It has been a good Saturday! Jeremy and I decided to try to get a little extra sleep this morning so we slept until 7:00am...well as much as one can sleep when pumping every three hours! It was much needed! We got down to the hospital about 8:30am and heard a great report about how the babies did overnight. They were both very content and Ainsley bottled well, though not quite the entire amount. Since we have been here she has finished TWO whole bottles! Benson has been doing well too. He still hasn't taken an entire bottle but we can see improvements and he seems to be working on his technique. He isn't leaking as much milk and seems to do better sucking. He likes to get ahead of himself though and forgets to swallow but he will figure it out with time.
Thanks to our nurse, Leanne, we had Hawkeye colors going on today!
Both babies got baths tonight and are smelling wonderful. Ben really hates baths, as well as diaper changes and having his clothes changed or removed. He really just likes to stay wrapped up and snuggly warm! Ainsley seems more laid back and really doesn't mind having her diaper or clothes changed.
Here's Ben and Mommy after his bath.
Here at the hospital they come around with a cart of movies you can check out and watch in your room so we picked one of those and are going to see if we can find some popcorn in the vending machine so we can have a "date night!"
Thank you all for your continued support! We hope you are having a fantastic weekend!
P.S. - I couldn't resist taking a picture of these adorable little toes this morning!
Today was Dad's half day (half furlough day). We were so excited to see him at noon!
The babies have had a pretty relaxing day. Ainsley lost weight last night so we have decided to make sure we aren't pushing them too hard. We are only attempting to feed them by bottle if they are awake when it is time and giving us cues that they want to eat such as rooting or crying. This way they can conserve energy and use the calories they are getting to grow and develop more.
Ben had his feeding tube changed today so we snapped a couple quick pictures of him without that. I don't think he was feeling like a photo shoot though...
He gets those worry lines from his Mom!
We thought Ainsley's hands folded on her chest were picture worthy.
The other exciting thing that happened today was that I went outside, during daylight hours, for the first time in a week! We have been getting up at 4:30am to be here before their 6:00am feeding and I don't go outside again until we leave after their 9:00pm feeding which ends up being after 10:00pm. I was very glad to get a little sunshine and Vitamin D!
While we are doing really well and we are so happy with the progress the babies are making it is still hard to have babies in the NICU. There are many emotional times during the day. We just have to remind ourselves that "this too shall pass." I'm sure we'll look back on this time and think how short it seems but right now it can be quite overwhelming. We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers - they really do help get us through!
We would like to wish a Happy Birthday to my Grandma Betty and Jeremy's cousin Tiffany!
Ainsley and Benson and doing well. Today is another long conference day for Dad so they are missing him but we have had lots of help today. Grandpa Oran came up then Grandma Kelley and Grandpa Terry then Aunt Liasa between her classes then Grandma Barb! We are very thankful for all the help!
This morning we got here about 6:00am just in time for their feedings. Ainsley was MAD and ready to eat. She must have thought she was starved and she took her entire bottle! That was the first time since she has been at her goal feeds that she took an entire feed by mouth so we were pretty excited!
Ben has pretty consistently been taking about half of his feedings and getting the other half in his feeding tube.
Rounds are pretty boring for them. Everything else is great we are just waiting on them to decide they want to eat. We keep hearing that it is often like a light bulb gets turned on and all of the sudden they decide they want to eat. We are praying that this happens and they continue to do well and gain weight. All your prayers are appreciated too!
(Holding BOTH my babies is THE most amazing thing in the entire world!)
(These pictures are from yesterday. I didn't get many taken today.)
I know I always say this but we are so thankful for all our friends and family and even people we don't really know who read this who are thinking of our babies and praying for them. It really is overwhelming! I also want to say thank you for all the messages I receive and even though I haven't gotten to reply to many of them I read them and appreciate them so much!
Sorry today's update is late! We forgot the diaper bag today which had the laptop in it. Hopefully the cuteness to follow makes up for it!
We'll start with Ainsley. She got her IV out today! They stopped it this morning and put a saline lock on it then after she had two good blood sugars they took it out. She is now only hooked up to her heart rate and respiration monitor like Benson. After her IV was out she got her first real bath, not just a bed bath.
After her bath we put a clean outfit on and had to accessorize. I realize this bow is RIDICULOUS but I still love it!
Here is a video of Ainsley sneezing - yes, I said sneezing. You all are going to get so sick of these videos of my kids doing totally boring things which I find amazingly entertaining!
Ben is getting his first real bath tomorrow. He tends to scream bloody murder when he just gets undressed so that should be interesting.
Here is a video of Ben going to town on his pacifier.
Both Benson and Ainsley are still working on eating. That is our biggest obstacle right now. They are often tired and don't want to eat at all or don't want to finish. They are both at their goals for feedings - Ben at 42ml every 3 hours and Ainsley at 40ml every 3 hours but they just can't get it all down by bottle - it's too much work. The nurse tonight said it takes about the same amount of energy for them to take a whole bottle as it does for us to run 5 miles and I don't remember the last time I did that so we really can't expect too much from them. It is just going to take time for them to develop more and gain those skills. We are praying for patience as we wait because we want them home so much.
