Breathing on her own

Yesterday Dave had an awesome afternoon & held Amelia for the first time.  He said she was pretty active & kept grabbing at her nasal cannula trying to remove it.

Well apparently with all that pulling she got it off herself! The nurse let her run with it & now Amelia is breathing on her own!

I had already planned on spending the morning in the NICU & then going to visit a friend who just had her baby at the same hospital {the twins new BFF}. So now I was even more excited to see Amelia without tubes all over her face! Dave went down to Maddie's nursery to hold her & I got to go hang out with Amelia & snap a few pictures. We've spent most of the day trying to see if the girls look alike.

The only disheartening thing was that the murmur is still present. The nurse told me not to worry just yet, since they are still keeping an eye on it, hoping that it will fix itself.  The cardiologist saw her today & we will probably get the results of her echocardiogram tomorrow. Chances are it's her PDA valve causing the murmur & it will eventually close on its own. If not our options are medications first & if all else fails surgery.

Her Beautiful Face

After the girls were born, they were able to clean up Maddie pretty quick & asses that she was capable of breathing on her own. They laid her on my chest & I was able to catch a few peeks of her eyes as she blinked up at me. We took a few pictures and she was quickly swept away to the NICU.

Amelia, however, had a tougher time & instantly had a CPAP on her face. I didn't even get a chance to see her because she was wheeled by so fast.

Every time we visited her in the NICU you could barely see her face, I didn't know what my baby looked like.  

Finally, two days ago she was put on a nasal cannula & we got a glimpse of her dirty blond hair. But she still had her "sunglasses" on.

And then there was today. The day I've been looking forward to. Today I got to hold Amelia for the first time! I scheduled a skin to skin appointment with her & got to hold her for 70 minutes during her feeding time. It was so nice to snuggle her for that long. Her tiny little bottom fit in the palm of my hand.  She's been doing better with her breathing as well, so while we cuddled she was able to breath at room air.  Skin to skin isn't the best for gazing at baby, so when the nurse put her back into the caleo & before she turned on the bili lights, I got to see her beautiful face.

Amelia

Amelia has had a tough time & has a long road ahead of her. The doctor thought that he heard a heart murmur today, so they are keeping an eye on that. But for now I am dwelling in the moment that I got to share with one of my precious babes today.

One Day at a Time

Yesterday was my first full day home from the hospital since being admitted on Feb 23rd.  It was strange to be outside, in another season, with everything green, but without my babies. The ceremonial wheel you to the car was ridiculously depressing. As other mom's left with their adorable bundles of joy, I left with the huge amount of crap I had accumulated while living at the hospital. Oh and paperwork. Tons of paperwork.

But it's something I have to accept. The tears will fall, there's no doubt about that. However, I have to keep reminding myself that they are in the best place possible & will grow up to be beautiful healthy girls.

After my overwhelming day yesterday, we decided it was best to take a late night peek at the girls.  The doctor's update in the morning was positive.  I knew that they were going to try and take Amelia's CPAP off and replace it with a high flow nasal cannula {a step down from the CPAP, which is a good thing!}. So I was excited to see if the transition had worked...and it did! We finally got to see her face!! Well sorta - she had her sunglasses on for her sunbath in the bili lights.

Letting us Know she's #1

It was seriously so refreshing to see her with less tubes all over. She was eating all her feeds yesterday and they plan on bumping up her intake today!

The OT stopped by & also left us a list of Amelia's likes & dislikes.

She also showed off her beautiful long legs to us. Wonder where she got those from??

After saying goodnight to Amelia we shuffled down the hallway to the unit that Madeline was in. Her nurse let us have her bili light's off for a bit so we could snap a few close-ups.

Maddie didn't eat much of her food today, so they are keeping her on the same round of intake today, in hopes she will have a better day. She still has her cord line in & cannot be removed from her caleo. If she does get better at eating, then the cord line can be removed.

Apparently this child cannot sit still. I know exactly where that trait came from {cough, cough, Dave}. The nurses take the time to put her in different positions, only to find her flopped out and relaxing a completely different way.

straight loungin'

Even thought she was sleeping, and it was probably just gas, she gave me a quick smile that melted my heart. We also caught her trying to catch a quick taste of her thumb.

So here's to another day that goes by smoothly. We can't wait till these girls are home with us!

Daddy & Maddie

Meet Madeline & Amelia!

Born a little ahead of schedule!

After just over 4 weeks of hospital bedrest, the girls decided (well Madeline really) that 31 weeks was long enough to cook.

