My Twins Are 2!!!

Tomorrow Ali and Ava will be 2.  I can't even believe they are already 2 years old!  About two weeks ago I was driving down the street and I saw a girl with two infant seats in her back seat.  I noticed she had twins which got me wishing I could hug the girl and tell her how much fun it is to have twins.  The first few months before and after our twins were born were some of the hardest times we have had to endure.  Our lives have been so blessed with these sweet little precious girls.  They are so fun and sweet!  About three days ago my girls were sitting on the floor looking at a book.  I noticed that the book was the book I made them for their first Christmas that had the story of us finding out we were having twins all the way up to the girls NICU experience.  I was just going to take the book away from them to keep safe on the shelf but I decided to sit down and look at it with them.  I showed the girls the pictures and I found myself crying my eyes out as I was once again reminded of just how blessed we are to have these girls in our lives.  They are little miracle babies and I just love them so much!!!  I cry just thinking about how happy they make me.  I also cryed writing this whole post. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

MY SWEET

LITTLE GIRLS!!!

  

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This is their birthday present and they are loving it!

Three...Two.... One...One!!! Happy Birthday girls!

...So we grew togetherLike to a double cherry, seeming parted,But yet an union in partition,Two lovely berries moulded on one stem...~William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Happy Birthday Beautiful Girls! I can't beleive you are now one. I love you so much!

We now have a three year old, a two year old and 2-one year olds!!!

Funny twin moments caught on tape!

102

The twins are 102 days old today.  The reason that that is significant is because our girls have now been home with us for the same amount of time they spent in the hospital.  They are so big and cute!  Ali is about 9 1/2 lbs and Ava is about 10 1/2 lbs.  I am enjoying them so much!!!  Eric is warming up to having 2 babies.  He has a hard time with all the crying but loves them.

We love our new hats!!!

Thanks for our darling hats Aunt Court...as you can see we really love them!

WE'RE HOME!!!

Ashton and Tate are enjoying having their sisters home after 51 days of the girls being in the hospital.  Ashton loves to bring them toys and blankets and Tate thinks Ali's name is owey (spelling?)  and then asks for a bandaid.
Ava & Ali
Ava

Ava came home last Friday and Ali came home on Tuesday the 23rd which was her due date.  It is so fun to have them home even though we get no sleep and we are always busy.  Last night at dinner I was holding a baby, Eric was holding a baby and we were each trying to eat our dinners while helping Ashton and Tate eat their dinners.  We laughed because what can we do.  I have learned to feed two babies bottles while pumping, talking on the phone and watching the news and all on no sleep.  Many thanks to all the nurses at IMC NICU for all their love and help with our babies.  We are so thankful for all the prayers and service that we have received from everyone.  

Guess who's in my bed?

I am laying in my bed cuddling my little Ava.  It was so fun to take her out of the NICU today.  Everyone in the halls of the NICU watched as I got to walk out the door with her.  My day has gone a little something like this:

-arrive home

-change bum

-boys meet Ava

-change bum

-feed her(1/2 hour +)

-change bum

-lay down by her & Ashton for short nap

-change her bum

-feed her (1/2 hour +)

-change her bum

-she slept for about 1 1/2 hours so I watched Little Mermaid with the boys)

-change her bum

-feed her for about 1/2 hour +)

-change her bum

-It's now 10:30pm and we will see how the first night with her home goes

Now this might not sound too bad but I am thinking of next Tuesday when this will be only half of what I do.  Ali is on day 3 of day 7 of her countdown.  Looking good so far!!!

Ava is coming home!

If Ava makes it through tonight without forgetting to breath then she will be coming home in the morning!  We are so excited!!!  She now weighs a healthy 6 pounds 11 ounces and is eating like a chunk.  She looks so healthy and ready to come home.  The only hard part about bringing Ava home is leaving Ali behind.  The good news is that Ali is on day 2 of her 7 day count down to come home.  If Ali doesn't forget to breath then she will come home on Tuesday.  She now weighs 5 pounds 11 ounces and is also looking so healthy.  She pulled out her NG tube (feeding tube in her nose) on her own about 2 days ago and so the nurses decided to try to give her all of her feedings by mouth.  I guess Ali was telling them she was ready because she has been doing fantastic with her bottle feedings.  All the nurses in the NICU have been so great and keep telling us how much they love our girls.  We love them too and Ashton and Tate can't wait to meet their sisters.  Thank you for all of your prayers and please keep them coming:)! 