Small but good steps today! Ainlsey's bilirubin went down even further to 5 this morning so she is done with the bili light. Because she is done with that and has been maintaining her temperature she is now in a "big girl" crib!
She got to put on clothes for the first time and be swaddled. She seems to like being swaddled just like her brother.
She has been eating well and is tolerating her increased feeds very well. She is quite good at burping and I have to remember to do it right away when she finishes her bottle otherwise she has been known to burp on her own and spit up! Luckily neither one has been spitting up too much though so hopefully we won't have any issues with reflux.
Benson is doing good today too. He is still pretty sleepy and we are bottling every other feed and alternating with gavage (putting it in his feeding tube). His bilirubin went up a little today but not enough to put him under the bili light. They will continue to check it daily to watch it peak and then until it starts to decrease.
This evening we were moved to a new room. The NICU was overflowing so they moved us up to another floor in kind of a back-up space. They were very proficient at gathering everything up and moving it for us and making sure we had everything we need. Our new room is even bigger than the old one and we have a bigger window and a private bathroom. We joked that now we're in the penthouse suite!
All in all it has been a good day and Dad will be here soon - we missed him tonight since he had parent-teacher conferences until 8pm. We can't wait to see him!
As always, thank you all so much for all the continued prayers and support. We really can't thank you enough!
Dad went back to work today. The babies miss him and so does Mom! We'll be glad when he can come down after work. This week he has conferences on Tuesday and Thursday so those will be pretty hard days since he'll be at work from 7am until 8pm. Anyone who thinks teachers don't work hard is crazy!
We are trying to figure out what our weekday routine will be. We will be getting up early and coming down to the hospital around 6am so Dad can spend a little time with the babies then get to work by 7am. I will stay here all day since I can't drive yet. Then when Jeremy gets off work he'll come back down and we'll stay, we're thinking, until 8pm or so.
Ainsley's bilirubin went down from 15 yesterday to 9 today. The Dr. said they'll keep her under the light all day today then probably turn it off tonight and recheck her level in the morning. She looks much better! She is up to 23ml per feeding and tolerating it well. She took her 6am, 9am, 12pm, and 3pm feedings all by mouth but as soon as Dad got here and tried to give her the 6pm feeding she decided she was too tired. She ate about half and got the other half through her feeding tube. We are still super proud of her effort today!
Benson is doing well also. Today they changed him to bottle feeding only four times per day and using his feeding tube the other times so that he can get a little more rest. He is still at 38ml per feeding and tolerating fairly well. He does better with breastmilk and seems to digest it more easily and has less residual before his next feeding. Hopefully my milk will continue to increase in volume so they both can get all breastmilk. I tried cluster pumping last night and pumped every hour x 3 then back to every 2 hours. That seemed to help some and I am currently at 30-40ml per pumping. I just can't keep up with these kids! Though it's a good thing that they are eating so well.
Dad and Ainsley getting some snuggle time this afternoon
I was trying out the video recorder on our camera and ended up with this video of Ben. It is totally boring and all he does in blink but I thought I'd post it anyway!
Ben and Ainsley wanted to say "Hi" to Great-Grandma Yenger since we heard she has Aunt Vickie read her this every night!
Thank you again to everyone for reading and keeping the twins in your thoughts and prayers!
I couldn't help but start with this picture! Miss Ainsley is having a pretty good day. She has spent the day "suntanning" because she has jaundice.
Her headband is holding her "sunglasses" in place :)
She is up to 14ml every three hours. They are increasing her feeds every shift which basically equates to every eight hours or three times per day. She is tolerating her feeds pretty well and *usually* doesn't have any residuals before her next feed. She does especially well digesting if she is on her tummy. I'm not sure if that is pretty common for all babies or not. Ainsley also tried nursing today and she did really well for her first time! She latched and did a little sucking but was a little grumpy about it being so much harder than her bottle. I think it will get easier though and I'm continuing to pump every two hours to try to keep up with her and her brother!
Benson is just chug-a-lugging along. He is up to 38ml every three hours. He has also been getting all breastmilk and I am not going to be able to keep up much longer with what I am currently getting each time so I think tonight he will have to get part formula again. Otherwise, not much else is new for him. He has been feeding pretty well from the bottle. I would say about every other time or every third time right now he has some left over we put in his feeding tube but it's not usually more than 5ml to 7ml. It just depends on how sleepy he is. He also has been practicing nursing and he isn't quite as good as his sister, yet anyway. His sucking seems to be getting stronger every day though so I'm sure it's just a matter of time.
I think that's it for now. I am thankful for the opportunity to do this blog and to keep all our family and friends updated. We have been overwhelmed by everyone who is interested in how our babies are doing and we are more than happy to share with all of you! Thank you all for your continued support and prayers!
