A short weekend getaway

Actual Age: 24 weeks
Adjusted Age: 12 weeks

Our lives have been a whirlwind lately with talk of discharge, training dates, MD appointments, home vents, fussy babies and emphasis on growth, growth, growth. Yes that's right I said discharge dates!! Hopefully Reagan will be able to go home within two weeks!!!! We are thrilled!!! We wanted more than anything for them to come home together, but unfortunately that's not going to happen. Eden was put on her home vent last Thursday and did not tolerate it. It provides her O2 needs differently to her lungs, so this was difficult for her to adapt to and she had to be put back on the hospital vent. Unfortunately the only fix for this is time and growth. Her Pulmonologists have not put a baby her size (7 lbs, 2 oz) on this home vent and she clearly did not like it. We will try again when she's bigger, so for now we just have to wait, pray and hope for more growth from our little Eden.

Did you have hours of training when you brought your baby home? No? Weird... I'm just trying to find humor in this whole thing. Scott and I literally have hours of training to complete before we can bring our girls home. Our training encompasses learning the O2, g-tube/feeding pump, home ventilator, CPR, and trach cares. We should be given honorary nursing licenses. We really know how to do most everything already, but having more training will be great so we feel completely ready for our baby girls.

Now our weekend, Scott and I have been meaning to get away before the girls come home so we took a really quick trip to Duluth this weekend. He reserved a lovely Bed and Breakfast for us and we had a great time. An amazing organic dinner, a scenic view, trucking through the snow, spending time together. We had a great time but talked about our girls the entire time. They truly are our entire world. We love them so much!!!

Thank you for your continued prayers. Please pray that Eden will gain lots of weight and tolerate her home vent the next time we try it. Also please pray that Reagan's home coming will be smooth without any major complications or delays.

The Nursery

The nursery is about 98% complete, we are just missing 2 more pieces and it will be complete...... Reagan and Eden!!!

Some Daddy time!!

No more milk in the barn

Actual Age: 23 weeks
Adjusted Age: 11 weeks

I had a surplus of breast milk in the freezer until today... a very sad day. This doesn't mean the girls won't get breast milk anymore, it just means that they will also need to be supplemented with formula. I have worked so hard to keep up my milk supply and I really wanted to make it one whole year, but with two babies it has been more than my body can handle.

The girls are doing well getting adjusted to their new diggs and new RN's. In fact they have been already getting into a schedule, which is perfect preparation for them coming home soon. Eden should be getting her home vent this week and Scott and I chose a nursing agency for her home nursing care. We will also have a Home equipment assessment this week to ensure that our home is safe, has grounded outlets and to determine set-up for the girls medical equipment. Scott had the ducts cleaned on Friday and we plan to clean the carpets soon also. The nursery is all ready for two little babies to come home. We can't wait! We realize that their home coming is not typical but it will be a very happy day for us!!

The countdown starts over at 1

Actual Age: 22 weeks, 4 days
Adjusted Age: 10 weeks, 5 days

After 158 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit our BIG MOVE to the Infant Care Center (ICC) happened today!!! Today was day one in ICC and my was it a whirlwind. We have been waiting to move to ICC because its one step closer to home even though its only across the hall from the NICU. ICC is very much a transitional unit where we prepare for going home- we will take on more responsibilities and try to get the girls on a schedule. We were sad to leave our NICU RN's and MD's but the girls were ready to go to ICC. Eden will be put on her home vent hopefully this week which will take about one month to get her fully adjusted and set up before she comes home. It's so great having the girls in one room, but also very interesting. We can no longer close the door if Reagan starts crying.

This week was rather uneventful which is good when it comes to the NICU/ICC. Eden had a great week, her O2 needs were very low, she was happy and smiley all week and she is learning to breast and bottle feed. However last night her O2 needs increased and after running labs her white count was higher than normal which could indicate infection. She had to have another iv started and antibiotics for at least 48 hours.
Reagan is almost over a cold that started on Christmas Day but she's having trouble with oral stimulation- she doesn't like her pacifier and she tends to gag easily. This is something that we will be working on very diligently with OT and Scott and I will work on it everyday. We need to get her to LOVE her pacifier, bottle and breast.

