A Complete Family: Aron Comes Home

Aron came home today after demonstrating five consecutive days of no sleep apnea. Mommy is so happy to have both her babies home and can hardly stand not holding them both every minute. Uncle Evan and Grandma Clinton were on hand to welcome him home. He still requires being hooked up to an apnea monitor and requires a small amount of oxygen during feeds; we're hoping being home will do him good and he'll be done with all of that business soon. He's such a sweet docile little guy and with the widest unblinking eyes that scan all around. He already seems very happy to be home, but not sure if he's figured out who the other little baby is yet....

Aden's First Week Home

We are please to say that we have all successfully survived the first week home. Aden is really striving and enjoying having mommy and dad all to himself. Since he has been home he has gained a pound and is really becoming an active newborn with all his facial expressions and accompanying gurgles and coos. This week we had our first doctor's appointment and was an angelic child for the doctor- we were so proud. The doctor gave him a clean bill of health and said he is doing exceptional as a preemie. At home we have our routine of three hour shifts of eat, sleep and poop but a few minutes a day there is play and learning. Aden is very fond of himself in the mirror and reaches out to the handsome devil. He is also learning to hold his own pacifier as he is demonstrating for Pap Pap in the photo. Mom and dad are doing well considering the new sleep cycle. Mom is fitting back into her pre-pregnancy clothes and still hopeful that some day she'll find the time to exercise.

Aron is getting better everyday. He is struggling a little with apnea which is the only thing holding him from being discharged. Unfortunately, every episode sets his release date back five days for observation. The doctor says that all we can do is wait for him to grow out of it. This waiting game is very frustrating to Alex and I because we get excited that he is coming home and then he will have an episode and has to stay for another week. It is really pulling on the heart strings to be so close to having him home. We all miss him; especially his brother.

Aron (01/27/09)

Aron Update

Mommy visited Aron today while Daddy and Aden had some mantime at home. Aron has made some big strides in the past couple of days. He's been taken off his little nose tubes and moved out of the incubator into an open crib. If he continues without troubles and continues to feed well over the weekend, he may be home early next week. Mommy thinks Aron is going to be our little linebacker; he seems to be bigger and stronger than his brother. We'll see, can't wait to get him home....

One Home, One To Go....

Aden came home with us this evening. He fell asleep in his carseat and rode peacefully through Houston rush hour traffic. Mommy has done a great job putting the finishing touches on the baby room and everything else over the past couple of days in eager anticipation. The ranch is ready for babies. We've had a successful feeding and diaper changing so far tonight. We've been holding him almost constantly. We'll see how the 2am and 5am feedings treat us....

Aron Graduates to Level 2

Today was a big day. Aron has been doing well in the level 3 NICU, taking bottles, off his IV, and breathing without oxygen. He's officially been moved to Level 2 and has taken up residence right next to his brother. Aden is doing great, he's about to move from the incubator into an open crib. He should be coming home soon.

They're Here!!!

