Baby Update

Thanks to all of you for all of your thoughts and prayers our direction.

The udpate is that there isn't really an update at this point. We got back home from the Bahamas last night after an absolutely WONDERFUL trip (will post a more complete update and photos later this week).

We have not yet spoken with Tina but will try to check in with her this evening. However, we are not very hopeful at this point that this will go through but are just trying to trust that what is supposed to happen will and that God's plan will become clear for us at some point.

We did speak with Tina's mother last evening and she said the girls were still doing well. When we saw them last Tuesday morning Ruby had "graduated" from ICU and was in the same nursery as Sydney. She was no longer on the ventilator or CPAP and was just getting some supplemental O2 in her isolet. Sydney was continuing to do well.

That's all for now - we will continue to provide updates as we have them.

Bahamas Bound

Well, we are still in legal limbo. Tina is having a very difficult time making the decision to sign the relinquishment papers while the babies are still so tiny and helpless. Darin and I have decided to give her some space and go ahead and go on our trip to the Bahamas. She is being discharged from the hospital today and will be heading home to Montgomery (about 2 hours south of Birmingham).

She is feeling like it might be easier for her to sign once she gets home and out of the hospital environment. Her Mother and Father continue to be supportive of an adoption plan but her Grandmother (to quote Tina) "is oldfashioned" and says "you made those babies and you need to take care of them."

So, we are on yet another wild roller-coaster ride on the road to parenthood.

In the mean time, thanks to Norm & Lisa for overnighting our passports so we can go on to the Bahamas and thanks to all of you who have been sending your thoughts and prayers our way.

Sydney & Ruby continue to do well. Ruby is off the breathing tube as of this morning and on cpap (prongs in her nose) for the oxygen and was down to 25% O2 which is just 4% above room air. We will go visit them again this afternoon and tomorrow before we head up to Atlanta. We will fly from Atlanta to Nassau on Wednesday.

Here's to warm air and sunshine!!

Our Girls

We met our two tiny bundles today!

Sydney is in the "Continuing Care Nursery" and Ruby is in the "Regional Newborn Intensive Care Unit". Both of them are doing pretty well. Ruby's lungs are a little bit less developed than Sydney's so she has been having a little bit harder of a time and is still on a ventilator (on fairly low settings of 30 - 50% Oxygen - they can go up to 100% if necessary). She got a dose of surfactant yesterday which is naturally produced in the lungs but some preemies don't have enough. She has apparently done much better since she got that medicine and they are planning to take her off of the breathing tube later today or tomorrow. She will then have the cpap (nose prongs). Once she is stable on the cpap she will be able to move downstairs with Sydney to the CCN. Sydney has been breathing "room air" since she was born and hasn't had to have any oxygyen or ventilator support. Both girls' billiruben was up today so when we saw Ruby she was under a light with "sun glasses" on.

Sydney is getting 3cc's of formula every 3 hours and they are planning to increase that to 6cc's later today - this is given through a feeding tube in her mouth, she is getting fluids via an IV in her belly button. Ruby was getting all of her nutrition through her belly button until this morning. When we were with her she got her first 1.5cc's through the feeding tube in her mouth. It will probably be 4 - 6 weeks before they have the sucking reflex and are able to receive nutrition via a tiny bottle.

The hospital has set up a consultation for us on Monday or Tuesday with a social worker to help us find lodging. We may be able to get in to some townhouses close to the hospital or possibly the Ronald McDonald House. Currently we are staying at a Courtyard by Marriott across the street from the hospital.

Here are a few photos of the girls.

There are three of Sydney - one with her eyes wide open, one with my hands (she is holding my pinky finger) to give you some perspective on size, and one of her by herself in her little bed.

The next three are of Ruby - you can see that she has her sunglasses on and these photos are a little harder to see due to the UV light. The first photo we have her little beany bear laying next to her so you can see how tiny she is! Another one of her by herself and the third she is holding my finger.














We are still in legal limbo today - Tina is having an understandably difficult time right now and hasn't been able to meet us in person. We have spoken with her several times on the phone though and she has given us full access to be with the babies. Her family (Mother Jenny, Father Clarence and her Grandmother as well as her youngest son) are all coming to visit her and the babies this afternoon. Tina will call us when they are all done so we can go back over and visit the girls.

Our attorney is planning to visit Tina tomorrow with all of the necessary paperwork for her to sign so we are very anxious to find out how that goes. This is a very nervewracking time for everyone concerned.

GOOOOOD Friday!

Well, surprise folks! The girls have arrived!!!

Tina went in to labor this morning and had a C-section about an hour and a half after my last post!

