The Twins Have arrived

It was last Friday, Sept 12, and we were just wrapping up the wedding rehearsal for our friends Kayla and Kellen in Hays Kansas when it happened. KU lost by a last second field goal to South Florida. Apparently this atrocity caused a cosmic disruption of grand proportions, because at about that time Julie started to feel what we now know were Labor contractions. At the time she passed them off as braxton hicks contractions since she was still 9 weeks early and readied herself for bed. A couple of hours later she was awoken by similar pains and fealt what she thought could be her water breaking. Trying not to wake our hotel roommates, she summoned me for a family meeting in the bathroom to decide our next move. Since the running toilet made for a poor meeting setting, Julie attempted to jiggle the chain inside the tank and accidentally dislodged a water hose. So, as I entered the bathroom i found water spraying out of the toilet, hitting the wall and Julie standing in the bathtub with a very panicked look on her face. Thankfully, the toiled was easy enough to fix and it became blaringly obvious that our next move should be to the hospital. Sure enough, Julie was beginning labor. When the doctor arrived he layed out a plan with two options. Option A was to stop contractions long enough to fly Julie to Wichita so that she could deliver there. If that didn't happen, option B was to deliver the twins in Hays and have them flown to the NICU at Wesley hospital in Wichita. However, rainy weather was keeping aircraft on the ground in Wichita and the twins wouldn't have waited that long anyways so Option B was our fate. The surgery was a great success and although being separated from our new babies only hours from their delivery made for some emotional moments, we knew that they were healthy and in good hands.

Conner Matthew Lueger was born at 4:47 AM on September 13th, 2008. He weighed 3 pounds 15.5 ounces and was 16.5 inches long. Teagan Ann Lueger was born at 4:48 AM on September 13th, 2008. She weighed 3 pounds 4.25 ounces and was 16 inches long.

The twins arrived at the Wesley Hospital NICU a little after noon on Saturday and weathered the trip well. Each of them were breathing through ventilators but those were soon removed and replaced with CPAPs. Grandpa & Grandma Calderwood came to stay with Julie while Grandpa and Grandma Lueger picked me up in Hays and brought me to Wichita to be with the twins. When I arrived they doing great, breathing room air and content as could be. By noon the next day their CPAPs were removed and I was able to hold them. At about that same time Julie was released from the hospital (a miraculous feat after major surgery the previous morning) and on her way to see them. She arrived at around 4:00 PM on Sunday September 14th to finally hold her new miracles of life in her hands.

Today Conner and Teagan are 4 days old. They continue to have good heart rates and breathing. Teagan's biliribun crept up far enough to require some light therapy one day, but it quickly subsided. Conner was able to eat about half of his food through a bottle today and both of them open their eyes to look around while they're held. Mom and Dad have been able to change diapers, take temperatures and hold them during their feedings. Dad already experienced his first explosive BM today. We look forward to all of the new milestones in their future.

Stay tuned for more updates.