One Month & Good News

On Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007, the babies celebrated their first month. Actually, there wasn't that much of a celebration, but we did take their pictures in cute little outfits.



Now for the good news - the feeding tubes are out!!! The doctor is saying they could come home as early as Thursday, but probably on Friday. For the next 48 hours they have to eat all their bottles, gain weight, and not have any episodes (which they haven't for the past 3 or so days). Also, they have to pass a car seat test - sit in a car seat for 30 minutes without any drops in oxygen saturation levels. We are VERY excited!!!! The room is complete and although the rest of the house is a mess, we're ready for them.

Together Again

Lizzie and Paul are together again. Yesterday, Jan. 24, 2007, they were put together in a large crib, which resembles a large steel cage. Charlie and I are very excited about this, as we plan on co-cribbing them at home.

They are still working on their feeding. Paul's up to having a bottle 2 out of every 3 feeds (5 or 6 a day) and Lizzie's gets 3 bottles a day. They've both been able to breast feed also. They get to breast feed once a day in place of one of their bottle feedings. We supplement it - as they don't quite get enough, however, they're doing good with latching and sucking. Unfortunately, they've had some reflux issues which cause their heartrate to be wacky (usually dropping very low). The doctors and nurses are not too concerned at this point, and I will learn more about the issue today.

Charlie's Work Shower

Charlie's work had a wonderful shower for us on January 18, 2007. They had lots of good food and a cute cake. We received many cool items - including a scrapbook, music bench, bottle warmers, lots of clothes and diapers. Laura, Lisa, and Alice were the organizers and most of IT was invited.

Bottle Feedings

Paul and Lizzie have started bottle feeding. Paul is getting 2-4 bottles a day and Lizzie is getting 1. They both are doing great with them. Paul has taken 3 of his 4 bottles so far - on the one he only took a very little bit. Lizzie has taken about 1 1/2 of her 2 bottles. We hope Lizzie will catch up soon. They are still gaining weight - Paul is 4 lbs. 10 oz and Lizzie is 4 lbs. 5 oz - both are 1 lb 1 oz over their birth weight. Otherwise, all is going good and they are getting stronger and more alert everyday.

Lizzie's Bath

As promised, here are some pictures of Lizzie's bath. We gave her one on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2007. She seemed to like it quite a bit. She only fussed a little at the beginning. She's getting another one today and if she does good with her temperature after the bath, should be put in a crib tomorrow. The pictures are a little darker, as the lights were out in the room during her bath.

Quick Update

Lizzie had to go back to the isolette for a couple of days - she just wasn't keeping her temperature up. They hope to have her back out tomorrow. Paul is still doing great and just keeps getting bigger - he's up to 4 lbs. 5 oz and Lizzie's now 4 lbs. 2 oz. We gave Lizzie a bath on Tuesday and should have some pictures up soon. The speech pathologist is coming again tomorrow to assess them for bottle feeding.

Shower Weekend

Over the past weekend I had two great showers. On Saturday, my wonderful friends from Eastern Star and a book club gave me a brunch shower. We played games and I received a lot of great gifts - including two handmade afghans and our Frog Pod for the bath, along with lots of clothes, blankets, rattles, and other items. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera - so no pictures from the Saturday shower, but believe me it was GREAT!


On Sunday, my Mom and sisters hosted a shower for family and friends. Our faboulous families and friends were very generous and we received so many things, I almost couldn't fit it all in our new Volvo station wagon (Charlie traded the Mini Cooper). We received the mattresses, the double stroller, the pac-n-play, bouncers, exersaucer, lots of clothes, bath supplies, etc. We also received the traditional afghans from Grandma Allgeier (picture provided) and some handmade car seat cuddlewraps.

A family friend, Martha, made a four layer diaper cake that includes 248 diapers, along with lots of other goodies (picture provided).






All in all, Charlie, Lizzie, Paul, and I are very blessed in our family and friends. We could not have made it this far or be doing so well without the help provided by everyone we know. I'm going to try to get the Thank You cards out soon, but let me put a big THANK YOU here for anyone who helped us or gave us anything - We LOVE you!!!