"Baby A" was born at 9:42 AM Pacific and weighs 2 lbs 4 oz and is 15" long.

"Baby B" was born at 9:44 AM Pacific and weighs 2 lbs 3 oz and is 13" long.

And now, for the names (drum roll please!!)

Baby A is Sydney Megan and Baby B is Ruby Suzette.

We are flying out of Seattle at 6AM tomorrow morning. Darin will come home in a week and I'll stay in Birmingham until the girls are ready to fly home.

The best news is that both of the girls are breathing on their own and Sydney isn't even in an incubator. Ruby is in an incubator for some supplemental O2 but they are both doing really well.

Tina is also doing really well but is experiencing the expected post surgery nausea and pain. She has told us that she can't wait for us to get there and that the babies are adorable and she can't wait to meet us in person. We just love her so much and are so thankful for the connection we have with her.

We will post photos and further updates as soon as we have them.

27 Weeks!

Today Tina is officially 27 Weeks along . The babies are growing really well and have strong heart beats and lungs. They are both over 2 pounds which is normal size at this time for a singleton pregnancy so that is a BIG advantage for them if they are born early.

Right now the doctors are aiming for 30 weeks and possibly 32 - Tina remains on hospital bedrest. The babies are monoamniotic (in the same amniotic sack) so that means there are some risks of getting tangled in each others ambilical cord. However, from what I've read online, cord entanglement usually happens in first trimester and so far they aren't tangled which is VERY good. This is also why we know they are identical - monoamniotic twins are always identical.

The hospital Tina is in, is located about 90 minutes from her home so it is a challenge for her family to visit her and she is pretty homesick. She is a real trooper though and is doing whatever is necessary to keep the babies safe. Please keep Tina and her family and the babies in your prayers.

Dad

Some of you know that my Dad has recently been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and many have asked for updates so I thought I would post a quick one here.

Dad was officially diagnosed with adenocarcinoma on February 22nd. He had been steadily losing weight (close to 60 pounds at this point) and was having difficulty swallowing and lots of nausea and pain after eating. Because of his symptoms we were all very worried that the cancer was fairly advanced. However, most of the pain was from an ulcer and as that has been treated he has improved significantly.

We got the update last Friday that his PET scan was negative which means the cancer has not spread anywhere else. The spot he has in his esophagus is stage 1 and very treatable.

Dad will have a consult with the surgeon this week to determine if surgery is too risky. If surgery isn't an option they will do a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.

I am spending the week with Mom and Dad in Spokane and am enjoying my evenings with them. My company has an office in Spokane so I am able to visit without taking time off work.

Just this for now. Mom also sends out regular updates about Dad's status so if any of you want to be added to that list just add a comment to this post and I will send your contact info to Mom.

We're Pregnant.....Sort Of

On the evening of February 11th Darin and I were riding the ferry on the way to Seattle (to celebrate Suzette’s birthday) when we received a phone call from our friend Wanda who has adopted her two darling girls from Abby’s One True Gift Adoption Agency in Iowa. Well, Brenda from Abby’s was speaking with Wanda and mentioned that they had a birth mom expecting twins in June and wondered if anyone in Wanda’s circle of friends might be home study ready and interested. SOOOOO….Wanda called us that night. To abbreviate a somewhat long story – we agreed that we would like to “find out more” and I called Brenda the next morning.

Darin called me from work in the middle of the day on the 12th to tell me he thought we should tell the agency we were interested in moving forward – I agreed. It was so confirming to have him call me and echo my own feelings! That precipitated a week of quickly pulling together all of the necessary paperwork to prove we had a completed home study and fortunately our previous agency (Adoption Advocates International) agreed to do the necessary updates quickly!

On February 20th, we had a facilitated conference call with the birth mother, Tina and it went GREAT. Tina is a warm, loving, friendly and open person. We all agreed to move forward at that time and it was all confirmed by Friday the 22nd of February. As Darin has said: “We’re Pregnant….sort of!”

The babies are due June 20th but Tina actually went in to labor last Thursday and is now on Hospital bed rest. Baby “A” is 2 pounds 1 ounce and Baby “B” is 2 pounds. The good news is that Tina is now 26 weeks along and babies born after 26 weeks and over 2 pounds 3 ounces have a 90% survival rate. Also, Tina has received a full round of steroid treatment which greatly improves the survivability and overall long term well being of the babies. We are talking to Tina at least twice a day now – being in the hospital is really hard for her since she has three young children at home. Fortunately, her parents are able to care for her other children.

