The Adventures of Temperance and Juliet

                        Oh what did we do in the Summer time? Well... a little bit of everything.

 

We posed for the camera.

 

 

We went hiking at Five Springs

 

 

Ate Grandpa's first watermelon from the garden.

 

 

 

As Summer turned to Fall we...

 

 

Celebrated Aunt Katie's Wedding... Welcome to the family Uncle Jonathan!

 

 

Finally met cousin Payden who came all the way from Hawaii!!

 

 

Played with all our Olsen cousins.

 

 

and went swimming for the first time!

 

 

 

Time sure flies when you're having fun. Can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings!

Lilac Babies

Our town celebrates what they call Lilac days. Part of the celebration is to have a Lilac Queen, Princess, and Baby. How could we pass up the chance to win Lilac Baby?

The contest consisted of turning in a funny story about you child, what their favorite things are, and then present them to a panel of judges.

there were 11 babies in all and it was quite the cute little pageant.

Temperance wowed the judges and won the title of longest eyelashes.

Juliet proved quite the charmer.

We may not have won , but they are my little Lilac babies!

Little Blessings

On Sunday, June 10 our little girls were finally given their blessings. There was a lot of family that came to support the girls. I am so grateful for such a great family!

The famly

Cousin Sky and Juliet

Cousin Levi and Temperance

Baby Shower

Big thanks to Audrey and Karlie for the work they put into throwing us a shower. We had a blast being with family and friends, and of course opening all the great gifts!!

Juliet, Temperance

Great Grandma 'Laine and Grammy Moncur

Home at last

After 3 months in the NICU we are finally home. The girls were given a clean bill of health one month ago and now our little family is finally complete and comfortably at home. Life with twins is never boring.

I am so grateful to the staff at the NICU for their amazing care, not only for the girls, but for Sam and I. Spending day after day in a hospital can be taxing and some days can feel like torture. The nursing team at St. Vincent's was so supportive to us and without them I am sure the many days of going back and forth to the hospital would have driven me nuts!

We made so many great friends during our experience and witness many amazing things that have strengthened my faith in prayer and my Heavenly Father.

For an update on the Olsen Twins...

Temperance Gail is now 8 lbs 8 oz and 21 in long. She has rolled over, can hold her head up, and loves to talk to herself.

Temperance 1 day old 2 lbs 14 oz and 16 in long

Juliet Violet is now 7 lbs 4 oz and 20 in long. She has rolled over, loves to look out the window, and play in the tub.

Juliet one day old 2 lb 4 oz and 14.5 in long

I feel so blessed to have such perfect spirits in my home... even when I am up at 2am changing diapers and feeding two babies at once.

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.

Close Call

For all you mono moms out there that are scared, intimidated, or depressed by the close monitoring or inpatient status you may be going through... please find comfort in knowing that  it will keep you and your babes safe and things could be worse. I am so grateful for a super responsive team watching my little ones almost constantly.

On Tuesday I woke up around 7am after having been off the monitor all night so I could get some sleep. I had the distinct feeling that if I did not get into the shower and get ready for the day right then, it would be my last chance. The nurses had me on the monitor by 8am. I had a few contractions right off so they kept me on the monitor all morning. B started having some accels that made me nervous, and then at 1:30pm she had two decelerations down into the 50 bpm range. The second decel lasted almost 3 minutes and before I could hit my call light to get help the nurses had me flipped over on my side, an IV in my arm, and 200cc of fluid in me. They prepped me for the OR and my Dr. told me to go ahead and call Sam to get up here. It was looking pretty certain that we were going to have a birthday that afternoon.

Sam and my Mom made it to the hospital in under 2 hours (pretty good considering how far they had to drive). We waited to see if  our little one was going to rebound and be okay, because if they didn't have to be delivered this early we sure we didn't want to even go there. After careful consideration and discussion with the Dr. we decided that since B had recovered from the event and wasn't showing any sign of ill effect that we would continue the pregnancy.

I have been on the monitor since and the girls look great. My IV was able to come out today and we are now officially 29 weeks! Such a huge milestone for these little monos. We are all praying that we can make it another week before we meet our girls.

Today I have had a few contractions, but for the time being everyone is safe and unaffected by them. We had another ultrasound yesterday. It needed to be done over in the actual Dr.'s office since their machine can show more detailed doppler. That means I got to ride in the ambulance since I was still on a running IV. Everything looks fabulous. There is no sign that there are any physiological problems with the babies, so the culprit of  our problems is cords. They are both still growing. A is well over 2 lbs now and B has finally hit her 2 lbs mark.

I am hoping for an uneventful weekend, and some calm little babies. I don't know how many more close calls this momma's nerves can handle!

Wiggle Worms

28 weeks 4 days! I have made it through my first week inpatient. For the most part the girls have done really well. There has been a day here and there where they make us all nervous with their heart rates, but generally they have been stable. I was able to go from being on the EFM continuously to only two hours three times a day. Being tethered to my bed has been a challenge, but when I remember why I am doing this... there is no place I would rather be. The latest ultrasound showed stabilized growth, good blood flow for both twins, and no compromising of the cords. These little girls are moving great as well.

So great, they are making it hard for Momma to breathe sometimes. B loves to work her way up under my rib cage and start dancing. She is so strong for being so little and for some reason she loves to snuggle up to my lungs. I love watching the monitors and seeing them jump and bounce as the girls try to kick them off my belly. The nurses tell me that the ultrasound makes the water warm and causes their heart sounds to echo, so no wonder they kick at it.

