A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend (With Photos!)

Well, let's keep the actual words here short and sweet. It was a great weekend. All kinds of people were able to meet Isaac and Elias for the first time. Great Grandpa Theron and Great Grandma Phyllis top the list. They came to CMH and met the boys Sunday morning. Both sets of grandparents have been here this weekend at some point too, and my brother and his wife also made it here, all the way from Nashville. Kristi's sister has also been here as well as numerous great aunts and great uncles.

As for the medical side. I was looking back in earlier posts and noticed that we left out a term that is being thrown around for Isaac. They are diagnosing him with Spondylocostal Dysostosis.  Don't worry, we didn't know what it meant either (and couldn't pronounce it!)  So, here is a summary of what we know about Isaac. He has a dislocated spine, some fused ribs, underdeveloped lumbar region, underdeveloped lungs, vertebrae that are too close together, vertebrae that are too far apart, missing vertebrae, an inguinal hernia, and a club foot. Now, what does this all mean? It means we fix one thing at a time, try to get him healthy enough to go home and then work on the big issues as they come up. It does not look like any major surgery will be done anytime soon. His breathing is better and better and he is breathing completely on his own. His CT scan is amazing looking (we are trying to scan and put it here because it is kinda interesting). But doctors continue to think they can fix the problems he has. His foot is doing better and better thanks to PT.

Elias just keeps chugging away. At this point, Elias has no major issues of concern. He still has his heart defect, but that doesn't seem overly concerning to doctors. He continues to gain weight and learn to eat. So, he is doing very, very, well.

There is starting to be some chatter about what benchmarks they would need to meet in order to be released from the hospital. Just hearing that is awesome news. And, we have heard as early as ten days. That seems overly optimistic, but we will take it. Both boys have been cleared to take all feedings by bottle, which means the could actually be feeding tube free in the next couple of days.

Okay, that wasn't as short as planned. Here are a few more photos of the boys. Enjoy!  We will get more photos up here as soon as we can!

Kristi and the boys snuggling (May 30th)

The Grandpa's with Elias (May 30th)

Great Grandma Krehbiel with Elias (May 30th)

Uncle Russ with Elias (May 30th)

Aunt Roxanne with Isaac (May 30th)

The Top 20 with Isaac and Elias

Greetings from the 2nd floor of Children's Mercy Hospital.  My name is Isaac and my little brother is Elias.  We just wanted to share with you our experiences here at the hospital.  We are hoping Lucas Films will pick up the rights to the movie, but our agent (aka Dad) seems to be a bit lazy in trying to get a contract.

So, without further ado, here are the top 20 things about being a patient at Children's Mercy Hospital

20.  The food!  It's to die for!  That formula rocks, though can sometimes be a bit harsh at the other end.  Plus, I get to eat 8 times a day!  Na na na na boo boo.  Mom and Dad told us the formula stinks, well, we think Dad's coffee stinks, so we're even.

19.  The warm blankets!  Yep, I don't mind being a little snobby, being cuddled up in those blankets just gives me good feelings.  Usually such good feelings that I relax.  Relax, relax, relax, then usually relax and poop.  My parents can thank me later.

18.  The nurses are pretty cool too!  Sometimes mom and dad have to say something so that we get what we want, but that's their job right?  Usually the nurses just love on us, but, how could you not?  We are too cute to be passed over.

17.  Sugarbear!  Hang on (Shut up Eli, I will use exclamation points whenever I please, just because you are the same shape as an exclamation point doesn't mean you have to have a temper tantrum about it).  Sorry, Sugarbear is a gift from CMH.  So soft, so cuddly.

16.  Our wubba nubs!  Thanks Jennifer!  We love our monkey Wubba Nubs.  Don't know what they are?  Well then you aren't a baby!

15.  Those little electrical leads.  Makes us feel special that everyone wants to know what is going on with us.  And the tips are little dogs.  Speaking of dogs, Elias and I heard there is a dog at home who is ready to meet us so we are excited about that.

14.  Our friends!  Yes, we have made friends here at CMH.  I am not allowed to name them, but two of our friends have names starting with the letter P.  One starts with E, one starts with S.  And one friend who can be a bit loud starts with M.  All the babies here are pretty cool.

13.  The Machines!!  Holy cow are there a lot of machines.  Elias was a little stinker yesterday and pulled the power cord on my monitor and just grinned.  I got him back though when I shut off his feeding. Haha buddy.

