Watch me grow...

I am so in love with my two little girls. It is hard sometimes to remember that they are not like other newborns. They reached 32 weeks gestation on Thursday... we have to think of them as still in utero as far as their age. This means when they finally come home they will be considered new born even though they will be around 3 months old.

I attended a parent night put on by the March of Dimes that taught us about the special development of a preemie infant and how they require a much different environment and care than your typical baby. Some interesting things I learned are:

• Rocking a preemie feels to them like the tilt-o-whirl feels to us, very disorienting. It is important to be very still when holding them.

• It looks cute when they "stretch" out their arms and legs, but they are really looking for the boundaries of the womb and it is scary for them to not feel anything.

• Having boundaries, like being swaddled, or confined by special bedding provides important developmental ques for the preemie. Without these boundaries, they do not learn to self regulate and wont develop proper muscle tone or tendon length in their extremities.

• Even though they squint at bright lights, their eyelids are still so thin it makes no difference.

• It feels natural to us to stroke or touch a baby softly, but a preemie will feel over stimulated and "tickled" by those actions. When you hold a preemie it is important to have firm steady "pressure" as it feels reassuring.

The girls are now 19 days old and still doing very well. Temperance is now up to 3 lb 8 oz and 17 inches long. Juliet has grown to 2 lb 10 oz and 16 inches long.

They are both still receiving their milk through a feeding tube. Temperance now gets 30cc and Juliet gets 24. That doesn't seem like much, but it is a lot for such a tiny body.

They both have found their thumbs. Temperance tries to suck on everything that gets near her mouth when it is getting close to feeding time and does really well with a bink. Juliet is partial to sucking on her fist and also loves her bink... which takes up half her face!

Both girls have "smiled" at us. I am sure it is just a spasm since they have a long while before they actually develop true muscle control to smile.... but it is still pretty darn cute!

Temperance has gotten big enough and maintains her own temperature well enough to wear onsies... sister still has a little way to go before she gets her first outfit, but I am sure it wont be long.

They have so many cute little personality quirks already... it is amazing to watch them change every day.

Juliet and Temperance. 18 days old

Juliet's little kissy face and sleepy Temperance

Happy St. Patrick's Day little Temperance

Juliet loves her bow

Miracle

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 is a day I will never forget. The day I met two little girls who stole my heart.

Around 6:40pm Twin B had an elevated heart rate in the 200 bpm range and then a deceleration into the 50s that lasted 5 minutes. At the time I was on the phone with Sam giving him the update for the day. My Doctor had just been in to see me and let me know that everything was looking great and the girls were doing well. Shortly another two more nurses joined the room with IV fluids and equipment in hand and I was being repositioned. I could tell the situation was not resolving. I told Sam I needed to let him go so I could free up my arms for an IV.

The IV was in place quickly, I was repositioned, and Twin B was not recovering. Another doctor happened to be on the unit having just finished a C-section and was informed of our situation. She came in to do an ultrasound of Twin B because now the external monitor was not picking up the heart rate. It was determined that she was in too much distress and would not be able to recover from the deceleration. My Doctor was paged, and before I knew it the whole surgical team was waiting for me in the OR.

I was able to get a hold of Sam at 6:50 pm to tell him it was time. I was rushed to the OR and put under general anesthetic. At 7 pm our little angels were delivered. Twin A came out first with cords wrapped around her neck and had an APGAR score of 6. She needed to be intubated because she could not remember to breathe. Her sister came out next completely wrapped up in the cords. Her APGAR was only 1and she had a feeble heart beat. They intubated her as well and she quickly stabilized. They were taken to the NICU to stabilize and get settled in.

I woke up in recovery just as Sam and my Mom made it to the hospital. Sam's aunt (that I had been staying with) was by my side, I am so grateful for her support since the rest of the family was hours away. It seemed like forever before they would let us in to see the girls.

When I met my babies for the first time it was absolutely amazing. Little Temperance Gail Olsen (baby A) was 2 lbs 12 oz and 16 inches long. Juliet Violet Olsen (baby B) was 2 lbs 4 oz and 14 3/4 inches long. Juliet received two blood transfusions in the first 24 hours of life thanks to her sister getting all the blood in utero.

Both girls have made amazing progress. They are now 2 weeks old and 32 weeks gestational age. Breathing tubes are out, central lines are out, IVs are out, and they are breathing on room air. They both are still too young to eat without a feeding tube, but they both start sucking the air when the feedings start... smart little ones!

I feel so blessed that our story is unfolding in such a positive manner. Heavenly Father is certainly watching over these precious little souls, and I am so grateful to him.

Daddy and little Temperance 2 days old

Temperance 9 days old

Juliet 3 days old

Daddy and miss Juliet 3 days old

Momma and her girls 6 days old (L: Temperance, R: Juliet)

Daddy's little angels 6 days old (L: Juliet, R: Temperance)



And then there were four... (Daddy, Juliet, Temperance, Momma)

These are not my best pictures of the girls, but I am still working on getting them all on to my computer... they just get cuter and cuter everyday.