Father's Day! June 2009

Father's Day was bittersweet because we were happy to have the girls here for it but sad that our time had to be spent in the NICU. The day did not go off like I'd imagined, so we didn't get all the pictures I'd anticipated. I'm only just realizing sadly that we didn't get any pictures with Elise. All the pics above are with Anne-Claire.

Anne-Claire's first bottle: June 20

On June 20, Anne-Claire got her first bottle from Nurse Jennifer (who is expecting herself in August). It wasn't actually her first bottle because another nurse gave her one the other night without our knowledge, but it was the first one that Mama got to witness. I wasn't thrilled with the idea but was told it was the fastest way to get them home because they have to get all their feedings by mouth before they can come home. Elise is still in the isolette and getting her feedings by NG tube except when I'm there to nurse her.

Anne-Claire

Elise

Thursday, June 18

Elise, 3 weeks, 3 pounds 10 ounces

Anne-Claire, 3 weeks, 4 pounds 12 ounces

Dr. Lauren Dungy-Poythress holding Anne-Claire and Elise


The girls' room

The board with their daily stats

Anne-Claire and Elise were 3 weeks old when we thought they would be transported to Bloomington Hospital. I went to the NICU and took pictures of the babies, their room, and Dr. Dungy-Poythress holding both girls, thinking it was their last day there. The next morning I called the nurse manager at Bloomington Hospital (BHHS) who was going to work out the details of the transfer with our insurance. She told me that another baby was being transferred from Riley and it had only taken an hour to get approval from the insurance, which happened to be the same one as ours. She promised to call me back in an hour. When she called she had not heard back yet from the insurance but expected to hear shortly. After waiting all day, we were finally told that the insurance had not gotten back with BHHS, so we'd have to wait until Monday for the transfer. I really wanted to go ahead and have the girls transported even with the risk that we'd have to pay the $4000 bill ourselves. The woman at BHHS advised against doing that because she thought the risk was too great. I was bitterly disappointed and had little hope that the transfer would happen. On Monday, we learned that the insurance had denied our request because Bloomington Hospital could not offer our girls any better care than they were already getting in Indy. They had no interest in our girls being closer to home, and thereby, being more easily nursed by their mama. I tried to not be too upset and to put my hope in Christ. I knew that He had a better plan for our girls than anything I could imagine.

Recital Pictures

Emma had lots of fun at her recital on June 19. She did a great job and looked adorable on stage. I'm so thankful that I was able to be there--for a while I wasn't sure if I'd still be in the hospital. We all wish Anne-Claire and Elise could have been home for the recital and in the picture of our family. I'm sure they'll be at the next one!

Tiny Dancers

Emma's first dance recital is this Friday and today was the dress rehearsal. She's been taking a dance class since September that includes ballet, tap, and tumbling. For the recital, Emma and two other little girls from her class are performing a tap number in adorable red, sparkly dresses. She is very excited to be dancing up on stage.

1 pound in 3 weeks!

Nanny holding Anne-Claire and Elise

Anne-Claire, 3 weeks old


Anne-Claire with nurse, Kimmy

Elise, 3 weeks old

Elise with Kimmy

Elise, holding in her own passy

Elise's first tub bath

Today was a big day for Anne-Claire and Elise! They are 3 weeks old (35 weeks adjusted gestational age) and both reached 1 pound of weight gain since birth. Anne-Claire is 4 pounds 11 ounces, and Elise is 3 pounds 10 ounces! Elise also got her first tub bath today and seemed to enjoy it nicely. We should find out soon whether we're going to be able to have them transported to the Bloomington hospital where we can spend more time with them every day instead of every other day like we're doing now. We also learned yesterday that it is possible that they might be ready to come home within the next 2-3 weeks. The clinical director of the NICU said that generally babies born at 32 weeks go home around 37-38 weeks adjusted gestational age. In order to go home our girls have to get all of their feedings by mouth (right now most of their feedings are through an NG tube) and stop having brady's (heart decels), apnea's (periods greater than 20 seconds without breathing), and desats (low blood-oxygen levels). We're praying to get them home safe and sound soon and moved to Bloomington in the meantime.

Today was also a sad day because Nanny left us after being here for 2 whole weeks. It was wonderful having her here for that long, and she will be sorely missed. Emma and Charlotte have no one to spoil and adore them like only a Nanny can, and I don't have someone to tell me to sit down and rest (in other words spoiling me). Mom was such a help with the girls, the house, and packing--I cried as I left the airport this morning. Yesterday she got to hold Anne-Claire and Elise, so I've got some great pictures of them with her. Seeing all four of our girls with their Nanny made me want to get back to Texas even more. Hopefully, one day that will happen. We are excited, however, because Aunt Dorothy and Aunt Cindy are coming up to visit next week!! Yay!!