12.  My moose!  He stays in my crib with me and Eli has a crab.  They guys keep watch while we are sleeping.  We've yet to see the boogieman so they must be doing a good job.  Our nurse just told me to give credit to mom and dad because they are here all the time too.  Whatever.  They get all the credit for us being cute, so they can deal with being slighted.

11.  HEY, THIS IS ELIAS, ISAAC SAID I CAN WRITE MY FAVORIT......Haha, Elias fell for it.  That was so fun. Oh man, here comes mom because Elias whined about me kicking him back into his isolette.  She says I have to let him write a few.  We will see..

10.  The Doctors!  And boy do we have a lot of them.  There's Dr. S (from our delivery), Dr. L (from Research), Dr. H (from Research, she rocks!!), Dr. O (from CMH), Dr. T (from CMH), Dr. D (from CMH), and Dr. S (from CMH).  Hmmm, that seems like enough people caring about us I guess.

9.  My physical therapist Megan!  She is helping me with my foot, which is a little messed up.  But she says it is getting way better.  She makes me do stretches, which I pretend to hate, but I actually like em.

8.  HEY, THIS IS ELIAS AGAIN, MY MOMMY AND DADDY HAVE LOCKED UP ISAAC FOR  A BIT.  MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT CMH?  THE HUGS!  I GET SO MANY HUGS A DAY, MAKES ME ALL WARM AND FUZZY.

7.  OH, AND THE OTHER THING I REALLY LIKE, MY MIZZOU HAT!!  YEP, DAD HAS TAUGHT ME ALL ABOUT THE TIGERS.  THEY SEEM AWESOME!  AND HE TOLD ME ALL ABOUT HOW KU CHEATS AND HOW K-STATE'S BASKETBALL COACH IS A BIG MEANIE.  I'M GLAD I AM A MU FAN, THOSE OTHER PLACES SOUND SCARY AND BAD.

6.  Enough Elias, thanks though.  You, that is good enough for number 6, just having Eli be quiet is a favorite thing here at CMH.

5.  Our grandparents!  They seem pretty cool.  I think Eli and I will be able schmooze them.  We are still working on that plan.

4.  Our parents!  Even though we make fun of them (especially Dad's weird sense of humor), we love em cause they love us.  Seems like a fair trade.

3.  Talking, I don't need to explain this one right?  You know who my parents are, so you should know we both love to talk.

2.  Dreaming.  I have a great dreams, not sayin what they are about.

1.  And our favorite thing about CMH?  Our health has gotten better.  Seriously, that is our favorite thing cause all these important people have started talking about us getting to go home in a few weeks.  We hope so!

I know it was a long post.  Sorry!  Hope to see you all soon.

isaac and elias

A Family of Four

Sorry it's been a couple of days, but we've been busy!!! There have been lots of ups, and a few downs, but overall very successful.

Isaac started us out on Sunday with orders to turn off his oxygen (he had been on 1L of flow at 21%). Ryan and I went to church, and when we got back, Isaac was tube free! Then, they decided it was time to move to a crib from his isolette. Our nurse, Amanda, saw to it that his crib was outfitted with a KSU Wildcats quilt. He was sleeping really soundly all day, and started to show some signs that he was working really hard to breathe on his own without any oxygen support. So, they ended up putting Isaac back on oxygen, the same as before. He just wasn't ready to go 'cold turkey' off of the oxygen.

Isaac has also had lots of attention from the Physical Therapy lady. He doesn't complain, but he doesn't seem too excited about it either! She has taped his club foot to help position it more towards midline (I'll try to get a picture later to better explain). We also are working on range of motion exercises/stretches for his little legs. He is tolerating those well, and they seem to be helping.

As of today (Tuesday, May 25th) the neonate, Dr. T ordered for Isaac's flow on his oxygen be turned down to .5L flow. He's been on that for about 4 hours, and seems to be doing well. We'll see how he tolerates it by tomorrow morning before Dr. T decides to either turn it off, or let him go another day on .5L flow.

Sir Isaac is continuing to learn to eat. He does okay with a bottle -- doesn't quite take a full feeding (currently 45mL), but is working up to it. He needs to take some eating advice from his little brother!

