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)

Mama's milk and kangaroo care

Anne-Claire and Elise are three days old today! It was a big day because my milk finally came in, so I'm producing a lot more and the babies are, therefore, getting a lot more. I was able to "feed" Elise her 9:30am feeding of pure Mama's milk while kangarooing with her, and did the same with Anne-Claire at 3 o'clock. The girls' nurse, Holly, was kind enough to snap a few pictures of both events. She said if they continue to handle their feedings so well, the schedule of when I can begin nursing them could speed up.

Anne-Claire

Elise

Pictures

I've had a hard time getting pictures copied from our camera to my laptop. That's why it's taken me a few days to get these up--in addition to having just given birth and being busy getting to know our newest daughters. I want to write about the birth of Anne-Claire and Elise but wanted to get these pictures up asap, so the write-up will come later. The girls are almost 60 hours old as I work on this and are doing wonderfully--Praise God! They both lost a little weight today but that is to be expected of newborns. Anne-Claire weighs 1600 grams (she weighed 1660 at birth), and Elise weighs 1180 grams (she weighed 1200 grams at birth). They were on CPAP immediately after birth and today moved to vapotherm, which means they're getting a little pressure to assist their breathing. They've both been getting 21% oxygen, or "room air," which is what we all breathe. They're tolerating their feeds really well. They're getting whatever colostrum I can pump and preemie formula through an NG-tube as well as TPN via IV, which is a nutrient-rich supplement. They're already making feeding cues such as acting hungry when it's time to eat, rooting around in their blankets, smacking their lips, and sucking vigorously on their passies. I'm hopeful that they'll let me try to nurse sometime next week after they're 33 weeks. So, there's my quick update and here are the pictures I promised. Enjoy!

The weekend before their birth. Emma and Charlotte helping get the babies on the monitor. I am still in disbelief that I had two babies in my belly--especially now that I see them on the outside.

On Wednesday, getting to take Anne-Claire's temperature



Elise's tiny foot with long toes next to my thumb

Elise's very, very thin umbilical cord--proof of God's goodness in giving Elise her daily bread

Getting to hold Anne-Claire for the first time--sweet bliss!

Daddy and Elise for the first time

Anne-Claire--CPAP and goggle-free

I know she looks like a "normal-sized" baby in this picture because there's no reference point for her size, but rest assured, she really is tiny at around 3 1/2 pounds. I do think she looks big compared to Elise though.

Elise on vapotherm and goggle-free

Emma and Charlotte meeting Anne-Claire for the first time.

Emma and Charlotte meeting Elise for the first time.

Emma, adoring Elise.

Welcome Anne-Claire and Elise Holmes!

Praise be to God, this afternoon Chris, Emma, Charlotte, and I welcomed two more beautiful girls into our family. Anne-Claire Evangeline was born at 12:52PM, weighing 3 pounds 11 ounces and measuring 16.5 inches long. Elise Lydia Michelle was born at 12:54PM, weighing 2 pounds 10 ounces and measuring 15.5 inches long. As I write this, I have not yet gotten to see our girls, but I am anxiously waiting for my spinal to wear off so I can go upstairs. I am feeling as well as can be expected following major abdominal surgery, and all reports on the babies have been good. Both girls are on CPAP to help their breathing, but other than that are not getting any other support as far as I know right now. Here are some early pictures. We'll post more as we take them and give more information soon. The pics are of Anne-Claire and Elise in the OR and Anne-Claire and Elise in the NICU--in that order.

Delivery Day! May 26, 2009

I haven't even finished last week's entry and have exciting news for this week! I've been on continous monitoring since Saturday because Elise has been having frequent decels. This morning she wasn't moving during my ultrasound (She got 4 out of 8 on her biophysical) so my doctor said today is delivery day! The girls are 32 weeks today, so hopefully they will not have too long of a stay in the NICU. I'm supposed to be going back to the OR at noon and will be seeing our girls shortly after that. Please be in prayer for all of us!