3 weeks old!

Well the girls are 3 weeks old today! Hard to believe it has been 3 weeks since these sweet girls came into our lives! Let's start with Ava! She was discharged last Sunday! We were so shocked b/c we didnt expect it to be that soon, although we were thrilled. It was a hard day though bc it was so hard to take Ava and leave Olivia. I didn't realize how hard that would be. Ava has been doing good at home, the first 2 nights she was fussy during the night. We were trying to let her sleep in the pack n play in our bedroom and she honestly didn't like the pack n play. So we tried the crib and it's been working wonders! The baby loves her crib! She has now been doing great at night. She wakes every 3 hours to eat and then usually goes right back to sleep in her crib! She is such a sweet little baby! She is up to 4 lbs and 7 ounces. We do think she misses her little sister being in the bed next to her! I am ready to have them together. Her big sister, Alexis has been so sweet to her. She did get to hold her for a minute and that thrilled her to death. She has been very helpful with bringing us stuff for Ava when we need it!

Miss Olivia is also doing great. Jon and myself are both getting up there at night. When he gets home from work at 5 I go feed Olivia and spend time with her and then he goes at 8. It is hard to have one home and one in the NICU. Olivia is doing great though. As of last night she was 4 lbs which means it won't be long now before she is home. After spending all day with Ava and then going to see Olivia last night I really realized they look just alike for real. I think b/c Olivia's weight is almost caught up with Ava's it's helping. Pretty sure these girls are identical. Can't wait to lay them beside each other at home and really see if there is any difference.
I do want to say I was again reminded last night just how blessed we were. As I was feeding Olivia I heard a nurse telling a parent that their baby had had a spell and his vitals dropped and he stopped breathing and they had to bag him to get him to breath. Right then and there I stopped and prayed for that family b/c I can't imagine what it feels like to be told that and I thanked God for letting my 2 girls be so incredibly healthy.

I never want to take for granted the blessings we have been given.

2 weeks old!!!

So our sweet girls our 2 weeks old today and boy are they doing great!!! I mean GREAT! These girls remind us everyday of God's great goodness b/c they are just amazing! They are totally on bottles, feeding tubes have been out since this past weekend and haven't had to be put back in. They are eating every 3 hours around the clock and they may even start going to every 4 hours soon b/c they are eating so much! Ava can eat 60 cc's at a feeding (2 oz) and Olivia is up to 40 cc's! For these little angels that is amazing!
They continue to have no other problems whatsoever. No trouble breathing or doing anything! They are opening their eyes soo much more now too! They have starting smiling so much! They are just precious!
We are really loving getting involved at night. We take their temp, change them, swaddle them, feed them, burp them, and then cuddle!! We have to wait to cuddle until after they eat b/c if we try and cuddle during feedings they tend to not eat.. They like to be cuddled!!! I am finally allowed to drive since it's been 2 weeks since the section so I am going to be up there while Lexie is in school and do some daytime feedings! Oh and their fabulous weights as of today are Ava Grace 4 lbs and 2 ounces and Olivia Joy 3 lbs and 6 ounces!!
We are so proud of these girls and are so excited about how well they are doing and can't wait to get them home soon!!

Progress!!!!

Well we have had a great few days in the NICU!!! The girls are doing awesome! I tell you they are just amazing. They still have no other problems, just learning to eat through the bottle and gaining weight. We are so so blessed! So since they will be 36 week babies on Monday the nurses decided they needed to start really working on bottles. So when Jon and myself got to the hospital last night they had us ready to do the 8 o'clock feeding. For me it was a little nerve wracking b/c they are so small and that big monitor machine makes noises and scares me alot. I finally relaxed after the sweet nurse Nancy showed me some stuff. I just didn't know if you do everything the same way with little babies as you do with the big ole babies! Well you do! So Jon feed Ava and I feed Olivia. The NICU nurse got Olivia to finish her bottle and I burped her. We learned that since they loved to be swaddled and love to be cuddled by mom and dad you kind of have to hold them away from you when you are feeding them b/c when they are being cuddled they just want to sleep. So we learned that right away. I tell you though my husband was a pro. He got Ava to take her entire bottle. He didn't want help and he proved he didn't need it! He is already amazing with these babies and I can't wait to see when they get home how well he will do! They are eating at 8, 11, 2, 5 around the clock and will probably stay on that even when they come home and even if they aren't awake in the night we will have to wake them b/c preemies have to be on strict schedules! After we fed them both coincidentally both had stinky diapers for us. So we both changed our babies stinky and then got them all warm and toasty back in their isolate! The NICU nurse told Jon and I we both received Gold Stars for last night! I know it sounds crazy but it is different when they are small so we were soo proud of ourselves! We are planning on being there every night for the 8 o'clock feeding and as soon as I can drive again (this Friday!!!! hallelujah!) I am going to hopefully be there for the 8 o'clock morning feeding as well! Anyways, so we are doing great. They have both also started gaining and hopefully will continue. Last night Ava was 3-12 and Olivia was 2-14. Hopefully it is even more today when we go! Thanks for all the prayers, keep them coming b/c they are working! God is good and we are so blessed!

