Saturday, February 16, 2013

our twins are here!!

Hi everyone! Sorry I am only getting to a post now. I saw someone put my news on LFCA and a bunch of people clicked over. Thank you to whoever informed them and I hope I haven't kept everyone too worried. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and well wishes!

First off both babies are doing great in the NICU! They were born via c-section on Friday February 8th during the big blizzard. I was 30 weeks 4 days and and U/s showed that Roo had not grown in 2 weeks and had little or no diastolic placenta flow. I am going to introduce them to you and do an update on how they have been doing over the last week. Hopefully some time this week I can get together their birth story post.

Let me introduce to you our little miracles. I'm going to use their names once and then I will refer to them as Squirt and Roo like I have been this whole pregnancy.

Baby A, who we nicknamed Squirt is a boy. He was born at 4:08 pm, weighing 3lbs 2oz and measuring 16 inches long. We named him Ca.lvin Alf.red.

Baby B, who we nicknamed Roo is a girl. She was born at 4:09 pm, weighing 1 lb 7oz and measuring 13 inches long. We named her Ro.byn Edi.th.

When Squirt was born he was screaming and breathing pretty well. They put him on a CPAP after a little bit when his breathing became labored. His oxygen setting started at 40% and has slowly been lowered over the past week. There were times it was lowered and then needed to be raised back up for a day. He is now at 21% which is basically room air setting. He still needs the CPAP for pressure. Whenever he get's taken off the CPAP to get weighed and washed he does better each time.

He was on phototherapy for jaundice for a few days, but came off Friday. It is so nice to see his face a little more again. When he was on the phototherapy his face was covered by those "sunglasses" to protect his eyes from the light.

Up until Wednesday he was getting all his nutrition from the IVs. He still has the IVs and will for a while, but was started Wednesday on a little colostrum squirted in his cheeks every 2 hours. He loved it and did so great on it they started him on a gravity feed of my breast milk through a tube on Thursday. He started off at 1ml every 3 hours and is now up to 6ml every 3 hours! If he keeps doing as good as he is they increase 1ml a day. Today he should be on 7ml every 3 hours.

We actually got to hold him for the first time yesterday!!! Since he has been doing so well when he is off the CPAP for a short time, they took it off, swaddled him up and handed him to us. He was still on the IVs and all the sensors. It was the most amazing feeling finally having him in my arms! We have been able to touch him, change his diaper and comfort him over the past week, but always inside his incubator while he is hooked up to everything and his head was always covered with a hat and face with CPAP and "sunglasses". We were finally able to see his whole head and face for the first time since birth. We finally got to see that he has medium blonde hair like me. I took every second in. Every little expression, sneeze and yawn. He liked being in our arms and did so well. So relaxed and his oxygen saturation stayed at 100%! He was awake for a while looking up at us. I can't wait to do it again!

When Roo was born she was crying a little, but put on the CPAP right away because she was so tiny. Her oxygen setting started and has stayed at 21% from the beginning! She seems to only need help with the pressure. We are told she does well when taken off to be weighed and washed, but only for a short time before her breathing gets labored again.

She was also on phototherapy for jaundice, but came off Thursday. It is so great to be able to see most of her face again. Because she is so tiny, when she had the "sunglasses" on top of the CPAP her face was completely covered. Couldn't see anything. Now we can see her eyes again. Her coloring is getting a lot better. When she was first born she was so red. Over the past week her skin has gotten lighter and lighter. Her coloring almost looks like a normal newborn now.

She was also started on my colostrum on Wednesday. Just a little in her cheeks too. She also loved it and did great with it. On Thursday when she was started the 1ml gravity feed she did good for some of the day, but then was having some stomach issues so it was stopped to let her belly rest. They kept her off it yesterday, but will try again today. We were told this is common because of her size and we could go back and forth many times before she has solid feedings.

We are absolutely amazed each day by how far they have come already. I had calmly prepared myself for them being on vents and not being able to touch them for a while. I had no doubt in my mind that they would make it and thrive, but I prepared for worse. Every day the nurses and Drs don't have much to say about them other than they are moving along and what they do have has been good or some little setback that was expected. They tell us often how amazing they are doing. We look at each other shocked at the little strides they are making and we celebrate each one. We praise our little ones and tell them what a good job they are doing. They are our little fighters! We are so proud of them!

42 comments:

  1. Congratulations Emily! I'm so glad you got them out in time to save them both.

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  2. Congrats!!! Two blankets to keep :) I love their names, our baby B was almost named Calv.n. I can't wait to see pictures!

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  3. Congrats Emily!!! SO happy they are doing well and sending so many thoughts that they continue to grow strong!!

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  4. I've been thinking and praying for all of you! So glad to finally have an update and to know that they're doing so great. How exciting that you got to hold him!!! Feel free to call or text if you need someone to talk to. :)

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  5. Congraulations Emily!!! So wonderful that they are doing well! I hope you are healing and adjusting easily!

