The Helton Twins

The Helton Twins Website

December 30, 2006

They're even cute when they cry!

December 29, 2006

Merry Christmas to everyone! We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday!

We are awed to report that we have survived our first five weeks with twins! Both girls are doing well. They are eating four ounces of formula per feeding and growing amazingly fast! At their doctor visit last week, Emma weighed in at an even nine pounds, and Madeline is slowly catching up to her big sister at eight pounds four ounces. Sleep is going well. Generally, the babies are good at night and will go right back to sleep after a night time feeding. We think Emma wants to sleep a little longer than Maddie but we need to keep to the schedule for our sanity. Emma will be ready when Maddie catches up.

The twins have had a couple of glimpses of the real world recently. They had their first church visit on the 24th and ate most of the time. We were one of the first to arrive and the last to leave. We've learned to never withhold a baby from food when they are hungry! Also, Maddie let out a huge burp during the service. It was quite funny. After church, the babies visited Grandma June, Grandpa Gary, Uncle Dan, and Aunt Marla at Grandma's house. Then, they traveled to the other grandparents house for a pre-Christmas gathering. On Christmas, both families came to the babies' house and they once again had a busy day!

We keep hoping they will sleep longer and longer through the night and from the people we've talked to who have twins, it shouldn't be much longer. We couldn't have asked for better babies. The only thing missing is sleeping through the night :). Check out the Pictures page for lots of new pictures. And don't forget about the Guestbook. Please sign it, and if you already have, do it again! You don't have to put in your email address, so you have no excuse!

Kevin and Jennifer

December 10, 2006

It is hard to believe that it has already been two and a half weeks since Emma and Madeline's birth, and one and a half weeks since Emma was released from Children's Hospital. Already the time has flown. Both Emma and Madeline are doing wonderfully. We have been blessed with non fussy babies that rarely cry, and sleep as well as you could ever expect newborns to sleep. Having twins has certainly been cause for exhaustion. Even good babies have to be fed in the middle of the night, and we have two babies that want to eat when we want to sleep :) However, I feel blessed beyond words to have been given these beautiful little girls to love! Emma and Madeline visited the pediatrician this week and the doctor says that they are doing well. Emma weighed in at 7 pounds 12 ounces, and Madeline is slowly catching up at 6 pounds 12 ounces. The girls are excellent eaters (they take after their mom) and have been consuming 3 to 3 1/2 ounces of formula per feeding which is usually every three hours.

I have fully recovered from whatever was causing my high fevers. While hospitalized, I saw an infectious disease doctor who simply couldn't pinpoint the cause of my condition. They thought it could have been related to the blood trasfusion but after further tests (a catscan, chest xray, and lots of blood work) that was ruled out. My doctor said that we may never know what caused the fevers. I was given three days of hard core antibiotics intravenously while hospitalized, and continued on oral antibiotics for a week after released. I am on iron pills for an indefinite amount of time to help with the anemia I never even knew I had. Hopefully these antibiotics have cured whatever was causing my fevers. I was blessed with a speedy recovery from my c-section and have been able to resume most tasks (in moderation of course) such as some cleaning and walking up the stairs (which allows me to sleep in my bed)! I didn't know how much I loved my bed until experiencing the joy of a hospital stay. Additionally, it feels so good to sleep in a non pregnant state. Kevin feels even more passionately about our bed after sleeping on the guest chair offered by the hospital for husbands that spend the night with their wives. After one night of sleep on that, he brought an air mattress to the hospital :) Needless to say, there is no place like home!

Kevin and I feel so grateful toward the many people who have made the last few weeks tolerable! Especially the six days that Emma spent in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Childrens Hospital. Thanks to our church family, we haven't had to worry about dinner for almost two weeks! What a huge blessing! Additionally, I don't know what we would've done without our moms. While I was hospitalized our moms made it possible for Kevin to juggle his time between two hospitals, and he was even able to get some sleep! We know that there were many more offers of help, as well as lots of prayers on our behalf. We are so blessed to have such caring people in our lives!

Much love and gratitude,
Jen

December 02, 2006

Moving Toward Normal

Finally, we are all home and doing well! Jennifer came home last Monday and Emma came home the following Wednesday. Everyone is doing very well. Both babies are eating, pooping, and crying so they must be OK. Jen is doing all those things too and walking around fine, including up and down the stairs. We are still adjusting to life with two babies. We appreciate all of the help people have given and offered since all of this begun. We would have gone crazy without the help! Oh, and we still won't refuse the help if offered:). Please continue to pray for us and the babies!