I have been working on my crochet skills still, and have made some hats that I thought would be cute for baby pictures.

The Long Haul

It has been two weeks since they started me on out patient fetal monitoring, and up until Friday, things were going by without a hitch. On Friday I came in for my usual evening session and Twin B was having some decelerations in heart rate that were not exactly reassuring. They kept me overnight for observation to make sure she would continue to recover to a normal baseline heart rate. She continued to have episodes of decels during the night and on Saturday and still on Sunday. At one point on Sunday they alerted the OR staff that they needed to be prepared for my delivery, put in an IV, typed and crossed my blood. Luckily for our girls the decelerations resolved and we were able to make it through the day without any further hiccups.

Yesterday it was decided that I would remain in-patient for the remainder of the pregnancy for continuous monitoring. We did a second series of celestone (betamethasone) for the babies' lungs and now it is watch and wait. Sunday night through today have been very reassuring. Great baselines and good variability for both twins. I have had some contractions, but nothing that is progressing into labor. So far we have made it to 27 weeks 5 days, and every day these girls stay put the better their chance and lower the risks are related to delivery. The staff here at St. Vincents has been very helpful and informative.

Our ultrasound yesterday morning showed that Twin A weighs 2 lb 1 oz, and Twin B weighs 1 lb 9 oz. That is still a large difference, but the gap has not widened and they both are growing. I am so grateful that these girls have made it as far as they have and pray that we can get a week or more in before they make an entrance to the world.



What I do everyday



Moving on up

Well folks we have made it to 25 weeks. This is a small relief because we have officially passed the week of viability for our little angels. We definitely have some busy little babies. They are moving like crazy which can drive me nuts sometimes, but is a constant reassurance that we are all alive and well.

I had another appointment yesterday. This was sort of a stressful appointment for me. Three weeks ago we discovered that Twin B was suffering from an unequal share of flow from the placenta. This is resulting in some deficient growth, and when it was initially discovered the deficiency was 18%. Three weeks later little B is at a 30% difference. Twin A is at approximately 1 lb 11 oz and B is at approximately 1 lb 3 oz. With this large of a difference they want to keep a little closer watch on our little one. We knew all along I would be relocating eventually and now the time has come. 34 weeks was our initial target date, but that is now out of reach. We are crossing fingers and saying prayers that little B will keep on growing and stay strong as long as possible.

Blood flow through cords still looks good and cords are staying minimally entangled. Development is also on track and we can still see B's bladder and kidneys (a good thing when there is a transfusion problem).

So this is au revoir  to home for now and hello to Billings for what I hope is at least seven more weeks of good growth.

On a lighter note we did find out just before Christmas that we are having little girls and we couldn't be happier.





24 weeks



We could only capture a shot of Twin A on 3D, her sister is presenting breach and has her face turned away.



Babies, babies, babies...

The appointment went well on Wednesday. The cord tangling is lessened and there are good heart beats. No official news for when I will need to relocate, but when I go back in two weeks we will know more.

I finally got my scanner up and running, so i thought i would share some of the more current ultrasounds.

Two heads are better than one!



Thumbs up from Baby B.



Update Week 21

I cannot believe 21 weeks has gone by so quickly and we are getting so close to meeting our little miracles. Since my last post I have had several ultrasounds, and it is so amazing to watch our little ones grow and develop.

 At 17 weeks I started to feel little baby flutters as they got big enough to feel movement. So far every doctors visit has been positive. Growth is on track, there has not been any new extreme cord tangling. I am only working 8 hour shifts now, and trying not to do anything to strenuous, but everything seems to be going great. I am at 21 weeks and 4 days now, and just last week the little baby flutters turned into kicks. I am loving the new movement and it makes the whole experience so much more real.

On Wednesday we are back to the doctor for another update and ultrasound and find out how soon I will have to relocate to billings for more monitoring.

I am so grateful for all the prayers,  thoughts, and support we are receiving.

Week 14... when life gives you lemons

I am officially out of trimester number one. I feel so blessed to not have the typical morning sickness most women experience, especially with twins. I will say that the exhaustion is really taking its toll. I came home from work last night and couldn't even stand. My body is changing so fast that my poor muscles and joints can't keep up with it! A singleton mom would be carrying a baby the size of a lemon this week, so count that as two lemons for us. I am already starting to feel like a fruit basket.

Sometimes I forget that I am expecting, then the reality of not having clothes that fit, and not being able to eat reminds me. I am so excited though. The idea of bringing two new little, wonderful lives into the world makes me feel like I am floating.

We found out that this pregnancy is special... yet again. Not only are we having twins, but we are having mono-mono twins (monochorionic-monoamnionic). This means our little ones are about as identical as it gets and are sharing everything! This is actually the rarest form of twin pregnancies and makes it a little more high risk. We are not worried though. Our OB is very confident, and we will be consulting with a perinatologist to make sure everything goes smoothly.

I will be having more regular appointments than the average mom, and at each one I will be having an ultrasound. How special to be able to watch my babes grow each time! Here is my favorite of the ultrasound pictures so far. Maybe because they are part of me it melts my heart... but I bet it will yours too.

13 weeks

Being the planner that I am, I cannot help but start collecting and creating things for out little ones. I love the idea of "two peas in a pod". These are the newborn beanies I have made inspired by that theme. Depending on gender I may add a little pink flower to each.