As for Elias, things have remained stable, and even boring, which is very good in the NICU! His changes are that he can feed orally twice a day, and has even polished off a bottle (Monday, May 24th). He currently gets 25mL per feeding, fortified to 24 calories.

Eli is now 'wireless' for the most part. He has a feeding tube, and then all of his probes that measure his heartrate, respirations & oxygen sats. We got orders today for his midline to be taken out, so no more IV!   He is still in an isolette, but the purpose is so that he doesn't have to work very hard to maintain his body temperature. This will help him conserve energy so that he can grow quicker. He currently weighs about 3lbs 8oz (1593g). We have been told that he will make the transition to a crib from his isolette when he reaches a weight over 1800g (4lbs).

Mr. Eli is a very calm and easygoing baby. He's happy most of the time, and smiles a TON! So much fun to see! Isaac lets us know when he's upset, usually means that he has a dirty diaper!

While Isaac was tubeless on Sunday, we got a chance for all 4 of us to sit together as a family. This is something that we hadn't gotten to do yet, and was so very special! Enjoy our pictures of our Family of Four!

Again, we can't thank each of you enough for all of your thoughts and prayers. To think of the position we were in 11 days ago, and to see how far we've come, we know that it is because of all of the prayers that have been and are continuing to being sent to the Man Upstairs!

Pictures with the Grandparents

Grandma Elaine (she hasn't decided on her 'grandma' nickname yet) and Eli

Eli with Mommy, Gma Elaine and Grandpa Timmy (aka Pops)

Isaac and Grandma Debbie

Isaac with Daddy, Gma Debbie, and his Parole Officer (aka Grandpa Kevin)

Finally, A Medical Update

For all you nurses and doctors out there (and those who stayed at a Holiday Inn Express), here is your latest medical update on the boys.

Elias is doing very well. Yesterday he was diagnosed with an Atrial Septal Defect of the heart. While not something you want to hear, it is something that is correctable and should not pose a huge problem for him. From what we were told, it basically means he has a hole between the upper two chambers of his heart. This allows blood from one chamber to go into the other and vice versa. It may make him work a little bit harder but cardiologists didn't seem overly concerned. He will monitored by the Children's Mercy Cardiologist team for quite sometime and may require heart surgery in a couple of years to patch the hole if it doesn't close on its own. As for HI, THIS IS ISAAC, DAD SET THE COMPUTER DOWN FOR A SECOND, SO I DON'T HAVE LONG TO TALK, MAN, THIS PLACE IS HUGE, THERE ARE SO MANY, CRAP, HERE HE COMES, TALK TO YOU ALL LATER!

Okay, I suppose I can leave that message. Turn your back for just a minute...Anyway, Elias is gaining weight like a champ. He is up to 1557 grams (get your conversion calculators out people). Okay, I will just tell you, that means he is about 3 lbs, 7 ounces. He is now above birth weight!! He is breathing completely on his own, no nasal cannula, no nothin. He is also off his lipids (fats) and learning to eat. Way to go Eli! His general concerns are to continue to learn to eat, gain weight, and regulate his own body temperature (since he is so small). Overall, he is doing very, very well considering his size. And, as you will see in some posts in the next few days, he SMILES all the time. Anyway, those pics will be here tomorrow most likely. And now for Isaac.

Isaac still has some hurdles. Let's start with the good news. He is gaining weight (he is almost exactly 5 pounds) and is doing well learning to eat. They have lowered the nasal cannula settings to 1L of flow and will hopefully continue to wean him off the cannula over the next couple of days.

The bad news...there really isn't any right now! What we are learning about Isaac is that he will have quite a few things to track as he begins to grow. Those will be hurdles we will have to overcome when they arise, but for now, we are just extremely grateful for the progress he has made. Things we do know: he has a club foot (right foot), which means his foot is turned almost completely inward. He receives physical therapy everyday for this and we hope that surgery (farther down the road) will help alleviate this problem. He still has hypoplasia of the lungs (underdevelopment). This will most likely be a concern for quite sometime. However, at this point, he seems to be learning to deal with it by taking shorter breaths more frequently. It is certainly something they will have to monitor. And, of course, his spine. Orthopedic spine specialists were by today and were not able to give us much information yet.

