1 month old!

On June 26, the babies were 1 month old! Their corrected age was 36 weeks and they weighed 5 pounds 6.4 ounces and 4 pounds 4 ounces. Aunt Julie came to visit and so did Daddy! I had a really hard time figuring out who was who in these pictures because they're wearing identical outfits.

Elise

Elise and Aunt Julie

Aunt Julie feeding Anne-Claire

Anne-Claire and a really big passy

A proud papa holding both his baby girls

Elise is on the left and Anne-Claire on the right (I think)

Anne-Claire: 5# 11 oz (June 29)

Anne-Claire

A big yawn from Elise: 4# 9oz

Elise looking very tiny

5 weeks old, July 1, Elise with blankie she sleeps with now

4# 12oz, 17.3 inches

Anne-Claire, sleeping peacefully

6#, 18.8 inches

Fun in the sunshine and pulling up

Yesterday we went for an afternoon walk around the pond in our neighborhood. I put hats on the babies so the big girls wanted hats, too. We saw 4 ducks and 1 goose on the pond but, thankfully, stepped in 0 poop. :)

The babies are pulling up to everything these days. Not cruising yet, but close. They really enjoy standing at their play table. They bounce to the music and giggle at one another.

Charlotte and Emma posing by the water

Elise and Anne-Claire enjoyed the stroller ride

A big smile from Elise

Anne-Claire looks so big!

Getting them to both look at the camera is quite a feat these days

Trying to get back up to date...

I know that I have been remiss in posting anything for a LONG time and really want to get back on board. I feel like I need to post hightlights of our life until this point so that's what I'm going to try to do. Here's my plan: Every day, beginning today, I'm going to post something from our past year and something from our current life until I get caught up to the present. Let's see how it goes.

So, with that said...Here are some pics of Aunt Dorothy and Aunt Cindy's visit way back in June of last year. Anne-Claire and Elise were right around 1 month old and still in the NICU. Emma was almost 4 and Charlotte was 20 months.

Aunt Dorothy and Anne-Claire (4 weeks old, 5# 4.9 oz)

Aunt Cindy and Anne-Claire

Anne-Claire and Elise, side by side

They look so much alike!

Mama and Elise (4 weeks old, 4# 1.2 oz)

Look at how tiny her head is beneath my hand

Elise's first time in a "big girl bed!"

She still has an NG tube but is beginning to nurse a bit

Both girls in big girl beds!! Yay!!

Elise's outgrown Giraffe (isolette) is in the background.

Charlotte all worn out fell asleep on Aunt Cindy

A big step in getting to go home is the car seat test: 1 hour in the car seat with no alarms.

Anne-Claire passed!

Very tiny in the car seat!

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!