Reunited at last!

Ali & Ava have been separated since day 6.  The nurse let me get them together for a few minutes the other day.  Ava was a little upset about having company in her crib.  I couldn't get the best pictures of them since Ava wouldn't cooperate but they still look so cute.   Although they are identical, they don't look the same to us.  Ali is on the left and weighs 5 pounds 9 ounces and Ava weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces.  They are doing really well but they still forget to breath occasionally when they eat. 

When I delivered these girls the nurses told us that there is a chance they would have to stay in the NICU until they are full term.  Eric and I never imagined they would be in the hospital this long and they were due on September 23rd which is coming up fast.  We hope to bring them home soon but we still don't know when that will be. 

Ashton & Tate getting to meet their sisters!

There is an emergency exit outside our girls window and Eric had the great idea to walk the boys up to the window to see the girls.  I held each of the girls up to the window while the boys checked them out and blew them kisses.  It was so fun!

Our girls are making progress...

This is Ava and she now weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces!!!  This is the first picture that I have of her without any tubes in her nose.  She is adorable and is getting so big!  She is eating better but occasionally forgets to breath.  Once she stops forgetting to breath, she will get to come home! YEAH!!!

Four weeks old today

Our sweeties are 4 weeks old today.  They are doing well.  Ava (green bow) weighs 5 pounds 9 ounces.  She is doing better with her reflux but still has a hard time remembering to breath when she eats.  Ali (pink bow) weighs 4 pounds 11 ounces.  She is perfectly content getting her feedings through her nose.  She takes her bottle okay but can only handle drinking a bottle about once a day.  It wears her out and she also forgets to breath.  Today while I was at the hospital, I tried to nurse Ali and her oxygen level dropped below 30.  She went blue and wouldn't snap out of it.  The nurse had to put the oxygen mask on her.  I tried to nurse Ava about a 1/2 hour later and the exact same thing happened to her.  This means they won't be coming home for at least 7 more days.  I thought we would at least have one of them home this week but they still have a few issues to work out.  We are anxious to get them home soon!

Proud parents

Upgraded to open cribs and 3 weeks old today

Ava
Ali

Our girls are both out of their incubators and are now in open cribs.  They have both been holding their body temperatures so this is a step up for them.

Ali got her PICC line out late last night.  She now weighs 4 pounds 6 ounces.  She is doing great with her feedings.

Ava weighs 4 pounds 12 ounces.  She has had reflux and her oxygen levels keep dropping so they had to put her back on oxygen.  She also got her feeding tube taken out yesterday because she took all of her feedings by mouth but the nurse had to put it back in today because she wouldn't take some of her bottles today.  She is doing well but she needs to get her oxygen levels up so that she can work on coming home.  Every time her oxygen level drops to a certain point it sets her back another week from coming home.  We love our girls.

Things are looking good!

Today I got to feed Ali her first bottle.  She hasn't eaten in over a week.  She only got to eat about a tablespoon and she wasn't very interested.  They will slowly increase her feedings depending on how well she does but it could take up to 5 days.  If all goes well, then she will get her PICC line out by the end of the week.  Yesterday they thought she weighed 3 pounds 10 ounces but today they got a more accurate weight and she weighs 4 pounds 1 ounce.  

Ava weighs 4 pounds 6 ounces today and is doing great!  I gave the nurses permission today to feed her a bottle when I am not there to nurse.  If she does well and takes all of her feedings by mouth for a week then she could get to come home real soon.  Yeah!!!

We are so proud of little Ava!  She earned her way into an open crib.  That is a big step for her and she now weighs 4 lbs 3 oz.

We are equally proud of little Ali!  She has been so strong getting past NEC.  Tomorrow is her last day of antibiotic and her last day with no feedings.  She gets to eat on Monday but they will start her out really slowly.  She has been very fussy because she is feeling better now and realizes that she is hungry.  We should find out soon if she will need a blood transfusion since her red blood count is still low.

Eric and I were able to hold Ali yesterday.  We haven't been able to hold her for a few days so we were excited.  She looked so much better and acted like she was feeling much better.  She did have some bloody stools in the night but the nurse saw that she had a fizure in her bum so that is what caused the blood.  Today is day 4 of no feedings and day 4 of antibiotics.  We will find out on the 16th if she needs a blood transfusion.  She weighs 3 lbs 12 oz. today.  Her x-rays show no signs of NEC so the antibiotic is working.  We are thrilled!