Paul's Bath

We gave Paul a bath on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2007. This was the first time we got to do the bath. Nurse Judy walked us through everything and made sure we didn't hurt him. He came through like a pro and we were able to get pictures of Paul without his tubes.

Lizzie is doing good - she's out of the isolette and off the oxygen. They're both over 4 lbs now and gaining every day. The speech pathologist said they were right where they should be - not quite ready for the bottle. She'll be back on Thursday and we're hoping they'll be ready then - Paul especially as he likes to pull at his feeding tube. He even pulled it all the way out one day last week.

More of the same

Today's report sounds like the last one. Paul is still doing great and is maintaining his temperature like a pro. Lizzie is still on the oxygen (she likes it a little too much!) and is still in the isolette. Thankfully, the IV should come out today and hopefully that plus her higher food doses will be enought to get her back on track with maintaining her oxygen and temp.

Today they will be assessed to see if they're ready for a bottle. The speech pathologist will check their gag reflux and their ability to suck, swallow, and breathe.

Paul's in a crib

Paul was moved to an open air crib yesterday. This is a great step. We're very excited. He is doing wonderful.

Lizzie, on the other hand, is having some small problems. Her pic (IV) line moved and leaked fluid into her lungs. This is also causing her to retain a little extra fluid. Unfortunately, she's had to go on a little oxygen (hopefully for less than 24 hours). The hope is that we can convince the doctor to ramp up her food and get her off the IV (which is only being used to give her fluids)

Lizzie's Heart

Yesterday the doctor heard a small heart murmur with Lizzie. They did an echo cardiogram and found that she had a small opening between the artery that goes to the body and the one that goes to the lungs. This opening is necessary when a baby is in the womb, but is supposed to close after birth. The doctors said that this was common with preemie babies and luckily it is fixable with medicine. In fact, they gave her the medicine yesterday and today and it sounds like the murmur is gone. They will do another echo cardiogram to verify tonight or tomorrow. Unfortunately, with the medicine she had to get another IV and be taken off food for 48 hours. This caused her to stop regulating her temperature as well as she was, and so she had to come back out of the clothes. Hopefully, once the IV is out and she is back on full feedings, she can start the clothes and getting out of the isolette again.

Paul is doing great and is getting bigger. They are both around 3 lbs. 11 oz. as of today.

Clothes!!!

Today the twins are starting to wear clothes. This is a great step as they are going to gradually be weaned from the heaters. If they can maintain their own body temp, then they will get out of the isolettes into a regular crib.

The next step is to learn to eat. This just takes some more time as they need to be at least what would have been 32 weeks of gestation - for Paul and Lizzie that would be Jan. 10, 2007.

Here are a couple of pictures from the other day (they have on clothes, but that was just for the pictures).

Doing Great!

Lizzie and Paul are doing great! They are off everything except their feeding tubes. Right now they're both getting the full amount (1 oz.) at each feeding. They have both started gaining weight and Lizzie is almost back up to her birth weight. Today Paul turned his head to me when I was reading him a book - it was very sweet! We're going to take some pictures today - so hopefully I'll have them on the site tomorrow or Saturday.

New Year Update

Last night Charlie and I rung in the New Year with the babies. We were able to hold them - doing Kangaroo Care (skin to skin contact) as the year changed. We are doing the Kangaroo Care once a day, usually for an hour or two. Studies have shown that this helps the babies (and the parents).

Paul is off his oxygen now. They are both off the light therpy and on clear fluids only, getting all their nutrition from food (formula and breast milk). At this point, they just have to gain some weight and get older. Lizzie started gaining weight today - she's up to 3 lbs. 2 oz., but Paul is still losing weight and is now at 3 lbs. 5 oz. (this is normal).

The doctors and nurses are very pleased with their progress. All the great people at the hospital have been very helpful in keeping us informed and letting us help - changing diapers, cleaning them, etc.