Thilo Boys

Today is the eve of the boys' one month birthday and they are doing well. To say this past month has been a blur is an understatement. They mentioned at the beginning that the NICU was going to be a roller coaster ride; that wasn't a lie. It's the most terrifying one we've ever been on. A ride where the slow straightaways are as frightening as when you feel a G-pull and you fear flying out of the car. We're slowly adjusting to the constant beeps and incessant pinging alarms that make up the soundtrack of the NICU. The various life support screens with their colorful bouncing wire lines that spike and drop and speed across the screens relay status updates in real time. Maybe it's us looking for some silver lining in the situation, but how often does a new parent have a state of the art heads up display giving you slight edge when a fit is about to be thrown? The only downside is you rely on the nurses to translate the patterns and ultimately take care of the pe...

Meeting Quin for the first time Meeting Elan for the first time Hand hug with Quin Elan Elan At 1:39 Quin was born and just a minute later Elan was born. As you might be able to tell from the pictures, I was trying very hard to be happy in this moment, but I was completely terrified. I had no idea if my boys would be okay. They were so little. Quin: Weight: 1 lb 9 oz Length: 11 3/4 inches Elan:  Weight: 1 lb 11 oz Length: 12 1/2 inches Quin showed his spirited personality during his first moment of life by peeing all over me. Typically one would not be thrilled by this, but in that moment I was just happy to know that he was alive and functioning. At this early of gestation, they cannot breath on their own, so the NICU doctors and nurses immediately hooked them on life support. Then put the boys in a transport incubator and took them up to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or NICU. It will be their new home for the next s...

The boy's room is framed in  and ready for the sliding door. We are currently working on framing in the front wall.  The offerings of support from our friends and family have been nothing less than humbling and astounding. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by such loving and caring people. But while nearly everyone has offered some kind of help, we have been reluctant to act on anything solely because we did not know exactly what kind of help we needed.  Now that the twins are more stable in the NICU and we have been able to breathe a little easier and actually get a few hours of restful sleep, we have been able to reflect on our situation and identify where and how we need help. Before last week happened, we had been on track to finish the remodel of our house before the expected term delivery date. Since the boys were born so early, we have no choice but to adjust and increase our insurance which all but wipes out our budget to finish the remod...

Getting ready to get in the ambulance in Bellingham. Monitoring the babies heart beats at Swedish. Some days come and go without leaving a lasting impression, while others completely change the course of your life. Monday, June 24th was the latter for my family and I. Our life was turned upside down the Thursday before when we went in for a routine 24-week growth ultrasound. Twin ultrasounds take a long time, so Geoff headed to work as we were wrapping up. At the end, I was sat down and told that I needed to go directly to the childbirth center in Bellingham because my cervix had thinned drastically since my last ultrasound just 4 weeks earlier. I called Geoff in hysterics and told he needed to come back. When I got there, the nurses told me that my life was about to change. They were calling a specialized ambulance that could deliver babies to transport me down the Seattle. At this point, I was still not comprehending why this was all happening beca...