I Once Had A Dream…

I once had a dream of holding my own child…I once had a dream of raising a family with my husband…I once had a dream of seeing the sweet eyes of my own child staring back at me…I once had a dream of having the unique bond that only exists between a mother and her child…I once had a dream...and now they all have come true.

Today, December 9, 2011 was the original due date for our girls Aubrey Hope and Avery Grace. They are now 40 weeks gestation, but we have known their precious and unique personalities for exactly two months. We brought home our babies 1 week and 7 hours ago (but who is counting!) and it has been the most amazing week of my life.  I can’t stop thanking God for all our blessings and how perfect our girls are in every way. God never ceases to amaze me.

It is so neat to look back on this past week and see just how much the girls have matured…literally by leaps and bounds. At the start of the week, feeds were slow and difficult. Now at the end of the week, most feeds are less than 30 minutes and they meet their target volumes. They are both gaining weight steadily…about ½-1 ounce a day…so we must be doing something right! Aubrey now weighs 6lbs 2oz and Avery now weighs 6lb 10oz.

Both girls were discharged to home on a monitor. Thankfully, on our first visit to the pediatrician we were able to discontinue Avery’s monitor and just keep one on Aubrey for two more weeks. One thing is for sure…we will not miss that monitor! It has an ear piercing alarm that doesn’t have a silence button and has literally driven not only us crazy, but my poor dog as well! We have had so many issues with the actual monitor itself (it sounds more frequently for a mechanical issue rather than a baby issue) that we traded in the monitor for a new one, hopefully one that has less disconnections!

Jay has been doing an amazing job not only with their feeds and caring for the babies, but he is like a chemist as he prepares their bottles (at one time we were on 3 different formulations that were given at different times of the day) and draws up their meds for each 12 hour period (the girls are on a special thick formula mixed with breast milk and medications to treat their reflux). It takes some time upfront, but in the long-run makes our life so much easier as we are preparing twice as much during feeding and medication times! Slowly but surely, we are starting to get a system down that actually has some organization involved to make all the processes, that goes on repeat every 3 hours, as smooth as possible.

Both girls have enjoyed their tummy time this week. It is never too early to get those neck muscles developed! They also enjoy looking at a book that has black/yellow sharp contrasting patterns, which other than our faces, is the only thing they can actually “see” at this point in time. We have learned that Aubrey has a love for the vibrating bouncy chair (wow, that didn’t take long!) and Avery loves to sleep. It is so much fun to watch their personalities develop and grow and to see how much they take after Jason and I.

Of course you are all waiting for the cute pictures, so here are a few from this past week. If you have trouble determining who is who…Aubrey has blond hair and has a more petite face and Avery has dark hair and has a fuller face. Both are as precious as can be!

I might be Trouble, but I'm darn cute!

Snuggly Sisters (Aubrey has flashbacks of Avery taking up her space!)

Check out those thighs on Avery.

Everyone knows me as the smaller sister, so I think I'm going to take a bite of you Avery and see if it makes me bigger!

Both girls listening to mommy tell a story.

Who knew that drinking my bottle would be such a workout!

Catching some zzzzz's between feeds.

Tummy time.

Hey sis...where have you been all my life?!

Thanks Nana for our cute holiday outfits.

Avery squeaky clean.

Aubrey making sure we know how much she loved her bath experience!

[Add video clip of loud crying baby here!]

Aubrey (Double) is not excited about this photo op!

Avery (Trouble) striking a pose, but becomes close to tipping over instead!

Avery catching a snooze in Daddy's handmade cradle.

Thank you Colin and Gill for our cute three piece outifts...we needed them for the cold days this week.

Aubrey is singing Christmas carols and Avery is pretty intrigued with her beautiful voice.

Welcome to our home around 3am in the morning!

Happy 40 weeks gestation!!

Double Trouble...We Welcome You Both HOME!!

