Two Princesses, the Queen Mum and the Court Jester

Vacation!

2010-07-08T22:48:00.005-04:00

We spent last week taking a much needed mini vacation at Nonna and Grandpa's house. We were able to spend some time visiting with family, playing, and relaxing. One of the highlights of the week was our first swim experience with the girls. They were a little unsure of the water at first, but once they got acclimated they seemed to enjoy the pool. They especially loved relaxing in their floats...in fact they came close to falling asleep in them a couple of times!

Jessica getting used to the water.

Evelyn trying to figure out where everyone is.

Jessica hamming it up for the camera!

Evelyn and Mommy.

The girls: Nonna, Mommy, Evelyn, Jessica, and Auntie Meredith.

What a year!!!

2010-06-13T21:00:00.003-04:00

Time has flown by. Friday, June 4th, was the girls first birthday. It's hard to believe where we were a year ago at this time.

We had a party for the girls on Sunday, June 6th, following their dedication at our church. We've got some pictures from the festivities below.

Here's the girls eating their first birthday cake. They really aren't big on icing...yet.

The girls in their dresses from church on Sunday morning. They work hard on being cute.

Patiently awaiting their birthday cake, or wondering why everyone is singing to them.

Help me! Help me! This is bigger than I am!!!

Ooohhh... Paper!! I'm ready to rip it open!!

She's Home

2010-05-18T23:25:00.003-04:00

We got to bring Evelyn home this morning! They discharged her about 11:30 and we had her home by noon. She's still congested, but breathing much easier. We'll be giving her breathing treatments and antibiotics for the next few days, but other than that it's life as normal. It will be a couple of weeks before she's 100%, but this is a good start.

Thanks to everyone for all the extra prayers this week!

Sick Little Evelyn

2010-05-16T12:52:00.003-04:00

Remember Evelyn's sinus infection/ear infection/pink eye combo from the last post? That has now turned into pneumonia and a double ear infection. Needless to say, she was admitted to Rex Hospital yesterday where we will be hanging out for the next couple of days.

The new antibiotics (rocephin) and the oxygen are helping quite a bit. We've seen a big improvement from yesterday and she's starting to get back to her old self. Hopefully we'll just have to spend one more night here, but we'll just have to wait and see what the doctor thinks in the morning. We'll keep you posted!

What a Week!

2010-05-08T12:32:00.007-04:00

The last 7 days have really been a rollercoaster ride. We started off last Saturday (May 1) celebrating with Jason's family as Scott and LeAnne were married! We spent Sunday hanging out with Mark and Ashley, who came up to help out with the girls during all of the wedding activity. A wonderful weekend with great family!

Then came Monday morning when Evelyn was diagnosed with a sinus infection, ear infection, and pink eye, all from a cold gone bad. Then Wednesday afternoon Jessica spiked a fever of 104.2, promting a trip to the doctor for a double ear infection.

Both girls were put on Omnicef. (If you ever had a child on Omnicef, you'll understand this next part!) Then came the poops...bright orangey-red, rust colored ones. Wow! Along with off and on fevers the rest of the week. And, of course, they're both teething on top of everything.

The good news is that both girls are feeling much better today. They're still a little tired, but eating better and playing harder.

A happy Jessica.

It's nice to have our sweet Evie back!

Jessica's new favorite thing...feet! Mom's, Dad's, Evelyn's, anybody else who happens to be passing by.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T13:59:00.003-04:00

She's Plenty Big

2010-03-07T23:23:00.003-05:00

That's what the pediatrician said about Evelyn at the girls' 9 month check up on Thursday. She weighed in at a whopping 19 lbs 1 oz and was 26.5" long. (I feel like I'm describing my latest angling adventure when I give the their stats!) We asked the doctor if we should continue fortifying Evelyn's milk to give her some extra calories to grow and that's when he replied, "Nah. She's plenty big."

Jessica is still our tiny tot. She was 13 lbs 12.5 oz and 24.25" long. Needless to say, Jessica will be staying on fortified milk. She is catching up though. She has out gained Evelyn by 4.5 oz over the past 4 weeks. Jessica suddenly decided that she likes food after all and has been eating like a champ. We have transitioned her from eating every 3 hours to eating every 4 hours; which means she is now on the same feeding schedule as Evelyn. (Thank goodness! Whew!) She also LOVES baby food. So far squash, peas, and applesauce have been her favorites. Evelyn isn't as fond of baby food and would prefer to stick to milk.

Our "Diva Duo!"

The pediatrician was pleased with both girls' developments. He said they're right on track for their corrected age of 6 months. They are each a little ahead of the other in different areas. Jessica is ahead on solid foods and her "vocabulary." She has started incorporating some hard consonants into her babble. We hear ba ba, da da, ga ga, and ma ma quite often, but she's not associating these "words" with anything yet. Although it was quite amusing the day she got mad and screamed ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma into her mother's face, as if she was calling her mama out for doing whatever made her so angry!

Much like her mama, carrots are not her favorite.

Evelyn's sitting skills are a little ahead of Jessica's. Evelyn can sit unsupported for a few seconds and can sit alone for longer periods of time if she has a medium to large toy in front of her to help steady herself. She has also cut her two bottom front teeth! We don't want to jinx anything, but Evelyn hasn't had too much trouble cutting these teeth. She's been slightly more cranky on a couple of occasions, but mostly has just been sleeping a little more than normal. It kind of makes us worry how bad it will be when Jessica starts.

Evelyn has taken to sleeping with her "Lambie." She likes to snuggle it to her face while she's going to sleep.

Finally...An Update

2010-02-09T20:53:00.008-05:00

We're sorry we've been so delinquent on updating the blog, but we've had a very busy couple of months. We're hoping to win your forgiveness by posting a bunch of picutres for you!

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, someone was sick almost every weekend. Evelyn had croup, Cynthia had a stomach virus, and Jessica had bronchiolitis. Luckily Superdad, Jason, was able to stay healthy enough to take care of everyone.

We had a pretty good Christmas and New Year. We were able to see our families, which is always a treat. The girls travelled fairly well; we were impressed with how well they did. But they were definitely tired of us by the end of the holidays and ready to get back to their schedule and their friends at daycare. Here's a picture from Christmas. Obviously they weren't really into the holidays...until they discovered paper and ribbon!

After Christmas we experienced our first ear infection. Poor Jessica had it in her left ear, most likely caused by the serious congestion she was fighting. After several days of staying home and sleeping, she was back to her old self.

Both girls are continuing to grow. Evelyn has pretty much caught up to where she should be for her gestational age of 5 months. Jessica is still small, but the eating switch seems to have turned on recently, so we're hoping she continues being a hungry girl and will starting growing. Right now there's about a 5.5 lb difference between the two of them. Check out the size difference!

Evelyn is ready to be a big girl. She has started rolling over from her back to her stomach. We're having to watch her pretty closely to make sure she's not rolling half way on top of Jessica! I know you've all seen babies roll over, but now you can watch Evelyn!

In addition to rolling over, Evelyn has found her feet. She also wants to sit up so badly she can hardly stand it. We got her a Bumbo seat this weekend and, since she can sit up and play with her feet at the same time, we now have one happy little girl! Isn't she adorable?

Jessica has also started rolling over, but she's rolling from her stomach to her back. Between the two of them we have a full rotation! You can watch Jessica's achievement as well.

Jessica is enjoying the Bumbo, too.

We hope you enjoyed the update! We promise to try to be more diligent about posting in the future.

