Wow we seem to be back among the living. The last few months have kind of
been surreal. It was like being plucked out of our life and tossed into someone elses for a few months. Most of you have been keeping pretty close tabs on things but for those of you who are unaware of what has been going on here is a very brief review. On April 22nd at 28 weeks gestation I was rushed to Legacy Emanuel hospital in portland and I was in preterm labor. My contractions were 3 minutes apart and I was dialating fast. The funny thing was that I couldn't feel any of the contractions and had no idea that I was in labor. All of the doctors thought for sure that the babies would be born that night. Well as most of you know that didn't happen. They were able to stop my labor and I continued to scare and amaze everyone in the hospital for the next 7 weeks while I just hung out dialated at 6 cm and having contractions all day long. Every week the doctors swore that I wouldn't make it to the weekend and the following week I was still there. It finally got to the point that we picked a date and they were going to induce me at 35 1/2 weeks. I guess that is all we needed because a few days before the date my water broke and I went into labor on my own. It worked out for the best because Jame
s was already there that night and since it happened on its own everything went really quickly. I was really fortunate in that I had a picture perfect labor. Both babies were head down and delivered vaginally. It was probably the easiest labor that I could have asked for. Baby "A" Mason Robert Dodge was born first at 9:23am on June 8th and Baby "B" Brock James Dodge followed at 9:30 am. Mason was 5lbs 3 oz, 18 1/4 inches long and Brock was 4lbs 10oz, 17 3/4 inches long. Both babies were healthy though Brock had to spend two days in the NICU on a C-Pap machine to make sure that he was breathing adequately. Both boys spent one week in the hospital and were released to go home on father's day. This was a big surpirse for us since we were originally told that they would have to stay longer into the week. Their biggest issue is eating and making sure that they take in enough calories. So far so good and it just got better when we got home. They've turned into really go eaters and we no longer have to force the food down anymore. We were really lucky that our experience in that hospital was the best it could have been because of all of the amazing doctors and nurses. Though we were more than ready to come home after eight weeks in the hospital and Ronald Mcdonald house it was still like leaving a bunch of friends. They had their first doctors appointment down here in Albany yesterday and Mason weighted in a 5lbs 4 oz and Brock was 4lbs 13oz. We also went on our first walk all together last night with the boys in their baby slings. Just one last thank you to all of our friends and family for everything that they did for us over the last few months. We'll try to keep this updated more often....we'll see.
been surreal. It was like being plucked out of our life and tossed into someone elses for a few months. Most of you have been keeping pretty close tabs on things but for those of you who are unaware of what has been going on here is a very brief review. On April 22nd at 28 weeks gestation I was rushed to Legacy Emanuel hospital in portland and I was in preterm labor. My contractions were 3 minutes apart and I was dialating fast. The funny thing was that I couldn't feel any of the contractions and had no idea that I was in labor. All of the doctors thought for sure that the babies would be born that night. Well as most of you know that didn't happen. They were able to stop my labor and I continued to scare and amaze everyone in the hospital for the next 7 weeks while I just hung out dialated at 6 cm and having contractions all day long. Every week the doctors swore that I wouldn't make it to the weekend and the following week I was still there. It finally got to the point that we picked a date and they were going to induce me at 35 1/2 weeks. I guess that is all we needed because a few days before the date my water broke and I went into labor on my own. It worked out for the best because Jame
s was already there that night and since it happened on its own everything went really quickly. I was really fortunate in that I had a picture perfect labor. Both babies were head down and delivered vaginally. It was probably the easiest labor that I could have asked for. Baby "A" Mason Robert Dodge was born first at 9:23am on June 8th and Baby "B" Brock James Dodge followed at 9:30 am. Mason was 5lbs 3 oz, 18 1/4 inches long and Brock was 4lbs 10oz, 17 3/4 inches long. Both babies were healthy though Brock had to spend two days in the NICU on a C-Pap machine to make sure that he was breathing adequately. Both boys spent one week in the hospital and were released to go home on father's day. This was a big surpirse for us since we were originally told that they would have to stay longer into the week. Their biggest issue is eating and making sure that they take in enough calories. So far so good and it just got better when we got home. They've turned into really go eaters and we no longer have to force the food down anymore. We were really lucky that our experience in that hospital was the best it could have been because of all of the amazing doctors and nurses. Though we were more than ready to come home after eight weeks in the hospital and Ronald Mcdonald house it was still like leaving a bunch of friends. They had their first doctors appointment down here in Albany yesterday and Mason weighted in a 5lbs 4 oz and Brock was 4lbs 13oz. We also went on our first walk all together last night with the boys in their baby slings. Just one last thank you to all of our friends and family for everything that they did for us over the last few months. We'll try to keep this updated more often....we'll see. 
