Day 56: Lots of changes

Thank you all for you prayers! We had a much better day today. We had a care confrence today with Dr. BR and it was very encouraging. We have never heard him so enthusiastic and optomistic before. He said that if we would have asked him when the girls were born if he thought there was a chance they could go home without oxygen he would have said no. He said he has not seen 25 weekers go home without oxygen before. However he said that he feels pretty sure that as long as there are no major complications neither of our girls will need to go home on oxygen. That is awesome! He also thinks that both girls are on track to come home at or even before their due date. I am going to try plan on the due date still so that I do not get my hopes up. He also said that he would be very suprised if Emma's ROP progressed to anything that would affect her sight at all. At our care confrence we talked about Emma's need for CPAP. He feels that she is ready to be off it and said that he thinks the reason it did not work out monday was likely bad timing. So he talked us into trying her off CPAP again. He had a good talk with the other neonatologist that was on as well as the girl's nurse so that no one "jumps" into putting her back on it. He wants to make sure that she has a fair chance this time to prove herself. So we are praying that Emma gets to ring in 2010 CPAP free with Adalyn. Emma's weight tonight was 3 lbs 11 oz (1665 grams). Earlier today they started compressing Adalyn's feedings over 2.5 hours. Dr. BR said that if she tolerates that they will likely go down to 2 hours tomorrow. He also decided to move Adalyn's feeding tube from an OG to an NG (in her nose instead of her mouth). As long as everything goes well we get to try give her her first bottle this weekend. I have been able to let her nuzzle at the breast twice, but she does not do a ton yet. Adalyn is still in an open crib and doing great maintaining her temp. Her weight tonight was 4 lbs 3 oz (1880 grams).

Some news about the frustrations I was having yesterday. The hospital got their formula order in so we do not have to worry about them running out of that again any time soon. Also I got a call from one of the financial counselors at Spectrum Health and they will pay the premium to have the girls stay on my health insurance. The girls have Medicaid because they are in the hospital over 30 days so I was going to drop them of my insurance and let Medicaid be their primary. However, it benefits the hospital in terms of reimbursement for them to have a private primary insurance so that is why they are willing to pay that premium. That is awesome because that takes away part of that financial burden from Dave & I.

Holy Spirit,
Thank you so much for answering so many of our prayers Lord. Forgive us for ever doubting Your presence or wondering if You are still holding us in Your hands. Lord I ask that you please help Emma to stay off the CPAP for good this time. Please give her the strength and maturity that she needs. Lord also give Adalyn the strength that she needs to be able to handle her compressed feedings. Help her to digest her food well and to have minimal reflux. Please continue to help Emma with her reflux so that she can go back to gastric feeds. Father continue to protect both girls from infection, and help them to continue to grown and develop well. Help Emma's right eye to heal and for their to be no progression of her ROP or any additional signs of ROP in her left eye or either of Adalyn's eyes. Lord thank you so much for the many blessing and miracles you have blessed Dave & I with in 2009. Lord we look foward to walking into 2010 with You and our beautiful twins. Amen!

Day 55: Frustration

The past couple days have been frustrating for Dave & I. On Sunday Emma was taken off CPAP and did well off it through the night. One of her primary nurses, Erin, kept commenting on how good she looked. Durring the day on Monday Emma apparently had a rough day and had many alarms so around 4pm she was put back on CPAP. Dave and I are so proud of Emma for trying so hard, but we cannot help but be disappointed. We want her off the CPAP because that is one huge thing that needs to happen before she can make good progress towards coming home. The hospital also some how ran out of their preemie formula they get mixed with my breast milk for added calories. Not sure how that happens. Fortunately their nurse Marsha was able to work her magic today and get more formula through the Similac rep. However the girls were still short of calories for almost 24 hours. Hopefully the supply from the rep lasts because it sounds like they will not get their order in until after the new year. We got news this morning that Emma's eye exam showed that she has stage 1 Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) developing in her right eye. Stage 1 is very mild and very common in preemies. This stage does not cause problems and goes away on its own. However it has a potential to progress to a stage that can cause problems so they will be checking her more frequently. So even though at this point it is mild, it was still another disappointment. And it breaks my heart that Emma has another little bump in her road. I also found out this morning that as of the new year I will need to start paying for Dave, Adalyn & Emma to be on my health insurance and this is no small cost. So to say the least Dave & I are both frustrated. I really hate to be all "woo is me" but we both feel a bit like we cannot catch a break. Don't get me wrong we are so thankful for how God has blessed us and how well the girls are doing, we know it could be much worse, but we are just overwhelmed with all of this.

Enough about that, let's talk about the girls. The girls are doing well, but unfortunately Emma was not ready to be off CPAP yet. Later yesterday afternoon Dr. B decided Emma had been having too many alarms and that she needed to go back on the CPAP. I was reassured by Dr. D that this is not abnormal for her to still need the CPAP and that there does not appear to be anything wrong with her that is making her need the CPAP other than the fact that she is a preemie. Emma tried hard and I am so proud of her. We will get there. It is just hard for me because I love being able to see her whole face with no CPAP on and smother it with kisses. I also know that she cannot make feeding progress on the CPAP and she needs to do that and get off CPAP before she can come home. So mostly I am bummed. But I need to be patient. Emma's feedings are at 10 ml/hour and she is doing well with that. Her weight last night was 3lbs 8oz (1590 grams) and tonight was 3lbs 8oz (1600 grams).

Adalyn is still doing well of the CPAP. Her feedings were increased today to 12 ml/hour. The big news with her is that she hit 4lbs (1810 grams) last night! Way to go Adalyn! Tonight she was 4lbs 1oz (1840 grams). When Dave & I left tonight she was all bundled up and they were trialing her in an open crib...so exciting. Hopefully she stays warms so she can stay that way.

Please pray for Emma that her ROP does not progress further and that it heals. Pray that she continues to develope so that she can come off the CPAP for good soon. Pray that God continue to heal both of the girl's reflux. Pray that He continue to protect then from infection. Join us in praising Him for their weight gain, that Adalyn is in an open crib, and that we had 3 healthy eyes on the eye exam.

I would also like to ask for prayers for Dave & I. Please pray that God help us with our frustrations. Pray that he help us cope with having our girls in NICU as we are both very ready for them to come home and we know it could be a long time yet. Pray that God help us financially with our extra expenses.

Most of all join us in thanking God for our beautiful daughters! Adalyn & Emma we love you so much!

Day 53: Off CPAP

Emma in her Christmas Eve outfit. I will have Dave post a video of their Christmas outfit.

Adalyn in her Christmas Eve outfit. The onesie says "Who needs Santa, I've got grandparents"

Sorry the updates have not been as regular. We were quite busy with Christmas festivities so unfortunately the blog took a back seat for a couple days. But we are back and doing well. Around 5pm yesterday Emma was taken off CPAP. For the past couple days the nurses and respirtory therapists kept asking why Emma was still on CPAP. They kept waiting and waiting for one of the doctors to try her off. Well yesterday Emma got at least 4 "drinks" through her CPAP. This means a huge build up of water in the CPAP tubes got rapidly shot up her nose. This is not supposed to happen and Emma did not appreciate it when it did. She would cry and retch and alarm and...well it was not pretty and very hard for mom and dad to watch. Needless to say the forth time it happened the respiratory therapist was fed up and called the neonatologist to find out if they could give Emma a break from the CPAP and see how she did. Well Dr. L wanted her taken off of it completely and only put her back on if she was not doing well. So that is what they have done. Emma has done well. She had about a dozen brady alarms last night since coming off, but they were all brief, self-resolved, and she has been maintaining her oxygen saturation on room air. Praise God! Pray that Emma continues to do well off the CPAP, pray that God keep her strong and breathing good so that she does not have to go back on CPAP.

On another note yesterday was again bath day and Emma decided to give me a run for my money. The girls get glorified sponge baths in their isolettes becase they are not big enough to be in an open crib yet. So for the baths we put down some absorbent pads underneath the girls to absorb the water. When I am ready to clean their bunners I take off their diapers and they lay naked until the bunner cleaning has finished. Well, when I took off Emma's diaper in preperation for this she had a big poopy diaper. So I cleaned her up from this, turned to give the diaper to the nurse and looked down to find that Emma had pooped again. All over the pad, and the seconds she had were enough for her to stick both feet in it as well as drag all her wires through it. Good thing she is so cute :) It took me forever to get that cleaned up and the hardest part was figuring out where to start. I had just gotten it all cleaned up and put a new pad underneath her when she pooped again. Thankfully I saw it coming this time so we were able to keep her feet and wires out of it this time. What a little stinker...quite litterally! Thankfully Adalyn's bath was much less uneventful.

Adalyn continues to do well off the CPAP and on room air. Her feedings are going at 11 mL per hour and she is tolerating that well. Hopefully sometime this week they will try compressing her feedings again. Her weight last night was 3 lbs 14 oz (1760 grams) and her length was 16 3/4 inches.

