Recovery

Actual Age: 19 weeks, 3 days
Adjusted Age: 7 weeks, 4 days

Reagan's surgery went very well, she had no complications. She is recovering and resting nicely. She was able to re-start her feedings this afternoon and my oh my she was a hungry girl!

Eden has had a few really good days also, her 02 needs have come down nicely and she's gaining weight.

Thank you so much for praying for Reagan yesterday. I will update more later.

More surgery

Actual Age: 19 weeks, 1 day
Adjusted Age: 1 month, 3 weeks, 2 days

Yes that's right tomorrow we prepare for another surgery. This time its Reagan. She will have a g-tube (gastrostomy tube) inserted into her stomach and this is how she will take her feedings. She has to work very hard on breathing while trying to breast or bottle feed and she was not taking all of her feedings by mouth, so this is the best way for her to get her feedings without disrupting her breathing. This is Reagan's first surgery and we are nervous. It's an easy procedure, but we still worry about how she will respond to the anesthesia. She also has to hold feedings for 24 hours! Yuck. She gets crabby if her feedings are 5 minutes late let alone 24 hours!! Poor baby. Her 02 needs have been about the same and she is growing like crazy!

Eden has had a good few days. She's on a daily steroid and it is helping her 02 needs decrease. She is so alert and content. She loves to look at and study people's faces and she also loves her seahorse on her mobile. Notice the pictures Scott took, she's actually laughing at it!!!

Please pray for Scott and I tomorrow as Reagan has her surgery, we need strength and peace. Reagan also needs prayer that everything will go well. Thank you.

Eydie's blog!!!!!!!!!!!!

See the link below of our BEAUTIFUL photos!!!!

http://eydienelsonphotography.com/blog/

Thank you again Eydie.

More up's and down's...

Actual Age: 4 months, 1 week
Adjusted Age: 1 month, 2 weeks, 1 day

The week started out quite well- both girls were requiring a lot less O2. Eden had a great Sunday/Monday and we had our long anticipated photo session scheduled for Tuesday. Scott and I prepared for at least one week to make sure all the details were worked out for our photo shoot. We were so excited to finally have the photos taken of our little girls. I woke up in the middle of the night on Monday fearing that Eden would have a bad night and we would have to reschedule again (this was our third attempt). Mother's intuition is always right, we arrived on Tuesday only to hear that Eden was requiring 100% O2! We were upset, her primary RN was upset, she was upset. We are so happy to have such amazing RN's, they both said let's just get her to calm down and move forward with the photo shoot. What happened next is just so remarkable, we put Reagan in Eden's bed for the shoot because she's more portable. They laid next to each other and fussed a little but two things happened- breast milk calmed them down and Eden's O2 needs and heartrate came down as she laid close to Reagan!! It was so sweet to see them together and know that the connection was helping Eden's sats!!! I am so excited to see how this twin connection will develop throughout the years!

Our photo shoot was awesome! Our photographer, Eydie Nelson is so calming, skilled and sweet. She did an amazing job and we are so excited to see the photos. Her website- http://www.eydienelsonphotography.com/ may have a few of our photos soon. Check it out. A BIG thank you to Eydie for taking the photos and our RN's S and R for making it happen and being so supportive!! Another special thank you to my Grandma for knitting the beautiful Santa hats for the girls!!

Since Tuesday, Eden's O2 needs have gone up and down but mostly up. She had bloodwork and x-rays done to check for pneumonia and she's being treated with antibiotics just in case. Her nitric oxide was also restarted this week. She's a REALLY hard iv stick, so this is especially stressful for her and now her iv is in her head, which is actually the best place for it because her arms or legs are not restricted with an iv and board to keep her limb straight. You really wouldn't know from her behavior that she's requiring more O2 or that she's sick because she's so happy, smiley and wiggly.

Reagan is being weaned down on her O2 and tolerating this pretty well. She is taking at least one bottle and breastfeed per day. She's also learned that breastfeeding is very relaxing and likes to be comforted that way. She hit 9 lbs this week! Her legs are arms are even getting chubby! I love it- I want fat babies!!

Thank you for praying for us and keeping us in your thoughts. Scott took a few photos attached here, he quickly snapped them without getting in Eydie's way but they still are just so cute!

SANTA

Santa visited the NICU!

Actual Age: 4 months, 4 days
Adjusted Age: 1 month, 1 week, 5 days

Santa visited the NICU yesterday! He comes early for babies in the hospital! Santa is supposed to be for kids, but I think Scott and I were way more excited about his visit. As my last post stated, we decorated the girls rooms, made their beds with fleece snowman blankets and got them dressed in their cute Santa outfits. Scott even searched the halls to determine when exactly Santa was coming to our girls rooms. The girls slept through his visit but we got some cute pictures. Thank you Santa for making our Christmas fun.

Eden was restarted on another burst of steroids this past Friday and they have helped her tremendously. Her O2 needs are down and she is a happier, more alert baby. We are working with her on developmental activities everyday and she just started opening her eyes really wide this week- its so cute.

Reagan's O2 needs have also come down this week but she's not making much progress with oral feedings. She seems to have gotten used to having her tummy filled with breastmilk by her NG tube (feeding tube in her nose) and she's being lazy with oral feedings. The idea of a GI feeding tube has been brought up recently- a feeding tube in her belly which is something we can manage so that she could come home. We really don't want her to have a GI tube but we will do what's best for her. Right now we just need to pray that she starts taking more feedings by bottle or breast.

Christmas in the NICU

Actual Age: 4 months, 2 days
Adjusted Age: 1 month, 1 week, 3 days

We will be spending Christmas in the NICU, so we bought two Christmas trees and decorated them in the girls rooms today. It's far from a normal Christmas but it does look more festive. It's not so difficult that we will be there for Christmas, but rather watching other babies leave the NICU that's hard for us. Babies that were born after ours and even born earlier gestationally than ours. We keep saying, it's just not fair.... We want to be a 'normal' family and have healthy babies, but we are many months away from that. It's hard to understand why... we ask why a lot. We know that God will take care of us and He will reveal His ultimate plan someday, but for now we still ask why.

Reagan is doing well, she's on every other day steroids and breathing about the same. She is breast feeding and bottling once or twice a day. And she's growing like a champ! Just under 9 lbs!

Eden was re-started on another burst of steroids and is being weaned off the nitric oxide. We hope that this progress will help her 02 needs to come down and for her to start bottling this week. She's much more alert and happy this week!

We love these little one's more than the world itself and just want so badly for them to be healthy and to come home. Please pray that we have strength and patience now and in the future.