The Fetal Position, Not just for Preemies...

Mendy enjoys her new bed, cold as usual. The girls new crib, also known as cell block C.

Renna napping away.

Reagan, not napping, as usual.

I'll preface this post by saying that this is Adam, and while I may not be as funny and cheerful as my lovely wife, I do have a few minutes to post on our blog to keep everyone updated. I got some exciting and scary news yesterday while at work. Mendy called and told me that Reagan took her entire bottle in one feeding, then she told me that the doctors wanted to move us out of the NICU and up to our own room in the pediatric ward. My first statement was "Wow, are you sure there ready? That's pretty scary!". So while I like to think of myself as the risk taker in our little family, I have learned that when it comes to my little girls, I'm already the overprotective Dad I swore I wouldn't be. So yesterday around noon they moved the girls to our own room and we get to take care of their diapering, feeding, and the monitoring of their breathing and slowed heart rate episodes. Needless to say we are getting about 3 hours of sleep a night, and walk around like zombies most of the waking hours. One of us has to be with the girls 24-7, so we have employed both of our mothers to help us out. We are so thankful that both of our moms have been able to help out, we can't thank them enough. Their help has allowed us to take a few cat naps during the day to catch up on our sleep. The girls have been doing OK since we moved. They do of course realize we are amatuers at intensive care babies, and have decided as most children will, to test their parents in every way possible. We love being able to be with them as much as possible, but I must say when that alarm goes off at 4 AM that says one of them has stopped breathing, we both almost jump out of our skin. Then when it goes off again at 4:17AM our hearts jump out of our chest. Then when it goes off at 8:00 AM, both of our stomachs turn over. Needless to say, when this is all said and done were are going to crawl into the fetal position and suck our thumbs every time we go through the line at Walmart and suffer the constant beeps as they scan our groceries. That being said, we love being with our little girls and can't wait till we can get them home. Renna has been taking all of her feedings by bottle, but still has to have some supplemental oxygen. She is at the lowest possible setting for oxygen supplementation, which is called "whiffs" by the nurses here. Reagan required a blood transfusion yesterday (her third), but is still not requiring any oxygen. She does not seem the least bit interested in taking her meals by bottle. She enjoys having her feedings through a tube in her nose, thank you very much, and will not suffer the lowly task of sucking milk out of a rubbery nipple. So while one daughter needs "nose candy" and the other is hooked on O2, we carry on. We appreciate every one's thoughts and prayers, and really look forward to getting our girls home.

42 days and counting...

Reagan

Renna

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Things have been busy here as usual. We have decided our life will now always be crazy and we will always be tired! We wouldn't have it any other way. Anyways, we finally made the big move home from the hospital hotel to our home on Sunday! What a huge move...I never realized how much stuff we had accumulated in 5 and a half weeks. It is great to be home but bittersweet without our little girls here. We both slept really good in our own bed for the first time since the birth! So now my days are even more busy if that is possible. I am making the thirty minute drive to the hospital twice a day and only going home for a short time in the afternoon. I am now officially a mommy on the go! The girls are doing well. Renna weighs 4lbs. 9oz tonight and Reagan is 4lbs. 7oz. Reagan is quickly gaining on her sister. It is so good to see their little faces filling out and some fat accumulating in their little legs. Renna had to get her third blood transfusion yesterday, but seems to be having a lot less slow heart rates and breathing episodes today. Hopefully the blood transfusion is doing its job. Renna had an amazing day today. I arrived this morning and they informed me she had met the goal of taking all of her feedings by bottle in a 24 hour period! No tube feeding anymore for her! She got her tube pulled out of her nose and is vigorously nursing and drinking her bottles. I know she would eat more if they would let her. They tried to turn off her oxygen canula today. She is doing pretty well without it when she is resting. When she starts drinking her bottle or moving around too much she has to have it turned back on. But we are very pleased at these giant leaps in the direction towards going home. Way to go Renna! Reagan is having a lot of nasal congestion and snotty nose. This is especially hard for her trying to learn to take her bottle because she can't breathe well thru her nose while she is trying to suck. This process of suck, swallow, and breathe is hard enough for preemies but especially for her since she is having trouble moving air thru her nose. They cultured the discharge several days ago and the doctor told us tonight they are going to start her on some nose drops and an oral antibiotic. We hope this gets our little lady some much needed relief. It makes me really sad hearing her snort and gasping. I am sure this is just the first of many colds and sinus infections. Now we are just hoping it is nothing too contagious that Renna might get as well. So we are all doing pretty well. We have been working to get things squared away for when they finally come home. My mom and grandma came and helped me on Saturday and Monday. Adam is working tonight to try and finish staining one of the cribs so they will have a place to sleep when they finally get to come home. For all who don't know Adam has made both of the cribs out of maple and they are absolutely beautiful. I will try to post some pictures when they are completely finished. I must say that it has been a long road in the NICU and everyday I see babies go home that have arrived only days/weeks ago...it is very frustrating but I am happy for them. Just a little (okay a lot) jealous. I guess I have to remember how lucky we are and how much God is continuing to bless us. Hopefully we are at least now on the downhill slide and starting to see a little faint light at the end of the tunnel. Adam and I will never take for granted getting to hold our little angels whenever we want and have them in our own home! The girls will be six weeks old tomorrow. We can't believe that. I guess it is true what everyone says about how fast time flies once you have little ones. I had to post a few new pictures of the girls that Adam took with his new camera. He is getting pretty good!