The girls continue to do well and are now both above 9 pounds in weight.

Lauren Elizabeth

Lauren Elizabeth resting for a while.

Emily Ann

Emily Ann taking a nap.

They are HOME

Both Lauren and Emily are now home! They came home on Sunday, February 15 with monitors. They will be continuously monitored for heart rate and respiration for a minimum of 4 weeks. This was part of the criteria to allow the girls to come home. We went through training with a repiratory therapist on how to use the device, which will also record all events. They still occasionally have the Bradycardia, however they are all self resolved at this point. The girls will also have a home visit from a nurse to check their status and check vitals.

Gradual Improvement Pt. II

Both girls continue to gain weight, Lauren is at approximately 4 lb 7 1/2 oz, and Emily is at 4 lb 3 oz. On Monday during the day, both girls had no Bradycardia events. Stephanie and I went to the Premie-infant care class and I came back to see them. The nurses tried to feed Lauren a bit more and evidently, she was already full. Lauren had one more Bradycardia (self resolved). The goal to go home without a home monitor for heart and respiration, is that there can be no Bradycardia events for seven (7) days in the hospital. The Discharge Coordinator informed us that a high percentage of preemie babies go home with the home monitor. When they first come home, a nurse will also come and visit and assess the medical progress of the girls. Lauren had her "break through" moment and started nursing very well. Emily had already been nursing fairly well and they both had a good day nursing with Mom. Last week both girls were taken out of the isolete (incubator). This is a good milestone since both girls are now capable of maintaining their own body temperature and still gain body mass.

A few more pictures...

What is the next step?

Over the past week the routine has been established. Mom (Stephanie) spends a lot of time with them and is learning the optimum feeding schedule for the girls to practice nursing. Yes...you read it right...practice! Preemies do have to learn how the nurse and both girls are doing well in the category. The main goals at this time are for them to be able to: 1. feed on their own, 2. breath with out any Brady-cardia events (for preemies, forgetting to breath, normal at this stage), 3. gain weight and be at 5 lb. As of Sunday January 25, Lauren's weight was at 3 lb 9 oz and Emily's was at 3 lb 10 oz.

A few pictures...

Gradual Improvement...

The girls continue to improve every day. They keep on removing their own IV's which can be a problem if they are not staying hydrated. This is not the case, they continue to take their nutrition through the feeding tube inserted through their nose and have been tolerating their feedings well. It is a gradual increase in nutrition (about 2 - 4 ml/child/feeding cycle). They are fed about every 2 - 3 hours (standard). They also continue to pull out their feeding tubes (I can't imagine what if feels like, but it's probably not fun). My girls are very active when awake and definatly like being held by Mommy and Daddy. The nursing staff encourages us to hold them and interact. I have to admit, that is very soothing to hold my precious little baby girls.

The notification from the Hospital Patient Advocate

We were notified on Monday that the NICU was in a "lock down" mode. Evidently, there is a "severe" outbreak of RSV and the flu. They are only allowing the parents access to their children. The girls continue to progress along and improve. It is a slow and gradual process. They draw blood samples to check gases and mineral (salt, potassium, etc.) levels. They modify their diet for what ever they are low or high on. At this age, they tend to have acidosis (a normal condition and nothing to be alarmed) since their kidneys are comming on line (so to speak).

Grandma Marcia and baby Emily

Grandmother Gantt gets to have some personal time with one of her new baby girls.

Emily & Daddy having some bonding time

Emily is up close and staying warm on Dad's chest.

Proud Grand Parents see their baby's for the first time

John seeing and touching Emily for the first time.

Joyce seeing and touching Lauren for the first time.

Cuddle time with my baby girl

When I arrived there this morning, they were feeding the girls and providing all of the nutrition that they needed with a tube to their stomach. The nurses will provide Mom's milk and introduce that via the tube and will start to promote the girls learning how to nurse from their mother naturally. I was allowed to hold Lauren with direct skin contact. The "experts" say this is very calming and good for the bonding process. I am very humbled and awed by all of this and glad to hold my girls.

Welcome our new baby girls

When I got to the hospital yesterday morning, things started moving pretty fast. I was there no more than 10 minutes and the resident doctor came in to check to see how she was doing and stated that it was time to go into delivery. My first born daughter is Lauren Elizabeth and Mom was incredible and delivered her naturally with no epidural. She weighed in at 3 lb 8 oz and 16 1/2" long. She was born about 10:15 AM on Thursday. My second born daughter, Emily Ann was breach and had to be turned. The doctor was checking on her position and Emily grabbed his finger and would not let go inside the womb. They quickly decided to do a C-section and that went very well. Emily was born about 1 hour later and weighed in at 3 lb 9 oz and 16 1/2" long. They are in the NICU and sharing a room. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers. The top photo is Emily Ann and the bottom photo is Lauren Elizabeth.

Moving forward...

Throughout the afternoon yesterday, she had moderate contractions on the half hour. Tuesday night she did have some "more severe" pain, and they countered that with some pain medicine. As of this morning, her contractions are now about 20 minutes apart, thus the girls may be with us soon! The doctors seem very optimistic and both of the girls vitals are doing well. I am looking forward to their births.

The Mommy picture post

Due to popular protests...the picture has now been removed. She is doing very well and everything is status quo at this point.

The situation with Stephanie & the twins

Since Monday night, she has been in the hospital because her water broke. She went to a business meeting and was getting ready to leave after going to the bathroom and realized her water had broken. She is at about 32 weeks into the pregnancy. The doctors have prescribed a course of medications to help with the contractions, infection, and medicines for the babies. They are giving her magnesium sulfate as a muscle relaxant to keep her from going into labor. This medicine has seemed to have helped. They are also giving her antibiotics to guard against infection and a steroid treatment to help the babies lungs develop. The goal is to "buy" some time to keep the babies in the womb another 10 - 12 days to at least 34 weeks. The doctors did a sonogram and both girls are about 4 lbs, so they are gaining weight well and are doing okay. Stephanie will be in the hospital and on bed rest until the birth of the girls. We appreciate the thoughts and prayers during this time. I shall continue to update everyone as I learn what happens.

J.M.G reading the paper

J.M.G. taking a look at today's newspaper.