Six Month Update

2009-12-07T19:49:00.004-05:00

Six months! Can you believe it?!?!? Evelyn and Jessica were six months old on Friday. We've had quite an adventure since Halloween. The girls started daycare on Nov. 9. So far they're doing pretty well. Jessica doesn't like to eat quite as well at daycare, but so far that's been the only problem. We've also been on two road trips for Thanksgiving celebrations; Rock Hill and Edenton. The girls traveled very well and were on great behavior for the crowds.

Towards the end of last week, both girls got their first colds. Evelyn's wasn't too bad--just a little head congestion and some sniffles. Jessica, on the other hand, has been miserable. She has congestion in her chest and is coughing a lot. Poor baby. We hope she shakes it soon.

Friday afternoon we had an appointment at the pediatrician for their Synagis shot to prevent RSV. They get this once a month through March. Not that any shot is pleasant, but these are evidently doozies. It takes some serious consoling to get them through. I keep waiting for the windows to shatter because their screams are so high pitched.

Today we had our 6 month check up at the pediatrician. Other than Jessica's congestion, both girls were perfectly normal. He was very happy with Evelyn's weight gain. Jessica is still tiny, but she's growing well...it's just hard to tell when Evelyn is overachieving! They both got four shots, which they handled better than their one shot on Friday. Here are their current stats:

Evelyn: 13 lbs 3 ozs, 23.5 inches long

Jessica: 9 lbs 15 ozs, 22 inches long

We have our second follow up appointment at Duke on Thursday. We'll let you know how that one goes.

Here's a picture that was taken over Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T18:12:00.003-05:00

We took Evelyn and Jessica to Trunk-or-Treat at church yesterday. We didn't stay very long since it was hot and the girls had on bulky costumes. We were there long enough to say hello to everyone and get a picture. Our first family picture since the girls have been home!

Evelyn is the spider and Jessica is the unicorn.

And the Eyes Have It

2009-10-29T23:46:00.003-04:00

Evelyn's retinas are now mature! (Jessica's matured about 6 weeks ago.) She had an opthamology visit yesterday, where the doctor confirmed that her eyes have matured and that she does not need to be seen again for a year! We are excited that we don't have those appointments to work around anymore.

Both girls have become fun to play with recently. They are now smiling when they see us or when we play with them, rather than just when they have gas. They are beginning to recognize a few of their toys and their pacifiers. They are also starting to follow us and a few of their toys with their eyes! The both love to look at lights and Evelyn loves the mirror.

Jessica

Evelyn

We are looking forward to dressing them up for Halloween on Saturday! Be on the lookout for new pictures.

The Big Debut

2009-10-18T23:11:00.002-04:00

Jessica and Evelyn made their big debut today. We took them to church this morning! It was the first trip out of the house that didn't involve an appointment with one of their many doctors. They were so cute in their little dresses! We wanted to get a picture, but we were on the verge of running late this morning and then they were screaming when we got home because it was time for them to eat. So we were not able to capture the milestone moment. Oh well, I'm sure we'll miss others, too.

The trip went really well. When we got to church, we dropped them off in the nursery. Our friend Kecia was in charge this morning, and since she's a mother of three I knew we didn't need to worry. We quickly got them settled, filled Kecia and Emily in with the important highlights, and scooted into the sanctuary right as the service was starting. After the service we picked them up and then showed them off to everyone. It was nice to be able to go out as a family!

Four Months Old

2009-10-09T19:37:00.003-04:00

Evelyn and Jessica turned four months on Sunday! We can hardly believe it! They have had a busy week being four months old.

Sunday ended their visit with Nonna and Grandpa. They always enjoy being held way too much when either set of grandparents are in town. Then Sunday night they got baths. That meant they were squeaky clean for Monday's trip to the pediatrician.

The pediatrician delared that "they are perfectly healthy babies." It was nice to hear that they seem to be doing well. Evelyn measured in at 8 lbs, 4 ozs and 21 in. Jessica is still the little sister at 7 lbs 3 ozs and 20.5 in. They received their next set of vaccines--3 shots. They did great though. One big, long scream right after the first shot was administered, but then once the 3rd shot was finished, they were fine. A little wide eyed and sniffly, but fine. Then they slept all afternoon, which meant Mommy got a nice long nap!

Wednesday night was bath night again in preparation for our first follow up appointment at the Special Infant Care Clinic at Duke. All of the medical staff there thought the girls looked great. They, like our pediatrician, were very happy with their weight gain and growth statistics. So while we haven't caught up with the full term one month olds, we're on track for preemie growth. The only changes that the Duke doctors made was to Jessica's reflux medicine. We're switching her from Zantac to Prilosec to see if she will spit up a little less. Mom hopes it helps. She wants here little girl to feel good and eat well and, to be honest, is really tired of cleaning up all the spit up from Mount Jessica. But, we realize that if Jessica's reflux is our biggest problem, we're really very lucky.

Before we left Duke, we stopped by the ICN to see some old friends. It was great to see some of our old nurses. We also got to show one of the dads with twins in the unit that they will eventually get to leave and will get chubby cheeks like Evelyn. We were sad that we didn't get to see all of our nurses, but, for those of you that are reading, don't worry, we'll be back in December!

Evelyn during Sunday night's bath.

Jessica during bath time.

Jessca (L) and Evelyn (R) hanging out together.

Evelyn the Acrobat

2009-09-22T20:41:00.004-04:00

All the doctors have been telling us that the girls may be delayed slightly on their development track because they were preemies. Well Evelyn just proved them wrong! Jason was giving her some tummy time and she rolled over! Yes, our child with a corrected age of 16 days old just rolled from her tummy to her back! To be fair, she was laying on a wedge, so she wasn't completely horizontal, but we still think it's a big achievement. Now we'll just have to wait and see if she'll do it again anytime soon or can do it while laying flat on the floor.

Both girls are continuing to grow. Evelyn LOVES to eat. We think she would eat every hour if we let her. She's eating about 3 ounces every 3 to 4 hours. Her voracious appetite is paying off; she is now 7 lbs 3 oz and 20 in long. Jessica doesn't have quite the appetite that Evelyn does. Jessica is a little smaller at 6 lbs 9 oz and 19 inches.

Mommy had fun a few days ago taking pictures. Thanks to Ryan and Carey for the cute princess outfits!

Evelyn

Jessica

Jessica (L), Evelyn (R)

Quick Update

2009-09-12T18:22:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. It's been a bit busy. I returned to work this week, so Mom had the girls by herself during the day. Things went well, although by the end of the week we were both tired.

The girls are continuing to grow. Thursday night we gave the girls a good bath, and then weighed them. Evelyn had passed the 6 pound mark and was up to 6 lbs and 1 oz. Jessica is right on her heels at 5 lbs 14.5 oz.

We passed another milestone this week too. No more preemie diapers! The girls are both using newborn diapers now. They are much more roomier for moving around, and well, for other things too...

Here's a video of the girls from last week. (I hope that it plays.) Evelyn is on the left in this video. This is from one afternoon just before their afternoon bottles. As you can tell they are both a bit hungry. Jessica lost her pacifier, and then tried to take Evelyn's. Evelyn was going to have none of that (notice her right hand). Jessica found a good compromise though...

Nothing Special

2009-09-04T21:59:00.003-04:00

The only update we have right now is that the eye doctor appointment went well. Both girls' eyes are improving and we are not anticipating having any long term problems. We're just hanging out and doing all the regular baby stuff...eat, sleep, poop, repeat. We have cute pictures though....

Jessica likes to know where everyone is at all times. Touching Evelyn while they sleep is a must.