Isaac had a MRI of his spine yesterday (Friday) and the radiologists and orthopedists were to analyze it today and tomorrow and we will most likely hear something on Monday. Isaac definitely has a twisted spinal cord and his rib cage is short. What this means, we are not entirely sure. Because he has movement in his legs, they will proceed cautiously. Rumors are he will undergo spinal surgery (scary scary term by the way), but will not have that surgery until the age of 2-3 years old. They are definitely concerned about his overall movement capabilities but for now, are satisfied with his progress. We have successfully navigated 8 days here at Children's. We most likely will get to know this place real, real well over the next few years.

HEY, DAD SAID I COULD FINISH MY THOUGHT FROM EARLIER. WHAT I WAS GOING TO SAY WAS THERE ARE SO MANY GOOD DOCTORS AND NURSES HERE THAT YOU ALL SHOULDN'T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT ME. I AM STRONG (YOU SHOULD SEE MY BICEPS!) AND I WILL BE JUST FINE. NOW, IF ONLY I COULD GET A DVD PLAYER IN HERE AND WATCH SHREK! SEE YA PEOPLE!

Hope all is well on the outside (that is what I am calling anywhere but the hospital) and we look forward to seeing you all soon.

Happy One Week Birthday from Mom and Dad

Isaac and Elias,

Happy One Week Birthday!  Mommy and Daddy love you both very much.  We are so blessed to have you, both of you are truly answers to many, many prayers.  And even though you have scared us just a bit, we know you both are fighters, little boys who are going to thrive.

Over this past week, you've given us many grey hairs, some tears of fear, and many tears of joy. Both of you make our hearts smile.

In the past seven days, you've each had your first car rides, albeit in an ambulance, in an isolette (or an apartment, as the transport teams called them!). You've had your first bottles, burps, hugs & kisses, diaper changes (thank goodness for that!), baths & binkies, bedtime prayers and lots of love from all of your family.

You've also had your first IV's, MRI's, heart echocardiograms, head ultrasounds, kidney ultrasounds, and the medical list goes on and on!

We can't wait to watch you both grow up right before our eyes.  We look forward to bumps, bruises, ballgames, and banter.  We know you will turn into fine young men, and we are proud to call you our sons.

Happy 1 week! We love you!
Daddy & Mommy


 

Allowance (a true story by Elias John Murdock)

Hello everyone! Mom and Dad said I could write the update for tonight. So, here goes!

Everything is going well for me and my brother. We are eating, sleeping, and pooping. Yep, I said it, deal with it (it happens you know). Our nurses continue to take real good care of us and mom and dad are always there loving on us. We like that, and don't tell the ladies, but I like to snuggle with mom and dad. Our grandparents are pretty cool too, Grandpa showed up with a gun today (silly people, he is a police officer!), it made all the other NICU kids jealous. We still are learning to breathe on our own, but cut us some slack okay? I mean, I am trying to gain weight, breathe, eat, sleep, and all of these other things, so sometimes I need a little help.

But, I HAVE BIG NEWS TO TELL YOU ALL: I BROKE OUT OF RESEARCH. Here is the story. Mom and Dad gave me my first ever allowance the yesterday. They gave me 5 pennies. Initially I was mad. I was like, "what the heck can I buy with these, this aint the 1920's". But then I hatched a plan. I went over to one of my NICU buddies and offered him the 5 pennies, all he had to do was give me 4 nickels. I convinced him 5 was better than 4. Then I offered another buddy the 4 nickels in exchange for 3 dimes. He took the deal. I then went into the other NICU room and offered the 3 dimes for 2 quarters. Bingo! And finally, offered the 2 quarters for one piece of paper money. Jackpot! Had a $20 now. So, I offered it to the mean insurance company lady. She had told me the day before I couldn't go see my brother. She wouldn't take it. I offered it to the Research nurses. They weren't allowed to take it either. The mean insurance lady must have told them to stay quiet! Finally, I offered my twenty to Children's Mercy and asked them to call me a cab.

But they did better than that! They sent this big van lookin thing with pretty lights and a music box that made the other cars go to sleep and drift to the side of the road. Pretty cool machine if you ask me. Anyway, let me ride in that and I got to set up shop at the hospital! So, NOW MY BROTHER AND I ARE RIGHT NEXT TO ONE ANOTHER. AWESOME!

And the best part? Children's Mercy let me keep my twenty! Piggy bank time baby!

We will continue to have more tests done in the next few days but I will let mommy and daddy give you all the medical terms, that is boring stuff for a 5 day old kid.