Based on the laws in Washington and Alabama, Tina will be able to change her mind until 48 hours after the babies are born. However, at this time, we feel fairly confident that she will go forward with her adoption plan. We are really enjoying our growing relationship with Tina. The most amazing thing is that she seems genuinely excited for us to be parents.

Our families are all VERY VERY excited. Oh, yeah and we found out on Friday that the babies are IDENTICAL GIRLS!!! And, yes, we do have names picked out but you’ll have to wait to hear them until the babies are born.

Ski Weekend!!

One of our New Year’s resolutions was to spend more time with our nieces and nephews so we invited them all on a ski weekend. Five of them were able to join us up at Mt Baker the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of December. We rented a cute log cabin about 20 minutes from the lodge and all arrived Friday evening. Well….actually, Darin, Leah (age 17), Tyson (age 22) and I all arrived Friday evening. Logan (age 19) had to work until 11 PM so Tyler (age 22) and Dallas (age 19) met him and they all drove up together – arriving at the cabin around 2 AM.





In spite of the lack of sleep they were all up by 7:30 AM ready to hit the slopes. Darin and I manned the table in the lodge (I was working on homework for my Psychology class) while the 5 skiers enjoyed the snow and sunshine. I think the photos below pretty much speak for themselves).








After the mountain closed, we headed back to the cabin and ate pasta and LOTS of snacks and watched movies (Tommy Boy and Blast From The Past). Unfortunately, we also had to endure significant amounts of flatulence. Considering these are all my brother’s children, I shouldn’t have been surprised!!

Sunday morning we amazingly were able to get everyone up and out the door in time to get to meeting in Bellingham by 10:30 – including a stop at Starbucks! After meeting we all went to Jeff & Bonnita’s, where Bonnita had made a WONDERFUL lunch of roast beef and her fabulous sour cream potatoes with fresh, warm chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

And, to top it all off the boys "dressed up" in big glasses and hats. Who does Logan remind you of?



We had a great time with Tyler, Tyson, Dallas, Logan & Leah – they are amazing, smart and funny individuals and we love them all SO MUCH. Next time, hopefully the rest of the kids can come along too (even though they are all getting grown up and Anna-Lisa is even married – we will probably always call them kids!!)

Chez Clark

So, Darin and I were trying to figure out constructive ways to use all of this extra time we have now that we don’t have kids and decided to turn our house into a restaurant for an evening. We sent invitations to several couples with young families in our area. “You and your valentine are invited to dine at Chez Clark on February 16th.” Knowing first hand how difficult it is to get out for an evening when you have young children, we also told them that child care would be provided. BUT – we didn’t give any other details.

Imagine their surprise when they arrive at our house on Saturday the 16th to be greeted by a maitre ‘d (our nephew Tyler) “welcome to Chez Clark, do you have a reservation this evening?”

We had removed most of the furniture from our living and dining rooms and replaced it with individual tables for each of the 7 couples that accepted the invitation. Lights were low and tables were set with sparkly glassware, flowers and glowing candles. Tyler sat them at their designated table and then Darin and our dear friend Tom swooped in to wait on the guests. Darin and Tom were dressed in “waiterly” black pants and white shirts and immediately served each couple an appetizer after their children were whisked away downstairs and they were seated at their table.

The Menu
Appetizer: Warm Blue Cheese, Bacon and Garlic Dip served with sliced apples and crackers

Salad: Mixed greens salad served with choice of dressing (blue cheese, ranch, vinaigrette, or honey mustard) and a roll

Entrée Choices: Penne Pasta Con Amore – Penne pasta with chicken topped with fresh basil, tomato and caper sauté then baked with fresh mozzarella and ricotta. Served with fresh grilled asparagus
Or
Roast Beef with red wine and blackberry sauce served with mashed potatoes and fresh grilled asparagus

Dessert: Raspberry trifle or Chocolate Mousse


I started cooking at 7 AM Saturday morning and THANKFULLY, my dear friend Suzette arrived to help in the afternoon. My friend Linda’s hubby got sick and couldn't come for dinner so she also pitched in to help in the kitchen and having the extra hands on deck was a HUGE help!

Our basement – had been turned in to a kids play land complete with Pizza (Cheese & Pepperoni), Chocolate Milk, Juice boxes, sliced apples and apple sauce. Our niece Leah and Tyler’s girlfriend Bria (and Tyler after his maitre‘d duties were completed) took excellent care of the kids and all 14 of them played well together!!


Our guests report that they had a lovely time but I really believe that Darin and I had the most fun. The best part was the stunned looks of surprise when people walked in to the “fancy restaurant”…. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a single picture of the waiters or of me in my chef hat!