Special Visitors

Today Owen and Ella has some special people come to visit them....my Mom and Grandfather drove up today from DFW. Is was special to have the babies first great grand parent come to see them!

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Not much has changed with the babies. They are in their open crib and taking 40cc's of milk. Still not finishing all of their three bottles in the 24hr period which we need them to do in order to move to the next step-which will be bottle feeding every other feed. Still no weight gain either...hopefully that is right around the corner. Although, their weight isn't what is keeping them in the hospital-just their learning to feed.

In the waiting room getting ready for the first group of people to go back. My mom is signing to Ava "I Love You". I love Ava's face because she is just looking up in pure adoration. She LOVES LOVES LOVES my mom. Cries if they are separated for any amount of time when she comes to stay with us. ;)

In their new crib. Gives us SO much more space in their tiny little nook. Before Jamie and I were so squished trying to both fit back there once the curtain is drawn to block off our little spot.

Peacefully sleeping together.

Today they were swaddled together in the SAME blanket. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen!! You could tell they were just SO content!! I hated to unwrap them to wake them up.

Hehehe...could they get any cuter??!!

Owen taking his teeny tiny bottle. He did great today and finished the whole thing!

Ella's turn to wake up. I had to snap a quick picture of her with her eyes open. Not sure if you have noticed the trend yet, but when we wake Owen up to eat he is wide awake. Will keep his eyes open the whole time. Girlfriend LOVES her beauty sleep. Hates to be woken up, and can barely keep her little eyes open when she is eating. Today she almost finished her bottle, but had to be tube fed the very last few cc's. She just couldn't keep herself awake...despite all of mommy's efforts.

Grandma Sher Sher and Owen. She got to feed him his last little bit of milk so I could start on Ella.

The special man of the hour-Great Granddaddy and Owen

Great Granddaddy and Ella. He was so happy to be there visiting with him. It was truly a special day!

I thought I would show you a few pictures from around the NICU. The ones I could take anyways. Here is where you scrub in for 3 minutes like you are going in to surgery before you are let back into where the babies are. Even your camera has to be wiped down before entry, and you have to use paper towels to touch and carry back any bags you are bringing back with you. Once you are back there, once you touch anything other than your baby you have to sanitize your hands. I usually end up using the foam hand sanitizer about 30 times when I am back there. Lets just say my hands are pretty dry. :)

Just outside the NICU is the Ronald McDonald Room. They offer snacks, drinks, two computers with internet access, a couch and 2 recliners for all of the parents with kids in the NICU. It is a very nice thing to have, and super convenient. With so much time spent up there I just think it was awesome they did this for parents!

Hoping to get a good report of the kiddos tomorrow. I really want the nurse to tell me that they finished all of their other two bottles from the feeds after we left. Don't know how much longer I can take my babies being away from me. I am not pregnant anymore, but sometimes I feel like I didn't have babies at all. When we are at home it is like life was before they were born-like nothing at all has changed. I REALLY want them here with me. I am holding up better than I EVER thought I could. Please keep praying that they come home soon!!

Free At Last

No, not free from the hospital, but the babies are free from the "lid" of their isolette. It was so nice to see them in the open air. Today also marked their one week birthday. ONE WEEK!! Where has the time gone? I can't believe they have already been here for one whole week. Time is just flying by in a blur.

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They both finished one bottle each in the night, and finished their bottle for us today as well. Slowly but surely they are getting stronger and learning how to eat. Now it takes them almost 30 minutes just to drink 38cc's of milk (which is barely anything) but it is progress none the less.

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I also got to try to breastfeed them for the first time today. I tried with Owen first. I was shocked that he was actually rooting for me, but he was just too small and weak to really latch on and suck. I didn't want to tire him out, so I didn't try for too long. Ella did the same thing in that she rooted for me. I was shocked because they don't root for the bottle, and are not really interested at all in the nipple of the bottle. We have to basically push it in their mouth. She was also too weak to really latch on and nurse. I get to try to nurse them once a day and am hopeful that they will catch on to nursing quickly once they get stronger.

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Tomorrow they should be out of their isolette and in a crib. They will also be increased to 40cc's of milk. I think they are approaching their goal amount of milk they will need to take for each feed, but we will see.