Emma's feedings are still at 9.5 mL per hour and for the most part she is doing well. She still retches at times and will spit up small amounts of gastric contents, but the nurses are wondering if this will improve off the CPAP. The CPAP gives her really thick saliva and lots of it which she gags on which makes her retch which at times makes her spit up. So maybe without the CPAP she will not gag as often and maybe not retch/spit up as often either. Emma's weight tonight was 3 lbs 7 oz (1565 grams) and her length was 16 1/2 inches.

Please continue to pray that God help Adalyn and Emma grow and develop well. As I asked above, pray that Emma continues to do well off CPAP so that she can stay off. Pray that God helps them to have less alarms each day. Continue to pray that He protect them from infection. And please join us in praising Him for their wonderful growth and that they are both off CPAP!

I also just want to take a moment to thank God for blessing this family with a great first Christmas. And I want to thank Him for such a wonderful and supportive husband. I cannot imagine going through any of this without him.

Day 51: Merry Christmas!

Just a quick post for right now to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and let you know the twins are doing well. Adalyn's weight tonight was 3 lbs 12 oz and Emma's was 3 lbs 4 oz.

Dear Lord,
Thank you so much for the the many gifts you have blessed us with this Christmas. Thank you for the amazing blessing that Emma & Adayn are to us every day. Please Lord continue to help them grow bigger and stronger and more developed each day. Please heal their reflux and continue to protect them from infection. In your awesome name I pray,
Amen!

Day 49: Christmas outfits

Today was bath day again. Once again neither or the girls were real impressed, but overall they did well. After their baths I put them in one of their Christmas outfits. One of the nurses bought them Christmas red onesies that say "who need Santa, I've got grandparents", so cute! I wil post pictures later.

Emma continues to need CPAP. Please pray earnestly that God makes Emma stronger so that she does not need the CPAP anymore. I ask that you also boldly ask God to heal Emma's reflux. Both of these are hurdles for her right now that really need some prayers to help her overcome them. Her feedings are still the same. She continues to have too many alarms to come off CPAP, but thanksfully they are all brief and self-resolved. Emma's weight tonight was 3 lbs 2 oz (1425 grams). Adalyn continues to do well off the CPAP. They increased her feeds today to 10.5 mL/hour. She is still occassionally spitting up so they are waiting to start compressing her feeds. Oddly enough her spit ups seem to be at the same time as she poops. Is that because she is working so hard or because even she thinks they stink...we may never know :) Her weight tonight was 3 lbs 9 oz (1630 grams).

Please pray for the requests listed above as well as that God continues to help them grow, develop and be free from infection. Also please join us in thanking God that they continue to do well as well as for their weight gain, praise God!

Day 48: 32 weeks gestation

The girls had a good day today. No changes is feedings. Adalyn continues to do well off CPAP and Emma continues to need the CPAP at this point. Adalyn's weight tonight was 3 lbs 8 oz and Emma's was 3 lbs 1 oz.

Day 47: Exercise

Both girls had a good day again today. Emma is continuing to do well on CPAP. She had less alarms today than yesterday, pray that that trend continues. Her feedings continue at 9 ml and hour, but now it is the same cocktail as Adalyn. 50:50 breast milk and similac special care 30. So now she is at full feeds fo her current weight, big girl Emma! Her weight tonight was 3 lbs 1 oz (1380 grams). Adalyn is doing well off CPAP and on room air. She continues to have brady alarms, but they are quick, self resolved and less than yesterday. Pray her alarms continue to improve. Her feedings are the same. She got to do exercises today with the physical therapist. She did not really like it and tried really hard to sleep through the whole thing, silly girl. Her weight tonight was 3 lbs 7 oz (1570 grams).

Please continue to pray that the girls tolerate their feedings, have less alarms, gow and develop well, and remain free from infection.

Day 46: PICC free

I forgot to mention on saturday that Emma got her PICC line out! Praise God! So both of the girls are officially PICC free! They both had a good day again today. Adalyn' s feedings are the same & she is still off CPAP and on room air. We are definitely loving the fact that her feeding tube is the only thing on her face. Her weight tonight was 3 lbs 7 oz (1550 grams) and she is now 16 3/8ths inches long. Emma still has the OJ feedings and OG to chimney. Her feeds are at 9 mL an hour and she is doing well with that. She continues to struggle with reflux so please continue to pray that God heals that. Her weight tonight was 3 lbs and she is 16 inches long. Hopefully now that she is doing better with her feeds her growth will catch back up to her sister's.

Please continue to pray for the twinners growth, development and that God protect them from infection. And join us in praising God for their weight gain and that Emma got her PICC line out!

Day 45: Photo shoot

Today Emma & Adalyn had their big photo shoot. The NICU is doing a campaign to promote kangaroo care. So this afternoon a photographer took pictures of the twinners snuggling with Dave & I. They looked beautiful :)

Both girls had a good day. Adalyn had a few more alarms today than she has the past couple days. So Dave & I are wondering if they will put her back on CPAP tomorrow. Her feedings are at 10 mL an hour and she is tolerating them well. She is showing signs that she is having some reflux, but not as much as Emma. Her weight tonight was 3 lbs 5 oz (1510 grams). Emma has been having some alarms, but they seem to be getting better. She is still refluxing a lot so they still have her on OJ feeds with the OG tube to chimney. Her weight tonight was 2 lbs 15 oz (1340 grams) so she lost again. She still is at 8.5 mL an hour which is still under her goal which again is likely why she lost weight.

Please pray that God heal both of the girls' reflux. Pray that they tolerate their feeds and have fewer and fewer alarms each day. Continue to pray for their growth, development and that God protect them from infection.

Day 44: Happy Birthday...or shall we say Happy Bathday!

Well today was my birthday and I had a wonderful day. I spent the mornin and afternoon with my lovely daughters. I celebrated my birthday by giving them baths, I think if they could talk they would tell you it was not a happy experience :) However after I tucked them in all clean and cute both girls took a great big nap. Both girls had a good day, thank you Lord! Adalyn is still of CPAP and has some brady alarms, but they are all self resolved. Today they increased her feedings to 9.5 mL an hour. If her feedings continue to go well they will likely start compressing her feedings again (meaning her feedings will go in over a set number of hours instead of being continous). Please pray that her feedings continue to go well so that this can happen. She needs to tolerate compressed feeds again before they can go back to gavage (fed by gravity, no pump) and she needs to tolerate gavage before they will start trying to nipple feed her. Her weight tonight was 3lbs 4oz (1470 grams). She has likely lost because she is not at full feedings anymore due to her weight gain. Her new goal is 10 mL an hour. Emma is still on a CPAP of 5 on room air. She has still been having some brady & desat alarms, but it has improved with the OJ & OG. Her feedings were increased to 8 mL an hour. She still continues to have reflux, but it is better with the OG venting her stomach. She was very content yesterday. Mommy likes it that she does not have to watch her constantly spit up any more. Please pray that Emma continues to tolerate her feedings, that her belly grows so she can go back to OG feeds, that God heals her reflux. Emma weighed in tonight at 3 lbs (1355 grams). She also has likely not gained weight because she is not on full feedings and she is no longer getting TPN and lipids through her PICC line. She is basically just getting a little desert through there (it is just a dextrose and saline IV solution). So hopefully she will continue to tolerate increases in her feedings so that she can get her PICC line out and start gaining weight again.

Please also continue to pray that the girls grow and develop well and that God continues to protect them from infection.

I would like to thank God for my wondeful husband and beautiful daughters, they are the best birthday present ever!

Day 43: 6 weeks old

The girls are 6 weeks old today, wow how time flies! Hopefully time continues to fly until they can come home. Adalyn continues to do well with her feedings, no changes there today. She continues to have quite a few brady alarms off the CPAP, but Dr.B said he is not going to put her back on the CPAP at this point because almost all off the bradys are quick, self resolved and she is not desating. We know that can change quickly depending on which neonatologist sees her. Her weight tonight was 3 lbs 5 oz (1490 grams). Emma still has the OJ and OG tubes and she has not been spitting up much. She has been wretching though at times and occassionally spits up gastric secretions. They went up to 7.5 mL an hour on her feedings today. She continues to have periods on and off where she has a lot of brady & desat alarms, but it seems to be better on the CPAP. Her weight tonight was 3 lbs (1355 grams).

Please pray earnestly for Emma to tolerate her feedings, for her not to be uncomfortable due to hunger or wretching, and for her stomach to grow so she can go back to OG feeds. Please pray that both girls are able to progress appropriately in their feedings. Please pray for guidance for the doctors and nurses so that they do not miss anything. Praise God that Adalyn is tolerating her feedings well. Please continue to pray that God protect both girls from infection and other complications. Thank you again for continuing to pray for our girls!