Thanks everyone for reading my story. I will tell Isaac to write something here soon.

Elias

&

The Long Awaited Photos

Here are some photos from our first 4 days with our boys (we'll post more when we get some of the pictures from Ry's parents)!

Holding Elias for the first time 5.15.2010 - 1 day old

Eli showing off his eyes 5.18.2010

Getting to see Isaac for the first time - 5.16.2010

We got to hold Isaac!!! 5.18.2010

 

Our boys cheering on the RSHS Girls soccer team! Congrats on beating RHS! 

Too Much Information (the TMI post!)

Okay, here is the scoop as of Tuesday, May 18th. The boys are continue to improve their breathing. Both boys are off of the CPap machines and are now both on high flow nasal cannulas (both at 21% Oxygen, set at a 2. This is a good step. It has been a very busy day for Isaac, more on that in just a minute.

Elias continues to be a trooper. He loves being held and is beginning to smile when he is happy. He is doing well with his first feedings and we hope he can gain some weight in the next few days. He is still at Research and while we long to have everyone here together, that doesn't seem to be working at this point. We will continue to do our best to see him and give both boys all the attention they deserve.

Isaac is doing well on just the nasal cannula, no setting changes were anticipated today. But after the initial rounds, it was one specialist after another for Isaac today. This was the proof that he still has some major hurdles ahead. Isaac saw a geneticist who is trying to get an overall picture of what is going with him. She didn't have a ton of answers yet, but said she will continue to investigate and keep us informed. Then Isaac got to meet his new physical therapist. She is here to try and get more elasticity in his legs. So we stretched him out and then went through some exercises for his foot and legs. She also helped us understand how to position him so that he doesn't always lay on his right side. After PT, Isaac got to see a resident orthopedist. Not the most informative guy ever, and he also commented we would be seeing more docs from his office over the next few days. We have also seen our normal neonatalogist, our nurse practitioner, and a whole slew of nurses. We will be posting some more pics tonight or tomorrow.

Oh, and my girls soccer team won against arch-rival Raytown in their district soccer game yesterday. They beat the Blue Jays 2-1, scoring with just 58 seconds to go. Raytown was 16-5-1 going into the game, but...they are 16-6-1 now (oh, and we beat them earlier in the year too!). WAY TO GO LADIES, ISAAC AND ELIAS HAD HIGH HEART RATES AFTER HEARING ABOUT THE WIN.

Thanks again to everyone. Come back and see the pics soon!

Burning the Midnight Oil

Well, there is quite a bit to write about tonight (including a letter from the boys to their mom at the end of this post). First, both boys are stable and both have made some progress today in their quest to gain strength breathing and soon will also begin attempting to gain weight through regular feedings.

On another positive note, Kristi was released from Research late Sunday night and has joined me at CMH and is currently sitting with Isaac for the first time. She was immediately able to calm him down when he was fussy and has had the pleasure of helping change his diaper (I was lucky enough to have done that a few times for him already). The only bad part of this is that Elias is still back at Research. So now we will juggle who goes where over the course of the next few days.

As for the actual status of the boys. Isaac is now off his breathing tube! He has a cpap machine (breathing aid). For all you medical people out there, his oxygen setting is 21% (room air) and a PEEP (pressure) of 5. He seems to be doing well with that. They will let him soak all this in tonight and into tomorrow morning before deciding whether or not to try and ween him a little more. Isaac will have a whole host of doctors looking at him tomorrow to see what all needs to be done, provided his breathing holds steady.

Eli is also on a cpap machine at Research. He is on room air and a PEEP of 4. His main objective is to grow and learn to regulate his body temperature. He continues to breathe a little fast, but overall he seems to be stable. It is unfortunate he is at Research and his brother is here at CMH. We are continuing to advocate a transfer for Elias so that he may join his brother here at CMH and make us a family under one roof. Continued thanks to everyone for the kind words and prayers, it is hard to believe it has only been just over 60 hours since they were born. This will be a big week for them!

The boys drafted a letter for their mom (they texted it to me actually) and asked me to type it into the blog. So here goes:

Dear Mom,

Thanks for taking such good care of us. We liked when you were on bedrest, cause we could kick you more easily and make you notice us. If those kicks hurt, we are sorry. Elias knew not to kick you when I was kicking but sometimes got carried away, so you might have gotten two kicks at the same time. We totally didn't mean to do that.