We are so happy to report that Double and Trouble were discharged from the hospital to home on December 1, 2011. Our plans were to take fantastic "going home" pictures in their infamous "Double" and "Trouble" onsies (which they now fit into because both are in the newborn size diapers AND clothes!...preemie days are long since gone!), but as luck would have it, we are learning that sometimes we need to go to Plan B, then Plan C. We accidently dropped the "Double" onsie on the hospital floor and lets just say there is no "10 second rule" when it comes to hospital floors!

We have been home together, as a family of four, for a little over 24 hours now. We have never felt so blessed in our lives, and what a wonderful gift this holiday season to cherish. Both girls have severe reflux and it is now obvious that was the major issue with their "pokey" feeds....and while sometimes it is a struggle to meet their minimums, we are going to keep doing our best and have close follow-up to make sure they are gaining weight appropriately.

Believe it or not, we don't have a ton of pictures yet, but we wanted to share a few snapshots from the last 24 hours. It has been an answer to prayers to have this family, but it is nothing short of a miracle from God that Aubrey Hope and Avery Grace are home with us today.

This week...See if you can figure out who is who!

 

We Have SO Much To Be Thankful For...

This year Jason and I celebrated Thanksgiving as a family of four. We thank God for our precious, beautiful and healthy girls, Avery Grace and Aubrey Hope. Our hearts are full of joy as we were able to hold the answer to our prayers in our arms on this holiday when we are reminded to give thanks. Thank you, thank you, thank you God for all of your blessings, and most especially for our girls this year.

While we wish that we could report that the girls have made a lot of progress in their bottle feeds (now at 38 weeks or 6 weeks old), we are happy to report that the girls are healthy, growing, and making us smile every day! Avery is offered a bottle four times a day and one nursing time, and Aubrey is offered a bottle three times a day and one nursing time. We know that bottle feeding is just a matter of time, and while we might not wait patiently, we know that one day they will come home able to take all their feeds by bottle or nursing. I feel very fortunate to be able to nurse each baby once a day--it most definitely is the most special time of the day for me. Avery now takes over an ounce and Aubrey is just under an ounce for their nursing attempts.

This week, I tried tandem nursing for the first time, or nursing both girls at the same time. Talk about an experience you will never forget. During this first tandem nursing attempt, Aubrey was doing everything she could to try and socialize with Avery. She filled her pants with a stinky poo, she was groaning like a motor and she was batting her beautiful eyes at Avery (talk about a multi-tasker)...and well Avery was very focused and wasn't too much into dividing her attention, but the one thing she was doing (nursing), she did very well...do these personalities remind you of anyone you know?!

In the NICU, we are always very concerned about infection and we wash our hands very well between patient contact, even siblings. This opportunity to have both girls in my arms was most definitely bending the rules, and I think I'm learning that I like to break the rules!!!  Behind the nursing screens my friend, who is a lactation consultant, positioned the girls in my arms after nursing, to give me an opportunity to hold and love on both of the girls for the first time. We captured this special moment in a picture, which is at the end of the blog. What a special time to gaze at God's beautiful and amazing creation (P.S. The girls are definitely fraternal! Haha).

Jay and I enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with special friends Todd and Amanda this year. While we missed being with our families on this holiday, we were thankful to enjoy this day with good friends and be fed some amazingly delicious food! After a very tasty meal, we visited the girls together and we were able to get our very first family photos. In these photos, we were able to bend the rules and not wear ugly yellow gowns (that act as a barrier between your clothes and the babies) to get memorable shots that we will always cherish, as they are our first family photos. Unfortunately, we were not able to both hold the babies, or switch them back and forth, but we were appreciative to be able to sit together as a family of four for the first time. We can't help but marvel at how blessed we truly are. We hope you will enjoy some of our family photos too.

Avery Grace: 5 pounds 14 oz (2 pounds above birthweight) and 18 1/8 inches long

Baby Avery stretching...once again!

Yes, believe it or not, the girls do have more than this outfit and a few others, but it must be a favorite among the nurses because we see the girls in these outfits frequently. Thanks Kelly for keeping us fashionable!

