Feelin Like A Family

Adalyn left, Emma right

Emma left, Adalyn right

Everything is going really good at the Lamar house. After having the girls home for 9 weeks, Abi and I now have a routine down and even though life is busy we finally are starting to feel like a "normal" family. It is a struggle every day not to take the girls out and show them off but we know that the less they are exposed to the better. The girls seem to now be gaining wait like Dr G. wants them to and yesterday Adalyn weighed 9 lbs 3.5 oz and Emma weighed 8 lbs 4.5 oz. Both girls measured 20 5/8" long. They continue to struggle with their reflux but the thickening/adding cereal has stopped most of their spitting. We now feed the girls every 4 hours at night which means we only have to wake up 1time each night, this has helped Abi and I both get enough sleep and the girls also seem to sleep better and quieter. We have come to realize that we have really good babies, despite all that they have been through they just roll with all of the punches and take every thing in stride, they are rarely fussy, they eat great, sleep great, and are happy babies. Abi and I get frequent smiles and seeing their little faces light-up when we talk to them is the biggest gift GOD has given us yet. While we feed them the girls just study our faces like they are trying to memorize everything. Oh, I almost forgot, both Adalyn's and Emma's eyes are mature!

Please continue to pray that GOD heals their reflux and keeps them and us free from illness and infection. Thank Him for all of our good health so far and our for girls great development. He is in Control.

March For Babies

Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. On April 17, 2010 March of Dimes is hosting the March for Babies in Holland, MI. March of Dimes provided our family with a lot of resources and support throughout the time that Adalyn & Emma were in the NICU. Our team is walking in March for Babies because the money we raise will support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care. We would love it if any of our friends or family want to join us in supporting this great cause by either walking with us on April 17 or by donating money to March of Dimes. You can join our team, Lamar Twinners, or make a donation by following this link http://www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1377506.

Walk information:
April 17, 2010
East 10th St. & VanRaalte Ave
Holland, MI 49423
Walk Distance: 5 miles
Registration Time: 8:00 AM
Start Time: 8:30 AM

The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

Thank you for helping us give all babies a healthy start!

Caught On Tape

We finally were able to catch some video of one of the girls rolling over. (Adalyn) Enjoy!!!

Wireless Babies

Hello everyone!!! So needless to say we have been very bad bloggers ever since the girls came home. Things at the Lamar house are busy. However, we should still be blogging because Adalyn & Emma could still use lots of prayers. So do not take our lack of blogging as a sign that we do not need your prayers, because we still do. The girls are doing great & we LOVE having them at home! The have been home for 6 weeks now...wow! They will be 2 weeks old corrected age tomorrow, 17 weeks old true age on Thursday, & 4 months old on Friday. There have been lots of changes with the girls. As of Saturday Adalyn weighs 7 lbs 9.5 oz & Emma weighs 6lbs 11 oz. Both girls are 19.5 inches long & we no longer have to roll their newborn pants up...yay! Both girls are off caffeine & their heart & breathing monitors. So Dave now loving refers to them as wireless babies. At the eye doctor last Tuesday Emma's eyes were completely developed and there were no signs of ROP...praise God! Adalyn's eyes are not quite mature yet and she has slight stage 1 ROP in both eyes, but the doctor said it is almost healed. So she has to go back in a couple weeks to make sure it heals the rest of the way & her eyes fully develop. Both girls have about 2 times a day where they are awake for 3 hours straight and then each tend to stay awake for a half hour after each feeding. They are very alert and love to lay on their boppy pillows and look in their mirrors...their eyes just light up it is so cute. They both are smiling as they fall asleep...our favorite. Adalyn rolled over yesterday while she was doing tummy time. They are both doing a great job at holding their heads up. It is exciting to see them gain strength. Pray that God continues to help them develop. Both girls continue to struggle with reflux, Emma still more than Adalyn. We continue to thicken their feedings and both girls are on prevacid. Please continue to pray that God heal their reflux. It is hard for us to see them be uncomfortable at times. It has also made it a little tricky for them to gain weight. Adalyn has been averaging about 1oz per day of weight gain & Emma just under 1 oz a day & their doctor would like to see them gain closer to 2 oz a day so that they can catch up to where their weight is supposed to be for their true age. So pray that God help them to gain weight better. Also praise God for keeping all 4 of us healthy & pray that he continue to protect all of us from infection.