Sweet sisters.

Evelyn taking a quick nap before going to the eye doctor. Aren't her froggy feet cute?

Jessica napping before the eye doctor too. Doesn't she look just like a porcelain doll?

One week at home

2009-08-31T22:59:00.002-04:00

Today marks one week that the girls have been home. What a week it has been!!!

We've had two trips to the pediatrician for checkups. The checkups have gone great. The doctor is very happy with the progress the girls are making. Both are gaining weight well, with Jessica now at 5lbs 6oz, while Evelyn is at 5lbs 5oz.

We see the eye doctor on Wednesday to get a check on the girls' ROP. Fotunately, the girls seem to like the car rides. In fact, I'm thinking about taking Jessica for a ride later if she decides that 1:30 am is playtime again tonight. :)

The girls seem to like it here. The only times that they are fussy are when they are hungry, or when Jessica gets jealous or lonely, or when daddy tries to use the bulb syringe on their noses. Seriously, that must be listed somewhere as a tortue device. Fortunately for me, the girls have short memory spans!

Well, time to go for now. Jessica, (who is in my left arm and not helping me type) is getting hungry again. Time to find her pacifier to see if I can satisfy her til midnight.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

2009-08-28T09:56:00.003-04:00

They BOTH slept through the night last night!!! We still got up and fed them on schedule, but they dream fed everytime and slept right through everything. We're not sure what was different. All we can come up with is that we gave them a bath last night. We're not niave enough to think that this is going to happen again, we're just excited over last night's gift. Although we're now wondering if every night should be bath night!

There's No Place Like Home

2009-08-25T16:37:00.005-04:00

One night down, the rest of their lives to go!

We had a very uneventful time bringing the girls home. Jason and I had a quick refresher course in infant CPR and infant choking, the doctors rounded one last time on them, and then we were allowed to go. Here they are waiting on Daddy to bring the car around.

We were home by 12:15. We promptly fed the girls lunch, made lunch for ourselves, and then we all took naps. The rest of the afternoon and evening went smoothly. We fed them, played, napped some more, bathed them, and put them to bed.

Evelyn had a wonderful night. She seems to understand that when it is dark outside, it is time to sleep. She didn't wake up much at all--not even for meals. She would open one eye just a crack, close it, and then scarf down her bottle. After a good night's sleep, she was ready to play about 8:00 this morning.

The rest of us didn't have the same easy night. Jessica's reflux was bothering her, so she didn't sleep much, and Jason and I took turns being up with her. Hopefully tonight will be a better night for her.

We see the pediatrician tomorrow. We need to leave about the time that the girls get their afternoon snack, so we're going to try to feed them a little early. We'll see how that goes and see if we can actually get two babies packed up and to an appointment on time!

Dad and the girls playing.

Hey, I know you!

Nap time.

Is it possible?

2009-08-21T21:10:00.005-04:00

Could it be true? Are we really bringing our babies home? That the plan! The big day is supposed to be Monday. The feeding tubes are out and both girls are eating everything on their own. Evelyn passed her car seat test today. Jessica is supposed to be having her test sometime in the next 24 hours. The nurses have taught us how to give them their medicine. (Don't worry--nothing too scary, just multi-vitamins and Zantac.) We have shown competency in changing diapers, feeding, taking temperatures, swaddling, holding, and giving baths.

Their room is just about ready. We just need to put some finishing touches on it. We're waiting on our glider to come in. It should be here in a couple of weeks, so until then we'll just have to make do. It doesn't really matter though, because we're so excited that we finally get to be a family at home!

Jason and I will never be able to express our gratitude for everything you have done for us over the past several months. To our medical team, thank you for the safe delivery and special care of our precious daughters. To our friends and family, thank you for all the support you've given us. The meals, hugs, words of encouragement, and gifts have all been wonderful. To all of our readers, those we know and those we don't, thank you most of all for all of the prayers that have been offered up on behalf of our girls. We know that they have played the biggest part in helping us get our girls home.

Evelyn (top) and Jessica (bottom) without feeding tubes. They finally look like regular babies without anything on their faces!

Settling In to Wake Med

2009-08-16T23:07:00.004-04:00

Evelyn and Jessica are continuing to work on bottle feeding at every meal. They are taking their whole bottles more often and are increasing the amount of milk they are taking when they only eat partial bottles. Jessica has finally caught up with her sister--they are both now 4.5 lbs! If all continues to go well, we should have the girls home in a couple of weeks!

Both girls enjoyed a visit from Nonna, Grandpa, and Grandmama (their great-grandmother). Grandpa was too busy taking pictures to get in any himself, but maybe we'll catch him next time.

Jessica with Nonna.

Evelyn with Grandmama.

All the ladies...4 generations.

Moving Day

2009-08-13T23:01:00.004-04:00

Today the girls will be 10 weeks old. We thought that it would be just another day in the TCN at Duke. Boy were we wrong. This turns out to be our last day at Duke Hospital...

Around 1pm this afternoon, I got the call that Wake Med in Raleigh had several open beds and that our girls would be transferred today to Wake Med. This is good in a way, because Wake is only about 10 minutes from our house. It's a much shorter drive in the evening than driving from Durham.

But transferring the girls takes a bit of work. Here's what their first ride out of the hospital looked like...

They were transferred to Wake Med at about 4pm this afternoon. I got a call from the nurse at Wake Med around 5:30 pm that they were all snug in their new bed and that they were doing well. They were a bit angry that they missed their afternoon meal, but soon forgot about it when dinner arrived.

Cynthia and I went by after shift change and stayed with them most of the evening. There are rules and procedures that we have to learn, but for the most part it's not much different than being at Duke. We have a bit more privacy in our area of the ICN. We didn't get much of a chance this evening to talk with the doctors or nurses, so I'm sure that we will learn more over the next several days.

The girls were real snug when we left them for the evening...

We know that moving them from Duke to Wake Med is a step closer to the girls coming home for good. We really owe a lot to the doctors and nurse practitioners that treated our girls. Words cannot express our gratitude to the nurses that watched over our princesses day and night, and treated them like their very own. The saddest part of today is that we didn't get a chance to let their primary team of nurses say goodbye. Without them, I don't think Cynthia and I would have kept our sanity over the past 10 weeks.

They are all heroes in the truest sense of the word.

Mid-week Update

2009-08-12T22:46:00.002-04:00

We don't really have any huge news for this update, but we know some of you get worried when we don't post and we don't want to be the cause for anyone's anxeity! Don't worry, everything is still going well.

Evelyn is now up to 4 lbs 6 ozs. She has been increased to feeding by bottle every other feed. So far she has been taking about half her volume. But, tonight's nurse just reported that she took all but 2 mLs at her 9:00 feeding! She's working hard to catch up with her little sister.

Jessica is 4 lbs 3 ozs. Jessica is now being allowed to bottle feed every meal, if she's up to it. Right now she's taking about half of her volume for most feeds, occasionally taking the entire feed or needing to rest and being fed via the feeding tube. It takes a little while for babies to increase their stamina to take their entire feed every time. Hopefully she'll be eating everything by bottle soon...then we'll be that much closer to bringing her home!

Busy Weekend

2009-08-09T22:41:00.006-04:00

Evelyn and Jessica had a big, busy weekend. They spent most of the weekend being visited by their Nana and Pa Pa and by their Uncle Mark and Aunt Ashley. Aunt LeAnne stopped in as well on Saturday.