Both are still in the NICU. Maddie is still breathing on her own & has been since birth. Amelia is needing the assistance of a CPAP to breath, but seems to be doing better each day.  I hope to update everyone more on their progress every few days!

The doctors told us to expect them to be in the NICU till their full term birthdate - which would be around the end of May. Hopefully they will exceed all our expectations and be home with us before that time!!

Madeline Bridgewater Tubbs

Born March 24, 2012 @ 5:23 PM

3 lbs 9 0z

16 inches

Amelia Frances Tubbs

Born March 24, 2012 @ 5:27 PM

3lb 8 oz

18 inches

30 Week Update.

Well we are 24 days into this ordeal & have 25 to go. However, of you ask Dave he wants to go 26 more days so the babes are born on Friday the 13th.

But we can't think that far ahead just yet, I need to keep these babes cooking longer. The babes are 30 weeks & have so much of a better chance than when we first got here. They were measured at Thursday's ultrasound & Baby A is around 3lbs7oz and Baby B is around 3lbs12oz. I would love it of we could get them to over 5 pounds in the next 4 weeks.

My legs aren't fairing so well with the inactivity. Thank goodness they some action from the ALP Machine, which helps prevent blood clots.

Days are long & filled with people constantly going in & out of my room. Luckily I've had a lot of visitors to pass the time. The weekends are the toughest & I am especially jealous of everyone enjoying the amazing weather we have been having.

I am of course quickly reminded of why I am here & am extremely thankful that I have made it this long. Right now the babes are monitoring very well & Baby A's fluid is looking great. I am having contractions, but they aren't progressing just yet & fluid intake calms them down. My threshold is labor, so at this point, if the babes decide they want to come, there is no stopping them!

Thanks again for all the thoughts & prayers. Thanks also for the lovely flowers, cards & gifts!!

29 Week Update. 2 Weeks Down...5 to Go!

The babes have been monitoring really well the past couple days. I am still having contractions every now and then, but they can be slowed down by fluid intake. My nurses said that this is a good sign because if it were real labor, then the fluids would do nothing.

So pretty much everything is keeping steady. Just hunkering down & hanging out here in the hospital for the long haul!

Thanks again for all the continued support! It is so appreciated!!

10 Days Down, 39 To Go! Week 28 Update

This week has had a lot of ups and downs, but as Sunday ends, I'm even more hopeful that we will make it through this hospital bed rest.

Last Sunday the babes were monitoring well, but I wasn't. I was having too many contractions per hour & had to have a lot of fluids pushed. Dave was hoping to head to work on Monday, so he was at home, and made a late night trip back to the hospital just in case. I had myself a good little cry, but was able to make it through the night.  Morning monitoring went well & I haven't had to have an IV fluid push since.

Upon our arrival here we found out that I was fighting an e.coli infection & strain which was not responding to the first set of antibiotics I was on.  It was also a strain that was very bad for a NICU baby. Scary.  A second course of antibiotics was started on Monday and at last test the infection is gone!!

Both the babes & myself have monitored well over the week & we were so thrilled to hit 28 weeks on Thursday.  Just an extra week cooking and making it to the third trimester gives our babes a better chance.  They have however, been having some issues at night time monitoring as of recent. There have been some dips in heartrate & running a high heart rate that had me monitored 3x a day as opposed to our regular 2. I'm hoping it's just the babies being busy & jumping off the monitor instead of anything too drastic. Apparently twins aren't always very cooperative on the monitor - not to mention my own heartrate seemed to get picked up every now and then.

We got to see the babes every Monday & Thursday. There it was determined that baby A was in fact the sac that ruptured. However, even though her fluid is lower, she is still considered "Low Normal." We get to see them tomorrow. I can't wait.

I had my 1 hour gestational diabetes test on Friday & I did not pass. I was pretty worried, but knew that it was common in twins & I was in the right place to treat it correctly. The 3 hour test was schedule for this morning & I passed with flying colors. I have a strange suspition that the milkshake I had a day prior to the first test might have thrown off the results, but boy was it worth it! Thanks Dale!! :)

Another positive today: I got my IV out! Here's hoping those contractions stay away, because I really like my arms to heal up!! Oh, and the best part...I got a bed extension!! Now my feet won't get crunched up at the end of the bed anymore!!

I've had a lot of great visitors & tons of support from my family, friends, and tweeps. Thanks again, you don't know how much it means to know that you are standing by me!

So we've got 10 days down in the hospital and 39 to go!! Keep on Cooking!!

Got pics of my babes hanging up & some lovely art work by Ava