Day 42: Worrying Mommy

Adalyn all tucked in


Emma wide awake

So today Emma kind of had a tough day. She had quite a few alarms last night and they decided to put her back on the CPAP.(Big surprise) She also had some more spit ups today so they decided to put an OJ tube in. This goes in her mouth, down her throat, and through her stomach into her intestines. They believe that her stomach is too small for the amount of food she needs so they are doing this to give her stomach time to grow. After they did all that, Abi came to her crib because her vitals were jumping around and she had spit up some dark brown fluid.(blood) The doctors believe that this was caused by some more irritation (like she had before) because she has been drooling so much they need to keep replacing her feeding tube. This worried Abi and she has been having a tough day.(I knew I wrote too soon yesterday.) I keep trying to tell her that this is not so bad considering how bad it could be but I know they are hollow words to her ears. No one likes to see their child bleed from anywhere. Tonight Emma weighed 3lbs again but it was a 20 gram increase.(1370) So we are thrilled that she continues to gain weight. Please pray that GOD takes away whatever is bothering her tummy, that she tolerates her feedings better, and that she continues to gain weight.

Adalyn had a much better day. She continues to do well with her feedings and they increased her to 9ml every hour because of her weight gain. She also is doing good off of CPAP and has had only a small increase in her alarms. She weighed in at 3lbs 5oz!(1500) We are so proud of her! Please pray for Adalyn's health in general and that she continues to do good without the CPAP. Also thank Him for both of the girls progress.

We had dinner tonight with Mark and Kate Wiersma which was a lot of fun. It is really nice to be able to talk to people who have gone through/are going through what we are. Seeing their faith during their journey has helped us with ours. Kate dropped of a frame when Abi was admitted to the hospital that said "GOD IS IN CONTROL". As many of you know this kinda became a theme for me. If you are unfamiliar with the Wiersma Family you can read about them at http://mkwiersma.blogspot.com/

Day 41: 31 Weeks Gestation

Writing 31 weeks gestation makes me remember how I was feeling when the twinners were first born. Looking forward from 25 weeks gestation to 31 seemed so far into the future! We were both so scared and had no idea what was going to happen between then and now. Abi and I prepared ourselves for the worst and I do not think either of us would have believed you if you would have told us how our journey would turn out to be. Most 25 weekers are on the vent for 4-5 weeks, our girls were both on the vent for only 21 hours! (Except for Emma's 24 hours during/after her PDA surgery.) Both Adalyn and Emma have been on a CPAP of 5 on room air for the past 4 weeks and that has been off CPAP for 2 days then back on again for 7ish days. Most 31 weekers have only been on CPAP for 2 weeks and most likely they need oxygen. The girls seem to be right on track with their feedings and are both gaining weight. So far neither of them has shown signs of NEC and have avoided other infections. Adalyn didn't even need a PDA surgery and Emma recovered quickly from hers and was off the vent right away. I almost do not dare to write this because I am so afraid that the second I start believing that our girls are the babies that will fly through the NICU with minimal problems and come home on time, something will happen and I will be devastated. Everyday Abi and I live in fear of phone calls because it might be the NICU with bad news. We both are tired all the time from worry, driving, and work. Despite these things our marriage is stronger than ever and nothing brings us more joy than our 2 baby girls. How can all of this be? Why are our girls doing so well? The answer is simple: Prayer. Because of all of your prayers GOD has chosen this path for us and Adalyn and Emma. Already my daughters have witnessed to more people than Abi our I ever could. I have had complete strangers come up to me and ask if I am Dave Lamar and then tell me that they are praying for me. I have had friends open up and talk to me about GOD like they never have before. His power is awesome and he is using Adalyn and Emma already in ways we could never understand. Please continue to pray for my little girls, it does make a difference.

Okay, now on to the facts. Adalyn and Emma both had their CPAP removed today and this time the doctors think it is for good. (Abi and I are a little skeptical but anything is possible.) Adalyn has had a few alarms mostly related to spit ups. Tonight she weighed in at 3lbs 3oz.(1450) Emma has had more alarms but they are also mostly related to spit ups. Emma's feedings are now up to 7 ml every hour and her goal is 8, so hopefully she can reach this soon and have her PICC line removed. She weighed in at 3lbs!(1350) Way to go girls! Both over 3 pounds! Doctor Droste agreed with the nurse and neither of them are showing signs of eye disease.

Please continue to pray that both girls tolerate their feedings, stay free of infection and NEC, and that they continue to grow and develop into normal baby girls. GOD Is In Control.

Day 40: Sisterly love

Adalyn (left) and Emma (right) snuggling on dad's chest giving eachother some love.

The twinners are doing well. They spent 3 hours snuggling with mom yesterday and another hour with dad...that is lots of cuddling :) Both girls had their eye exam yesterday. The exam was done by a nurse and she walked me through everything that she saw and said that at this point things are developing normally and there are no signs of ROP (retinopathy of prematurity). She said that both of their eyes appear immature at this point. Today the girls will be examined by Dr. Droste (the eye doctor) to make sure that he agrees with the findings from the nurse (her exam uses a special ultrasound camera that takes pictures of the structures of the eyes, his will be "the old fashioned way" which is by hand, no special tool). If he agrees with her exam the next exam will be in 2 weeks.

Adalyn's feedings cocktail was changed today. She is now getting 50:50 breast milk and similac special care 30. This is to get her more calories, calcium, phosphorus, and protein. This is going to be going at the same rate as her feedings before, 8 mL an hour. She has been spitting up occasionally and having a few alarms here and there, but nothing abnormal. Her weight last night was 3 lbs 3 oz (1440 grams).

Emma's feedings are the same. Dr. B said that he does not want to change things yet since she seems to be tolerating things better this time. He wants to give her a least another day of things going well and then likely slowly increase to her goal. He is hoping to have her there by the end of the week so that she can get her PICC line out. Maybe she will get her PICC line out for my birthday on friday, that would be a wonderful present :) Emma continues to spit up occasionally also and has been having a few more alarms, most of them are self resolved. Emma's weight last night was 2 lbs 15 oz (1345 grams)...almost 3 lbs (1360 grams)...you can do it Emma!

Dear Lord,
I praise you for the good reports on the twinners eye exams yesterday. Lord please continue to help their eyes develop correctly. Father thank you that both girls are gaining weight well and are tolerating their feedings. Please help them to continue gaining weight and to tolerate their feedings better each day. I pray that Emma is able to reach her goal feedings soon so that she can get her PICC line out. Thank you for the beautiful personalities we see in these tiny little ladies. God please help the twinners to keep maturing so that they have less and less alarms so that they can come off the CPAP for good in the next few weeks. In your truly awesome name I pray,
Amen!

Day 39: Nap time

Today was a good day for the girls. Dave & I did kangaroo care for almost 3 hours and for a portion of that the 4 of us were napping together, it was wonderful! Emma continues to tolerate her feedings so today Dr. D increased her to 6 mLs an hour and also changed to a 50:50 mix of breast milk and similac special care 24. Emma's weight today was 2 lbs 14 oz (1300 grams) and her length was 15 3/4 inches (40cm). Adalyn is also doing well with her feedings and her weight tonight was 3 lbs 1.5 oz (1400 grams) and her length was also 15 3/4 inches (40cm). Both girls are also still on a CPAP of 5 on room air.

Please continue to pray that they tolerate their feedings, have few alarms, stay free from infection, continue to grow and develop well, and that their eye exams this week show no signs of ROP. Thank you God for another great day and what an absolute blessing Emma & Adalyn are to Dave & I!

Day 38: Squeaky clean

Both of the girls got baths yesterday. Again, both girls looked like they were not quite sure what had happened after the whole process was done. It is fun for Dave & I though because the girls are wide awake, eyes wide open, with fluffy hair & clean faces looking absolutely beautiful! Adalyn continues to do well with her feedings which are now at 8 mL an hour. She had had a small handful of alarms over the past 48 hours. Adalyn's weight is 3lbs (1360 grams) woo hoo! Emma continues to tolerate her feedings as well which are now at 5 mL an hour. She had one large regurge yesterday & continues to show signs that she has reflux, but so far has been tolerating it much better. She has had a handful of alarms over the past 48 hours. Her weight is 2 lbs 13 oz (1265 grams).

Please pray that Emma continues to tolerate her feedings as they are increased and they begin to add in formula to get her more calories. Please pray that she tolerates her relux and that it does not bother her. Praise God that both girls are doing well with their feedings and that they have gained weight. Also remember to pray for their developing eyes and that no ROP is seen on their upcoming exams.

Day 37: Double time

So today Daddy got to cuddle with Adalyn & Emma together for the first time. I was not there but it sounds like he really enjoyed it. I pretty much think it is the best thing since sliced bread :)

Both girls had a great day today. Very few alarms, no stim, looked good, very cute.(of course). They restarted Emma's feedings at 11:30 at half the amount (3mL an hour) and she has had one very small spit up but nothing to get excited about. So as of right now she seems to be tolerating things better, praise God! Pray that this continues. Emma's weight tonight was 2 lbs 11 oz (1230 grams).

Adalyn did great with her feedings today. Praise God! Pray that this continues for Adalyn as well. Her weight tonight was 2 lbs 15 oz (1330 grams).

