1 Month

My babies are 1 month old already! Where has the time gone?

I love that they're starting to smile more and more; I love that they're begining to respond when they hear my voice; I love that they're sleeping in a little longer stretches; and I love that they're more alert and will just sit and stare at us. I also love how well they are both doing with eating! They still have to be prompted to take a breath while eating when they're really hungry, but overall, they are both doing extremely well!

While I'm happy they're growing; I'm sad at how quickly they're getting big and how quickly they're changing. I realize they're still smaller than the average newborn, but to us they look huge!!

I'm also sad that we still have to keep them in seclusion. I would love to be able to take them out and show them off; but I can't. I'd love to have people over to come hold them and ooo and ahhh over them; but I can't. I'm sure many people think we're just being the classic "over protective first time parent" but that's not it at all.

When we brought Abigail home from the NICU, the neonatologist sat us down to do the discharge and said, "they can't eat, shop, or pray, so there's no reason to take them anywhere. The only place they should be going, other than your house, is to their doctor. But, do not take them in the waiting room. Waiting rooms are for sick people; call them from your car to let them know you're there and stay in your car until it's their turn to be seen. You can take them outside as much as you want. I'm not worried about them being outside, I'm worried about them being around people. People have germs, so you NEED to keep them away from people. Bare minimum is to keep them 'under quarantine' until they are AT LEAST full term (which is still more than a week away) .... any one under the age of 16 needs to wait even longer."

So, there you have it. We've just been trying to follow the instructions we were given. When we go to the doctor, we have to sit in the car; when we go for walks, they always have to have their car seats covered with a blanket so people don't get to close or try to touch them. We have to wash & sanatize our hands constantly! The few people we do have coming to help us have to "scrub in" every time they walk through the door.

We appreciate and feel so blessed that so many of you want to meet them and I promise, when they're ready and we're ready, we'll let you know. They still have quite a bit of maturing to do, and I still have emotional and physical healing to do. That's just our reality. We'll do our best to keep you updated on their progress and provide you with pictures though!!! :)

Without further ado... Here's their 1 month update!

 

 

Abigail Hope 1 Month Old

Weight: 6lb 8 oz
Length: 18.25 in

Eating: 2oz every 2-2.5 hours. Eating half breastmilk, half formula

Milestones: Starting to have more and more alert time. She just sits and watches us :) She's begnning to focus on our faces and respond to our voices. Abby loves to look at things that have lights; such as the TV. It sounds terrible, but when she's awake she loves staring at the TV because of all light.

Likes/Dislikes: Abby is a very smiley and laid back baby. She absolutely loves to be held. Abby sleeps wonderfully in both her bouncy seat and her swing. She loves having her feet tickled... it's so funny to watch how she immediately relaxes and starts smiling. She doesn't seem to have many dislikes at this point... I can't really come up with anything... she's very content pretty much all of the time unless she's overtired or over hungry.

Josephine Grace 1 Month Old

Weight: 6lb 14oz
Length: 18.75 in

Eating: 2oz every 2-2.5 hours. Eating half breastmilk, half formula.

Milestones: Josie usually has at least one "awake time" during the day where, after a feeding, she'll just sit wide eyed and looking around. She starts to look around and move her head when she hears mine or Bob's voice :) She also loves to look at things that are contrasting light and dark colors.


 Likes/Dislikes: Josie LOVES to sit in the swing! Its also her favorite place to poop :) We've had to wach that cover on more than one occassion when she has a blowout. She also loves to be held; she's incredibly snuggly and will curl up into a tiny ball when you hold her against your chest. She hates to be uncomfortable! Whether gas, hunger, or a dirty diaper, she'll let you know that she doesn't like it! Fortunately as soon as she's comfortable again, she's extremely content.

 I can't believe how grown up they are! They're still little, but to us, they look huge!!! Here are some more pictures for your viewing pleasure :)


No, I don't not just let my kids sit and scream... I had about 30 seconds left in my pumping session when they all of the sudden started doing this. 

Life as a mom of twins :)

Abby supporting Uncle Mike's band.

Daddy and Abby snuggling.

 Josie's favorite place to sleep, other than her swing, is on someone's chest.

 

We also did they're "newborn/1 month" photo shoot... Here's a teaser until we get the actual pictures.

I'd say we have some pretty perfect baby girls :)

(Sorry, went back and looked at this post and saw some of the pictures are upside-down or sideways, and I can't seem to fix it)

Pictures of Our Angels :)

Getting ready for our first walk.

Baby girls are 3 weeks old already!!



     Can't believe how alert they are!                                              Daily nap with mommy

 Happy Babies :)

  First time meeting Uncle Austin.

When Josie is finished eating and you try to give her the bottle again, she purses her lips like this... Bob calls it her "perry the platapus face" 

 

No matter how upset Abby is (which isn't often) if you tickle her legs and feet she immediately calms down :)

 

Abby likes to sleep with her mouth wide open

 

Happy Abigail

 

Angry Abigail

 

  
         Sweet Josie-Pie

They're Here!

Man, it's been too long since I've updated! The last month has been absolutely crazy though! I know many of you are my facebook friends, so you already know what's been going on, but I thought I'd update those of you that don't know.