We rung in the new year in a truly festive fashion with the arrival of Aden Michael and Aron Patton at 7:50am and 7:51am on January 1st, 2009. This was quite a shock as Ardis had just visited the doctor on 12/30 and there were no signs of them coming anytime soon. Our New Year's eve was relatively lame in that we crashed early in the night and missed the strike of midnight. Apparently the boys felt like partying. Ardis woke up at 4:25am to a kick and a sudden gush. She woke me up to "Alex my water just broke!" My response was, "Are you kidding me...zzz..." (It's miracle I survived to see their birth given this reaction, but I think Ardis needed me to help get her ready, so my life was spared) After less than a second, Ardis's words registered and I quickly shot up out of bed. Ardis's sister Eden spent the holidays here with us and was an amazing help wrapping up the nursery setup and doing things around the house. Eden must have sensed a tremor in the force as she was already up and knew what was happening when we went out to wake her. We all three jumped in the car for the trek to the hospital. Poor Eden had to squeeze into the back seat between the car seat bases we had installed a few days prior; with Momma in front and Daddy driving we were off to the speedway.....after a quick stop for gas. Despite some of these little hiccups in our escape plan things were going well, then Ardis started having major contractions. I did my best Mario Andretti impersonation and got us to the hospital in record time. We got signed in and put in a room and the first strategy was to try to stop the contractions. The word was that even with a broken amniotic sac Ardis could be stabilized and kept in the hospital for up to a week. We settled in for a long haul. Meanwhile Ardis was a champ handling the contractions. She squirmed, and remarkably gently expressed her discomfort verbally. 30 minutes later the nurse announced that since the drugs weren't helping with the contractions it looked like we were having babies, and in the next 30 minutes or so. The doctor came in to do a quick exam and realized that Ardis was already fully dialated. These babies were coming. I got handed scrubs and wisked to a waiting room while the anesthesiologist did scary spine things administering the epidural. I was so happy I wasn't invited for that party. Ten minutes later the nurse grabbed me and brought me into the operating room. Ardis was laid out on the table with the little screen blocking her view and two surgeons working on her already. I had no desire to look over the curtain; I could get enough of a sense of what was happening over there to know that I wanted no part of it. I took up my spot next to her and held her hand. She was so nervous, but so brave. In no time flat, the doctor announced, "Dad, get your camera ready!" In a flash, Baby A was out of mom's tummy. We got that reassuring baby cry immediately and were very relieved by how big he was. The doctors held him up and presented him for his first photo op. I suddenly realized that we needed to figure out who was who. Ardis told me that Baby A was Aden.

A minute later Baby B entered the world; little Aron. Same reassuring cry, such a big strong little guy.










The nurses whisked them away and cleaned them up. Another nurse took me to them while the surgeons wrapped up the operation on Ardis. I was amazed at how wonderful and healthy they looked; great color and active. They achieved high marks on their Apgar tests, our little over-achievers. The nurses foot-printed them for their birth certificates and foot-printed my scrubs and little hat. Once they had them cleaned up it was photo op time again. My favorite is when they moved the two of them together for a picture.

After that they were swaddled up and brought to the Operating Room for Mommy and Daddy to hold them for the first time. So tiny.




After their first visit with us, they were moved to incubators for transport to the NICU. An unexpected surprise was that they were wheeled by the waiting room so Grandma/Grandpa Clinton and Auntie Eden got to see them pretty soon after birth.

Once they got to the Level 2 NICU, they had their official weigh-in. Aron went first, he was our little heavyweight at 4lbs 6oz and 17" long.

Aden weighed in at 4lbs 4oz and 16 1/2" long. He may have been slightly smaller, but I'm sure in the years to come he'll enjoy pointing out that he's the "older" brother.

Once they got in their little beds, the doctors and nurses assessed them a little more closely. Little Aden seemed to quickly realize that he had a bunch of pretty nurses attending to his every need so he kicked his heels up and leaned back with his hands behind his head as if he was just relaxing on the beach soaking up rays from the infant warmer. So funny.

Little Aron was breathing pretty rapidly and heavily so they put him under a little oxygen hoodie to see if that would help slow his breathing. Unfortunately they determined after some observation that they might need to feed him oxygen more directly so thay have since had to separate him from his brother and moved him to the Level 3 NICU where he is breathing on his own but receiving oxygen nasally to assist him a bit.

As of this post, they're both doing well. Aden is charming the nurses and still kicked back and relaxed in his little bed. Aron is still in the level 3 NICU with oxygen assist but slowly improving it appears. We received word that he's done some good crying and pee'ed on a couple of nurses. I take that sort of activity as excellent signs. Mom got to visit them this morning for the first time since their birth. Getting out of bed and scrubbing in and out of the two NICU's wore her out. Both Mom and the kids are doing great; time for me to run so I can go back to the hospital and see them again.