Day 36: 5 weeks old

The girls are 5 weeks old, wow how time flies! Adalyn is continuing to do well, there were no changes with her today. He weight tonight was 2 lbs 14 oz (1310 grams). Emma has been doing better since they started the antibiotics and stopped the feedings. At 2pm they tried to restart her feedings are she began regurges and having a lot of alarms which needed stim. So they stopped the feedings again until tomorrow morning. Since then she has not had any more alarms and she is looking and acting much better. Since she is not getting fed they have turned up her TPN & lipids. Her CPAP is back down to 5 and she is still on room air. Her weight tonight was 2 lbs 11 oz (1225 grams). The doctors are thinking it is less likely that Emma has a blood infection & more likely that she was having some feeding intolerance.

Please continue to pray that both girls tolerate their feedings and that as they restart Emma's feedings she does better and does not develope any more serious problems. Please also continue to pray for their growth, development and for God to protect them from infection. Also, please pray for their developing eyes. The girls should have their first eye exams next week. Pray that their eyes develop correctly and that they do not develop retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). ROP in its severist form can leave children blind. Please pray that God protect the girls from this so that they are able to see His beautiful creation when they grow up. Thank you again for your prayer support, your prayers do not go unnoticed!

Prayers for Emma

Emma could really use prayers today. For the past couple days Emma off & on has periodic breathing,lots of bradys, desats & lots of spitting. Well yesterday her skin would also not look good when this would happen. Today her nurse said this is still happening & she is also not acting like herself. So the doctors repeated the same blood work that they did yesterday. Dr.D said everything looks fine, but in preemies there are times when they have an infection, but it will not show up in their blood work until it has been around for awhile. They also did an X-ray of her stomach and lungs and everything looks fine there, no signs of infection. He thinks that she has a blood infection. They took blood for cultures, but those results take time. He thinks she got the infection through her PICC line. He said that often if this is the case the PICC line will not draw blood & this is the case with Emma. They have started Emma on antibiotics and will continue to watch her & wait for her blood culture results to come back. Dr.D said Emma's pulse & blood pressure have also been elevated at times which can also be a sign of infection & can cause weight loss due to the increased metabolic demand. Dr.D said he feels like this was caught early since Emma has not needed any additional oxygen & is still doing well on the CPAP. For now they have stopped Emma's feedings & he said they will restart them when she goes for a while without spitting up. They will likely only start at about 1/2 the amount first and go up based on how she tolerates it. Please pray that Emma is on the right antibiotics and that they wipe out the infection quickly so she does not have the problems she has been having. Pray that God keep Emma from getting any more sick than what she is now. Pray that they are able to restart her feedings soon and that she tolerate things better so that her PICC line can come out so that this does not happen again.

Day 35: Feeding issues

Kangaroo care with Adalyn (on the left) and Emma (on the right).

Well, I was spoiled today. For the first time since I was pregnant I was able to hold both of the girls at the same time. I did kangaroo care with both girls for 3 hours, I loved it! They seemed to really enjoy it too :)

Emma and Adalyn continue to have feedings issues. Both girls continue to spit up fairly regularly so this morning Dr. K decided to move them both to continuous drip feedings. This means that Adalyn is getting roughly 7.67 mL over the course of an hour and Emma is getting 5.67 mL over the course of an hour. They are hoping that this helps with their reflux which will in turn hopefully help decrease their regurges. Adalyn continues to have some alarms, the majority are associated with spitting up and/or her CPAP care. Adalyn's weight tonight was 2 lbs 14 oz (1300 grams), praise God for Adalyn's good weight gain.

Today Emma was doing what they call periodic breathing. This means she breathes pretty good for a few seconds then she doesn't breathe then she breathes really good for a few seconds and then she does not breathe. She is not having any apnea at this point (apnea is when they do not breathe for over 20 seconds). However at times her periods of not breathing are long enough to cause her oxygen saturations to drop. Dr. K said this can come from a few different things. 1) infection - they did blood work and Emma shows no signs of infection - Praise God! 2)brain damage - Emma's head ultrasound was normal and Dr. K said there is no reason to think this had changed - he said we would know 3) reflux - which we know she has 4) prematurity - once again...we know she was very premature 5) a change in the compliance of her lung tissue (he increased her CPAP from 5 to 6 to help in case this is the cause). So basically what he said is that she needs to get older and this should all get better. Unfortunately because Emma is spitting up more and is not at her goal feedings she has lost some more weight again tonight. Her weight tonight was 2 lbs 11 oz (1210 grams). Hopefully tomorrow they will start adding the Similac Special Care 24 to Emma's feedings to help increase the calories.

The doctors have said that the girls need to get older in order for these issues to get better. I believe that they also need prayers. I serve a God who does do miracles (our girls are evidence of that) and I believe that He has the ability to help Emma with her periodic breathing, help Emma start to gain weight again, as well as help both girls tolerate their feedings better. So please pray that Adalyn and Emma tolerate their feedings better and do not spit up much. Please pray that Emma tolerate the addition of the formula to her feedings. Praise God for Adalyn's good weight gain and pray that it continues. Pray that Emma starts to gain weight again and that she can catch up to Adalyn again. Also pray that the reflux the girls are having does not hurt them. Thank you so much for continuing to pray for our girls!

Stay warm and safe in this storm!

Day 34: 30 weeks gestation

The girls had a good day today. They both did a little bit of spitting, but nothing to get worked up about. They also have both done better with there alarms over the past 24 hours. Both girls are still on a CPAP of 5 on room air. Adalyn is still at the same for her feedings (1/2 breast milk 1/2 similac special care 24 23 mL compressed over 2 hours every 3 hours). Her weight tonight was 2 lbs 13 oz (1270 grams). Emma's feedings were increased to 17 mL every 3 hours compressed over 2 hours now instead of 1. Her weight tonight was 2 lbs 11 oz (1220 grams). She likely is down due to her spitting yesterday as well as her big poops she had yesterday & today :)

Dear Lord thank You so much for blessing the twinners with a good day today. Please help them to tolerate their feedings. Father thank you for their visible growth, it is so fun to see the changes. Thank you also for the quiet alert times that the girls have when Dave & I are there. Please help the twinners to continue to grow & develop and to stay free from infection. Thank you Lord for blessing Dave & I with these two beautiful miracles! You are a truly awesome God!
Amen!

Day 33: One of those days...

Emma wide awake after her bath

Adalyn wide awake after her bath

I got to give both of the girlies baths today, I am getting much better at it. Although they may disagree. Durring the baths the girls complained a little bit, but both were wide awake which I loved. It was especially fun to see Emma that way because we have not seen her that alert before.

Emma had a bit of a rough day today. She has been having more alarms and has also been spitting up more again. We are not sure what the cause is. It could be because they increased her feedings to 15 mL every 3 hours, it could be because she is refluxing, it could be that she is being a preemie and is just having a bad day. All we know is that we are praying that whatever the cause is that God help Emma to stop spitting up so much and to have less alarms. On the up side despite the spitting up Emma has still gained weight over the past 24 hours. Her weight tonight was 2 lbs 12 oz (1250 grams).

Adalyn had a little bit of a rough night last night in terms of alarms. She is still doing better with her spitting up. Because of her increased alarms last night the doctors put her back on CPAP. Big suprise :) Durring the day today she had fewer alarms and very minimal spit up. Pray that this continues for Adalyn. Her weight tonight was 2 lbs 12 oz (1240 grams).

Please continue to pray for the girls to have less alarms, tolerate their feedings, grow and develop, and that God protect them from NEC and other infections. Please also continue to pray for Dave and I to be able to cope when the girls have bad days and to remember that God is in control and to continue to trust in Him.

Day 32: Cuddle Time

Wow, 32 days. On one hand I cannot believe it has been that long already, on the other it seems like sooo much longer! With all the emotions Abi and I have experienced over the last 10 weeks it is no wonder we both are feeling a little exhausted. It is so crazy that no matter how worried or stressed we are the second we get those little girls on our chest we can just forget about everything else. We had taken a couple of days off with the kangaroo care because of the girls spitting up so much and it was really nice to spend all afternoon with them. Another bonus was that the doctor said today that whenever we do kangaroo care we can take the girl's CPAP off while they are on our chests, this makes it a lot more comfortable for both us and them. Both Adalyn and Emma seem to be doing better off of the HMF (human milk fortifier)and have not spit up since we left last night at 11:00pm. They still continue to reflux which causes them to have bradys but at least they are keeping all of their food down. (They probably had 10 bradys each since last night.) Adalyn is still off of CPAP and breathing completely on her own, we still will not be surprised if she goes back on CPAP because the doctors have a really low tolerance because it doesn't harm them to be on it.(It actually helps their lungs develop better even if they can breathe fine on their own.) We talked with the doctor today about Emma coming off of CPAP as well but all 3 of us decided to just take her off during kangaroo care for a while instead. The girls had their Sunday night measurements tonight. Both girls in true twin fashion, weighed and measured the same. Their weight was 2 lbs 11 oz (1210 grams) and they were 15 1/4 inches long.