Our big news is that we now have two 4 pound babies! Evelyn is 4 lbs 3 oz and Jessica is 4 lbs. Woo hoo!!!! They are getting so big...which is so funny to say since they're still so small.

We are working with both girls on feeding. Jessica is now eating every other meal from the bottle. She is taking close to her entire volume, if not all, each time. Evelyn is taking one bottle per shift (sometimes two if the nurse is ambitious). She is taking about half of her volume from the bottle and is getting the rest of the meal through her feeding tube. We're also working with both girls on nursing, but neither one has quite gotten the hang of it yet. We'll get there eventually.

Today was bath day. We put Evelyn and Jessica in the same tub and had some fun play time. Aren't they cute? Evelyn is on the left and Jessica on the right.

And one of Jessica and Mommy.

Two Months Old!!!

2009-08-04T20:58:00.005-04:00

It is hard to believe, but the girls are two months old today. It's amazing how much they've grown over the past two months, especially in the past two weeks.

To celebrate, the nurses got the girls some presents!!

That's right, the girls have moved out of the isolets and into bassinets! Jessica is on the left or top (depending on your browser's window size). We keep them bundled up good just to help them maintain their temperatures, and to keep them from moving around the bed.

Jessica had a even bigger day. Overnight, she ate one of her entire feedings, 32 ml, from a bottle! That's a little over 1 oz. This afternoon, her and mom had their first breastfeeding session. Jessica has the technique down, but wasn't getting much out today. They'll try again tomorrow. She now weighs about 3lbs 9 oz.

Evelyn is inching closer to 4 lbs. Tonight she is at 3 lbs 12.5 ozs. She lost a little today, but has been having big gains over the past week. We expect her to hit 4 lbs any day now. She's having a little problem with her hematocrit that we are having to keep watch on. Hopefully, she'll be able to fix this one on her own. If not, she'll need to get a transfusion sometime later this week, or into the weekend.

Belated Update

2009-08-02T20:19:00.007-04:00

Sorry it's been so long since our last post, but things have been busy. Our girls have made lots of progress over the past few days.

Evelyn has gained several ounces since Wednesday. She is now 3 lbs 10.5 oz! We started "Lick and Learn" with her on Thursday. Remember when the lactation consultant said that Jessica did better than any baby she had seen on their first try? Well, believe it or not, Evelyn did better than Jessica! I don't think we're going to have any problems getting these girls to eat!

The occupational and speech therapists are going to begin working with Evelyn on a bottle tomorrow. If the bottle feedings go well over the next few days she'll probably be moving out of the isolet and into a bassinet. It will be nice to see her without a plastic shell between us!

Jessica has been gaining weight too. She is 3 lbs 7.5 oz. Jessica has been working on eating from a bottle this week. Saturday morning she took 15 mLs from the bottle, which is about half of her feed! She gets to eat from the bottle once per shift for 20 minutes. Anything she doesn't eat she gets through her feeding tube. As she grows and her stamina increases she'll be able to eat from the bottle more often. This is a BIG step towards getting her home.

Now for the crummy news...Jessica's hematocrit has been low this week. She wasn't showing any signs of being anemic, other than just being a little tired, so the doctors decided to see if her body was ready to produce her own red blood cells. She did really well until last night. When the night nurse tried to bottle feed her, she wouldn't take any of her food. Since Jessica always lets us know when she's hungry, this wasn't a good sign. They checked her hematocrit level again and it was even lower than before. So she got a blood transfusion this afternoon, which meant she didn't get fed for 12 hours. She was doing much better when we left this evening--she had a lot more energy, but was VERY hungry. Hopefully she'll be able to pick back up on her feeds and continue working on bottle feeding without any problems.

Jessica (left) and Evelyn (right)

The Surprises of Little Girls

2009-07-29T23:40:00.008-04:00

Mommy and Jessica were having some quality time relaxing and snuggling this afternoon. Mom tucked Jessica (who was wearing only a diaper) into her shirt for some kangaroo care. Suddenly, things were warm in a new spot on Mom's chest. Had Jessica moved her leg to a new spot? NO!!! Surprise! She peed all over Mommy! Luckily Mom had an extra shirt, so no real damage and she still loves Jessica anyway!

Here are a couple of new pictures of Jessica. Sorry that they're a little dark. Eventhough she's growing, the preemie clothes are still too big!

Evelyn got a bath today. This was the first real bath that Mom and Dad were able to give. Once she got over the shock of being put into the water, Evelyn enjoyed her bath. Here are some cute pictures of her.

Jessica's new tricks

2009-07-28T21:11:00.002-04:00

Jessica evidently likes to be the over achiever. She's been handling feeds great, and also has had several successful "Lick and Learn" sessions. Today she even went a step further. The therapists took a specially designed bottle nipple and placed a few drops of milk in it. They then gave it to Jessica to see if she would suck the milk out of the nipple. No problems at all. She had to get used to swallowing, but that should come soon. With as easy as she has taken to everything else, swallowing shouldn't be difficult. If she continues to progress, she may be ready for a bottle feed by next week. Her weight tonight is up to 1422 grams, which is just over 3 lbs, 2 oz.

The therapists have not started the "Lick and Learn" sessions with Evelyn yet. Due to her getting blood early last week, she had several days where she was not gaining weight. The therapists wanted to make sure that she was ok and gaining weight before starting to work with her. These therapies can be very tiring for the girls, so it is important to make sure they don't burn too many calories.

Evelyn has responded well. Her weight as of last night was up to 1452 grams which is 3 lbs, 3 oz. The therapists should start to work with her soon.

Big Babies

2009-07-26T23:14:00.002-04:00

So not really BIG babies, but we're getting there. Evelyn is now tipping the scales at a whopping 3 lbs 1 oz! Woo hoo! Not to be too outdone by her big sister, Jessica is only 2 oz behind Evelyn! We're so glad the girls are finally putting on some weight. Hopefully they'll be chunky monkeys before too long.

The girls are beginning to mature a little bit. We have been able to see a big difference over the past week in the way they are acting and responding to their environment and stimulation. The both are doing better tolerating being moved around and transitioning between sleep and awake stages. I guess the doctors can see some of these improvements too because they are weaning both girls off of some of their medications and increasing their feeds. We should be able to tell in a few days if they can handle these adjustments.

Good Stuff

2009-07-23T22:05:00.003-04:00

The past two days have been full of good news for us! Jessica had a huge growth spurt. Since last week she has gained 5 ounces and grown 2.5 cm. She is now 2 lbs 13 oz and 15.75 inches! She has caught up with Evelyn in weight and is only 1 cm, or .4 inches, shorter.

Jessica was evaluated by the speech therapists Tuesday afternoon, who said they were very impressed with her. Jessica gave them a great demonstration of all she can do...sucking on her pacifier, calming herself down, being alert, and responding to touch and stimulation. She was delcared very mature for 33 weeks. Since she did so well during the evaluation, the therapists said she was ready to start "Lick and Learn" which allows her practice breastfeeding. This will help her learn to suck and swallow and will help with the transition from the feeding tube to the breast/bottle. We had a "Lick and Learn" session this afternoon and Jessica did very well. The lactation consultant said that Jessica did the best of any baby she's seen on their first try! We're so proud of our little super star!

Evelyn hasn't gained any weight this week, but she did grow 1 cm. She should start gaining some weight soon since she had the blood transfusion on Monday. Evelyn was evaluated by speed therapy this afternoon. She also did very well showing how she can suck on the pacifier, respond to touch/stimulation, and transitioning from asleep to awake. She doesn't calm herself down quite as quickly as Jessica does, but everything she's doing is appropriate for 33 weeks. We should be able to start "Lick and Learn" with her next week, if she gains some weight over the weekend. We'd rather her use her energy to grow right now.