Kevin

November 28, 2006

New Pictures of the Twins

Visit the Picture page for new pictures of the twin girls. Hopefully we will soon have pictures of them together!

November 27, 2006

A Little Improvement

Jennifer is now at home and feeling fine. Madeline is also doing well and now with her mother. Emma is still at Children's Hospital. We've been told that almost everything is fine but she isn't eating quite enough yet. They have weight gain and feeding goals to reach before they will release any patient. If the hospital needs the room, Emma may be transfered to Palomar because she is no longer in a critical state. I talked to the nurse practitioner and he said there is a good chance she will be released tomorrow if she catches up with her eating.

We are getting there...slowly.

Kevin

November 25, 2006

A little Snag in the Line

Well, we thought all was good, but it was not the case. Last night, Jennifer had a 102.5 temperature so I called the doctor. We were told that we needed to go to the ER and she would have to be re-admitted. Her temperature decreased with the help of some Ibuprofen but it continues to rise (though not as signicantly high) and fall. There have been many test done, but the doctors cannot find the cause. She will be in the hospital until at least Monday. At this point, she does not want vistors but would rather rest and recover quietly.

Meanwhile, Emma is still doing great at Children's Hospital. Everything is normal now and they want to finish the antibiotics before her release. It will be a couple more days.

Please continue to pray for the four of us on this unexpected journey. We need it.

Thank you,

Kevin

November 24, 2006

Home at Last!

Jennifer, Madeline, and I are now back at home resting. It will be nice for Jen to get a little more sleep without nurses constantly coming in and I don't ever have to see that devil chair again! Madeline is doing great (Jen says she is perfect). She sleeps well and feeds very well. The only thing I don't like is the black tarry poop that is hard to clean. But it means that she is healthy and, now that Jen is able to do more, I won't have to change every diaper :). She has also peed during changing three times now. I guess Jen still considers her perfect though :).

Emma is doing great at Children's Hospital. She is out of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and in the nursery. She has been very stable since arriving. The nurses have yet to detect the heart murmur, she has been eating fairly well but still has an IV to make up for lost time, and her breathing is moving to a normal rhythm. She will be monitored for a couple of days and have an echocardiogram before she leaves to make sure the valve in her heart closes properly. She is also on antibiotic to ward off any infections. The nurses are optimistically hoping the valve will close on its own and no medication will be needed. The improvements with the breathing are signs that this might happen. Every nurse I talk to praises her progress and claims she is doing very well.

I forgot to mention yesterday (because you know how coherent I was yesterday after no sleep!) that Jen's anemia caught up with her and she needed to have a blood transfussion. Apparently, we didn't realize she was doing bad until after the transfussion because she improved vastly afterward. It is always kind of scary to have the transfussion, but everything went well. Surprisingly, Jennifer's Doctor (Dr. Bielman, who was just awesome throughout the whole process!) came to visit this morning at 5:00 am to say she was discharging Jennifer this morning. It was very nice of her to come in early just to do that. Most doctors wait until they are finished for the day before discharging. But we still had to wait for Maddie to be discharged by her pediatrician. We waited until noon before asking and she was discharged by phone.

The transition from the hospital to home was kind of hard on Jen. But after she ate and we got her prescription filled and consumed, she felt much better.

Thank you all for your prayers and offers of help! It feels great to be loved by so many. Yesterday was hard for both Jen and I, but the help, concern, and prayers of our friends and family carried us through (and the pastors make a mean deep fried turkey!). Hopefully, we can post more updates now that we are home and have an internet connection.

We love you all,

Kevin

November 23, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

The surgery went very well. The whole procedure lasted only about 40 minutes. Madeline was in the nursery for about an hour before she came to the room. Emma is having trouble with her breathing and has a heart murmur. After spending the night in the nursery, the doctor decided that Rancho Springs does not have the resources to treat Emma with the care she needs. At around 11:00 am today, Emma was transported by Mercy Air to Children's Hospital in San Diego. The nurse from Children's believed that a valve in the heart that normally closes in infants has not closed with Emma. This open valve may be causing leakage of blood into the lungs and causing an infection. This infection may be what is causing the erradic breathing. They will try medication to help close the valve before attempting surgery. She is expected to stay 3-5 days. I am going to Children's Hospital tonight to get an update.

Jen is recovering well. Madeline is doing excellent. If all goes well, Jen and Maddie may be able to come home on Friday night.

Please pray for Jen, Madeline, me, and Emma.