I still can't believe how much GOD has blessed Abi and I through these 2 tiny girls. Even though we struggle with the situation we are in, we know His love and feel His presence. Once again thank you to everyone who has made us meals, given rides, and the generous gas cards. Thank you to the friends that are part of our support group but also allow us to just be ourselves when we are around them. Please continue to pray for the girl's feedings and their good health. Also continue to pray for Abi and I as we cope with everything that is placed before us.

Day 31: 1 month old!

Emma looking so cute & sporting the start of a double chin...I love it!

Adalyn looking all cute & cuddly...I wish I could snuggle up next to her.

I cannot believe the twinners are 1 month old already. We feel extremely blessed for how well things have gone the past month. It is truly a blessing from God! And what an amazing blessing Adalyn and Emma have been to us already in their short little lives so far. Both of the girls have been having more issues again with spitting up. Today they increased Adalyn's feedings to 23 mL every 3 hours. She was on the same concoction she was yesterday, until this evening when we decided to try her off the HMF to see if that would help with the spitting and bloated belly issues she has been struggling with off and on. This morning they added the HMF back into Emma's feedings and she has been struggling with the same issues as Adalyn off and on. So we also decided this evening to try Emma off the HMF for a few days to see if her symptoms improve. If they do she will need to be on a breast milk and formula combination like Adalyn in order to get her more calories. If it does not help the girls, they will likely try to add the HMF back in a couple days. Both girls weight 2 lbs 9 oz (1170 grams) tonight...you would think they are twins or something :)

Please pray hard with us that neither of the girls develop NEC. Some of the signs that they have been showing can be sings of NEC. However they also do not show many of the other classic NEC symptoms. Please pray that God continue to protect them from NEC and that He help them tolerate their feedings better and to not reflux as much. Please also continue to pray that the twins continue to do well with their breathing, that they grow and develop well, and that they have less alarms. Please join us in thanking God for a good first month for the twinners and pray the next month goes just a well if not better.

Day 30: Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Thankfully Adalyn & Emma are nice and warm tucked in their isolettes because it is COLD outside. I wonder what the twinners will be like the first time they are able to play in the snow. Will they like it or will they be like their mommy and be really cold? Something I look forward to experiencing with them in the future.

Anywho, the girls are doing well. Both have had more spitting up in the past 24 hours. They also have had an increase in alarms, but they are self resolved. Both girls are still on a CPAP of 5 on room air. Emma's feedings were on hold for a feeding this morning because her abdominal girth was up and she was spitting up more. So they did an X-ray of her belly and everything looked normal. So they restarted her feedings at 10 mL every 3 hours but without the HMF this time. So far she has been tolerating that better. Emma's weight tonight was 2 lbs 8 oz (1130 grams). Adalyn's feedings are the same because her belly was a little distended and she was spitting up a little more as well. If this continues they will take the HMF out of her feedings. If it improves they will likely increase her feedings tomorrow. Adalyn's weight is 2 lbs 8 oz (1140 grams).

Please pray with us that God help the girls tolerated their feedings better. Join us in thanking God that Emma's X-ray did not show any signs of NEC or other problems. Again (I feel like a broken record) please pray for God to help the twinners continue to grow and develop and that God continue to protect them from infection. Thank you so much for your continued prayers, we feel them!

Day 29: Happy 4 weeks!

Wow, I can hardly believe it has been 4 weeks already. Thank you God! The girls both continue to do well. Both girls continue to have alarms, but they have been significantly less for the past 24 hours. Today they started adding 1 package Human Milk Fortifier (HMF) to 50 mL of breast milk and giving Emma 10 mL of this mixture every 3 hours. She has been spitting up more with this. Please pray that she tolerate her feedings and not develope any problems. Emma"s weight tonight was 2 lbs 9 oz (1150 grams). Adalyn's feedings are the same and her spitting up has been better today. Adalyn's weight tonight was 2 lbs 8 oz (1130 grams).

Please join us in praising God for another good day. Pray that the girls tolerate their feedings with little regurges and residuals, pray they continue to gain weight, and pray God continue to protect them from infection.

Day 28: Not so alarming

Adalyn wide awake and looking very pretty after her bath.

The girls had a good day again today. Both girls conitue to be on a CPAP of 5 on room air & Dr. D said to plan on them being on CPAP another week or to. Over the past 24 hours both girls have had fewer brady alarms. All of them were self resolved and many of them were related to CPAP care or spitting up. I got to give Adalyn a bath today. She did not complain near as much as her sister. She was wide awake the whole time and actually looked rather scared...sorry honey :) Adalyn's feedings are the same and she is tolerating them well. Her residuals have been small and she has not spit up for over 24 hours. Adalyn weighed in at 2lbs 8oz (1120 grams). That weight was with her CPAP on and lately they have been weighing the girls without it, so her true weight it probably closer to 2lbs 7oz. Emma's feedings were increased to 10 ml every 3 hours. She has been spitting up every once in a while and has been having some residuals, but at this point nothing they are concerned about. Emma weighed in at 2lbs 8oz (1120 grams) as well, her weight was also with CPAP on.

Lord Jesus,
I come to you praising you for the good day you blessed Adalyn and Emma with. Thank you that they had a decrease in their number of alarms. Lord please help Adalyn and Emma to tolerate their feedings so that they continue to gain weight. Lord please help the girls to continue to grow stronger and to develop appropriately. Father I ask that you continue to protect Adalyn and Emma from infection. Thank you for holding them in your hands and for watching over them and protecting them. Continue to be with Dave & I as we cope with having the girls in the NICU. Thank you for being in control and giving us peace. Continue to help us find balance and to help us grow as a couple and as a family through this experience.
In your awesome name I pray,
Amen!

Day 27: 29 weeks

Grandpa & Grandma Lamar checking out Emma on Sunday.

The girls are 29 weeks today, and it was another good day! I got to give Emma a bath today for the first time. Emma did not think it was very fun. I get to give Adalyn a bath tomorrow as long as she is doing good. This morning Emma was put back on CPAP because she had more brady alarms during the night. We saw that coming :) Both girls are doing good on a CPAP of 5 on room air. Both girls have been doing relatively well with their brady alarms. They continue to have them, but most are self resolved, and often they are related to suctioning, CPAP care, or spitting up. Adalyn's feedings are the same except they are giving them over 2 hours instead of 1 hour to see if that helps with her spitting up. It seemed to help during the day, but then just before we were getting ready to leave tonight she had a big spit up. Hopefully that is the only one she will have tonight. Emma's feeds were increased to 8 mL every 3 hours. She seems to be tolerating this well. She only had one small spit up so far today. Both girls had nice poopy diapers for us before we left tonight...so thoughtful :) Adalyn weighed in tonight at 2 lbs 5 oz (1050 grams) and Emma weighed 2 lbs 6 oz (1070 grams). Both girls gained weight even after their big poos...we are so proud :)

Please continue to pray that the girls tolerate their feedings well, continue to do well on CPAP, have less alarms, grow and develop well, and that God continue to protect them from NEC and other infections. Again please join us in praising God for a good day and for their weight gain!

Day 26: The saga of the deep freeze

So our day today began by Dave discovering that our deep freeze bit the dust. He went to pull out a muffin to take to work and the muffin was cold, but not frozen as it should be. Thankfully we were able to rescue my breast milk and move it over to another freezer...whew! Then in the middle of the day we found out that Emma's PICC line went bad so they had to take it out. However, she still needs IV access so they put a temporary IV in. The nurse called to tell me about this because they had to put the IV IN THE MIDDLE OF HER FOREHEAD...yikes! As a nurse I have done this to babies and have always felt bad about it, but I never expected my child to have an IV in their head. Thankfully they were able to get Emma in for a new PICC line today so mom did not have to see her looking like a little unicorn...whew again!

After Dave got out of work we went for some very quick deep freezer shopping. We found the best "deal" (not sure that word really fits since it seemed a bit pricey) at Menards. So Dave brought it he and his dad met him there to help him get everything switched over. As they were putting the new one in the garage they discovered the new one was dented...really! So Dave's dad was nice enough to run it back to Menards to exchange it for a new one. Come to find out it was they last one in stock and they would not give us $ off the damaged one we had. They said we could buy the floor model, but they would not give us a discount on that either. Hmmmm...a bit of a predicament seeing as how we needed a deep freeze since ours was busted and stuffed to the brim with food that needed to go into a working deep freeze. So Dave's dad called the company which made the deep freeze and explained to them the situation. They are shipping us a new one...so nice! In the mean time we can deal with a dented, but functioning, deep freeze. Thanks Big C for all your help!

