I Love You!

When I went to get the car this morning, in the hospital parking lot, I found this note in my car. Bob had left for work at about 4:30 am and drove through St. George so naturally he pulled off the Interstate and left this note in my car.

Life has been so crazy lately that I sometimes forget the normal things in life. Bob is so sweet and tries to do all that he can to make my life easier.

I sat in my car a moment and thanked Heavenly Father for such a good man. Then I started up the car, helped Mom into the car and took her home to recuperate.

Thanks honey.

Hospital Beds & Update

This is the fourth hospital room that I have slept in in the past two weeks. Wow, the time seems to go so slow yet whiz by.

My first hospital room was in Labor & Deliver with Christy in Salt Lake City. The recliner transformed out into a bed/torture chamber. Christy was up a lot that night so fortunately I didn't have to lay on the bed very much.

The second hospital room was out on the general floor with Christy. This bed was a fold-up cot that bowed in the middle. Ryan can attest to how uncomfortable that bed was. Actually it worked so much better than the first bed that I got more sleep on it. The biggest problem was trying to get out of it, it was low to the ground and creaked a lot.

The third hospital room was with my Mother here at home. The hospital was newer and they had a love seat that folded out and was actually quite a lot better than the other rooms. It was a bit hard but I was so tired that I pretty much passed out.

The fourth hospital room was in St. George with Mom and the new hospital is beautiful! They had a love seat that flipped up a twin cushion. The room was too warm and I was so tired that I had a hard time sleeping. I also didn't know what was going on with the twins and so I couldn't sleep until early morning.

Enough with the whining! The beds may not be comfortable but the Doctors and Nurses took such good care of my family that I really shouldn't complain about my accomidations.

Mom and Jerri Ann both came home today. Mom has to take it easy for the weekend but can go back to work on Monday. I'm not sure how long Jerri has to rest from her heart attack but she is home now and you can call her! Both are feeling a lot better. I am so grateful that they are both healthy and will recover completely.

I need to catch up on some sleep but again I can't sleep not knowing how the twins are. After next week when Mom gets back to work and I get a Dr. appointment and root canal out of the way I will be ready to maybe get back to normal. We still have a long haul until the twins come home and Christy will really need help with four kids, ages four and under. Such is life....

Twins Update & Heart Attack Update, Oh My!

As usual, Christy expresses herself so well and a lot of you don't have access to their blog since it is private so Christy said it was OK to copy the latest updates on the twins especially since there are so many of your out there praying for them.

"Well today's been a really hard day. We got news that Emily's PDA valve has actually increased in size and so they will be preforming the heart surgery on her tomorrow to close her PDA. So even though they say the sugery doesn't take long and is fairly easy to do, it's always a risk. But I feel that everything will be fine and the doctors are so skilled at what they do.

We also got back Ethan's brain scan today and it was hard to hear the news. It is showing that his brain is bleeding on both sides and is at a level 3 right now out of 4. It's pretty severe they say. The blood that is showing is still in his vessels and hasn't gone outside of that, but he has a really high chance of having mild to severe brain damage which could result in cerebral palsey or other mental or physical disorders when he is older. The nurse practioner said there's really not a lot they can do for this other than monitor him and hope that the blood will be absorbed and not continue to get larger or go outside those vessels. They will do another brain scan on him next week.

Well, that's all the news for now. Ryan and I are heading back down to Utah tomorrow to be with both of them. It's been hard writing this... Thanks again for all your prayers for our family! We love you all!

Oh, and I wanted to add a few pictures of our babies...

This just puts it in perspective of how small their hands and feet are...and actually Emily has quite large feet! Some of the nurses have said her feet are the biggest they have seen! They for sure got their dad's feet, toes and long fingers! haha!

Emily Jean

Emily snuggling with her blankie under her shades

Emily with my wedding ring around her wrist

Ethan's little foot

Our little Ethan "

The pictures are so precious. Can you believe how small they are? It is so hard to be away from them and the older girls. Oh yeah, I drove home to take care of Mom. I arrived at the hospital about 2:00 this morning. I felt so horrible leaving the girls but Christy's friend, Stephanie, came and picked them up so that I could take off and not have to drive all night. Today they transferred her to the hospital in St. George where they have a Cardiologist.

Mom's chest pains weren't going away so they did an angiogram and found out that her heart and arteries were healthy. Mom had Bronchitus and had coughed so hard that it affected her heart and she still has some lingering pain. They are keeping her in the hospital for another night to keep an eye on her.

My Sister, Jerri Ann had an angiogram also and did actually have a small heart attack. Here's the crazy part, it was a side effect of taking a migraine medication! One that she had taken before! How crazy is that? The good news though is that the Doctor told her that she has the heart of a 20 year old! Cool!

Now my Mother and Sister have matching scars from their angiograms. I told them that they were going to have to find another way of bonding because this method just isn't working for me. And NO, I refuse to get a matching scar!