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  6. Congrats on your little ones! Sounds like they are little fighters, for sure. I'm glad to hear that they both seem to be doing so well. How awesome that must have been to hold your little guy for the first time!

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  7. Oh my goodness! Congratulations to you and your beautiful babies!!

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  8. I hadn't heard! Wow! Huge congrats:) can't wait to hear more about how everyone is doing!

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  9. Congrats! I will keep my good thoughts going for you and them :)
    Let me know if you have any NICU questions!

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  10. Congrats I am so happy for you. Hopefully they continue to grow! Reagan was under the lights for jaundice too, we called it her little tanning bed.

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  11. Congratulations!! Glad they are doing well!

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  12. Oh my gosh!!! They are here! Congratulations!!! I'm so relieved to hear you are all doing well!

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  13. Huge congratulations, Emily!! I'm glad to hear Roo and Squirt are doing well. I can't wait to hear more.

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  14. Congratulations! I am glad that they are doing well on CPAP and already started breast milk. It's great that your milk came in, it's so important for them. My little one was born at 25 weeks and pumping made me feel like I could actually do something to help her grow. If you have any questions about the NICU, please feel free to contact me. I know it's wonderful to see you babies but it's also very, very scary. I needed all the help I could get in those weeks (actually months for us) in the NICU. I wish your family all the best!!!

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  15. Congratulations - I can't believe they are already here doesn't seem like that long ago I was reading your pregnancy announcement! Glad to hear they are doing well - and I love the names you picked :D

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  16. Congrats! The nicu can be tough, but it sounds like they are doing great! my baby b was the same size as your little guy and she was home in just over 2 weeks. Keep up the good work mama!

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  17. So, so glad that they are doing well, and that you are holding up as best as you can ... love to you all, and we'll look forward to seeing you soon!

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  18. Congratulations! I Hope they continue to get stronger and healthier each day.

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  19. Congrats!!!! Praying for them to great nice and strong so that they can go home! Beautiful names! Can't wait to see pictures!

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  20. Congratulations! Charlotte was born just a few days later than Roo for the same reason. Feel free to e-mail me if you need someone to talk to about the NICU and preemie stuff. Talking to other people that had been through the NICU helped me a lot when I was dealing with it.

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  21. Congratulations and I hope to hear more happy news - hang in there and good luck!

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  22. Congratulations! Praying they will be home with you soon.

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  23. Congratulations! Welcome to the world, babies!

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  24. Congratulations!!! Glad to hear they are doing so well!!!! <3 <3 <3

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  25. Congratulations to your whole family! I am so happy Roo and Squirt (who have the cutest names ever by the way!!) are doing well. I've been thinking of you all so much. I hope they continue to exceed expectations and that their NICU stays are as short as possible.

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  26. I was just thinking about you and wondering how your little sweeties are doing. And how YOU are doing. I know how stressful it is having your babies in the hospital! I hope to read a good update soon. :-)

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  27. Congratulations!!! I am thrilled for all of you. Glad everything is going well and I look forward to hearing more :)

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  28. I could not be more excited for you and your BABIES!

    Congrats, E!

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  29. Congratulations! My twins were born at 30+4 as well, so I know the journey you are about to embark on. May your NICU stay be short & smooth sailing.

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  30. Congratulations to you and the whole family! Sorry am late in responding, yet so very thrilled that the twins are getting better daily! Lots of love and prayers have been sent your way and I shall continue to do so -- thanks for sharing so many details, it is really nice to "see" how things are : ) Hopefully they will both be out of the NICU as soon as possible!

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  31. hey girl!!!!!!!!! I haven't been around the blogosphere for a few months but am SOOOOOO HAPPY to see this post!!!!!! Thinking of you and your babies!! Can't wait to see pics!!

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  32. Still thinking about ya. I hope you're doing OK! Look at all the stupid spam comments on here -- you must really be busy!

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  33. Congratulations!!!!!! I am so happy your little ones are doing well. What a miracle they are! xoxo

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  34. Hey! How are the bambinos doing?

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  35. Hello! I am soo glad to hear of your twins arrivals! I am soo sorry that I have been slacking off. I hope that you are doing well and that you will give us more updates soon :D

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  36. Hi, thinking of you and your little ones and hope you are all doing well! I've been thinking of our NICU stay a lot and it's life changing.. Maybe it helps to know that we are all here for you if you need us. Am keeping you and your loved ones in my thoughts! Sending a big hug

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  37. And wow, those spam comments are so annoying! I am sorry you have to deal with that..

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  38. Wondering how everything is going?! Hope to hear from you soon :)

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  39. Checking in and thinking of you!

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  40. Oh, Emily. They are beautiful.

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It is always exciting finding new comments! I really love knowing you were here!

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