Needless to say by the time we were on our way to the hospital Dave and I were both a little frustrated with the days events. However, as soon as we started cuddling with our girls, nothing else seemed to matter. That is all both of us wanted to do all day was spend time with our girls. As we were cuddling a hundred deep freezes could have stopped working and it would not have mattered...I love the affect the twinners have on us :)

Anywho, the girls are doing good. They both continue to have bradys, but the majority are still self resolved. Adalyn is still on a CPAP of 5 on room air & tolerating it well. Her feedings are now 20 ml every 3 hours. She needs more calories now so she is getting 1/2 breast milk & HMF & 1/2 Similac special care (a higher calorie formula). She has been doing a little more spitting up with this so pray that her stomach gets used to this and she stops spitting up. Her weight last night was 2 lbs 5 oz (1060 grams) and tonight was 2 lbs 5 oz (1040 grams).

Emma actually decided today that she did not want her nasal cannula anymore. The nurse found her twice with the nasal cannula in her mouth. Emma there is a reason it is called a nasal cannula :) So they decided to leave it off and see how she did. She has been maintaining her oxygen saturations wonderfully. She is still having bradys so mom thinks they are going to put her back on CPAP soon, but we will see. In the meantime Dave & I really enjoyed her cute little bare naked nose :) Emma's feedings are still at 6 ml every 3 hours and she is tolerating this well. Emma's weight was 2 lbs 4 oz (1010 grams) last night and 2 lbs 5 oz (1050 grams) tonight. Please continue to pray that God protect the girls from infection, help them tolerated their feedings, keep their breathing strong, help them to have less brady's and to help them grow and develop. And please join us in praising God for blessing our girls with another great day!


Emma saying hi to her cousin Hudson

Day 25: Emma's break from CPAP

Emma in her new dress Grandma Jody made her

Adalyn stretching in her new dress

The twinners with mom & dad

Dave & I were fortunate again to spend the majority of our day today with the twinners. Both girls continue to do well. Adalyn had more brady/desat alarms over night last night. The majority were self resolved. This could be due to her being off CPAP and/or her larger feeding volume which is causing her to have some reflux. The doctors have decided to treat this in 2 ways: 1) they are giving Adalyn's feedings over an hour so that her reflux hopefully calms down 2) They decided this evening to put her back on CPAP. Dr. B said that he was doing to have a low threshold for putting her back on so Dave & I were expecting this. We are not at all disappointed since the CPAP is not harmful to them, and helps their future lung function. However we are still glad she got and break and that we were able to enjoy her CPAP free face for 2 days. Adalyn's feedings are up to 20 mL every 3 hours and besides the reflux and increased alarms she is tolerating them well.

This afternoon, after 24 hours with no alarms, the doctors decided to give Emma a break from CPAP! They have her on a nasal cannula just like they had Adalyn on. We were able to enjoy both girls today with no CPAP, it was wonderful. We are fully prepared for Emma to have to go back on the CPAP soon, but again, we are thankful for the break. Emma has been doing much better with her feeds over the past 24 hours. She has not had any more blood in her stomach since yesterday morning, she has had very little residuals, and has not been spitting up. Her feedings were increased to 6 ml every 3 hours today and she has been tolerating this well.

We are so thankful for how well both of the girls are doing. We also feel so blessed with the amount of time we have been able to spend with them the past few days. It has especially helped mommy :) We ask that you continue to pray that the girls tolerated their feedings, continue to do good with their breathing, that God protect them from NEC and other infections, and that they grow and develop appropriately.

Praise God for a good day!

Day 24: Adalyn's break from CPAP

That's right, they took Adalyn off of the CPAP today! The doctors say that it may not last for long but they just wanted her to have a break and see how she does. I spent 3.5 hours with Adalyn today and she did great, she is still on a nasal cannula with just a sniff of oxygen but she seems much more comfortable. Her feedings are up to 18ml every 3 hours today which is the goal for her weight so guess what? More good news! Adalyn had her PICC line removed! This is awesome because the PICC line is a popular place for infection to enter the body. Adalyn weighs 2 pounds 5 ounces tonight. Please pray that Adalyn continues to tolerate her feedings, that she stays free from infection, that she continues to have few alarms, and that her need for a PICC line does not return. Praise GOD for these awesome gifts we received today!

Emma had a great day today but a rough early morning with her feedings. She spit up alot last night and had some alarms with/because of this. Emma also continues to have a little blood in her stomach, the doctor says this is normal in a preemie and is probably just irritation from the feeding tube. They dropped her feedings down to 3ml every 3 hours and seems to be tolerating that better. She is doing great on CPAP and is at room air with her oxygen. Abi and Emma cuddled for about 3 hours today. She held her same weight of 2 pounds 4 ounces which is were she was last night. Please pray that Emma tolerates her feedings better so that she can catch up with big sis and get her PICC line removed. Please also pray that whatever is irritating her stomach goes away so that she can heal. And finally, please pray for her to stay free from infection, have fewer alarms, and for her comfort in general. Thank GOD for all the progress Emma has made since her surgery!

Day 23: Hangin out

Emma with all her CPAP off while they cleaned off her pretty face

Grandma Pammy giving Adalyn a little love

Today Abi and I spent the whole day at the hospital with Adalyn and Emma. I was able to hold Emma for the first time since last Monday. Abi was a little greedy today and held both girls for 2 hours!(That's 4 hours of pure cuddle time!) While I was getting Emma positioned on my chest her CPAP fell off but she was doing so good they let her take a break from it for the 2 hours that I held her. She did Awesome! Emma's recovery is going really well and they restarted her feedings at 3 ml every 3 hours for 2 feedings and then bumped her up to 6 ml every 3 hours which is where she was before surgery. What an answer to our prayers! She has been tolerating them pretty well, but is still spitting up at times and having occassional residuals. Please pray that Emma will tolerate her feedings so that they are able to continue advancing them. Emma weighed in tonight at 2lbs 4oz (1010 grams). Adalyn has had a good day today as well. She continues to do well on CPAP and her feedings were advanced this morning to 16 ml every 3 hours. Just like her sister she spits ups every once in a while and also has occassional residuals. Please pray that she continues to tolerate her feedings so that they are able to remove her PICC line in the next few days. Adalyn weighed in tonight at 2lbs 4oz (1040 grams). Please pray that GOD continues to protect both girls from NEC and infections. Please also pray that He continues to help them grow and develope as He has so faithfully done in the past 3 weeks. Join us in thanking GOD for His many blessings that He has given us and the girls! Please also pray for Abi as she continues to recover and learns how to cope with being away from the girls as well as the many ups and downs we are experiencing.

GOD is in control!

Day 22: Happy 3 Weeks!

Wow, 3 weeks old already.(Thursday, November 26) I can't believe how fast the time goes but I am thrilled because every day we get closer to the day when the girls can finally come home. Yesterday afternoon Emma was doing awesome with her recovery from surgery so they started to ween her off of the vent. Things were going great until 4:00pm when for some reason things started to go in the wrong direction, they brought her vent settings back up to where they were right after surgery. She continued to do poorly until 7:00pm so they did a chest x-ray but didn't really find anything except that her breathing tube was a little too far in and her right lung was not fully inflated. Since there was no other explanation as to why Emma wasn't doing very good they decided to pull the breathing tube out a little and while they were doing this the Respiratory Therapist noticed a mucus plug in her airway. They removed the breathing tube and replaced it with a new one and Emma instantly started to do much better, she remained on the vent until this morning. Last night Emma and Adalyn both weighed 2 pounds 3 ounces. Adalyn had some good cuddle time with Abi yesterday and her feedings went great! She is doing awesome!

This morning Emma was doing so good they put her back onto the CPAP and has been doing great all day. She is much more herself today and you can tell she is feeling much better. Her feedings are on hold while she recovers from her surgery. Adalyn's stomach was measuring a little big this morning so they put her feedings on hold until she had time to finish digesting all of her food. They resumed Adalyn's feedings at 9:00pm at 14ml every 3 hours. Today I was able to hold Adalyn for the first time since last week Tuesday. Praise GOD that I didn't get sick while Abi had the flu and that the girls both stayed healthy.

Please continue to pray for Emma's recovery and that both her and Adalyn stay free from infection. Please also pray that Adalyn continues to tolerate her feedings and that Emma does good enough so hers can be restarted.

Day 21: PDA ligation

Adalyn's beautiful face


Emma resting


Emma's new scar

Emma has had her surgery & praise God, everything went great. It took a little under an hour & there were no complications durring the procedure. Emma is still paralyzed right now from the medicine they gave her for the surgery. This should start wearing off in the next couple hours & then she will start moving again. She will be getting morphine as needed for the next 24 hours for pain. Right now she looks very peaceful. Much more than before the surgery, she does not like her ET tube (the intubation tube). Pray that Emma heals well & does not develope infection. Pray that as she wakes up she fights the ventilator so she can be extubated. Pray that her belly heals while she is not being fed so her feedings go better when they are restarted.

Side note: Adalyn is doing good, in case anyone was wondering :)

Day 20: Gearing up for surgery

I will have more of an update on their day yesterday later on.

Surgery

We received word from the pediatric cardiac surgery team. Emma will have surgery to close her PDA tomorrow morning at 8:30. Please be praying accordingly. Dave & I will be heading up to the hospital early tomorrow morning to spend some time with Emma before her surgery.

