The NICU

Because the boys came earlier than expected, they went straight from the Operating Room to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to receive around-the-clock care to get them ready to come home.

Here's Graham on his second day in the NICU.

Here's Carson (he had an IV in his head the first couple of days, so he couldn't wear a beanie - which turned out to be an easy way to identify them in photos).

Papa Joe (as he's now known) came to the NICU to visit the boys the night they were born. They were sleeping, so we decided to let them stay in their beds, but the first-time grandpa was very excited to meet his future fly fishing partners!

Here is Grandma Cindy with Carson. She flew down from Sacramento the day after they were born to spend a few hours with them before flying home. She was very excited to meet her first grandchildren.

In addition to Papa Joe and Grandma Cindy, the boys got visits from Grandma DiDi, Aunt Jamie, Ryan's Aunt Tammy, and our good family friends Jerry and Vicki Stafford. These boys were not lacking attention!

They were on heart monitors to ensure their hearts were nice and strong, they had some time under the lights to flush the jaundice from their systems, they got gavage feedings (a tube was inserted through their noses that allowed food to be delivered to their stomachs) but more than the medical procedures that helped them get ready to come home, the boys were lucky to get the special attention that the NICU nurses showered on them.

Here are the boys, showing off their gavage tubes for the camera. Graham is on the left yawning, Carson is on the right, enjoying his pacifier.

Just as they were the weeks I spent in Labor and Delivery, the nurses in the NICU were amazing women who we will remember forever!

Here's Debbie, who spent the first 6 nights with the boys. She had a great sense of humor and was very helpful in teaching us how to bathe the little guys.

We were lucky that we were prepared for them to spend some time in the NICU and we were ultimately grateful for the time they spent there, as the extra care and attention paid off with healthy babies by the time they got to come home!