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)