Day 19: Care Conference

We had a care conference yesterday with our social worker and neonatologist. We learned that both girls are doing well. We were reminded how awesome it is that both of our girls are off the vent. We were also reminded that we are not out of the woods in terms of the possibility of either of them needing to go back on the vent. At this point there is not reason for this, but if either were to start to go down hill drastically it could mean that she would have to be intubated again. The neonatologist said that the longer they stay off the vent the less likely they are to ever have to go back on it. Please pray that God continue to keep them strong, breathing well with the CPAP, and not needing to going on the vent.

Adalyn in having some alarms, lately just for desats (dropping her oxygen level). They have been self resolved most of the time which means most of the time they do not need to turn up her oxygen. She and Emma are still on a CPAP of 5 on room air. Adalyn's feedings are at 12 ml every 3 hours (still with the HMF to bring the calories to 22/ounce). To put that into perspective for you, there are 30 ml in an ounce...so she is getting almost 1/2 an ounce...big stuff! In the words of her nurse this morning she is "handling her feedings like a champ". She has had some small residuals and one small spit up this morning, but nothing that they are concerned about at this point. When Adalyn gets to 18 ml every 3 hours she will not need any TPN and lipids anymore. Which means she can get her PICC line out. SO if she keeps tolerating her feedings well and advancing like she has been Adalyn could be getting her PICC line out by the end of the week. This is huge because the PICC line is a huge source for potential infection. So getting that out means we significantly lower Adalyn's risk of infection. Please pray she continue to tolerate her feedings well so that her PICC can come out soon. Adalyn weighed in last night at 2lbs 5oz...easy piggy piggy piggy :)

Emma continues to have brady alarms, but she did not have an excessive amount yesterday and most of they were self resolved. Emma is back up to 6 ml every 3 hours on her feedings and has been having some issues. She has not been spitting up, but she is not digesting all of her feedings. Thankfully they have not had to hold or stop her feedings, but in order for her to progress she needs to tolerate her feedings better. Please pray that Emma starts digesting her feedings and tolerating them so they can continue to increase the amount that she is getting. Emma has still been occasionally getting some brown aspirate of of her tummy. The doctors feel this is still do to stomach irritation likely because of the ibuprofen she was given to before to help close her PDA. Please pray that God heal Emma's tummy and that the doctors are not missing anything.

Emma had her heart echo today and it showed that she still has a moderated PDA and that she has some enlargement of her right atrium. Our neonatologist said that he needs to discuss Emma with the other 8 neonatologists to come to a general consensus on how to manage her PDA, but he said due to the enlargement of the right atrium it is likely they will be recommending surgery. Please pray for the doctors as they make this decision. Please also pray that if surgery if what they advise, that God already begin to prepare the surgeon, nurses, and anesthesiologist that will be involved so that they can have sharp, clear minds at the surgery, steady hands, and caring hearts for Miss Emma. A few concerns with the surgery to be praying about:
1. One obvious concern is surgery on such a small baby, please pray that God protect her from bleeding and infection and hold her in His hands.
2. The nerves that control one of Emma's vocal cords runs right along the PDA and there is a risk that when they clamp off the PDA they could damage the nerve. This would paralyze one of her vocal cords which can lead to voice changes and feeding problems. Please pray that the nerve goes undamaged.
3. Emma will have to be intubated for the procedure and put back on the vent for a minimum of 24-48 hours. Putting her back on the vent means a risk of her becoming dependent on it and having trouble coming off it. Please pray that Emma is strong and begins breathing on her own again so that she can come off the vent ASAP.
4. In order to operate on the heart they must collapse her left lung for the duration of the procedure, meaning the right lung must do all the work. Please pray that God protect her lungs as this has a risk of causing some damage to one or both lungs. Please pray that her left lung re inflates after surgery with no problems.

Because of Emma's fluid restriction she was on for a few days as well as her issues tolerating her feedings, she has lost a little more weight. Emma is now down to 2lbs 1oz. Again please pray that Emma will start tolerating her feedings better so that she can gain weight. And also so we can get her to the point where she can get her PICC line out so that she can get rid of that source of infection.

As always please continue to pray that the girls grow and develop well and that God protect them from infection. Thanks again for your faithfulness in praying for the girls!

Day 18: Ups & downs

Today we will start off with Miss Emma. She had a really good night Saturday night & a good day Sunday. She was tolerating her feedings well (still at 4 ml every 3 hours) and was having minimal alarms and was not needing much if any stimulation. Her neonatologist was very encouraged and said that if she remained relatively symptom free she would not need surgery for her PDA unless her symptoms came back. Sunday the nurse practitioner also noticed Emma had greenish drainage coming from her eyes, so they started her on antibiotic drops. They are not sure if it is an infection or plugged tear ducts, so they started the drops to be safe. Last night Miss Emma had a bit more of a rough night. She had an increase in her brady alarms, she needed mild stim for a couple, and she had more residuals with her feeds. Emma's murmur is still there and she has a cardiac echo this morning to see if the PDA has changed at all. We have a care conference later this afternoon with her neonatologist so we should find out what the echo showed and what the plan is. It scares me to think of her having surgery for her PDA, but if it means that she will do better with her feeds and have less alarms, I know that God will take care of Emma during and after the surgery. Please pray that the doctors do what is best for Emma. Please pray that God give Dave & I peace about whatever decision they make.

Miss Adalyn is doing well. She has been having a few more alarms now that her feedings are up, but they reassure me that it is nothing abnormal. Adalyn is on 10 ml of breast milk every 3 hours and they are also adding human milk fortifier (HMF) to bring the calorie content of the breast milk up to 22 calories per ounce. This will help Miss Adalyn gain weight. For the most part Adalyn has been tolerating her feedings well, she did spit up a couple of times during the night, but nothing excessive. Both girls are still on a CPAP of 5 on room air. Please pray that Adalyn continues to do well.

Emma's weight Sunday night: 2lbs 2oz (970 grams)
Adalyn's weight Sunday night: 2lbs 3oz (990 grams)

Please continue to pray that God protect both girls from infection. Also continue to pray that God help Adalyn and Emma grow and develop appropriately.

Day 17: A murmur

WARNING!
The photos you are about to see are of two VERY cute babies. The diapers are not trying to eat the babies, they are trying to keep the linens dry as apparently the babies have figured out how to pee out of the micro preemie size diaper.
(Dave went to the hospital yesterday to drop off breast milk and the nurse snapped a few quick pictures of the girls for us. Apparently she felt the micro preemie diapers were too small as the girls were peeing out of the diapers. So she put them in preemie size and mom thinks it looks quite hilarious as the diapers are HUGE on them.)


Emma in her preemie diaper...loving being on her belly!

Adalyn in her preemie daiper...also loving being on her belly!

First off, a quick update on me. I have been fever free for over 24 hours! I am feeling good too! However, I am back to having to wait 7 days after my symptoms started to see the girls. The CDC recommends waiting this long to be around immune compromissed individuals which both of our girls are. So as much as I miss them (which is a ton) it is not worth exposing them to something. We found out that the nurse told us wrong, Dave has to wait 4 days after my fever is gone. So that means we both can go visit on wednesday. Hard, but so worth it to keep our girls healthy.

We will start off with Miss Adalyn first. She is doing well. They increased her feeds yesterday to 10ml every 3 hours and so far she is tolerating that great. She did not poop last night so hopefully she does that today. She is still having brady alarms, but not too many & she is not needing any stimulation most of them time. She is still on a CPAP of 5 on room air.

Miss Emma had another rough night friday night in terms of number of brady alarms. Saturday morning her nurse came in and heard a murmur on her. So the doctors ordered a heart echo and her PDA is back. It is moderate size which is what is was before she got any medicine. The doctors said that this could explain why Emma has been having periods of more alarms, needs a little more oxygen at times and also why she spits up more at times. The PDA can open and close on its own so that is why the symptoms may not occur all the time. However, the fact remains that the PDA is back. The doctor said that PDAs can reopen for different reasons, but one is an increase in fluid volume in the body. Well, this has been happening in the form of increased feeding volume. So they have decided that at this point Emma's symptoms are not severe enough that she needs surgery, but rather they want to try decreased her feedings to 4ml every 3 hours, leave her TPN & lipid volume as is, and watch her til monday and see if the PDA will shrink or close again on its own. So Emma will have a echo again on monday as long as her symptoms do not get worse. Emma had a good day yesterday and last night in terms of brady alarms. She had minimal alarms and needed minimal stimulation. She also did not need any oxygen and was not spitting up. One other thing her nurse decided to change was to get rid of her and Adalyn's Z-flo beds (these special foam beds that they can mold to any position). The nurse felt that these beds may be contributing to the problem since both girls are very sensitive to position and these beds are not the most supportive. They can still hear Emma's murmur, but we are encouraged that for the past 24 hours it has not been causing her any problems. Please pray that the Ultimate Physician, the God of miracles, our Amazing Heavenly Father, do His work with Emma and close her PDA so that she does not need surgery.