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Daddy changing Owen's poopie diaper. Better Dad than Mom. :) SOO glad not to have to change diapers through the arm holes anymore!!!

Little Owie clean, happy and ready to eat! I think he may even be throwing a peace sign. hehe

Mommy and Ella....soooo tiny!

Two little snugly bundles

No lid...woo hoo!

With all the talk of babies, preparing big sister for her new siblings, someone has decided she wants to start acting like a baby herself. She found an old pacifier and has it in her mouth constantly. She also has a little baby bottle that she likes to suck on. We don't have the heart to make her stop-since all of the talk and attention has been on the new babies and her little world has been turned upside down. We just love on her and call her "Baby Ava" when she does this. ;)

Reunited...And It Feels So Right!

Every day the babies make great strides, and today was a very special one. Today they were moved to one isolette or incubator. It really warmed my heart to see them back together-like they were in my womb. I am sure they were happy to have one another again too! The only downfall is since they were moved to one crib, they got relocated to a different part of the NICU. They did have a private room spacious room to themselves, now they are out in the open with just a curtain to close us in when we come to visit. :( And on a side note, this NICU is huge. They are almost to capacity...last I checked there were 31 babies in there, and they have beds for 38. WOW!!

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They are on the lowest heat setting in the isolette, and since they are holding their body temps, they will meet another milestone tomorrow by being moved to an open crib. Woo Hoo!! One step closer to coming home!

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They are also up to 36cc's of milk which is leaps and bounds from the 10cc's they were started on just 4 days ago. They are still on just three bottle feeds a day and are doing well with it. Today Owen completed one of his three bottles, and so did Ella. They usually drink a little more than half of their other two bottles, and have to finish the rest in their iv's. We are moving slowly but surely on the whole bottle feeding thing. Ella lost an ounce and is now at 4lbs6oz. Owen gained just enough to be considered 4lbs8oz. Gotta fatten these puppies up!

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Today was also the first day we were able to bring Ava to visit the babies. I had a vision of how it would go. She would be very excited and interested to look at the babies, and we would all be able to take a family picture together. Well, things did not go as planned. I am not sure if it was all of the sounds from the different monitors she didn't like, the close quarters, or the fact that she had to be held, but she lasted only a few minutes. She looked at the babies and I was able to snap a quick picture and then it was meltdown city. She started screaming for no reason, and Jamie's mom had to rush her out of there. I guess that is why they have the rule that siblings under 18 are only allowed to visit once a week. This was a time I wish we still had that private room...I was so embarassed.

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I can't wait to get back up there tomorrow to see my babies in an open crib. I also get to try and breasfeed them for the first time! They are not interested in even a bottle, so I am not expecting them to do anything at all, but it is a start. For now the doctor is letting me try once a day. I will "try" and nurse them and then they will get the bottle. Babysteps....

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Ava colored sweet messages for her new brother and sister.

Checking out Owen and Ella for the first time.

Changing Owen's diaper through the holes of the isolette. Let me tell you it is very hard to do and takes some practice to get used to it. Not only is it hard to maneuver your arms in there, but they are so tiny and there are tons of wires to work around! The babies are so small that the preemie diapers are too big!! They have to be folded over. :)

Momma and her sweet baby boy both in green. (And we didn't even plan it...hehe)

Sporting the new hat Momma made and a non hospital blanket.

"Momma that flash sure is bright!"

Snuggly little Ella.

She got a new hat too. The pics of them are a little funny bc I was balancing them in my lap and taking their pictures. Daddy had to leave to check on Miss Thang.

Together in their isolette. They are SOOO cute together!!! They are so small they can both fit in a regular incubator and still have plenty of room. :) Tomorrow there won't be a glare in the picture bc the top will be gone!! Yippee!!!

My precious little angels. It is so hard to leave these little bundles behind....

Introducing....

OWEN JAMES BENJAMIN

and

ELLA CATE ROSE

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born on Friday, September 4th. Owen was born at 11:16pm weighing 4lb11oz and 18in long. Ella was born at 11:18pm weghing 4lb12oz and 17in long.

