Great strides to get off the ventilator.

The girls are both doing great today. Reagan weighs 2lbs. 15oz and so now has reached Renna's birthweight. We are very excited to see her finally gaining weight. She still looks so skinny to us but she is moving right up the scale! Renna is having a great day today. She had a huge poopy surprise for us this morning! We were very happy to clean it up. It is so funny how little things like pooping and peeing have become milestones to celebrate. Renna also continues to make great strides to get off the ventilator. Her blood gas values are looking great so all day today they have been weaning her off the breaths per minute on the vent. She started the day at 40 bpm and is now down to 20 bpm this evening. Yeah! She is also starting to breath around the vent on her own which is a really good sign. They said as long as her bloodwork continues to look good they will continue decreasing her off the ventilator. I am secretly hoping it will be by Sunday but of course we don't know for sure. We are both just dying to kangaroo her again and give her kisses. She is much more alert today as they continue decreasing her off her pain medication. She held onto our fingers a lot today when we went in for our touch times. So overall we had a very encouraging day which doesn't happen a lot in the NICU when you have two babies. Hopefully tomorrow will go just as well. I wanted to post a few pictures of Adam and I kangarooing with the girls like I explained yesterday. Don't be afraid of Adam's hairy chest, the girls don't seem to mind! The picture of all four of us is the first one of our family of four. We took the first two pictures when the girls were one week old. It was a great day because it was the first time they got to see and touch each other. Adam got to be the one to hold them both together for the first time but we were all very emotional! The girls truly seemed excited to see each other and they held hands. So precious! The last picture is of me and Reagan this week, doing my new favorite pastime, kangarooing!

3 Weeks Old!

We can't believe our little miracle babies are three weeks old today! They are doing so well. First I must tell how big they are. Renna is a whopping 3lbs. 11oz, or so they say. Adam and I are a little skeptical since on Monday before surgery she weighed 3lbs. 1oz., we think there may be a lot of error with all of her new gadgets and edema. Reagan has also jumped up in her weight, she has now surpassed her birthweight (yeah) and weighs 2lbs. 14oz. We are very pleased with both of their progresses. Renna is doing well, she didn't have much change yesterday, but is making some strides today. She did get her chest tube pulled around noon today. She must feel better having this out, it looked very uncomfortable. They also turned down her ventilator rate, which basically means they are giving her less breaths. They also began weaning her off of her pain medication. As if all that wasn't enough they are increasing her milk feedings and decreasing her IV nutrition to try and get her back to where she was. She is having a little trouble with her tummy as she hasn't been able to poop since surgery, she got a suppository today but no luck yet. Hopefully things will begin moving through tomorrow. Poor little girl, as if she didn't have enough problems. We did recieve great news today, her heart murmur is totally gone now! What an answered prayer! God continues to be so good to us. Renna seems a little more aware of us today as she is getting less "doped up". It is so wonderful to see her little eyes again. We absolutely can't wait to get her off the ventilator so we can hold our little cowgirl again. Reagan continues to do great. She is obviously gaining weight and they are increasing her milk feedings as well. She continues to literally migrate around her incubator to move where she is more comfortable. It really is shocking how much strength she has for such a little skinny girl. She is going to be a little escape artist. She may be catching Renna in size before long as well. Overall, we had a great day so I decided I was ready to make my first trip home. Yes you read correctly, I had not been home to our house since we made the mad dash to the hospital three weeks ago! I have been staying here at the hospital hotel to be close to the girls and be present to hold them and do the kangaroo times. Kangaroo time is when we get to hold the girls skin on skin, it is my favorite time of the day! So wonderful but the one hour goes so fast! Anyways I decided since Adam was going to work on the second crib I would go home too. So Adam worked on the crib and putting our glider together (thanks Grandma and Papa) while I got some work done on organizing and putting away shower gifts in the nursery (thanks for the help Grammy). It was very bittersweet being back home. Adam had told me it doesn't feel the same anymore without me and the girls there. So when I got home I found that to be very true. It is just that our whole lives have changed so drastically and now we don't feel complete without the girls. It was sad being in the nursery but fun to see the gifts from my showers and start putting some things away. Adam and I have been laughing now about how unimportant things like painting the nursery and decorating have now become. All we want is for our little girls to be home and be healthy...who cares what color the nursery is. I really like khaki walls anyways! We are just excited about the three week milestone. Hopefully only another month or so and they can come home.