Ava is doing great!  She weighs 4 lbs 2 oz. today and is off of caffeine.  She is doing well keeping her temperature still and is working her way into an open crib.  That will make her one step closer to coming home to us.  We love our girls!

Day 9 Things are looking up

Eric and I just got back from the hospital for the night.  Ali had to have a PICC line put in her today which is a "Peripherally inserted central catheter".  They decided this would be best for her so that she could get the nutrients and fluids she needs and hopefully recover faster.  The PICC line goes in through a vein in her arm and guided through the vein until it reaches the large vein that enters the heart (the superior vena cava).  Stitches are placed around the catheter to hold it in place.  The procedure went well but they may try again tomorrow to inset a new PICC line because they couldn't get it in far enough.  The picture above shows how small the PICC line is compared to a pencil.  It feels like a peice of floss but it is hollow.  She now weighs 3 lbs 11 ounces.  She looked cozy and peaceful when we left her tonight.  

Ava is doing really well and was all smiles tonight.  She kept making little tiny laughing sounds in her sleep and then she would get a really sad face that would quickly turn back into a smile.  She weighs 4 lbs today and is holding her temperature really well so if she keeps it up she may be moved into an open crib soon.

Twins update/8 days old

We received a call at 11:00pm last night from the nurse practitioner to let us know that another Lumbar Puncture was just done, that they did get some fluid this time, and that they would have the results in about 24 hours.  Today I spent most of the day at the hospital.  The girls are so beautiful and I could only just watch them in there Isolette's.  Ali had an x-ray at 10am that looked really good.  The doctor comments were, "no definitive signs of NEC."  That doesn't means its gone but it is responding well to the antibiotic.  She has an Anderson Tube down her throat to decompress her stomach and suck out the stomach fluids.  Today it was bright yellow which still indicates infection and they can't remove the tube until the fluids run clear.  She is entirely off of feedings and receives the nutrients she needs through an IV in her veins.  She will still feel hunger pains but as much as I ask they say she probably doesn't feel hungry because she feels so sick.  Today I got to change her diaper again which made me nervous because of all the bad news that that presented yesterday.  She opened her eyes to look at me when I changed her which makes me feel good for her to know I am there.  She had another x-ray at 5pm which also showed that she is looking much better.  She will have her next x-ray at 5am 8/12. Lastly, her results from her Lumbar Puncture (Spinal Tap) came back and she does not have Spinal Meningitis.  

Ava had a temperature today and slept the whole time I was there so I didn't get to hold her or nurse her.  The nurses have been watching her very closely to make sure she doesn't show signs of NEC.  They don't know how it spreads so they are very cautious but I was told today that just because Ali got NEC, does NOT mean Ava will get it.  Ava had an x-ray done today because the nurse felt something in her tummy.  It came back clear so she was able to have her regular feedings.   I put a picture of our family and a picture of the girls together in each of their Isolette's so they can feel like we are there with them.

Pray for Ali

Today Eric and I went to the NICU to visit our little girls.  Each day we are so excited to see them and each day they seem to get better and better.  During our visit today the nurse told me to change Ali's diaper and take her temperature.  I hadn't changed either girls diaper or taken their temp's so I started with Ali.  After I changed her I was going to get to try and nurse her for the first time.  As I was changing her diaper I noticed her diaper was a reddish color so I asked the nurse if it looked normal.  She said no and took it straight to the attending doctor.  They immediately sent it for lab work.  An x-ray machine was brought in and an x-ray was taken.  We found out that Ali has Necrotizing Enterocolitis or NEC.  "Necrotizing" means death to tissue, "Entero" refers to the small intestine,  "Colo" refers to the large intestine and "itis" is inflammation.   They had to do a Lumbar Puncture on her (spinal tap) and they were unable to get any fluid after a few attempts.  She is currently on antibiotics and they are hoping that we caught it soon enough to get rid of it.  If they can't kill the bacteria soon enough, she could lose some of her bowel from it and some babies die from it.  Needless to say, we are very concerned for our sweet little Ali so please pray for her.  On a good note, Ava is off of oxygen and I attempted to nurse her today for the first time.  She was x-rayed as well and does not have NEC.