November 17, 2006

Well, yesterday proved to be a very unusual day. I went to my specialist in the morning for my non stress test. There was nothing atypical about this appointment. The girls heartrates were good, my blood pressure was normal, and I had no contractions. However, when I went to my regular doctor that afternoon for my weekly visit, my blood pressure was high. My doctor was concerned that my blood pressure could be a syptom of preeclampsia and sent me to the hospital (Preeclampsia is a disorder that occurs only during pregnancy and the postpartum period and affects both the mother and the unborn baby. Affecting at least 5-8% of all pregnancies, it is a rapidly progressive condition characterized by high blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine. Swelling, sudden weight gain, headaches and changes in vision are important symptoms; however, some women with rapidly advancing disease report few symptoms). My doctor said I would be at the hospital for a few hours for tests, and that if I was starting to develop the preeclampsia, we would deliver that night. She wasn't overly concerned since I am 37 weeks pregnant, and the babies are more than ready to be born. She also said that if I was indeed developing preeclampsia that it would be incredibly mild case since I hadn't shown any symptoms of the condition until that day.

Kevin and I went to the hospital where they hooked me up to a fetal monitor. They drew blood, took a urine sample, and hooked me up to a blood pressure machine that was set to take my blood pressure every fifteen minutes. After two blood pressure readings the nurse was somewhat confused, because my blood pressure was perfectly normal. However, she informed me that I was having contractions (which I couldn't feel at all). She paged my doctor who was off duty. The on call doctor had the nurse give me a pill to slow the contractions. I guess it worked because once all my tests came back clear, and it was concluded that I don't have preeclampsia, they sent me home. Kevin and I were at the hospital about three hours. It looks like I will be delivering on Wednesday, as scheduled. That will obviously change if the contractions will return (and I feel them), or if my water breaks.

Jen

November 9, 2006

Once again there isn't a whole lot to report. I had my two doctor appointments today and everything was great. I am 36 weeks pregnant today which is a very safe stage in development for the girls. Had I opted for an amniocentesis, the doctor could have actually delivered them this week. The babies have solid heart rates, plenty of fluid in the placenta, a sturdy membrane dividing them, and are sharing the umbilical cord nicely. One of the babies is breech, but since we have been planning on a c-section all along, that isn't a problem. I've turned into the miserable pregnant person these days, mostly due to a lack of sleep. The combination of hourly bathroom trips, itchy skin, achy ribs, and babies who seem to be at their most active at bedtime has taken its toll. I cannot wait to get these little ones out!

We're still scheduled for a November 22 c-section if I don't go into labor before then (although I've given up hope on that idea--it appears that the babies are content staying right where they're at). We'll keep everyone posted on things, but for now we're just waiting out the next 13 days and hoping they go quickly.

Jen

November 2, 2006

I went to the doctor today...twice. Yup, Thursdays have become double doctor day. I see the specialist in the morning for my non stress test, and my regular doctor in the afternoon for my now weekly visits. Everything is looking great. The babies are growing as they should be, and I'm still not having any contractions that would indicate preterm labor. I am 35 weeks pregnant today, which is an important milestone. It means that if I were to go into labor, I wouldn't have to drag my family to Loma Linda University Hospital for a delivery. I am far enough along that if the babies were born right now, they would be in pretty good shape and therefore able to be cared for at the local hospital. Although smaller than most newborns, the babies probably wouldn't require the care of a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at this point. All the doctors and nurses, and ultrasound people are quite pleased with the fact that I've made it this far.

Kevin finished up the babies room...yea! Walls have been painted, cribs have been assembled, and everything is basically done. We'll post some nursery pictures soon. There is not much else going on as of right now, which is probably a good thing. 19 days until my c-section is scheduled and that is excitement enough!

Jen

October 19, 2006

Having twins is crazy and unpredictable! I went to my specialist yesterday for an ultrasound. This was an important appointment because Kevin and I would find out the weight of the girls which would determine if I needed to deliver them early. We were shocked when the doctor weighed them and they were only a few ounces apart, weighing in at 4 pounds 9 ounces, and 4 pounds 12 ounces. This was really good news, but it was totally unexpected. We were prepared to have the girls within a week or so to prevent any health problems, and suddenly all the risks associated with their uneven weights was eliminated.