More Blood transfusions!

Well I guess I jinxed us yesterday by saying that hopefully we have no more blood transfusions. We got there this morning and Renna was having...you guessed it a transfusion! No big worries. She seems to be doing okay. She has been a little uncomfortable today. I can't even imagine how painful she must be, anyways so she couldn't relax and was grabbing on her vent tube and putting her little hands in a fist!! Poor little lady!! So they sedated her for most of the day. She obviously relaxed after that. She is having only very small amount of drainage from her chest tube. She is still on the ventilator and will be until they can keep her comfortable without sedation. It is so hard to see my little angel like that. It breaks my heart. The goal is to start weaning her off of it tomorrow, but she seems to notice when they decrease the oxygen setting. Renna also still has a heart murmur today...they are unsure exactly why but hopefully it is something that will not require another surgery. They are going to wait and see if it resolves and recheck an echocardiogram of her heart in a few days. Reagan is doing great after her transfusion yesterday. We are getting to hold her three times a day now! We love it!! Especially with Adam spending time up here with us this week, we are all enjoying it. Reagan continues to be our little active girl, she constantly moves into weird places in her bed. It is crazy how much a tiny little girl can move, she has a lot of strenth. I will try to post some pictures of this at some point. Reagan weighed 2lbs. 13 oz. after her transfusion so we are excited she has finally surpassed her birthweight! We appreciate the prayers.

31 weeks gestational age today!

Today was a tough day. As many of you know Renna had a Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) in her heart due to her prematurity. This required surgery, which she had today. Our prayers were answered and the surgery went well. She is now back in NICU and recovering on a ventilator with a chest tube. It is so hard for Adam and I to see our baby girl like this but she is so tough! She seems to be doing great and the surgeon said the surgery went well. They were able to ligate the vessel. God is so good! We pray she starts to feel better soon. Reagan is doing well, but did have to have a blood transfusion this evening. They tell us this is not uncommon with their prematurity. Both girls have now had one so maybe we are done with those now. Each day in the NICU seems to bring new challenges with one or both girls. We continue to be reminded of how precious life is and how blessed we are to have these little girls in our lives. The great news is they both seem stable and are continuing to grow. They are offically 31 weeks gestationally today and making great progress toward our goal of 36 weeks (this is considered full term for twins)!

The Girls Came Early

Reagan and Renna

Most of you know our little twin girls decided to come unexpectedly on June 11 at only 28 weeks of gestation. I guess they couldn't wait any longer to meet us. It all happened so fast and within four hours of arriving at the hospital the girls were both here via emergency c-section. So we welcomed our little ladies with so much excitement and fear all at the same time. They are Renna Ann Laughlin whose is affectionately called Baby A, she weighed 2 lbs. 15 oz. and is 15 inches long. Reagan Kate followed one minute after and is our little Baby B, weighing 2lbs. 10 oz. They are both still in the Neonatal ICU but are hanging in there. They sure are tough little girls! We have had our share of ups and downs with problems as they try to incubate in the NICU, but overall we have been very blessed that they are doing so well. We are creating this blog to keep everyone updated on their progress. This is my very first attempt at blogging so be patient with me. We want to thank everyone for all of their prayers and the outpouring of love and support we have had from friends, family, and people we don't even know. God has definitely blessed us in many ways. We will keep everyone posted on their progress and our trials. Please continue the prayers.