Emma is doing fine with her feedings, but she also needs to poop. Never knew I could be so hung up on poo :) Emma is also on a CPAP of 5 on room air. Please continue to pray that God protect Emma and Adalyn from infection, that they tolerate their feedings, that they continue to grow & develope appropriately. And please join us in praising God for protecting the girls from my illness. It has been 4 days since they were exposed to me and if I had Influenza and either of the girls caught it from me they should have shown symptoms by now. Praise God!

Oh weights. Adalyn & Emma both weighed 2 lbs 3 oz (990 grams) last night...ladies and gentlemen we have a tie :) The nurses tell me that they look bigger...Mom can't wait to witness this on her own!

Day 16: Good night, Good day

Both girls had a good night last night. Emma had 4 alarms all night and Adalyn had 6. Adalyn's hemoglobin was low so she got some blood this morning. Neither of them spit up with any of their feedings. Adalyn had one large residual with one of her feedings during the night, but a much smaller residual at the next & none at the next. Dr. S decided to keep Adalyn at 8 ml every 3 hours (we accidentally reported yesterday that she was at 10ml...oops...she was at 8 ml), she has tolerated that well during the day today. Emma is still at 6ml every 3 hours and tolerated that well through the night and during the day today. Last night Adalyn weighed 2 lbs 1 oz (940 grams) and tonight weighs 2 lbs 3 oz (990 grams). Emma weighed 2 lbs 3 oz (990 grams) last night and 2 lb 3 oz (1kg) tonight. Both girls are still at a CPAP of 5 on room air and doing well with that. Dave and I are thanking God that in our absence the girls are doing well and that they have not shown any signs of illness. Continue to pray that they continue to grow & develop well, that they continue to tolerate their feeds well, that their number of alarms continue to go down, that they do not require any higher CPAP settings, that God continue to protect them from infection, and Praise God for continuing to hold them in His hands!

I thought that I was on the upward swing today. I went 10 hours after my last motrin with no fever. And then...it reared it's ugly head again. At 4pm I had a temperature of 101.5...grrrrrrrrrrrr! So please continue to pray that I get better. Praise God that Dave has not gotten sick! Pray that God continue to protect him from illness. I know at some point this will end & I will be able to go see my girls again, I just miss them. I have definitely learned some serious lessons about patience through out these last couple months. One way I have been coping is by calling to check on Adalyn & Emma every couple hours. I am probably driving the nurses nuts :). The phrase "no change, we are having a good day" was music to my ears all day today.

A big thank you!

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you that have helped us out. I have wanted to do thank yous, but I have run in to a couple problems with that.
1. I do not have many of your addresses
2. Up until my sick time at home I did not have any spare time

So forgive me, but I am saying a big thank you here on our blog. Thank you so much to everyone who provided meals, gifts for me while I was on bed rest, gifts for the girls, cards, words of encouragement, prayers, hugs, phone calls, emails, gas cards (we have been going through a lot of that lately :) ), flowers, and I am sure I am missing stuff, but thank you!

The generosity of our friends, family and coworkers has really opened our eyes to what it really means to be part of the family of God, taking care of those in need.

You all and God have been so good to us through all of this. I always thought that God was a busy guy, but last night while pumping (I know...kinda strange, but I have to keep myself awake somehow) I was marveling at how truly busy he must be. All the prayers that are going up for the twinners and all the other babies is NICUs all over the world, let alone prayers for everyone else...WOW! Holding all of those babies in his hands and watching over them while still be able to watch over all of us...WOW! And in the midst of all of this He remembers each of our individual needs...WOW! I serve an absolutely amazing God!

I hope that each of you in some way is blessed today and also that you bless someone else. I know that I feel blessed today, I have 2 beautiful 2 week old girls who are doing well, Praise God!

Day 15: Quarantine!

Happy 2 Weeks!

Today was a good day for Adalyn and Emma, not so good for Dave and Abi. Abi has influenza! She talked some more with the doctors at the NICU and they said she doesn't have to wait until next Wednesday to see them, she just needs to be symptom free for 24 hours.(Good news?) Now for me, because Abi has the flu and I don't, I cannot go to see them for 4 days! The reason for this is that they need to be sure I haven't contracted what Abi has. So even if Abi feels better tomorrow she can go on Saturday but I can't. This is hard on both of us, with only a limited time each day with the girls due to work and life in general, we are really going to miss our time with them over the next couple of days. It feels like we're not being good parents because we can't be there for them but in actuality staying home is the way we can help them the most. Tough. Once again I'm thankful that one of our "bad" days has to do with us and not with Adalyn and Emma, they are both still doing so good!

Last night at Emma's 2:00am feeding she started to brady again because she was spitting up her food. She continued to do this through her 5:00am feeding and had 25 brady's and many of them she needed stimulation to get her going again.(Sit her up, rub her belly, basically just move her.) The doctors decided to hold her feedings for a couple of hours to give her a break until they could see her. She did really well the rest of the day with very few bradys and they resumed her feeding tonight, she is at 6ml every 3 hours. They did her blood work and gave her a chest x-ray and everything is looking good, they said it is typical for preemies to need a break every now and again from their feedings. Emma has had no blood in her stomach for almost 48 hours and we are very thankful for that. They also increased her caffeine dosage to help her breath easier. She continues to be a good pooper:) Adalyn has been a trooper with only a few spit ups(again, normal for preemies) and is up to 10ml every 3 hours on her feedings. She is also a good pooper and seems to be tolerating every thing really well.

Please pray for Abi and me as we have to stay away from the girls for a couple of days. Please ask GOD that he keeps them safe and comfortable while we are away. Also thank Him for their continued health, weight gain, and growth as they are now 2 weeks old!

Prayer warriors we need your prayers!

I just wanted to post a quick note to ask again for your prayers. Your have all been such faithful prayer warriors so far. I still have a fever today and my doctor thinks that I may have influenza. Please pray that God protect Adalyn and Emma from infection. As I said in my post from last night please pray that if they have contracted this from me already that God heal them before they ever show symptoms. Please also pray that God bring me comfort as the neonatologists have asked that I wait until 7 days after the onset of my symptoms to come visit. Which means that I cannot see my girls until next wednesday and I am having a really hard time with this. Thank you again for all of your prayers and praise God that so far the girls do not show signs that they are getting sick. Please also pray that Dave does not get sick so that at least he can still be up there with our girls.

Day 14: Mom is missing the twinners

Adalyn just chillin

Emma holding daddy's finger

Last night after coming home from visiting Adalyn & Emma, I came down with a fever. I was feeling fine yesterday. This morning I felt a little more punky & tonight even more punky. I had some blood work done & gave a urine sample & they are not sure what is going on. I was started on Augmentin as a precaution. Please pray that I get better so that I can go see the twinners. Today was hard not being able to see them. Please also pray that the twinners do not catch whatever I have if it is contagious. Pray that God continue to protect them from infections of both bacterial and viral nature.

First of all, praise God, the girls had a good day. We will talk about Emma first. Emma had a little bit of a rough night having multiple brady alarms, but the majority were self resolved. After drawing her blood work during the night they found out Emma's hemoglobin was low. They gave her some packed red blood cells to help bring this up. They suspect this is part of why she had so many alarms last night. She had much less alarms during the day today. They said Emma's hemoglobin was most likely low due to the frequent labs she needs and the inability of her body to keep up. They said it is not uncommon for preemies to need to receive blood products. Emma had 1 aspirate from her feeding tube today that was slightly brownish. No fresh blood though. The doctors are not concerned about this. They also do not think that this contributed to her lower hemoglobin. Emma went up to 6 ml every 3 hours on her feedings today and so far has been tolerating them well. She is still on a CPAP of 5 on room air (these are the lowest settings). Emma's weight yesterday was 2 lb 3 oz (990 grams) and tonight was 2 lbs 3 oz (1000 grams or 1 kg). Oh and Emma did have a big poop during the night last night :) Praise God that Emma had a good day!

Adalyn has still been having occasional brady alarms, but again the majority self resolved. Today they increased her feedings to 8 ml every 3 hours and so far she has been tolerating them fine. Adalyn is also on a CPAP of 5 on room air. Adalyn's weight last night was 1 lb 15 oz (880 grams) and tonight was 1 lb 15 oz (890 grams). Praise God that Adalyn had a good day!

Lord Jesus,
I come to you first of all praising you for the good day you gave Adalyn and Emma. Thank you Lord for watching over Adalyn and Emma and for holding them in your hands. Lord I ask that you continue to protect the twinners from infection. I ask that you protect the girls from whatever I have. Lord if either of them have contracted what is making me ill, I boldly ask you to please heal them before they become sick. Father please heal me so that I can go up and see my girls again. Lord thank you for the many blessings you have already given Adalyn and Emma and please continue to bless them each day. Thank you for the blessing that Adalyn and Emma are to Dave and I and for the amazing gift that they are. Lord please continue to help them grow bigger, stronger, and to develop.
In your awesome name I pray,
Amen


The twinners saying hi to mommy