Thanks mom for providing us with nutrition for the past nine months, though sometimes we wish you would have laid off the mac n cheese, you may like it, but why does that mean we have to? Maybe we could have shells n cheese sometime?

Thanks mom for worrying about us when we were tired and having smart people look at us when we just didn't feel right. We didn't know why we felt that way, just that we needed a little extra love, and you were always right there for us.

Thanks mom for not being too hard on us in those early months, you rock!

Thanks mom for making sure we were safe at all times, and gently nudging us periodically. We love you!

Thanks mom for providing us with a wonderful family. Our grandparents and aunts and uncles, are awesome. Dad is okay too, but why does he keep wearing that dang Mizzou hat? Didn't you already tell us we were little Wildcats?

Thanks mom. Why? Just for being a great mom.

Thanks mom for helping us through these first few days. We know we have scared you a bit, but we are working on correcting that, be patient.

And finally, thanks mom for giving us a chance at life. We LOVE YOU!

Your boys,

Isaac and Elias

Isaac is waiting to be extubated, Eli back on Cpap...

Ryan is at CMH waiting patiently with Isaac. He tolerated his ventilator settings turned all the way down to 10 this morning -- meaning that the ventilator gives him 10 breaths per minute, and he takes all other breaths on his own. He had been set on 20 since yesterday, I believe, and it was during rounds this morning that it was determined to turn his ventilator down to 10, and see how he tolerated it. He has done quite well with the change, and we were expecting him to be extubated and transitioned to cpap in the last hour, but apparently, there has been another emergency with another baby there, so Ryan and Isaac will wait for extubation when everyone is ready.

A quick update on Eli - he had some difficulty breathing last night, so the Nurse Practitioner was called in, and he was transitioned back to cpap from the nasal cannula, and they increased his oxygen from 21% (what we breathe - room air) to 26%. It was intuition, I guess, last night that I woke up at about 4:30am, and felt like calling back to the NICU.   The nurse let me know that she had to call the Nurse Practitioner, etc. Of course, I couldn't sleep, so I went back to see Eli, and I got the pleasure of changing a poopy diaper and taking his temperature. He started to settle down a bit, and I went back to bed. Then this morning, my dad and I went back to see him around 10:30am, and got the update from the Neonatologist (Dr. L), and he had just ordered Eli a dose of Surfactant, to help him with his lung secretions, so he won't have to work as hard to breathe. We're hoping this will allow him to rest easier, and not burn too many calories breathing.

Those are the updates for now, and as soon as we're able to, we'll update about how Isaac does with his transition. Please pray for him!

An Update on Isaac & Eli

First, thank you everyone for all of your prayers and kind thoughts, emails, and words. We can't tell you how much we appreciate them. 

Elias and I (Kristi) are still inpatients at the hospital where I had the boys. Eli needed some oxygen via c-pap yesterday, but is now on a high flow nasal cannula. Even with him being so small, he has been incredibly strong and mighty. Ryan and I have each gotten to hold Eli, and those were some special moments for us. 

Isaac has continued to improve at CMH. His CO2 levels have improved to a level where they are going to trial him off of the ventilator tomorrow, to see how well he can breathe without it. There are still many unknowns with Isaac, but we plan on having a meeting with several specialists early in the week to get a better grasp on his situation. 

We'll continue to update with information as we can here. 

Thanks again for all of your support -

Isaac Neil Murdock

Ryan & Elias John Murdock

A Turn for the Worse

First, thank you all for the kind messages. When I lasted posted, both boys had transitioned from birth to the NICU with few noticeable problems. Unfortunately, this good fortune has not lasted.

Isaac is facing some very serious hurdles at this point. He has been immediately transferred to Children's Mercy Hospital. We are obviously struggling with this and the report from the neonatologist, while informative, was not all that optimistic. Isaac's problem basically is that his lungs are not big enough to allow him to breathe on his own. More tests and more observation is necessary to see what options may be available to us. It is awfully hard to accept that Isaac is fighting for his life, and he is only 6 hours old. We really, really, are hoping for a little miracle.

We are obviously very sad, and we are trying to remain to hopeful for Isaac's chances, so we will continue to pray and hope for a turn for the better. The doctors think we will know an awful lot in the next 48 to 72 hours.

