Twice the Fun Plus One

I can't even tell you how crazy the last 48 hours have been! I spent several hours in the NICU with the girls on Wednesday and finally had to go home around 4 in the afternoon because I was completely exhausted. I had been super emotional all day and just felt like I needed some sleep, figuring everything the last 3 weeks was catching up with me. So, I headed home and by the time I got there I was feeling pretty crummy! Throughout the evening I felt worse and worse and ended up having a low grade fever. I thought I might have the flu so we called the girls' nurse and let her know so she could keep and eye on them since I had been there all day. I went to the doctor on Thursday morning and had to sit in the waiting room for a couple of hours because I didn't have an appointment. Turns out I didn't have the flu but had some other virus and an ear infection. Thankfully, Gracelyn and Ellie both seem to have made it through without getting sick! I tell you all of this be...

Gracelyn and Ellie are both doing really well. Gracelyn is now taking all her feedings from a bottle. The dr. is changing the number of calories that are being added to her milk. Everytime a change in their feeding is made they have to be monitored for 24 hours. So, she is getting close to being ready to come home, but she isn't quite there yet. Ellie is getting close to taking all her feedings from a bottle. Yesterday she was getting 2 out of 3 bottle feedings so I am guessing that she will be bumped up to all today, but we haven't heard from the dr. so not sure on that. They did another echo a couple of days ago and the PDA hasn't changed, but she is still asymptomatic. As long as it isn't bothering her they will send her home with it and we will follow up with a cardiologist. Both girls are now in open cribs and are maintaining their body temp well. I just talked to the doctor and he said that Gracelyn is staying with the same feeding as yesterday so if she continu...

We got some slightly disturbing news about Ellie yesterday. She has a PDA. I did a search on the internet to get a better idea of what that means. Basically, as far as I understand, a PDA is a connection between the pulmonary artery and the aorta that did not close itself off soon after birth. If left untreated it can result in congestive heart failure when a baby gets older. The doctor told us it isn't something to be overly concerned with at this time. Ellie is not exhibiting any symptoms (difficulty breathing, problems with weight gain, among others) so at this point they are just going to continue monitoring her and hopefully it will close on its own and we won't have to look at other methods of treatment. PDA is fairly common in premature babies and while they don't like to administer too many medications or perform any kind of surgery on babies so small, they do it quite frequently. We are asking for your prayers for our little girl once again. I have seen the wonderf...

It has been a crazy week around our house. Our girls arrived last Friday evening. It was definitely a surprise to Mommy because there was nothing unusual going on all day, then all of a sudden, it was time! Gracelyn Joy and Ellie Jenay made their miraculous appearance at 5:54 and 5:55 December 19. They are just beautiful and progressing really well. They were only 31 weeks and 2 days gestation, but they have definitely held their own in the neonatal ICU. Ellie had some trouble breathing initially and had to be put on a bubble C-Pap, but she is already off that and breathing fine on her own. Gracelyn had a bout with Apnea, but it looks like that has resolved itself, also. Dave and I love going to see our girls everyday, but it makes it hard to get anything else accomplished. We are just so excited to have them here we aren't very motivated to do much besides spend time with them. I am sure we are going to drive all the nurses crazy before all is said and done!! Gracelyn's fir...