We should see the physical therapy and occupational therapy teams for evaluations soon. Hopefully we'll get good news from them as well. Until then, we're still focusing on growing! We'll keep you posted.

The Big Move

2009-07-20T21:44:00.003-04:00

Both girls were moved to the Transitional Care Nursery (TCN). This is a positive step, moving towards bringing our babies home. This nursery allows the parents to be much more hands on with their child. The main care for the babies falls to us while we're there. Right now there's not too much for us to do, just diapers and holding, but soon we'll be adding regular bathing, feeding, and all the other joys of parenting. They weren't able to put the girls next to each other, but hopefully one of our neighbors will get to go home soon and we can move into their spot.

Evelyn had to have a blood transfusion this afternoon because her hematocrit got really low. She was VERY ornery this afternoon since her feeds were suspended. She was screaming at Jason and the nurse because she was so hungry. When Jason tried to hold her hand, she put his finger in her mouth and sucked on it. As bad as we feel for her, we're excited that she did this since it demonstrates that she knows she should be eating this way, rather than through a feeding tube! She was taken off the nasal cannula today and has been breathing on her own since mid-morning without any problems! Another good step for her!

Jessica is about the same. She gained a little bit today, so she's back up to 2 lbs 8 oz. They are going to add a different calorie fortifier to their milk tomorrow to try to get them to put on more weight. We should see in a few days how they are responding. I'm sure this will be the only time in their life that we want our girls to be fat! :-)

Sunday Update

2009-07-19T20:30:00.002-04:00

Things are still going very well for our girls. Our biggest news is that both girls have been working on regulating their own body temperature in the isolets. The goal is to be able to maintain their body temps when the air temp is 27 degrees C. Evelyn has been regulating her own body temperature since Friday. Her isolet is currently set to 29.6 degrees C. Jessica's nurse changed her isolet over to air temp today to see how she would do. So far she's been able to maintain her body temp, too! I think her isolet was set at 29C.

We're still trying to get both girls to gain weight, especially Jessica. We incorrectly reported Jessica's weight in Thursday's post. At that time, she was 1144 grams (2 lbs 8 oz), not 1194 grams (2 lbs 10 oz). I'm sure you can see how we mis-read the third digit. Since Thursday Jessica has lost an ounce, but Evelyn is holding steady at 2 lbs 13 oz. The ICN staff is trying to figure out why the girls are not gaining as much weight as they would like, so we'll see what they figure out and decide to do.

Our most exciting news has absolutely nothing to do with us. There's talk that our best ICN buddy may get to go home tomorrow! YAY!!! We are so excited for the family (and a little jealous)! Please pray that tonight goes well for them and that they get to take their little guy home with them tomorrow.

The girls together...

2009-07-17T22:35:00.001-04:00

Six Weeks Stats

2009-07-16T20:46:00.002-04:00

Yes, our girls are six weeks old today. This means that they are at 32.5 weeks gestation. Evelyn is now 1277 grams and 40 cm long (2 lbs 13 oz and 15.75 inches). Jessica is still slightly smaller weighing in at 1194 grams and measuring 37.5 cm long (2 lbs 10 oz and 14.75 inches). They're both still tiny, but they're growing! We can see the 3 lbs milestone looming on the horizon!

Since Evelyn is getting bigger the doctors have decided that it may be time to see if she can begin regulating her own temperature. So far the isolets have been adjusting the air temperature based on the baby's skin temperature. If she gets cold, the air heats up. If she gains weight (or holds her weight) again tonight, they'll set the air at a certain temperature and see if Evelyn can maintain her body temperature. If she does, they'll slowly decrease the air temperature to room air temp. We'll see how she does with this transition.

The doctors discussed moving Jessica to the Transitional Care Nursery (TCN) this morning. Jason and I aren't completely comfortable with this step since she still occasionally has a desat or brady episode and she can't regulate her own temperature. But considering that we don't have medical degrees I'm not sure our opinions count for much. Fortunately our nurses talked the doctors out of moving Jessica. The ICN nurses all love our girls and want to keep them as long as possible. They also know it's easier on us to have them side by side rather than in two different nurseries. So, for now, they're still together. We'll see how long we have that luxury.

The Great Escape...

2009-07-15T21:08:00.005-04:00

I think that Evelyn is trying to do her best Steve McQueen impersonation...

Those would be the doors to the isolet that she is heading for :)

Jessica is just shocked by all this...

... not that she doesn't try the same thing when no one is looking.

Steady as she goes...

2009-07-14T21:13:00.002-04:00

So far so good this week. The girls have been doing well, aside from the occasional brady from Evelyn. She still seems to be having problems with reflux during her feeds. The good news is that she was fine while we were visiting Tuesday afternoon. Part of that may be due to the fact that both girls are getting some changes made to their feeds. The total volume that they are getting is being reduced, however their feeds are being supplemented with a calorie rich compound. The net result is that while the girls are getting less food overall, they end up getting more calories.

Both girls are starting to show signs of being able to regulate their own body temperature. The nurses are talking about turning off the heaters in their isolets. This would be a big step, as it is one of the requirements for them to move out of the isolets and into bassinets.

Daddy's Turn

2009-07-12T21:32:00.006-04:00

Daddy had his turn today in holding Evelyn and Jessica at the same time. All 3 of them took a long nap together in the recliner. Evelyn was dressed when we got to the hospital today, but Jessica was still just in her diaper. Maybe this means we'll be able to start using some of the cute preemie outfits we have!

Dad and the girls napping.

Sleeping sisters.

Jessica hitting Evelyn in the face.

Jessica apologizes for being mean by holding Evelyn's hand.

Two Peas in a Pod

2009-07-11T21:13:00.009-04:00

Evelyn has come off of her CPAP and has transitioned to the nasal cannula. It is so wonderful to be able to see her face! The pictures below are not the best of her, but you can get a better idea of what she looks like.

You want to do what? Can't you people just leave me alone?

I am so ready for bed!

Jessica did very well for about 36 hours without any respiratory assistance. But after that, she started having trouble keeping her oxygen sats up, so they decided to put the nasal cannula back on. It's very common for preemies to go back and forth a couple of times before getting rid of the cannula completely. If she continues to do well, we should be able to try her without the cannula again in a couple of days.

Today's visit had a very special surprise. Mommy was able to hold both girls at the same time! We wondered if the girls would remember if they had a twin and were curious how they would react to each other. Once both girls were on Mom's chest, they started wriggling a little bit. They scooted around until their shoulders and hips were touching and then settled down and went to sleep! Later on they woke up, wriggled around some more and ended up holding hands for a little bit. Amazing! Aren't they precious together? Jessica is on the left and Evelyn is on the right.

Big Steps

2009-07-08T20:09:00.005-04:00

Evelyn is steadily improving. Her lungs appear to be getting stronger each day. She's not needing the oxygen increases as frequently as she was just a few days ago. Her diuretics have been reduced some, since they appear to have been working. Because of the diuretics, her electrolytes are a bit off, but that can be taken care of easily. She's caught up with Jessica on the amount of food she is getting, but instead of getting hers over 2 hours, she gets it over 3, to cut down on possible reflux.

Evelyn likes to sleep in the afternoons, so she's not really active when I visit during the week. She seems to be more active overnight. That's one thing we need to get fixed before she comes home. :)

Evelyn does have some ground to make up though to catch up with Jessica. As you can see from the pictures below, she's got a bit of a head start...

