2 Month Update

WOW! Our girls are 2 months old today! It seems like time has flown by, yet somedays seem to last forever!! Hattie & Ava are making great strides and getting closer and closer to coming home! We thank God every single day for keeping His hand over our babies! Things could have been way worse. Have things been tough? Yes. Where there times I thought I was going to crumble? No doubt. But God has been right here with us through it all. Everyday I lay my hands on the girls I pray the same prayer our Pastor prays over us each Sunday. "May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face shine down upon you. May he turn his countenance toward you and grant you HIS peace, HIS shalom!" I know I am praying it over the girls but a big part of me is praying it over myself. His peace is the only thing that is getting me through each day!   Here are some updates as well as some pictures that are our favorites!  AVA

Ava loves her new hat!

Our sweet little chunky monkey! As of last night Ava weighed in at 4lb 15oz! Almost 5 whole pounds!! She is drinking most of her feeds from the bottle so we are hoping this next week her feeding tube will be taken out! Can you imagine what a site that will be? We have never got to see the girls completely tube free so it is a HUGE deal!! I am so excited, although she is still beautiful as ever even with tubes! Her face is so full and she is even starting to get little rolls on her thighs. They are beginning to ween her off of some of her extra calories which means she is getting close to being home. Ava is still on Lasix to help with fluid on her itty bitty lungs but it is a totally normal preemie thing. She may/may not have to come home on it. Now that Ava is in a 'big girl' bed she is much more alert! She loves to look around and get the nurses full attention with her little fusses!

Ava saying 'hi' from her big girl bed!

She's definitely gaining some weight! ;)

HATTIE

One of our favorite pictures of Hattie

My dearest Hattie. Bless her heart. Out of the two girls Hattie has definitely had to deal with a lot more 'preemie junk' than Ava. She is anemic so she has had two blood transfusions since she was born with the latest being two nights ago. Totally normal for a preemie to be anemic. Thankfully she doesn't show any signs of anemia besides her blood levels. She always has lots of energy! About 3 weeks ago, Hattie got sick. At the time the doctors wanted to be extra cautious and ordered extra blood work as well as a spinal tap. Something no mommy wants to hear! She was moved back to Level 3 NICU and put back on her CPAP so she didn't have to spend extra energy on trying to breath without the oxygen. THANK YOU JESUS the spinal tap and blood cultures showed NOTHING! At the time the doctor's believed it was UTI but have since said they think it was a virus. After antibiotics, blood transfusion and some good TLC she is doing SO much better and is back in Level 2 NICU right next to her sissy, Ava. Hattie's little tummy has also had its fair share of 'preemie junk' as well! I started noticing about 1 1/2 weeks ago that Hattie seemed extremely uncomfortable when trying to feed and feedings usually ended up in some major spit ups. Dr. M decided to put her on some acid reflux medicine and it has helped TREMENDOUSLY. She is back to being my sweet cuddle bug! As of last night Hattie weighed 3lb 14oz..almost to 4 pounds!!! 

Daddy getting to feed Hattie for the first time!

Big step for Hattie!

Both of the girls are such joys to be with. They now have very different personalities and I just can't get enough of them! I can have a list of things to do and the minute I sit down with them it all goes out the window, before I know it, it is 6 hours later and I have done nothing but sit and hold/stare at my beautiful jewels! We cannot wait for them to be home and meet everyone who has prayed continuously for them! We can't express how thankful we are for everyone's prayers and encouraging words during this phase in our lives! The good news is that this is temporary!! We will soon be home and will get to begin our life as a family of 4!! 

Side note: If any of you are interested in donating blood for/in Hattie's name (in case in the future she needs another transfusion) please let me know so I can let you know what exactly you need to do! Hattie's blood type is A.

For those that ask about specifics to pray for:

- Both girls got their 2 month immunizations today, tolerated well. Pray no pain tonight!

- Hattie's weight gain

- Ava's fluid on her lungs to go away so she can stop taking the medicine.. it's tough on the kidneys.

Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the prayers!

XOXO - Bryan, Julie, Hattie & Ava

Family of 4!

Oh babies! Literally! In January we announced that we were expecting twins! In February we announced we were having twin girls! Our due date was July 3rd but we were understanding when the doctor told us she just wanted us to make it to June! My personal goal was also June but I knew that all could change when we were least expecting it.. On Wednesday April 8th (one day shy of 28 weeks) after lunch with my mom I had terrible upper gastric pain.. like severe hunch over think I am going to die pain. I thought it was the pizza I ate. I threw it up, and went about my way. That evening it hit me all over again. Bryan was determined I was dehydrated and insisted we go to the hospital, of course I refused so Bryan put a call in to the doctor. The doctor said it sounded like dehydration and it would be an easy fix. So, to the hospital we went. Once there they discovered I had critical ranges of protein in my urine & my blood pressure was critically high. The decision was made to life flight me to Women's Hospital of Texas in Houston so I could be taken care of properly, as well as the girls. I don't recall most of this because I was so drugged.. The goal was to put off delivery as much as possible to allow the girls' lungs to develop further. Once we arrived in Houston I was put on several meds and blood work was taken every 6 or so hours. The doctor told us that once my levels reached a certain number we had no choice but to deliver. This was a miserable three day, but I am so thankful for those three days to allow Hattie & Ava to grow more! The morning of the delivery was very scary. My liver and kidneys had began to shut down so we were rushed back and next thing we knew our girls were here! Hattie was 2.1lbs and Ava was 2.4lbs! There were some scary moments in there.. Ava had to have a blood transfusion! However, we are SOO blessed at how great our girls were at birth and still are today. They both were breathing room air through their CPAP almost immediately and have taken their feedings well. They continue to grow each and every day amazing us with what their little bodies can handle! We can't thank God enough for keeping His hand over us during all of this chaos. And of course, for all the prayers from family & friends and even strangers!  I will update soon..