It all started on Tuesday, May 21st. I had a routine NST at my Perinatologist office in the morning; and everything was normal. Both girls were doing excellent, and, apart from my continued swelling, everything looked great for me too.

I'd had a bit of a cold for a couple weeks and my throat had started to bother me so I went in to my OB's office for a strep throat screen just to be on the safe side. Well, the strep test was negative, but my BP was 158/96! Of course they immediately had me lay down on my left side and had my doctor come in to see me. She rechecked it and it was still that high, so she wanted me to go to the L&D unit of the ER for observation for a few hours. She also ordered a 24 hour urine test.

Well... I left the hospital 10 days later and 25lbs lighter.

My blood pressure stayed elevated in the ER and my OB had me admitted for "24 hour observation and to collect the 24 hour urine."  For the sake of not making this post insanely long, I'll leave out all the extensive details, and try to keep things brief.

I was admitted to OB Special Care and for an entire week my blood pressure would sky rocket and the doctors would say I'd probably deliver that night or the next day, and then my blood pressure would drop back to normal and they'd say I could leave in the morning. On top of the issues with my blood pressure, I was having serious GI issues! My first night there I suddenly started having vomiting and diarrhea that lasted about 18 hours, stopped for 24 hours, and started up again for another 18 hours. This went on for probably a good 4 days.

Fortunately, the girls were not being negatively affected by any of my issues. I had NST's twice daily and an ultrasound while in the hospital and everything looked perfect. Also, since I was admited at 33w5d, my OB ordered that I get steriod injections, just in case I did deliver early.

By Monday, I had had it! I was fed up with not sleeping, with being sick, and with just being in a constant state of limbo. My blood pressure had been completely normal for a few hours, then all of the sudden jumped again and wouldn't come back down. That night I started having mild, but regular contractions, and the nurses told me to be ready to deliver in the morning.

Tuesday morning when I saw my OB, Perinatologist, and my daily slu of residents, they decided that it was no longer safe for me to be pregnant and I was scheduled for a c-section for 1:30 that afternoon. (34 weeks and 5 days pregnant). I called Bob and told him to get his butt to the hospital because the babies were coming.

Because I was pre-eclamptic, I had to be on a magnesium drip prior to, during, and after my c-section... not fun! It makes you feel sick to your stomach and causes terrible hot flashes! The spinal wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated, but I did get a little sick from it. I think I was in the OR for a grand total of 40 minutes from beginning to end.

In the OR were Bob and myself, my OB, 3 L&D nurses, the anesthesiologist, the anesthesiology nurse, 3 NICU nurses per baby and a Neonatologist. The happiest moments of my life were when each baby was delivered and they immediately started screaming!! I was terrified that they would need breathing assistance.

 Baby A:
Abigail Hope  "Abby"
5/28/13 @ 1:42pm
4lbs 12 oz
17 in
    Baby B:
                                                                                      Josephine Grace  "Josie"
                                                                                      5/28/13 @ 1:43pm
                                                                                      5 lbs 0 oz
                                                                                      17.5in

Even though they were both doing well, they were taken to the NICU for evaluation; Bob was able to go with them though. After surgery, I was taken to recover for an hour... still not having seen my babies except from across the OR. :(

On the way back to my room they wheeled my bed to the NICU so I could hold the girls for a few minutes before being taken back upstairs. Perfect moment :)

Unfortunately, it was more than 24 hours before I was able to see my babies again. Even thinking about it now makes me get teary eyed. As a result of the magnesium and the catheter, I was having serious issues with passing out and with bladder control. I was kept in the hospital for 3 days after the c-section, but the girls still needed NICU care. They had to master the "suck, swallow, breathe" reflex.














Abigail - 2 days old





Josephine - 2 days old











The girls had specific things they needed to achieve to come home. 1) Breathe without assistance (which they didn't have any issues with)  2) Maintain body temperature - which they both did within a few days 3) Eat on their own. They also needed to maintain blood sugar and have normal bilirubin levels.  Our girls' biggest issue was the eating. The day I was discharged was one of the hardest days of my life. I had to leave my babies at the hospital for an indefinite amount of time. Bob and I were able to go to the hospital every day to visit them, but every night I left in tears.

 Daddy and his girls

 

The NICU strongly encourages "kangaroo care" or "skin-to-skin" It was awesome for me and Bob too.

                                                    Josephine (left) & Abigail (right)


It was incredibly frustrating that they'd do really well for 3, 4, or 5 feedings and then just be too tired to take any more by bottle. To come home they needed to "nipple" all their feedings for 48 hours; after the first 24 hours, they could have their feeding tubes removed.

Abby's tube was removed 6/613                                           Josie's was removed 6/9/13

The next hardest thing we ever had to do was take Abby home while Josie stayed in the hospital for a few more days. It was emotionally draining trying to divide our time between our daughters with them in different places. But thankfully, it was only 3 additional days. After almost 2 weeks in the NICU,

Abigail came home Friday, June 7th.

 

And Josie came home Monday, June 10

This is their first day home together :)

I know a lot of friends and family have already seen these pictures, so I'll do another post with some new pictures too. But, I figured this post was already too long as it is.