At this point, Eli is doing well, and is breathing on his own. We will try to keep the blog updated when we get more news.

At this point, we respectfully ask for no visitors except our families, as we all would like the time to be together and try to absorb this news.

Thank you so much for all your prayers, we really, really need them for Isaac, who is facing an extremely difficult battle. Also, we don't want to forget Eli, he needs love and support as well as he continues to grow.

Please keep Isaac and Eli in your hearts and thoughts tonight. Kristi and I appreciate it.

The Boys Would Like to Introduce Themselves

The boys are here!

Please help us welcome Isaac Neil Murdock, born at 10:07 and weighing 5.2 lbs.

And also help us welcome Elias John Murdock, born at 10:08 and weighing 3.5 lbs.

Both boys are in the NICU, but are stable. We don't have any information on some of the issues they were facing prior to being born but the doctors will speak with us later in the day.

Thank you all for the continued prayers and support. We so proud to have these boys.

Love you all

We are on for 7:30a.m. Friday, May 14th!

T-Minus 9 hours and counting. Our time is almost here! I will keep this short ad sweet. Our boys will arrive Friday morning, hopefully around 8:00a.m. (delays are possible of course). Thanks for the all the kind notes, emails, texts, and calls. Please forgive us if we aren't able to get back to you quickly in the next couple of days. I will post an update as soon as I can and hope to have a few of the first pics uploaded tomorrow night.

HERE WE GO! Keep the prayers coming for two healthy boys!

I say again, HERE WE GO (okay, I am bit excited)!!!!! Talk to all of you soon.

36 weeks update

We had our regular appointments on Tuesday (which would have been 35wks, 5d), and everything started out well. We had a scan, and were surprised with growth measurements, as we had been told by our doctor that he wasn't going to do another one. The scan showed (drumroll, please), that Baby A now weighs 6lbs, and Baby B weighs 4lbs. Yipee! Great growth rates for both boys. We were so excited about the weights, I don't know that either of us heard the fluid level for Baby B! We just know that it was adequate. The doppler flow remained the same for B, and might have been a bit less as well. It was just great to hear that they are still growing and doing good.


Ryan and I proceeded to wait for another hour and a half to see Dr. S. We finally got called back, and immediately, things started to unravel a bit. My urine tested positive for 3-4+ of protein. My blood pressure was normal, so that was positive. We finished the rest of the appointment with Dr. S. and then headed over to the hospital for our regular NST, and Dr. S. had ordered several labs to be drawn. 


About 2 and a half weeks ago, we had been scheduled for a c-section on May 14, 2010. This was done for several reasons. One of which, is that with an IUGR diagnosis, there becomes a point at which it is more harmful for the baby to be in-utero, rather than being born a bit premature. Rather than walking a fine line (or finer than the one we've been walking), Dr. S. recommended this. Also, being small, and in the position that Baby B is (practically in my lungs, and lying transverse), there are no guarantees to get him down for labor, and also no guarantees that he would tolerate it. Thus the c-section. 


When Dr. S. told us we were scheduled for May 14th, Ryan's face showed some shock! He looked at me and said, "Do you know what that means?" It's a special day for our family. Ryan's granny passed away May 14, 2009, and was a very devoted and special grandma to all of her grandkids and great-grandkids. We know that she'd be very ecstatic to meet these little guys, and shower them with her love. So it was already a special day for our family, and now these boys will share a special day with their great-granny! 


Back to the NST & labs. The labs came back and confirmed that I actually was spilling 500+ protein into my urine, and my uric acid levels came back high. Dr. S. thinks that it is possible that I am headed towards being pre-eclamptic, which can only be cured by delivering the babies. He decided it was best to readmit me to the hospital, so I am back in my old room, waiting to see what's going to happen. The plan is that the labs will be re-run Thursday (May 13th) in the morning, and as long as they are not any worse, we are on schedule to have our c-section early in the morning on the 14th. If things have worsened, they get to be born on Thursday. Either way, we'll meet the boys soon! 


This hospital admission has been a little more stressful, because there was no preparation or warning for it. We had plans for a special dinner on Thursday night, and just even planning on sleeping at home has been a change of mindset. I know that all of this will work out fine, and it's a reminder that I'm not the one planning all of this -- God is. Yet another reminder that I am not in control! 