With the problem eliminated, the specialist said that he could do an amniocentesis in three weeks when I am 36 weeks pregnant. This would determine if the girls have lungs that are developed enough to be delivered. If the lungs were developed, I could be delivered then. We scheduled the amnio with the understanding that I would talk to my doctor when I saw her next. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long since I saw her today. She said that she had no problem delivering me at 36 weeks if the amnio results were good. However, she also pointed out that her office had already tentatively scheduled my c-section for November 22nd. If I were to have the amnio at 36 weeks, it would take a few days to get the results, and I wouldn't actually be able to deliver until the following week which is only a week before I am already scheduled to deliver. Having a scary long needle stuck into my stomach for the sake of delivering a week before I am already scheduled didn't seem quite worth it. Therefore, I am going to forego the amnio and we are going to stick with the tentative delivery date of Wednesday, November 22 (yes, that is the day before Thanksgiving--yuck). However, my doctor reminded me that I am still at high risk to go into preterm labor. She said that she will be thrilled if I can last another three weeks. I guess that we just won't know when these little ones will be born until they are born. Kevin and I were certain that they would be born within the next two weeks based on what the doctors said. Now we know that we know nothing!

Jen

October 1, 2006

I went to my doctor on September 21st. Unlike the ultrasound technician that had seemed nonchalant about the fact that the one of the girls weighs 3 1/2 pounds while the other is 2 1/2 pounds, my doctor was a bit more concerned as she read this information. Although weight differences are still a very common twin problem, it is necessary to monitor this condition closely. More often than not, when there continues to be a significant difference in size between twins, it means early delivery. My doctor called and spoke to my specialist. Since this is the first time there has been a major weight difference between the girls, he said that it would be difficult to know what will happen without allowing some time to lapse between ultrasounds. He decided it would be best to wait three weeks to a month before weighing the girls again. At this time we should know whether or not I will be delivering early. My doctor said that she would ideally like to see me get to 34 weeks, which I don't think will be much of a problem since I don't return to my specialist until 33 weeks. If I deliver early, I will have to go to Loma Linda University Hospital because there are no local hospitals equipped with a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and early delivery means that the girls will have to be hospitalized for a few weeks. In the meantime, I am continuing my non stress test at the specialist's office twice a week. At these appointments they monitor both the girls heartrates for a time (which is not an easy task since the girls don't like to stay still long enough to get a decent heart reading--the last time I went for an appointment, I spent fifteen minutes connected to the heartrate monitors only to be told that they had accidently been monitoring my heartrate, which by the way is just fine), and monitor me for any contractions that would indicate preterm labor. I also have ultrasounds at these non stress tests. These ultrasounds are very brief and don't look for the detailed information I get with the specialist such as weight. They are simply monitoring the membrane that separates the girls in the sac, as well as the blood flow from the umbilical cord to the placenta.

After consulting with my specialist, my doctor was kind enough to spare me from bedrest, but did pull me from work (not much of a problem since I've been substitute teaching about five days a month since school resumed from summer vacation). She also told me that I couldn't exercise anymore (ummmm, was I supposed to be exercising to begin with?). The hardest part is that I'm supposed to lay off the housework. I don't think she understood what she was asking of me when she told me that I shouldn't clean.

Kevin worked really hard on the girls room last week and was able to finish painting. We had some drama because the lady at the hardware store suggested tinting the primer grey. I thought this was odd, but she said to take note that when you see a primed, unpainted automobile, it is always grey. Being the inexperienced painter I am, I allowed her to tint the primer gray. Let's just say that it took an entire extra coat of paint to finish the room and that grey primer is not a good idea when you are painting a room yellow. Kevin's brother came over and put in some chair railing, and my aunt came over and painted these great flowers around the room. When all is done, we will put up some pictures.

I will try to make future updates shorter, but Kevin is watching football, and I am bored. Hopefully this update didn't bore y'all too much. Does anyone else think that there shouldn't be so many football games on Sunday?

Jen

August 2, 2006

Kicking and Screaming...Almost

Once again Kevin and I visited my specialist's office, but today I actually saw the specialist in addition to the ultrasound technician. Evidently I completely misunderstood why I was returning to the doctor. If you read my last journal entry, you can disregard what I said about the umbilical cord being wrapped loosely around the baby. That was not the case at all. This is why I can't go to the doctor without Kevin. I depend on him to actually pay attention and retain whatever information is relayed at my visits since my ability to comprehend is minimal. I mean well, but pregnancy has rendered me scatterbrained and confused.

What had actually happened was that at my last ultrasound the technician noticed that the umbilical cord was creeping towards the end of the placenta. Evidently this is a pretty common problem in multiple pregnancies. In a worse case scenario this could cause one baby to get all the nutrients and develop at a much more rapid pace than the other baby. However, everything looked good at this visit. The ultrasound technician said that the cord wasn't very far off at all. The doctor said that we would continue to monitor this situation, but didn't see any problems at this time. I have very mobile girls and things are constantly moving around.

