This is my norm

Where does the time go???

I don’t even have my babies home yet and I feel like a chicken with my head cut off. I have a suitcase and a box still to go through of stuff from the hospital and paperwork to sort and deal with….this is madness!!

Here are the pictures from the other night of big sister holding Preslyn for the first time.

Hayden was adorable, she was so excited about seeing her sisters and was on her best behavior.

She was so gentle and kept saying…”they are so soft…they are so tiny….i love them”…and she giving kisses so softly. It was precious!
When she was with Ella (who we didn’t get to hold that time) she said….”she comes in the car with me?? She comes to my house?” So sweet!

Family Picture with Preslyn….I can’t wait to have a full family pic!!!

Ella was supposed to start little feeds back up today, we have yet to hear from the doctor on that. She received a pick line yesterday because her little veins are very hard for the nurses to stick, so this will be a central line and it won’t come out until she is on full feeds and doesn’t need iv fluids anymore. She is up to 4lbs. 4 ounces, 18″ long and has an 11 1/2″ head.

Preslyn is up to 2 bottle feeds a day…only 6 more to go!!! She is 4lbs. 3 ounces, a little shorter than 18″ and has an 11 3/4″ head.

Both are on room air, but still in isolettes for now. We are hoping that Ella will get to join her sister in NICU 2 by the end of the week!!!! We are praying she can get her same bed back which was right beside Preslyn.

That’s all I have time for…have to go get ready to go see my girls!

Miracles around every corner!!

Today has been the greatest day we have had in a long time! First off we thought Hayden was coming down with chicken pox last night so we took her in and she just has a rash but no pox 🙂 Right after that on the way home I called NICU 3 where Ella is, and got a report that she only had one apnea episode the entire shift!!! and her xrays are totally clear and she is FREE OF PNEUMATOSIS!!! It is gone…totally gone! I must have confirmed with the nurse a thousand times! I couldn’t believe that in 4 days it had vanished. It was supposed to be a two week ordeal at the minimum, but our God is a miracle worker and he turned the tables and she is healed!! They are still holding her feeds for a little while and running xrays to make sure it doesn’t come back. Thank you for the prayers because no job is too hard for God. He doesn’t need 14 days to heal, he heals right on time.

Then just now I called Preslyn’s nurse and this is pretty much how the convo went:
“Hi this is Preslyn’s mom”
“Oh, Hi mom, its been a great day. Preslyn is off her oxygen cannula, she is off her TPN/Lipids (nutrients by IV) after tonight, she is off her antibiotics..because her cultures came back negative for pneumatosis. She has had no Brady’s today (Oxygen saturation going down), she is off her incubator warmer and is regulating her temp on her own, she is wearing clothes again, oh….and she started BOTTLE FEEDS today and did great, and she weighs 3lbs. 15oz.!!!”
” ” (Yeah…that is me, dumbfounded)
I kept waiting for her to say….”and tomorrow we are discharging her”

I couldn’t ask for anything more. Especially in one day!
My God ROCKS my face off!

NICU day 12

I haven’t had much time between trying to survive on three hour intervals of sleep…watching a two year old, recovering and trying to make frequent trips to the NICU, but I know there are so many people checking this blog so I wanted to update on the girls.

Ella tested positive for the pneumatosis, which is bubbles in the lining of her stomach. This can be a precursor to a tear in the lining which is fatal if not treated by surgery immediately. The nurses told us that whoever caught this was on top of their game because most of the babies are usually already to the point of surgery before it is caught. I serve a big God and I know that He put that person there at that exact moment. So she is not able to eat until this goes away, which will probably be a couple of weeks. She is also having apnea very frequently and last night when we were up there we witnessed them and it was one of the most sickening feelings to watch my child stop breathing for 20-30 seconds at a time and just lay there perfectly still. It panicked me every time and a couple of times we had to stimulate her to get her to start breathing again. I mean we were pushing her, hard! and she still wouldn’t wake up. I hated it. They said that she is just so sick that her body has to rest even to the point of not letting itself breathe at times. She is so tired and exhausted from being poked and prodded continuously. As of today she only had to be stimulated once and is starting her breathing back on her own after an apnea spell, so that is good. And her oxygen saturation is good as well. Her most recent x-ray showed a slight improvement in the stomach, so that is a blessing.

Preslyn also decided that she would follow in her sisters footsteps and started displaying symptoms of the pneumatosis as well. So they worked up a panel on her (including spinal tap) and we are still waiting on those results to come back. As of right now they are still negative and we are believing that they will remain that way. She is still tolerating her feeds well and hasn’t had to stop them yet, which is a good sign. They started the antibiotics on her as well. So she is still in the level 2 nursery and Ella is in NICU 3.

Thank you for all of your prayers and calls to check up on us. We really appreciate everyone! We are trying to take hold of whatever God has for us to gain out of this experience even though sometimes it seems unbearable. I know He is still in control and has a mighty plan for my girls and for our family.