Growing girls!

All four of our girls are growing big this summer! Emma will be celebrating her 4th birthday in a month, and Charlotte, while only 20 months old, tries her best to do everything her big sister can do. Anne-Claire weighed 4 pounds 5.9 ounces, and Elise weighed 3 pounds 4 ounces last night. They were 2 weeks old, or 34 weeks adjusted, on Tuesday. Anne-Claire is now sleeping in a "big girl" crib and is nursing nicely whenever I'm at the hospital with her. Elise is gaining weight nicely and will be big enough for a big girl crib herself soon. Here are some pictures from this week.

Elise, sleeping peacefully

Anne-Claire's first day in the "big girl" crib, Sunday, June 7

Elise, tiny and bundled snuggly

Emma and Nanny at the park

Charlotte, swinging at the park

Charlotte, climbing the rock wall

Emma in the tunnel

Emma and her best friend, Alice

Anne-Claire's first tub bath

Anne-Claire, bright-eyed and beautiful--2 weeks old

Sweet Elise--2 weeks old

New Pictures

Sorry for the delay in getting an update and pictures posted. Life since Anne-Claire and Elise were born has been pretty crazy. From pumping every 2-3 hours and driving back and forth between Bloomington and the NICU to recovering from major surgery and caring for Emma and Charlotte, I haven't had any time to even check email much less upload pictures to the blog. I'm actually at the hospital "rooming-in" in one of the parent rooms the NICU provides and wanted to take a few minutes to get this posted.

First, an update: Anne-Claire and Elise have been "rock stars," to use the phrase my friend Jen has used to describe our girls progress. They have been breathing room air with various levels of additional respiratory support since their birth. Their breathing support has gone from CPAP to SIPAP back to CPAP to Vapotherm to none. The level of support from high to low is SIPAP, CPAP, Vapotherm, and none. They have both been gaining weight nicely. Anne-Claire weighed 1780 grams (3 lbs 15 oz) tonight. Elise is up to 1300 grams (2 lbs 14 oz). Anne-Claire was able to begin nursing on Wednesday and is wearing clothes. She's also being weaned from the temperature controlled isolette so she can graduate to a "big girl crib." Once Elise reaches 1500 grams, she will also be able to wear clothing.

After all the positive momentum, I was thrown off a bit when I arrived this morning to learn that Anne-Claire might have a very serious infection called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). NEC is an infection of the walls of the bowel and is very dangerous. Her nurse suspected she might have NEC because it usually strikes at 10-14 days old (our girls are 10 days old today) and she found a few specks of blood in Anne-Claire's stool. Anne-Claire also vomited this morning, which she never does, and was incredibly lethargic. Her feedings were halted while she was undergoing testing, yet she never woke up for her missed meal. She had an x-ray of her bowel, which was fine, and blood work done that also turned out fine. While she failed to wake up for her 2 o'clock feeding, she was wide awake and able to nurse by 4:30pm. Since then she's been back to her old self. The nurse practitioner told me Anne-Claire could be having an off day or it could be the increase in calories she began getting. They took her down to 22 calories per feeding and has been doing well. I was pretty scared when I first heard what was going on this morning and couldn't get a hold of Chris, but Barbara called me at just the right moment and was able to encourage me and pray for me and Anne-Claire. She reminded me of the faithfulness of our Father, and God mercifully calmed my fears. The day progressivly improved and being able to spend time with Anne-Claire and Elise was just what I needed.

Now...on to the pictures!

Mama bathing Anne-Claire

Anne-Claire--all clean!

Anne-Claire--snuggling with Mama

Elise's bath


Elise--all clean and eating her hand

Look at how big my hand is next to Elise's head

Elise--snuggling with Mama

Nanny meeting baby girls

Nanny, proudly admiring her 8th grandchild, with big sis, Emma

Emma--quite proud herself

Emma showing Anne-Claire the doll she brought her

Anne-Claire (sorry for the glare)

Anne-Claire's first outfit

(The red spot on her face is from the tape that was removed that had been holding the nasal canula in.)

Elise--smiling?

Anne-Claire with the blanket Mama knitted for her during her 7 weeks in the hospital

Elise under bili lights

(lights to help remove bilirubin from her blood stream)