Can you tell what is missing? (Hint... look at the nose)

The nurse also removed the feeding tube from her mouth. So we got a chance to see her face without any tape, tubes or masks.

YAY!!! FREEDOM!!!

Hey! What happened... So Jessica is not completely ready for life without a feeding tube yet. It has been moved from her mouth to her nose, which is good. When she becomes able to feed from a bottle she'll lose this tube too. That should come in a few weeks.

Crazy day in the ICN

2009-07-06T22:06:00.002-04:00

Before we get to talking about the girls, just a word about the ICN. Leading up to and into the holiday weekend the room that Jessica and Evelyn are in got down to just three babies. The room has a capacity of eight, but for various reasons, we were down to just our two girls, and one of their buddies, who has been there about a month longer than we have. It was very nice and quiet.

Evidently too quiet...

What a difference a day makes. When I got in this afternoon, they were already up to six babies. As soon as I got there they wheeled another one in, and soon brought in one more that had been transferred in from another hospital. It got a bit crazy in there. Kudos to all the nurses, who handled it masterfully, even if some didn't get their lunch break until after 5 pm.

Now more about our girls. Evelyn is steadily improving. The X-ray from this morning (bright and early at 5 am) showed that she no longer had fluid on her lungs. The extra strength dose of the diuretics she was getting did the trick, and she had full diapers all day long. Even with all that, she was still able to show a weight gain today, bringing her to 1166 grams, or just over 2 lbs 9 oz. Her breathing has gotten better as a result. She is able to stay at 21 % for most of the time, only needing a bump up now and then. She still likes to have a brady (heart rate below 100) every now and then, but I think she does that to make sure that folks are still paying attention to her.

Jessica had a bit rougher day today than I think she was planning when she woke up. Her labs from overnight showed that she had a low hematocrit again, which usually means that she gets a unit of blood. The nurses had a hard time getting a IV to stay in on her this afternoon, and after several attempts they decided to give poor Jessica a break. She was able to get her afternoon feed, but then went NPO, as the nurses were able to get an IV in later this evening. She'll get her unit of blood overnight, and should be able to pick back up on her feeds by late morning tomorrow. The good news for Jessica is that the doctors decided that she is ready for life without the CPAP machine. She is on the nasal cannula full time now. This skews her weight measurement a bit, because up until now, her weight had been taken with the CPAP mask on*. It weighs about an ounce, so technically, she lost an ounce over last night's weight.

*For you technical people out there, there is an understanding that when the babies are wearing a CPAP mask that they will actually be an ounce heavier than their "real" weight. The nurses take this into account when making their assessments and reports, even if they just report the measured weight (with or without the mask) to us.

Pictures of Jessica

2009-07-05T19:29:00.006-04:00

We don't really have any updates on the girls--things are going about the same as the last post. However, we do have new pictures of Jessica with the nasal cannula, where you can actually see her face.

Jessica sleeping in her isolet.

Mommy holding Jessica.

Just a reference picture--note the "bracelet" on her left arm. This is actually Jason's wedding band!

Most of our new family. Hopefully we'll be able to get pictures of all four of us soon!

Jessica Joins the Kilo Club

2009-07-03T21:04:00.002-04:00

Right now Jessica is our little superstar! She has been doing amazingly well the past few days. Jessica has FINALLY started gaining weight. She now weighs more than 1 kilogram (1.010 kg = 2 lbs 3.5 oz)!!! She is also starting to come off of her CPAP. They are in the process of weaning her off the CPAP and transitioning her to the nasal cannula. A nasal cannula is the thin tubing that sits under the nose and tucks behind the ears (except her ears won't hold it in place so we have to tape it to her cheeks). She's doing very well with the nasal cannula, so hopefully she'll be able to come off the CPAP completely in the next couple of days. It was so nice to see her whole face and head without the CPAP on! Jessica is continuing to handle her feeds well and has reached her goal of 5.25 oz per day.

Evelyn is still having kind of a rough time. She still has a little bit of fluid on her lungs, but the fluid is beginning to drain off. She has steadily been improving on keeping her oxygen sats up, but still needs a little help from time to time, especially if she's being moved around or at the end of her feeds when she has a full belly pushing up on her lungs. Evelyn is holding her weight at 2 lbs 8 oz. They were working on increasing her feeds today. I think she's up to about 4.5 oz per day. Hopefully the rest of the fluid on her lungs will drain off soon and she'll be able to gain some more weight since she won't have to be fighting so hard to breath.

Exploding diaper, take 1

2009-07-01T06:26:00.002-04:00

So I showed up at just the right time yesterday. As I walk into the ICN, I see Cynthia and Jessica's nurse huddled over top of her bed. I thought that maybe there was something wrong, but no, they had just finished cleaning Jessica's isolet. Evidently, Jessica's diaper is not exactly fitting as well as it once was, and well lets just say, it sounded messy. She may move to the next larger diaper because as her nurse said, "I only like to have to do this once.".

Otherwise things are fairly quiet for our girls this week. Jessica is getting closer and closer to getting a chance to try to go without the CPAP. She held her sats (oxygen saturation) up basically the entire time I was there yesterday afternoon, including a few minutes where we weren't able to get a good seal with the mask.

Evelyn is a little behind with her sats. The doctors did an X-ray on her yesterday and it showed that she does have a little bit of fluid on her lungs, so they have started her on the same diuretics that Jessica has been on. If she responds as well as Jessica did, then that shouldn't be a problem for long.

The problem with being on diuretics is that it makes it harder for the girls to gain weight. Slowly but surely they are increasing, although both girls have been down in their weight the past few days.

It seems like both girls enjoy eating. Aside from a few cases of reflux, while they are getting feeds, you barely hear a peep out of them. If you have to take their feeds away for a period of time, such as when they get a blood transfusion, you will definitely hear about it.

Darn Flu

2009-06-28T21:33:00.002-04:00

Well, the flu bug has hit Durham again. The ICN has reinstated the flu restrictions. This means that only parents and grandparents are allowed to see the babies. Bummer. But it is for good reason, and we do appreciate taking precautions to keep those nasty bugs out.

The girls had a so-so day today. Both girls needed a unit of blood, due to low hematocrit levels. This is expected from time to time. This means that they didn't get to eat as much today. When they get blood they have to be NPO (Latin for nothing by mouth) for four hours prior to and four hours following the transfusion. They also both had to get new IV lines to get the blood with. They were not real happy this afternoon, as you might can imagine.

They should be a bit happier tomorrow as they should be able to resume their normal feeds.

If only it was this hard for me to gain weight...

2009-06-27T20:36:00.002-04:00

Everything is still going well. Both girls are handling their feeds well, and they are increasing each day. Evelyn may have a little reflux problem, but that's not much to worry about. I was watching her near the end of her afternoon feed and she started getting a big fidgety. She was laying on her tummy and starting arching her back as if she was trying ease her tummy off. They don't make Tums small enough for her. :)

Jessica is doing a bit better than Evelyn with her oxygen. She's very rarely ever desatting (dropping her oxygen saturation below 85%). She's probably a bit closer to getting a chance to try handling things without the CPAP. Stay tuned...

Jessica's weight is up and down day by day. She's getting feeds and extra calories, but they just don't seem to stick yet. After changing her diaper today, I think I know why!!! Whew! Hopefully, she'll have put some weight on today. She's at about 2 lbs 2 oz, which is great, but we really want her to start packing on the ounces. Evelyn is at a soild 2 lbs 6 oz, and doesn't seem to have a problem adding a little bit each day.