Aubrey Hope: 5 pounds 5 oz (2 pounds above birth weight) and 17 3/4 inches long

If you look close enough, it is almost as if Aubrey is trying to suck her thumb--it is actually positioned in the pacifier like she is going to be a thumb sucker--watch out!!

Dad says I look like I'm in my PJs, but every girl loves a day in her jammies!

Our Family

Avery is in a "I'm thankful for my daddy" Thanksgiving outfit. We didn't have two Thanksgiving outfits (this one was a hand-me-down) so we had to be fair and put Aubrey in a "Mommy loves me" outfit. The girls are also sporting a VT hat in some photos as well--Thank you Nancy!
Avery was wide awake and loving the paparazzi photos while Aubrey had quite a good snooze during the first family photo session!

We have so much, so much, so much to be thankful for this year.

My first time holding both girls together:

Ready for Take-Off!

Aubrey and Avery are now 5 weeks old (37 weeks gestation). Aubrey weighs 4 pounds 15.9oz (missed the 5 pound mark by 0.1oz!!) and Avery weighs 5 pounds 8oz (exactly 5 1/2 pounds).

The past few posts have relayed the message that babies usually are able to coordinate sucking, swallowing and breathing, which is necessary for successful oral feeding,typically between 34-36 weeks. We are learning a valuable lesson that this isn’t necessary about “our” timing, but the girls have landed and are on their own timing. While we had high hopes that our babies would be ready for take-off this week and really progress in their bottle feeding, we are still waiting for that “light to turn on,” as we say in NICU lingo. While we are still not on full oral feeds, both girls have advanced on their oral feeds this week, now at 3 bottles and one nursing time per day (total of 4 oral feeds). We hope that they will advance quickly so that they can come home.  Both girls are learning how to nurse, which is an awesome experience for me and an opportunity that I had been really looking forward to as a mother.   

November 17, 2011 was World Prematurity Day to raise awareness for preventing premature births. It will always be a memorable day for me as a nurse and as a mother of premature infants. The hospital celebrated in numerous ways to recognize the families of premature babies, including giving each patient a purple onesie with our hospital emblem—the face of a Woman (representing the Woman’s Hospital of Texas). Below are a series of photos of the girls sporting their World Prematurity Day outfits.

Since there is not a lot to report (we honestly are really waiting for the girls to take-off with bottle feeding), I thought I would make-up the short blog with a few more pictures (seriously, that is the best part anyway)! I also included a picture of our new helicopter, painted with the Woman’s Hospital emblem—this “bird” will be waiting for me when I get back to work…isn’t she pretty?! While she is ready for take-off, my girls are still on the L-Z!

Avery:

Here is our typical Avery--legs all stretched out and relaxed.

Sweetly sleeping--once again, not bundled up in her bed!

My favorite picture of the week--Avery giving me a great smile!

Such a sweet baby!

Big yawn for baby Avery.

Sleeping peacefully--this is her before bottle feeding--hmmm, no wonder why it is going so slow!

Avery in her purple World Prematurity Day outfit. She actually looks like her sister in this picture (one of the few pictures where they look similar).

Avery sneaking a peek!

Another sweet picture of Avery.

Aubrey:

Aubrey showing off her purple World Prematurity Day onesie.

What a precious, sweet face. Her chin and lips have always been some of my favorite features on her.

Hi momma!!!

I'd rather be sleeping than smiling for a picture!

My favorite Aubrey photo of the week.



Pretty in pink. 

 This photo and the next one capture part of Aubrey's personality. This has not been a "one occassion" type event--this sometimes happens more than once a day! She is so busy all the time, she wriggles right out of her boundaries, bean bags, positioning aids and does her own thing. I love her personality!

This is what I look forward to when I return to work after my maternity leave. Notice the Woman's emblem painted on the side of the aircraft. Can't wait to have the best of both worlds--be a momma to our girls and make a difference in the lives of other babies and their families so they can have their sweet success stories like we do.