In the meantime, the babies are growing as they should be. The first baby weighs one pound even. The other weighs one pound two ounces. The girls were still stomping away at my bladder and poking at each other with as much aggression as their little 16 ounces of weight will allow.

Jen

Friday, July 21, 2006

Moving Right Along

I went to the specialist today for my monthly ultrasound. It ended up being a girly outing with my mom, Kevin's mom, my sister, Dannielle, and Chloe. Kevin opted to miss this appointment and allow us to have a "girl day." Both the babies are developing well, weighing in at 12 and 14 ounces. Their features have become more and more defined and we got a good look at their little spines, and brains. Oh, and they had also positioned themselves in a manner that was so unladylike that my mom had no choice but to stop questioning whether or not the ultrasound technician could be wrong in saying they are girls. The technician also showed us a great picture of the girls four little feet kicking my bladder repetitively. That actually explained a lot. When all was said and done, the technician said that everything looked perfect developmentally. However, it appears that the umbilical cord is wrapped very loosely around one of the baby's body. She didn't seem terribly concerned, but I have to return to see the actual doctor in about a week and a half to make sure everything is okay.

Jen

Monday, July 10, 2006

No News is Good News

I went to the doctor today for my monthly appointment. She did an ultrasound, but it wasn't the best that we've had. One baby was hiding, and the other was too wiggly to take any good pictures of. However, she said that the babies look just as they should, and that I'm progressing just as I should. There's not a lot to report at this point. I've been feeling really good lately...sleep could be better, but my bladder wakes me up every one to two hours :). Once the whole bladder problem finds a resolution, there will be two little babies waking me up every one to two hours. I think that my nights of eight hours of sleep are officially over!

Friday, June 16, 2006

Girls!

We had new ultrasounds from another specialist and she pretty confidently told us that we are having girls. The pictures of the ultrasound will be posted soon. Now, what are you waiting for? Go get some pink!

Thursday, June 08, 2006

14 Weeks

It has been a while since the last doctor's visit and last ultrasound. The babies are doing fine with no problems to speak of. I heard the heart beats for the first time. It reminds me of the sound from old Atari games. Jen will be going to a specialist soon to take another closer look. It is possible that we will know the sex of the babies then.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

9 Weeks and 4 days

We are midway through the 9th week now and things are starting to slow down, for Jen. She isn't as sick as she was a week or two ago.

According to www.webmd.com, the embryos measure about 0.9 inches to 1.2 inches from crown to rump, or the size of a strawberry. The arms and legs are longer, and the fingers might be a little swollen where the touch pads are forming. The heads are more erect and necks are more developed. Our babies now move their bodies and limbs, and this movement can be visible during an ultrasound, but Jen won't be able to feel it yet.

Feel free to make comments in the Guest Book. I will try to save this site as part of the scrapbook of the twins.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Ultrasound Video

Well, we went to the specialist on Tuesday and all went well. They had a much better ultrasound machine than Jen's regular doctor. I asked to take a video of the ultrasound so I could have the heart beating on video. The quality isn't that great because I had to compress it a lot for the internet, but if you look closely you can see the heart beating. Click the picture to view the video.

The ultrasound operater said that they looked like they were in the same sac with a thin membrane separating the two. That means it is likely they will be identical. Also, the presence of the membrane is important for a healthy pregnancy. If it were not there, there could be more complications between the two.

The size, heartbeat and all the rest were normal. Thus far, it is a healthy pregnancy. The operator switched the ultrasound to 4D so we got to look at it real quick. They were too small to see much detail but we could see one of the babies waiving his/her arm. Amazing since they are centimeters long.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Specialist

We have another doctor appointment tomorrow at about noon. We are seing a specialist from San Diego and we'll probably have a better ultrasound from this visit. I may even try to take some video of the ultrasound.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

First Ultrasound

As if the shock of pregnancy alone wasn't enough, we were thrown another surprise yesterday morning. Instead of one little heart beating, there were two (mine and Jen's were skipping beats).

It was amazing how we could actually see the hearts beating even thought they were so small. Jen said she wish she had a camera to take a picture of my face when they told me the news. I really just couldn't say anything. I managed to fumble out a long "No..." but that was about it. It was completely unexpected. Twins do not run in our families (except Jen's Grandma's aunt had twins, but I don't think that really counts), Jen is young, and we weren't using fertility drugs.

I think I can say that I am more excited about twins than a single child. It is so special and unique. Not that I wouldn't be excited about one child, but this is something that most people do not get to experience. Some tell of the joy they feel when they hold their babies for the first time. We get that times two.