Bob was so sweet, he took a day off of work and went and retrieved Mom's truck from work so that she wouldn't worry. Ryan & Christy were also worried about them, as if they didn't have enough to worry about! I've talked to so many family members in the past two weeks but wish that it could have been about something more light hearted.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and concern. I don't know how we would have been able to handle all of this withought your prayers and concern. Heavenly Father has blessed our family so much. While we are currently having a lot of challenges we are also being blessed.

Four Hearts

...OK so now for some more drama. This morning I remembered that the new Star Trek movie (I think) comes out next week and Bob and I haven't been able to spend much time together. I have to go home for two Dr. appointments so I called to make a date with my husband and he told me that he was on his way to the hospital where my Mom, Norma, had been rushed to the hospital from work. What!

I called Mom's work and they said that when she walked in the door this morning she was having chest pains and was nauceous so they called 911, much to my mother's dismay. I was glad that they had taken charge and taken such good care of my mother.

Bob then called and said that Mom's EKG was going crazy so they were treating it as a heart attack. I called my sister who lives on the East coast and told her that I had some scarey news and filled her in. Then....my sister says, "Actually I have some scary news of my own. I came into the hospital this morning with chest pains and they are admitting me to the ICU."

WHAT!

I started looking for Candid Cameras or thought that I had been punked (except I'm not that famous) but this just wasn't funny, especially since the twins may have to have heart surgery today!

I'm babysitting my two granddaughters while their parents deal with school and premie twins. I don't remember scheduling in anything else this big, this week. What do I do?

Bob said that he would stay with Mom (thank heavens that he had the day off) and keep me informed. We could make decisions based on more information. I stayed next to the phone waiting for calls from the East coast and home.

I felt bad because Ryan and Christy were dealing with so much, I couldn't just leave! Of course Ryan and Christy said to do what I needed to do and they had other friends who could fill in. I knew this was true but I honestly didn't know whether to book a flight or start driving home and I really didn't want to leave the girls.

How could my Mom and Sister both have heart attacks on the same morning?

Twin Update

Because of all that has been happening we haven't been able to keep everyone up to date on everything. Ryan and Christy are dealing with what is most important, their four precious children and each other, oh yeah school, bills, etc.

Christy has put the following update on her blog and I can't put it any better, especially since I wasn't at the hospital. I was in Pocatello with Madi & Avery and worrying about some other family health issues that I will explain in another post.

Here's Christy's update, "It has been two...almost, LONG weeks, as you know at the Hodges home! Today the twins are 9 days old and are stable at this time. I am so grateful for their little spirits and the time I have had with them so far, holding their hands in mine and softly touching their heads. They are fighting hard everday to be here. It has been a roller coaster ride, with so many ups and downs. I have had moments of strength where I know it hasn't come anywhere but our Heavenly Father and all your prayers for our family. And I have had moments of weakness where I just sit and cry my heart out and feel completely useless as my babies struggle every moment to stay alive and miss my other two girls like crazy! Makes me really appreciate the time I do get with them when I see them. :)

Today has been another crazy day, and I thought I would give a quick update as I sit here in the waiting room, waiting for an Echo test to be done on Ethan. An Echo test is a test to check to see if his PDA valve in his heart has closed, or gotten smaller from his 2 rounds of Ibuprofen medicine. If it has closed or is at least showing signs that it has gotten smaller, than he won't have to have sugery to close it, it will do it by itself. But if the size of his PDA valve hasn't changed at all due to the Ibuprofen medicine, then he will have a little heart sugery(which they say it isn't anything to worry about, as it is a simple procedure) in the next two days to close it.
Usually if the valve hasn't closed within three rounds of the Ibuprofen then they do the surgery, but with Ethan they don't want to chance another round, because sometimes, I guess, the Ibuprofen medicine can cause bleeding in the brain and/or other problems. So they are also going to be doing an ultrasound sometime today on Ethan's brain to see if there is any bleeding. So we are just waiting for both these tests to be done and get the results back. We should know by tonight whether or not they will do the surgery.

Some good news is they did an ultrasound on Emily's brain to check if there was any bleeding and hers came back normal, which is great news!!! So we are praying that Ethan's brain scan also comes back normal and also that his PDA valve is either smaller or closed!! Which would honestly be a miracle for his gestation age. Many nurses have told me that Emily and Ethan are really doing good for how early they are and are good size babies for being twins. (It must have been all the broccoli I ate!) Emily is on her last round of medicine for her PDA valve, (which was something different than Ethan's Ibuprofen...sorry, I can't remember all the names of the medicines/treatments that they use!) and she will be having her Echo test done tomorrow sometime.

8 hours later...

OK...so I wrote this earlier today, never getting around to finishing it and posting it. I have some good news and some bad news. First off, the good news...the results came back and Ethan's PDA valve is A LOT smaller!!! Yeah!!! That means, Ethan will not have to have the heart surgery! "

Christy then goes on to comment on our other family health emergenty which I will deal with in my next post. I just want to say that Ryan and Christy are both amazing. They are so strong, I know that they are scared and being inundated by so much but I am impressed by the way they are able to support each other and their other two girls. There are times that are so scarey that no one can really do anything but just be there and let them know that they always will be. Sometimes I feel so helpless.

