Holland

Holland weighed 6 pounds 6.5 ounces at her last checkup. She stores all her fat in her chipmunk cheeks and big round belly, but still has skinny legs and a tiny bottom. She's a really spunky gal with a lot of energy. We have many nicknames for her, including squeakerbox and LJ (little John) because she is always making squeaky noises, and has eyes exactly like her daddy. Holland's bright eyes always appears really animated. She, like her sis, likes to cuddle with mom and dad and is really sweet. She tends to fuss a bit more, and it takes more trial and error to figure out what she wants. Both girls are pretty good-natured, but I must admit that I am NOT supermom and there are nights when I'm so tired and cranky that Holly and I both just sit and cry!

Eden

Eden weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces at her last doctors appointment. She is doing well and getting chubbier every day. She feels like a real chunk when you pick her up with many rolls on her thighs and neck. She is quite the cuddler and loves to sleep on mom or dad. She also really loves to eat and is very noisy when doing so. We like to say that she burbs like a boy! Eden tends to be the calmer of the girls, and she is generally easy to pacify. She has recently began gazing into mom and dad's eyes when they feed her and looks amused, like she might smile any minute. We can't wait! When Edie gets mad she doesn't really cry. Instead, she turns bright red, grunts, and hisses until someone picks her up. We always do, because she looks so sad and pitiful when she is upset:)

Homegrown

The girls have been home for 2 weeks now, and boy are they growing fast. We had a pediatrician appointment today and Holland weighed 5 pounds 13 ounces, and Eden 6 pounds 9.5 ounces. They have each gained over a pound since leaving the hospital! Our lives now are busy, busy, busy, and without much sleep. The babies are on a good schedule, but they never sleep for more than a three hour stretch. It was okay at first, but that kind of sleeping schedule really catches up with you. When they wake up at 4am, it takes over an hour for us to warm up bottles, feed and burb the babies, pump, and clean up, so I don't get back to sleep until around 5:15, only to wake up again around 7:45am. I guess that's the life of a mommy. But on top of all that normal baby/twin stuff, we are also dealing with 2-3 doctors appointments a week, medicine schedules, and all kinds of equipment and alarms.

It is more than worth it when I look into their sweet faces and remember how far they have come. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

One Big Happy Family

On the first few nights without Holland, Eden didn't sleep a wink and fussed through most of the night. We got quite nervous that this was a preview of how our nights would be with TWO babies at home. Thankfully, it didn't turn out that way. It turned out that Eden just missed her sister. We brought Holly home on Wednesday night and Eden finally went to sleep. In fact, so far both babies have been sleeping wonderfully through the night, cuddled up together in their bassinet. They wake up like clockwork every four hours to eat. We can definitely handle that! We are insanely happy to have our family home, healthy, and together. Both girls are on oxygen and apnea monitors, so we have a lot to cart about when we have to leave the house for doctors appointments. At the last pediatrician appointment on Friday Eden weighed 5 pounds 9.5 ounces, and Holland 4 pounds 13.5 ounces.

We are overjoyed to be home, yet we do miss our surrogate family at the NICU. The doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists at St. Joe's saved our babies lives many times over, and we will always have a special place in our hearts for them. It was an emotional farewell on Wednesday. Doctors Ivacko and Everett were both there to say goodbye, the same doctors who were there with us the night that Holland and Eden were born. There is no way to express the gratitude that we feel for all that the NICU staff has done for our babies and for us. They loved our babies and treated us as more than just a job...thank you, thank you, thank you!!! We will be back to visit and will see you all at the reunion next summer!

Home Sweet Home

Eden came home on Saturday!!! We've spent the past two nights cuddling and watching her sleep. She weighed 5 pounds 1.5 ounces when she left the NICU, and 5 pounds 5.5 ounces today at her pediatrician appointment! I think we're growing her good. She loves to eat and takes 90-100 cc's with every bottle. We're continuing to breastfeed twice a day, until she gets bigger and we can move toward full time (her mommy's goal!).

As happy that we are to have one baby home, we were really sad to leave the other behind without her sis. Holland won't be far behind though. We're going to bring her home with us on Wednesday. Holland seems to have finally established a good growing pattern, and weighed 4 pounds 6 ounces on Sunday night.

After 108 days it's really hard to believe how far our babies have come. I clearly remember the day they were born and the way they looked when we saw them for the first time. They were so beautiful and perfect, but so tiny. It seemed impossible that we would ever get to this point. Now we're looking at two babies who will be home with their parents by the date they were expected. Their due date is November 17, the very day that Holland will be joining us at home.

Almost Home

We've really made a lot of progress since the last post. It looks like Eden is coming home on Saturday!!!! Holland won't be far behind. Likely sometime toward the end of next week. Both girls have their feeding tubes out, and are taking all of their food from breast and bottle. Holland got rid of the oxygen cannula on Sunday and has been breathing room air for the past few days. She is a wireless baby...it's the wave of the future!

Eden is going to be coming home on oxygen and with a monitor. So, Holland may be the breather in the family, but Eden is the eater. She can suck down 50 cc's from a bottle in 10 minutes flat. Today she took 50 cc's while breastfeeding in 20 minutes. She is very efficient. Also very good at conserving calories by sleeping a lot.

John and I are so excited about getting our babies home. But also very nervous... They are going to be very susceptible to colds and other sickness so we need to be very diligent about keeping them as protected as possible. As much as we love company (and all of our family and friends), we probably won't be able to see much of anybody. We will be pretty much homebound for much of the winter. We look forward to more visitors in the spring! Of course, we will be keeping you up-to-date via the website :)

Back to Bed

Just wanted to let everyone know that Holland came through the eye surgery fine. It wasn't nearly as extensive as last time, and only took about 30 minutes. Today she is back in bed with her (big) little sis, as well as back on her cannula and full feeds.

Tomorrow is mommy's last day of work! We've got a LOT to do to get ready for our babies to come home...

ROP Update

The eye surgeon came out today for the girls follow-up eye exam. He says that Eden's eyes are looking good and healing just fine. She will continue to have regular checkups, but won't likely need any more work done. Holland, on the other hand, will need additional eye surgery on her left eye. Her right eye looks good, but the left hasn't resolved to the point we would like. The surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, at 1:00. Once again, she will have to be reintubated (put back on the ventilator), and put to sleep. She's a fighter so I try not to be too worried. I just wish she didn't need to be so tough...

The good news is that on Sunday we moved to a different room in the NICU for kids that need less critical care. I guess you could say we "graduated"! Eden weighs 4 pounds 6 ounces, and Holland weighs 3 pounds 11.5 ounces. It's looking hopeful that we will be home by Thanksgiving. I hope the surgery won't set Holland back too much...