Everyone has been great in the ICN. The nurses are wonderful and are just the best people. Even though we've got the best doctors, best medicines and best nurses around, sometimes bad things happen that no one can do anything about. We just want to lift up all of the mommies and daddies of all of the babies that are in the ICN. We especially want to pray for those who don't get to take their babies home with them.

Best Day Yet

2009-06-25T20:41:00.004-04:00

We had another good day today. Evelyn and Jessica are both still on their CPAP's, but haven't needed any extra oxygen lately. YAY! If they continue to do well, we may be able to try to start weaning them off the CPAP in a few days.

They are both almost back up to full feeds. Of course, the increase in food resulted in some MAJOR poop during their 4:00 assessments. We're not complaining, especially since we've been waiting for Evelyn's bowels to start working again, but we're wondering how so much stuff can come out of babies that are so tiny. And you know it's bad when two nurses and Mom (who happens to be a seasoned diaper changer) declare in unison, "Oh, gross!!!"

And, the best for last...I got to hold Evelyn for almost 2 hours this afternoon! She really likes to be held--I think she's going to be our lap baby. Jessica on the other hand, only likes to be held for about 20 minutes and is then ready to be put back to bed. I have discovered that Evelyn seems to really like it when I hum "Down in the Valley" while Jessica likes "Clemintine." I'm not sure why they like these particular songs, but they relax and calm right down when I hum these when I hold them. I guess the notes must resonate just right in my chest. It will be interesting to see if these tendancies continue once they're bigger.

All's well

2009-06-24T21:07:00.002-04:00

Both girls are doing well today. Evelyn had a little problem with her digestion at her 4 PM feed, but after checking with the nurses this evening, she was able to handle her 8 PM feed fine. I guess it was nothing a little glycerin wouldn't help. We were there for her assessment this afternoon, and she was wide awake. Her head is evidently growing a little bit. The nurse had to get her a new cap. She's on room air, but still can't go for longer than about 10 minutes without the CPAP. That will be the next goal.

After a fussy day yesterday, Jessica was much calmer today. Her feeds are getting increased day by day to what they were before she got the blood on Monday, so hopefully she'll get back to putting o wait. Right now she is holding at just over 2 lbs. Evelyn gained some more today, and is back to her birth weight of 2.5 lbs.

Up and down we go...

2009-06-22T21:35:00.002-04:00

Evelyn was doing great today. She was breathing room air for most of the day, and I was able to hold her again for about and hour and a half this afternoon. She started getting her feeds again, so she will slowly start building herself back up.

Jessica had a little harder day. Her regular labs overnight showed that her hematocrit and sodium were low. The hematocrit is the measure of the percentage of red blood cells in the blood. It's normal for premies hematocrit to be low with all the tests that are run on them with their low blood volume. The remedy is for her to get a unit of blood, which she did this afternoon. Her sodium levels are low because of the diuretics she had been recieving to try to get the fluid off of her lungs. That can be replaced with saline fluids.

Niether of these are major problems, except that Jessica had had her IVs and PICC lines removed last week. Blood and saline can't be given in the same IV, so she had to have two new IVs put in either arm today. Since their arms are so tiny, the nurses tape support boards to their wrists so that they cannot pull the IVs out as easy. That means that both of Jessica's wrists have the supports on them. She was not real happy this afternoon when she couldn't rub her fact like she likes to do.

The blood and saline helped her out though, so that is good. In fact, while I was holding Evelyn, Jessica completely turned her body about 90 degrees as if to see what we were doing. I think she may have been a bit jealous. :)

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T20:03:00.011-04:00

Jason received some good presents for his first Father's Day. The girls got him some ties (courtesy of the nurses), he was able to hold Evelyn for a long time (over an hour), and he got to give Jessica a bath (he let me give Evelyn her bath)!

Ties from the girls.

Daddy looking at Evelyn's sweet little face.

Daddy rocking Evelyn.

Evelyn giving her lungs a work out, telling Mommy she does not like bath time.

So maybe Evelyn likes having her hair washed/scalp massaged, but who doesn't?

Jessica likes having her hair washed too, but cried through the rest of the bath.

Jessica tuckered out after having her bath.

Evelyn and Jessica were both doing well today. They are still receiving some extra oxygen from time to time, but are able to stay under 25% most of the time. Evelyn has FINALLY had some decent urine output! Hopefully she'll be able to start back on some food tomorrow. Happy Father's Day to all you daddies out there!

Not much new today

2009-06-20T20:54:00.003-04:00

As the saying goes, no news is good news. It's true in our case too.

Evelyn and Jessica are still doing well. Jessica is getting more and more food each day, and her tummy is handling it well. Her breathing is still a little erratic, but it's just more of an annoyance to mommy and daddy rather than a real worry. I still think she likes to do it on purpose just to make sure we're paying attention to her.

Evelyn has not started back on her feeds yet. The nurses are having to wait for her urine output to get back up after the PDA treatment she went through earlier in the week. As soon as it gets back to above normal, they can start her feeds back. Don't ask me what "above normal" is. The nurses tried to explain the formula to me, but during that Jessica got a bit jealous and made an alarm go off, so I've got no idea. :)

Other than that, not much else going on. Mom slept in her own bed last night for the first time in about 6 weeks. Other than being a bit tired, she's doing good. It's tough leaving the two princesses in their current castles everyday, but we do feel better knowing that they have some of the best caretakers available in this or any other kingdom.

Baby Steps

2009-06-18T20:57:00.002-04:00

Well... pardon the pun... :)

Jessica had a rough morning today. She was real fussy and fidgety. That is until we turned her on her tummy. That is by far her favorite position, and once we did that she calmed down and started breathing a bit easier. She's now getting a little boost in her feedings, to supply her with more calories to help her start putting on some weight. No South Beach or Atkins diet for her :)

We just checked in with the nurse, and they have been able to remove her PICC line. This is a line that is similar to a IV, but can be left in longer if necessary. The nurses used this line to get Jessica her medicines. Since she has been able to handle her feedings well, they can add her medicines through her feedings. This is good progress, and it is one less thing for Jessica to try to stick in her mouth!

Evelyn had another ultrasound of her heart today to see if the flap that is causing the murmur had closed. This particular flap is called a patent ductus arteriosis, or PDA. The ultrasound showed the the flap appeared closed, which is a good thing. When we checked with the nurses this evening, Evelyn was down to 22 % on her oxygen, which is about a good as that has been in a week. The PDA can cause extra swelling around the lungs, which can prevent her from getting the oxygen she needs. Now that the PDA is closed, she should be able to use her lungs easier.

Part of the treatment for the PDA was to reduce the amount of fluids that Evelyn was getting. Now that the PDA appears closed, they can start to increase the fluids slowly. We don't want to increase them at too fast a rate, becuase it could cause the PDA to reopen. Evelyn should start getting small feedings tomorrow that will increase over the next couple of days.

Some improvement

2009-06-17T23:01:00.002-04:00

The treatment that Evelyn is on for the heart murmur seems to be working a little bit. She seems a bit less agitated, and able to hold her oxygen saturation better today than yesterday or the day before. We are going to try to be with her when her docs make their rounds in the morning to see what's next.

Cynthia got some really good snuggle time with Jessica this afternoon. When it was time for Jessica to go back into the isolet and the nurse picked her up, she gave the most pitiful cry. It was like she was saying, "Please, please don't take me away from mommy!!". She's doing much better with her oxygen too, and is getting ever so close to 21 percent.