The Twins Say, "Happy Mother's Day!"

It has been awhile since I have posted to the blog, so I wanted to take a moment to say Happy Mother's Day to my wife, to my mom, and to Kristi's mom. The boys also would like to wish all the mom's out there a Happy Mother's Day (I talked to them earlier today and they said it was okay to quote them). Things continue to go along swimmingly. Our appointments have been going well, life at home as been going well, and we even are in a good run with the girls soccer team at my high school (winners of 5 in row!!).

As our time winds down and the arrival of the twins becomes more and more real, it has made me realize how lucky we have been. Great parents, great family, and great friends. It has been a roller coaster ride, but one that I wouldn't trade for the world. Just in the last few weeks, we have secured the car seats, made up the nursery (just a few things to go), finished tiling the bathrooms (THANK YOU SO MUCH BRYAN!), made a pilgrimage to Babies R' Us and continue to stockpile clothes, diapers, toys, and other necessities.

I am ready to see my boys. I am so excited to see my boys. I can't wait to hold my boys (both at the same time especially!!!). I know Kristi will be an amazing mom (I can't even begin to explain how well she has handled everything up to now). The time is coming!

And, just wanted to say I miss my Granny, who passed away almost 1 year ago. She would have been so proud to see these boys and certainly would have loved them to no end. I wish she would have been here for this, but I can see her smile whenever I think about the boys. My other grandmother passed away recently (about one month ago) and while I had a different relationship with her, I miss her as well and wish she would have gotten to meet the boys.

Okay, I have been longwinded and a little scattered and better wrap this up. To everyone who has been around for this, thank you!!! Now, get ready, grab some popcorn, and get comfy, this story is going to really get rolling soon!

Thanks again.

Scan, NST & Appointment from May 4, 2010 (34wks 5d)

Yesterday was quite a long day! We got all good news, just lots of appointments, and lots of waiting. My mom got the pleasure of taking me to all of our appointments during the day yesterday. We first went to get our regular scan, and both babies are looking fabulous. Baby A's fluid is 12cm+ and the doppler of his cord flow was (I think) 2.8. Baby B's fluid measured 6.5cm and his doppler was 3.4. So they have both remained steady there. We did look again at Baby A's spine, and the defect is still visible, as was expected. It continues to appear closed, and we think that is lower thoracic/upper lumbar. I guess we'll find out the exact location soon enough. Ryan and I have continued to hear encouraging stories about Spina Bifida Occulta. He was speaking with a parent last week, and her daughter's SBO was only discovered this year, because she was experiencing back pain after some sporting events, when she was x-rayed. We remain hopeful that our experience is as positive as those stories that we've been told. Keeping the faith, right?!? 

After the scan, my mom and I waited for what seemed like forever for my appointment with Dr. S. He checked me over, and said that all still looked just fine. When he asked me if there was anything new going on, the only thing I could come up with was that my feet have started to swell (I've been quite lucky so far!). His response was"....And?" He's good at keeping things lighthearted. That pretty much ended the appointment. I was instructed to come back and see him again next week, as well as have another scan and NST then. 

Next. mom got the pleasure of wheeling me over to the hospital for my NST. I loved the look on her face when she asked which floor to push on the elevator, and she said "B?" I quick to say, "No, the morgue is down there." She looked as though she'd seen a ghost, and quickly selected floor A! We always have a good time no matter where we are! Anyway, the NST was quite uneventful, and we were out of there in short order. The boys always get compliments as to how good they look on the monitors. It's always good to hear that.

We did have one additional appointment yesterday that Ryan was able to take me to. We went and had a prenatal appointment at the pediatrician. It was almost like we had an epiphany last week, and realized, this is really going to happen! We are going to have two little boys, and we need to find a doctor for them. Of course, since we've never been through this before, we had no idea what to do. Do you find a pediatrician before you deliver (which is apparently the case, since everyone is asking who we're using for a ped).  So, that was kind of a milestone appointment for us, making the impending birth more and more real! The appointment went well, and we really liked everyone that we met. They answered all of our questions, and we hope we get to see them all again soon for our first "well child exam."  

The rest of the week should be pretty uneventful, medically speaking. The only other thing we have is an NST on Friday. 

Praying for 36 weeks! 

Pictures from Kristi's Family Baby Shower - May 1, 2010

A photo book design by Smilebox