the trip took quite a bit longer than it normally would have.  However, the boys were wonderful!!!!!  They didn’t cry one time on the drive, until we were about 30 minutes from home on the way back!!  They were still not sleeping very much at this point, so I ‘m not sure ‘vacation’ is the right word, but it was a wonderful trip and we have great memories.  See our video montage and photos here. 

February-March 2006 - SLEEP?????

Sorry, I can’t say much for here, as most of it is a fog to me. February 16 we brought the boys home from the hospital.  That was a great day!We took turns caring for the babies around the clock.  At this point, I think the longest they slept was about an hour.  They ate every 3, took an hour to do so – so by the time you finished both it was time to begin preparing for the next round.  I also was pumping at this time so it felt like I was feeding 4 babies!!!  It was wonderful to watch them get bigger and stronger every day and I am blessed with a husband that makes more things possible than I ever imagined, so I probably got more sleep than any new mother on the planet (especially new mothers of twins!)

January 30, 2006 - Our Birthday!!!

We went for our follow up appt that afternoon – around 2pm.  Because the appt was in the afternoon, I had eaten lunch already.  We met with the Dr. and told him about my BP episode over the weekend.  It was the final straw for him – my BP combined with the fact that the babies growth had stopped – told him it was time to deliver.  We could hardly believe it – we knew it was coming, but were still shocked when he said it would be that day.  I was 34 weeks, 1 day pregnant.  He sent me straight to the hospital to be admitted, but they had to wait until later that evening to do the surgery since I had just eaten. 

Phil was very nervous that it was too soon and we were delivering them 6 weeks premature.  I think I was more relieved, because at that point I felt they were better on the outside where people could help them and I was so nervous that they were not safe inside of me any longer.

That evening, at 8:08 and 8:09 pm, Michael and James arrived via c-section.  They both came out screaming and I felt the most overwhelming relief I’ve ever known.  Michael was 3 lbs 14 oz and they told us 17” long and James was 3 lbs 15 oz and 19” long (tall!!), although a week later they were the same length so they must have mismeasured Michael.

The boys spent the next 16 days in the NICU.  Phil and I were back and forth to the hospital 5X a day (fortunately we’re close by) and we tried to be there for almost all of their feedings.  They lost down to about 3 ½ lbs.  This was a very difficult time – the boys did not know how to eat/suck when they were first born so they had to have feeding tubes until they could learn.  They had several episodes when they stopped/’forgot’ to breathe because their systems were not mature yet.  The nurses took great care and on February 15, after 16 days in the NICU, we brought them home at a whopping 4 ½ lbs!!  It was so great to have them home.

January 2006 

For New Years Eve, we walked across the St (Phil walked, I hobbled) to Shay and Danny's House.  I figured I could lie on their couch, same as mine, so we may as well have some company.  Shay was pregnant as well, with Caitlin, so this was not the most happening New Years party on the block.  I don’t think we made it to midnight.  Phil had been with Rosie that day and she was going down hill quickly.  She did not say much all day and was in and out of consciousness.

On New Year's Day Rosie passed away.  We miss her dearly – and we were all devastated that she did not get to meet our boys.  We are thankful she knew they were coming and we know she can see them now!

The remainder of January was filled with plenty of Dr’s appts and even more anxiety over the well being of our children.  The Dr’s monitored them very carefully.  They said they expected we would have to deliver between 32-34 weeks, but at this point they would deliver at the slightest sign something did not look right.  With IUGR, there becomes a point where it is no longer a safe environment for the babies, so they are safer on the outside (even prematurely) than they are on the inside.  The key is to time the delivery perfectly so you don’t deliver them too early, but you don’t miss your window either – as there is a greatly increased risk for them to be stillborn.  The boys continued to show abnormally slow growth, but their biophysical profiles continued to look good so they allowed us to keep going.

On Friday, January 27, Aunt Shay’s birthday, I had a Dr. appt.  At this appointment they told us the growth had basically stopped – the boys showed very little growth since the last appt.  The Dr. debated delivering that day, but decided to send us home and bring us back on Monday for a check since the biophysicals still looked ok. 

Over the weekend, my BP shot up very high (160/110).  I called the Dr. and they sent me to the hospital to be monitored.  By the time I was there it had come down a bit, still high, but not as bad.  The babies looked ok and they sent me home.

December 2005 - Bedrest and Rosie's Illness

The following week (1st week of December) we got the news that confirmed that  Phil's mom Rosie had cancer.   December was a very difficult month for our entire family.  Rosie was in the hospital (first in Passaic, then Caldwell) and was suffering.  She went through one surgery, couldn't eat and was losing weight rapidly.  Phil spent the entire month running around between caring for his mother in the hospital, caring for me on bedrest (making meals, helping me get comfortable), going to work in Princeton, and accompanying me to the frequent Dr's visits.  I spent the time laying on my side (best for blood flow for the babies) and surfing the internet.  I read up on IUGR (the boys' condition) and learned as much as I could so that I could be knowledgeable when speaking to the dr's and I could fully  understand what was happening.  The time between  Dr appts was extremely nerve-wracking, as we were in constant fear of what news might be delivered at the next appt and there was very little either of us could do to help them.  We had one bad scare where Baby B (we think that was Michael, not sure) was not passing his biophysical profile (looks at heart rate, breathing movement, etc) and we thought we were going to have to deliver at 28 weeks.  Thank God, he began to cooperate and they sent us home for continued bedrest.  I was so sad not to be able to spend this time with Rosie, but I managed to sneak out and visit her twice during the month when I was already out of the house for a dr. visit.  Phil began to prepare the house to bring her home with us.

December 1 - Bad day

This was a tough day.  The specialists brought us back 2 weeks after last appt (11/16) to check on the boys growth.  We got confirmation at this appt that the boys were having problems with growth restriction.  Their head/femur measurements continued to look good, but their bellies were now in the <5th percentile.  At this point, the Dr's said they will not catch up.  They will continue to have this problem and will have to be closely monitored to make sure they are delivered at the right time before it becomes dangerous for them.  We were told we would likely deliver between 32-34 weeks.

November 16 2005 - Small Bellies

October 19 - Growth update

September 21 2005 - It's a boy!! It's a boy!!

August 2 2005 - There are Two!!!!!

June 30 2005 - I'm pregnant!!!!

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