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What a Friday that was. I went in to Labor and Delivery for some back pain unrelated to labor around 6pm. They monitored the babies for a while and eventually the oncall doctor came in to check me out. The pain she was guessing was due to me being so small and the babies just squishing everything in my rib cage. She decided to check my cervix just in case. She told me I was dialated to a 3 and thinned 75%. I was SHOCKED. She asked what I was the last time I went to the doc. I said I wasn't anything at all. She asked when he checked me last-I said two days ago. She decided that was enough to keep me overnight.

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Once I got admitted into a room my braxton hicks contractions started getting closer together and stronger. I also started having some real labor pains with some pressure. Once I told her this she immediately went and got the oncall doctor from my OB's practice. He came in, didn't check me, but just said we had better get these babies out before your water breaks. WOW. Things were moving so fast.

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The nurse came in, hooked me up to an iv, and gave Jamie his OR outfit. They slapped a hat on my head and whisked me away to the operating room. This is not how I saw the evening going when I first got there. I mean, I almost drove myself to the hospital because I thought I was going to be in and out. I just wanted some pain meds to help me sleep. Now things were moving in fast forward and I couldn't catch my breath.

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Before I knew it I was layed out and the babies were being pulled out of me. It was all such a surreal experience. Luckily the babies were healthy just small and premature. The hardest part was not being able to see the babies until the next day.

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They never had to be put on oxygen which was such a blessing! They were put on an IV for the first 24hrs before being introduced to milk. What is amazing about my hospital's NICU is that they use donor breast milk until your own milk comes in. You actually have to request formula! I just loved that!! They want all the premature babies to get all of the help they can get by giving them all of the antibodies and other things you can only get from breastmilk. Now they are off the IV and solely drinking my milk.

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They are almost all of the way off the heat in their incubators, and are maintaining their body temps. Woo Hoo! Both of their weight has dropped to 4lb7oz. They are so tiny!! I mean teetiny! It took me a while to get comfortable changing their diapers and holding them. They are only bottle feeding 3 times in a 24hr period and being tube fed the rest of the time. We started out bottle feeding every time, but they were just too immature, and were getting too tired. Feeding for them is like exercise...if you try to feed them every time and tire them out, then they end up burning more calories than they are taking in. So, we are tube feeding them so that they can get stronger, save their energy, and really work on learning to suck, swallow and breath on the few bottle feeds they have.

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I have been released from the hospital, and today was the first time we drove to visit them. It was so hard to leave them in the hospital, but with Ava needing us at home, it made it a little easier. I feel like my heart is being torn into two places...home with Ava and the hospital with the twins. I can't wait for them to come home!!!

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I will try and update the blog as much as possible. I am just so completely exhausted from pumping every 3 hrs, dealing with Ava, and going to visit the NICU. Please pray that they will learn how to do this whole feeding thing and will get to come home soon!

(If there are any spelling errors or something doesn't make sense I blame it on lack of sleep!)

Here are some pics from our whirlwind experience...

Getting ready to go to the OR. Scared out of my mind!!!!

Jamie in his get up! HAHAHA!

Last pregnant pic ever!

Owen. He came out SCREAMING and then was completely fine...

When Ella came out she didn't cry. It was only when they started cleaning her that she got mad. :)

Happy both babies are born and doing well.

Owen

Ella

Ella (L) Owen (R)

Getting set up in the NICU just after their birth

Checking Ella out for the first time. I had to wait until the following day until I got to see my babies! :(

Checking Owen out for the first time

with Owen...

Big Brother Hunter and Ella

Admiring her first SON.

Momma holding BOTH of her babies for the FIRST TIME!

Proud Papa and his babies.

Uncle Eric checking out Owen

Grandma and Owen

Grandma Sher Sher and Owen

Ella's dark hair. She has quite a bit!

Aunt Dee Dee and Miss Ella

Miss Tara came to visit!

The happy parents. Can you tell we are already sleep deprived. This was our last visit before we left to go home. :(

My first visit after being released. I was SOOO happy to see them! Although it is hard to leave them in the NICU, I know they are in GREAT hands and are where they need to be. We love all the nurses up there, and have had nothing but good experiences so far.

(today)

Little Man

Owen

She loves to sleep with her mouth open. Hehe.

Ella