Evelyn's rough day

2009-06-15T20:34:00.003-04:00

Today was a tough one for little Evelyn. First of all, preemies get several blood draws, for labs and such. Evelyn's blood counts came back last night showing she was a little low in red blood cells. That's not unexpected, but the doctors decided to give her a unit of blood this afternoon. That seemed to perk her up a bit.

Evelyn's nurse also found a heart murmur yesterday. Tests showed that the murmur is being caused by a flap in her heart that has not closed yet. This flap normally closes at birth once the lungs first get used. In Evelyn's case, as in the case for many preemies, the flap doesn't close right away. This is something that the doctors expected, so not too large a cause for concern. The only problems that it causes right now is that Evelyn's lungs get a little too much blood circulation. This can make it harder for her to get the oxygen she should be getting in her lungs, and she has to have more oxygen supplied by her CPAP machine.

The doctors started treatment for this today, so we should know in a few days how it is going. Unfortunately, she can't eat while she is getting the treatment, so she is going to be a few days behind on her feedings.

The good news is that by the time we left today she was slowly getting less and less oxygen from her CPAP machine. The goal is to be at 21 percent, which is room air. She was down to 25 by the time we left. She had been higher earlier in the day.

Jessica is doing ok. The doctors are going to keep a close eye on her to see if she shows any signs of having the same murmur. So far tests haven't shown anything. She's getting a little more than room air through her CPAP today as well. When we were there for her afternoon assessment, she was wide awake. She even gave a few giggles when Cynthia was tickling her feet.

Both girls are in the same room now, which is good and bad. The good is that we don't have to go up and down the halls of the ICN to see them. The bad news is that they like to make their alarms go off at the same time!! That's not good for Dad's blood pressure.

All in all both girls are still doing well. This past Sunday would have been 28 weeks gestation, and both girls are where they should be at this point.

The Royal Paparazzi

2009-06-14T21:16:00.006-04:00

It's time for the news that everyone has been waiting for...pictures are here! We were finally able to get some better shots of the girls today. They both had baths today and we were able to catch Evelyn during her bath time. She could not decide if she liked bath time or not. She definitely enjoyed having her hair washed, but not her face! Both girls are continuing to feed well and are beginning to gain some weight back. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Jessica during her assessment.

Jessica snoozing with her c-pap (just to help keep her airways open).
Look at how big her hands are!

Evelyn during her assessment/bath.

Evelyn up close and personal after having her hair washed.

First time tag team

2009-06-12T20:41:00.002-04:00

For the first of I'm sure many chances, Cynthia and I were tag teaming today changing diapers during the girls' afternoon assessments. Cynthia took Jessica, while I had Evelyn. We were both glad to see that both tummies are working! I think that Evelyn was excited too. After I got her cleaned up and had the new diaper in place, she ... expressed her gratitude again :)

Both girls are now on feeding pumps, and are steadily getting increases in the amount of food they receive. The pumps allow them to get the food over a longer period of time.

On Thursday, Evelyn and Jessica received head ultrasounds to check for any bleeding. This is standard as little ones like our girls are susceptible to bleeds. Both reports showed no problems.

I think that Jessica likes to pick on me already. She'll wait until things get real quiet, and then she'll make one of her monitor alarms go off. It's just temporary, and then she picks right back up. When you look at her she has this little grin on her face as if to say, "just wanted to make sure you were paying attention." I think she is going to be trouble :)

Evelyn is just content to be left alone. She is just happy to lay there and not be bothered. I think she gave us a "can't you tell I'm sleeping" look earlier today.

I love snuggle time!!

2009-06-11T21:06:00.005-04:00

Jessica and Evelyn are 1 week old today! I don't understand how the time can go by so quickly and feel like an eternity at the same time.

Evelyn seems to be doing better with her food. Her tummy is still a little sluggish, but that seems to be her only issue, for which we are very thankful. Both girls got an increase in their food today. They are now being fed every 4 hours, instead of every 6 hours. Hopefully they'll both start gaining some weight and filling out soon. The nurse took Jessica's c-pap machine off for a little while today. She did very well without it for about an hour and a half. The plan is to remove it again in a couple of days and see how she does then.

Our favorite part of the day was snuggle time. Evelyn and I spent about 30 minutes together, while Jason and Jessica got to hang out for about an hour. The good news with twins is that Jason and I each get to hold a baby so neither of us feels left out from the bonding process. I'm looking forward to the day they get to come home and all 4 of us can snuggle together!

Another good day!

2009-06-10T20:52:00.002-04:00

Mom was pretty tuckered out after being at the ICN for the better part of yesterday afternoon. We decided to take it easy today and only stay for a couple of hours.

Evelyn's digestion has improved. She had a small poop this morning. She's still not digesting all of her food, but it is getting better. I got to hold her today for about 45 minutes. That was great! After some whimpers, she got real snug right down. For a little while we were both asleep.

Jessica is still doing well. Cynthia and I got to watch and I even helped out during the assessment. I got to change her diaper again, (2 days in a row!!). I also got to swab the inside of her mouth with a prophylactic liquid. This is just to prevent any possible infection due to the CPAP machine.

She's such a good girl, she opened her mouth right up and let me swab her. I'm not going to lie, I was a bit nervous. As soon as I got the swab out and handed it back to the nurse, she gave me a really good gag face. :)

Mom is still tired so we are going to try to take it easy again tomorrow.

It's tough to get really good pictures of the girls right now. They keep the lights low in the room, or cover their special beds with a blanket which makes getting clear pictures tough. As soon as we get some good ones, I'll post them.

Today's news

2009-06-09T18:54:00.001-04:00

Cynthia got to hold Jessica for the first time today. She held her for about an hour. Jessica made her first poop. That's good because it means that her tummy is working. YAY!!! During the afternoon assessment, I got to change her diaper. I didn't know they made things so tiny, and then the nurse reminded me that the top flap needs to be folded over, because they are still too big for the babies.

That should change soon.

Evelyn is still doing well, although her tummy is not working quite as well as her sister's. I was supposed to get a chance to hold her this afternoon, but we decided to wait until tomorrow to see if the tummy processes improved any. The tests that were ran didn't show any problems, so the docs think that her tummy is just a bit slow. That should improve over the next couple of days.

Update on the Queen

2009-06-09T18:52:00.000-04:00

Mom is doing well. Cynthia is still a bit sore from the surgery, but is moving around better and better all the time. She still has not tried stairs yet, so she is sleeping downstairs. I'm sure that she will be extremely excited when she can make it back upstairs and can sleep in her bed again. She hasn't been able to do that since May 11.

Catching Up

2009-06-09T18:43:00.000-04:00

Previously on "Two Princesses"... Evelyn and Jessica were born on Thursday, June 4th. Evelyn Louise Spruill was born at 11:26 PM and weighed 2 lbs 8 ozs and was 14 inches long. Jessica Catherine Spruill was born at 11:27 PM and weighed 2 lbs 2 ozs and was 13 inches long.

Both girls are currently wowing the nurses at the Duke Intensive Care Nursery (ICN). They are enjoying their spa treatments and being waited on hand and foot. This should get them completely ready for when daddy gets to spoil them later.

Both girls have been completely breathing on their own. Jessica since Friday, and Evelyn since late Friday night/Saturday morning. They've both been treated under the bilirubin lights (aka the spa treatment), and have responded wonderfully.

Both girls started getting a little more nourishment on Monday. Add to that they are getting some milk now and they are doing very well.

Cynthia got a added treat of getting to hold Evelyn for the first time on Monday for about an hour.