A great night in the NICU!

Jon and I had a GREAT visit with the girls last night! They were so alert and awake. We got them both out and held them for about an hour. I was holding Ava and Jon was holding Olivia! Jon was talking to Olivia and telling her that even though she's the youngest and smallest she can't let Ava do everything and do it all before her. So we are sitting there and Ava was hiccuping and not a few minutes later Olivia starts hiccuping! We were cracking up. She must have heard her daddy and realized she couldn't let Ava out do her!

Also, while Olivia was getting her tube feeding Jon got out her pacifier and that little angel sat there and sucked on her paci for about ten minutes! Only her daddy could get her to do! She may be tiny but she is a strong little girl! We are going to work on Ava and the paci tonight!
It was a great great visit! Love those angels! It was especially hard to leave b/c they were so awake and happy I just wanted to take them home! Can't wait to see them today! God is good and is blessing us every single minute of everyday!

Ava Grace and Olivia Joy!!!

Ok first of all, I am going to start doing better with this blog, I want to remember these first few days and weeks of the twins life in the NICU..

So after a few appointments last week and a high risk doctor appointment we realized the girls weren't growing in the womb anymore and we needed to get them out. My doctor decided he wanted to do a section b/c he didn't want to put the girls under any stress. So we scheduled the section for Thursday, September 30 at 12 noon.
So we went in for the section. The section itself went well, I did get a little/alot nauseous during the whole thing and felt pretty rough for a few hours after but it wasn't too horrible. The girls both came out kicking the doctor and crying right away. They are amazing! Ava was 3 lbs and 10 oz and 17 inches and Olivia was 2 lbs and 12 oz and 16 inches! Let me just say they are gorgeous. Their sweet daddy got to carry them out quickly to see family and then they wanted to get the to NICU. So they went straight to NICU. Because of a wonderful labor and delivery nurse I did get to be wheeled in on the bed to see them a few hours later. Nurses can make or break your experience and mine were wonderful!

So the first few days in the NICU we had a few issues. We thought Olivia was the one we were going to have to worry about b/c she was the smallest and a detailed sonogram last week had shown she wasn't properly distributing her blood. Well let me tell you that chick is amazing. She has had no issues. She is a fighter. She just needs to eat and grow. She is so calm and mild mannered and relaxed. Jon said she is already a daddy's girl! Now Miss Ava had a few issues in the beginning. She wasn't breathing as good as they would like the first day so they put  her on oxygen for a day. She quickly did start doing great, then she had a little jaundice so they had to put the mask on her and set up the lights for her. She also had to have some antibiotics through an iv for some acid issues. However, as of today all of those things are gone. Now they both have to just eat and grow. It is amazing to think that is all we are really worrying about at this point. I am telling you b/w the prayers from everyone and God's amazing love we are so blessed. It is amazing! We have quickly realized Ava is a wild woman. Last night she moved herself out of her little snuggie and moved all the way down her isolate and had totally shifted and turned her body around, while miss Olivia just sleeps so peacefully!! haha already we have a calm child and a wild girl! i love it!

Now, we were told they would be fraternal twins b/c they both had separate sacs, well one of our precious NICU nurses disagrees. She herself has twins and was told the same thing and she did a DNA test and come to find out they are Identical. Well we are convinced ours are Identical and once they get bigger and come home we will be doing the test. These two girls look exactly alike. IF they didn't have a pound difference b/w them right now I would not be able to tell them apart! Let me just say they are soo beautiful though. They have their daddys dark hair- they both have a head full and they look exactly like their daddy. Which is ok with me b/c I think he's pretty darn cute! I just can't say enough how in love we are with them.

Now I must say it is the hardest thing in the world to know you created these little children and now they can't quite come home with you. That is hard people. It hit me Saturday night out of the blue and then on Sunday when we were discharged I took it rough. It is so hard but I know it will get better. We are going to see them every single day and hopefully twice a day and they tell us within 3 to 4 weeks they should be big enough to come home. I sure hope so b/c walking in a nursery you have made for twins and knowing you aren't pregnant anymore but your babies aren't home is soo hard.

I just ask for your prayers that these girls continue to do amazing and will eat and grow quickly! We want them healthy and home!

 I will continue to update so we can look back and remember these important beginning NICU days!