We are grateful to have moved to ICC, we realize that this is absolutely one step closer to home. We love to think that they could be home VERY soon, but it also seems daunting. Our girls have special needs that will require us to be very organized and remain calm and stress-free if that's even possible. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.

The Hedin Year in Review Continued....

October:
October was another rollercoaster month. After four weeks on the nasal cannulla, Eden had to be re-intubated, which was heart-breaking. However, the girls continued to gain weight and very slowly get better. I went back to work in October and we celebrated the girls first Halloween. The girls, pictured here were surgeons, their career you say? Scott and I certainly hope so!!




November:
We made some pretty tough decisions this month, Eden got a tracheostomy. As this was another major surgery we were quite scared. She did very well and we have accepted the trach as a part of who she is for a while.





December:
More hard decisions this month, both girls got g-j tubes so that they could eat easily without disrupting their energy being put towards their lung development. But here we are, closer to bringing the girls home and a happy, grateful family. We have had more struggles than is even possible to comprehend for one lifetime . Our stress and anxiety is sometimes more then we can handle but we have something so beautiful- we have LOVE for each other, LOVE for God and LOVE to get us through each and every day.

The Hedin 2010 Year in Review

Actual Age: 22 weeks- 5 months!
Adjusted Age: 10 weeks

January:
My unemployment streak ends! I was hired by Eli Lilly! What a blessing to finally be employed again. Scott continued to get his business off the ground running.

February:
Scott and I historically did not celebrate Valentine’s Day because we coined it as a “Hallmark holiday” but beginning this year we will now take part in the festivities. Why you ask? Because February 14th, 2010 is the day we found out that I was pregnant!!!! We hadn’t been trying that long and we thought that January was a bust because we thought our timing was off- wow were we wrong!

March:
The biggest shock of our lives happened this month. The minute the ultrasound tech said ‘there are two heartbeats’!!!!! we immediately started wrapping our minds around TWINS!! Two babies!!! At one time!!!

April:
Scott’s world travels left him stranded in France for a few extra days this month. He went on a cycling trip in Italy with a group from SCS and had a great time. He raced in a huge bike race in Italy, drank lots of espresso, and had some great experiences with friends. The volcano in Iceland caused him to spend a few extra days in France- there could be worse places to be stranded right.



May:
May is the month that I started bedrest. My Perinatologists decided that my blood pressure was too high and the growth discordance for the girls was too wide, so the couch officially became my best friend. Scott’s race season also officially began this month.



June:
After 6 years in our home we finally added a maintenance-free deck. The deck was meant for 2009 but with lay-off’s we couldn’t justify the cost. So the construction began- we love our new deck and used it a lot this summer.



July:
As Scott’s crazy race schedule continued, I was hospitalized for the duration of my pregnancy. He completed Ironman Racine 70.3, Minneman sprint course, and did an Ironman Madison training camp. In the middle of all this we also celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. It was spent getting take-out from Common Roots and dining in my bed in the hospital. We made the best of it that we could, but we were 100% focused on keeping our babies snug inside my tummy.



August:
The month our lives changed FOREVER! We became Mom and Dad on August 2nd when our beautiful, amazing, perfect little girls were born. Yes, a little early but this is a day we will never forget. We love them more than anything in the world! Reagan and Eden Hedin are our little miracle babies. This was also the scariest month of our lives, our little girls were hanging on to life for many weeks. The rollercoaster of emotions and stress is ingrained in our brains as something we will never forget. We praise God for giving these girls life and keeping them safe and here to grow and live full, happy lives.




September:
Scott Hedin is an Ironman! September was the much anticipated month that held the long awaited, major accomplishment that Scott trained 11 long months for- Ironman Madison! Our girls were at a somewhat stable position so we felt that it would be OK to leave, don’t get me wrong- it was terrifying to leave them and I called many times, but ultimately they were fine that weekend. What an amazing event to watch Scott complete a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run.





Oct-Dec to follow...