I am also grateful for all of the family and friends that have circled the wagons to help and support this family. Everyone has been amazing. The faith that has been shown is astonishing as well. Thank you to all of my friends, who don't even know Ryan & Christy, and to the amazing Sorensen Cousins who have lent their prayers and support which could move mountains. I love you guys and you are always there for me. If nothing else this helps us to appreciate each other and the time we have together. We also know that we will be reunited in the next life.

Learning a new language

Each day as we go in to check on the babies we learn a whole new language. There are blood gases, heart problems, case studies, etc. So much to try to understand and many things that Ryan and Christy have to make decisions on. One of the blessings of being in a University Hospital is that they have learned so much that can benefit your children. One of the downfalls is that they also want to study your children. I guess you can't have one without the other. When I was here 30 years ago they did the same thing only it was me and my pregnancy they wanted to study. Knowledge can't be gained without observing. Here one of the excellent nurses explaines how Ethan is doing.
I thought that this was a cute picture of Ryan and Christy as they check on Ethan. It is so hard to only be able to look but not touch.Emily has several different machines hooked up to her incubator. The nurses are so diligent in their care and we are so thankful for their expertise and compassion.
Here I am with Ryan and his father Dennis by Ethan's incubator. We are so blessed to be able to help each other through this time.

Christy is so cute. She is up walking around, visiting the babies, chewing on lots of ice and blogging it all for her family and friends. She and Ryan have remained so strong throughout this time. Of course they are scared for the babies and don't know what the future holds but they have faith that Heavenly Father knows what is best. I admire how they rely on each other and remain strong in their faith.

Madisen Turns Four!

Since Madisen's Birthday is Tuesday and Grandma and Grandpa Newman brought the girls down to visit Christy in the hospital. we decided to have her Birthday Party a day early in the hospital. Here Madi demonstrates that she is ready for the big FOUR!

Sunday when they came up Christy was pretty out of it and had an oxygen tube on which was a little scary for Avery but today Christy looks and is acting like Mom again so the party mood was set. I made some tissue paper flowers to decorate the room and the Newman's bought a yummy chocolate cake.


Madi received some fun presents that she shared with Avery. We had so much fun that you would have never guessed we were stuffed into a hospital room.

The girls were very well behaved but I can't say the same of all the guests (you know who you are).

Avery even got in on the gift action.

But of course the packaging is always more interesting!

Madi even gave Grandpa Hodges and Grandpa Newman a lesson in jump rope etiquette which I'm sure they needed.



A great time was had by all...

Surprise - They're Here!

I have tried to figure out how to explain this last two days but Ryan has explained it so well in his blog that I will quote him:

"Hey, this is Ryan with some very crazy news. Christy and I were sitting in the hospital on Sunday when we were asked whether or not we wanted to attend sacrament meeting here at the hospital. We thought it would be a great idea, seeing as we can only escape the room once a day for a half-hour wheelchair ride. So Christy got some makeup on really quickly and went to use the bathroom when I heard her yell frantically for me. I ran to the bathroom to see what had happened. Christy told me that she felt something bulging down below. I hurredly called the nurses over and we loaded Christy up on a gurney and ran down the hall to the labor and delivery section of the hospital.

Right away we knew these babies were coming out a little earlier than anyone expected. The decision was made by the doctors to deliver the twin via C-section ASAP. I was rushed out of the room (fighting and screaming) and Christy was given general anasthetic, knocking her completely out. I paced back and forth in the recovery room for the next hour. It was easily the longest hour of my life. I kept going through it all in my mind trying to understand what was going on and what were the possible outcomes.

Soon the delivering doctor came in and told me that Christy was doing really well (she's a little doped up, but she's doing just great) and both the twins were in critical but stable condition. We are a little stunned and shocked right now, especially not knowing how thing will turn out with the twins. We named them Emily Jean Hodges (1 lb. 4 oz., born 11:08 am April 19th) and Ethan Ryan Hodges (1 lb. 7 oz., born 11:11 am April 19th). We are grateful for the time we have with them and hope that we can have many years to come with them.

We also wanted to express our love and appreciation to each of you for your prayers and thoughts. We plead with you to continue praying for the sweet little twins and for Christy."

Ethan Ryan Hodges (1 lb. 7 oz., born 11:11 am April 19th).

Emily Jean Hodges (1 lb. 4 oz., born 11:08 am April 19th)

Aren't they beautiful! We are just taking one day at a time and are grateful for any progress the babies make or problem that is solved. Those are Ryan's fingers holding Emily's hand and as you can tell they are so tiny. I thought 3 lbs. 6 oz. was small but these two together don't weigh as much as their father did!

Needless to say, I will be here for a little while. Ryan is going back to school tomorrow afternoon and I will stay here with Christy and the twins. The Doctors say not to expect the twins to come home until their due date which is August 13th so we will all be taking turns helping out and traveling a lot. I apologize for being so late with an update but as you can see we've been a little busy. Thank you for all of your well wishes and support. We love you.