Dave & I are both back at work full time so that definitely has added to the business in our lives. Both of us cannot wait to get home each day and see our lovely ladies. We are reminded each and every day what a beautiful and truly amazing miracle they are. God has absolutely blessed this family.

I will leave you with their 3 month pictures. I know...almost a month old...what can I say...we will try to be better bloggers :)

Home for 4 weeks

Adalyn hangin out with her "passy"

Sorry for the lack of updates! For our family the word "busy" has taken on a new meaning. Abi and I are finally adjusting to the 3 night time feedings (I think) and the girls are doing great. We each have our days home alone watching the girls and between changing diapers, feeding and then holding for 20-30 minutes because of their reflux, then washing bottles and mixing breast milk with formula and thickener, it is time to start the process all over again leaving little time to get anything else done. We do have tons of help from family and friends to lighten the load but life has definitely been a blur lately. Both girls continue to sleep great but they both are awake for about 3-6 hours each day. Sometimes it is at night but it is mostly during the day. We have some cool mirrors that stand up by themselves and we place them in front of the girls and they love to look at them. Both girls have rolled over twice and continue to have better control with their head movements.

Emma looking in her mirror(If you click on the picture you can see a larger image.)

We continue to thicken their food and it does help a lot but their weight gain has been a little less than Dr. G wants so on Monday Abi will explore some other options with him so they can get the calories that they need.(Thickening the formula and mixing it with the breast milk lowers the calories significantly.) The eye doctor visit went great last week and both of the girls eyes continue to heal. Adalyn's eyes are mature on the nasal side and are almost mature on the outside. Emma's eyes are almost mature on the nasal side and are almost only a stage 1 ROP on the outside. They are doing so good that the doctor said he only needs to see them every 2 weeks instead of every week.

Adalyn weighs 6lbs 9oz, she is 18-5/8" long, and her head measured 35.5cm. Emma weighs 5lbs 12.5oz, she is 18-3/4" long, and her head measured 34cm.

Please continue to pray that GOD heals their reflux, continues to protect them from infection and sickness, and helps them gain the appropriate weight. Praise His name that their eyes are healing and developing, that they are at least gaining weight, and that they are such good happy babies.

38 weeks

Emma(left) Adalyn(right)

Right now I am purring like a kitten. As I type this blog on my blackberry Emma & Adalyn are lying on my chest. I am feeling a bit nostalgic since today was the day the twinners were supposed to be born (if I did not have the twins by 38 weeks I was going to be induced today or have a c-section). We all know how often things actually happen as they are supposed to, but still I can't help but ponder what things would have been like if I had made it to 38 weeks. One thing I am sure of, I would be huge! These girls occupy a lot of space on my chest and if they were inside we would still have 2 placentas and all their amniotic fluid as well. I think it is safe to say I would be GIGANTIC! Yes making it to today would have been a much better way for the girls to start their lives. However, then I would not have the amazing bond with them that I have developed over the past approximately 3 months. I may not have as strong of faith as I do now. I may not know first hand that God is still performing miracles. This journey has not been ideal, but as strange as it sounds I would not trade it for anything. Dave & I will always have this unique experience that has brought us all so close together and shown us how truly strong and feisty someone can be at 1 lb 15 oz and up.

Enough of that mushy stuff :) on another note Emma had her eyes checked again today. I am happy to report that her eyes are starting to heal! She is still ROP stage 2 on the outer portions of her eyes, but on the nasal portions she is down to a stage 1. Praise God, I am so pumped about that! Dr. D actually said she did not have to come back for 2 weeks. But since we are coming back next week anyway for Adalyn he said they might as well check Emma and get the 2 girls on the same schedule.

We are continuing to thicken the girls feedings. It seems to be helping. They are still refluxing and spitting, but it does not seem to be as often or as much. I am happy to report that between the 2 girls there has only been 1 brady alarm in the past 24 hours. So hopefully that trend continues.

Please pray that God continue to heal Emma's eyes. Pray that their reflux continue to improve, that they continue to gain weight well, continue to have few to no alarms so that they can come off their caffeine and their monitors and that GOD continues to protect them from infection.

Pictures

Here are some pictures from uncle Aaron.

Emma

Mommy and Adalyn