Merry Christmas!

We had a very quiet Christmas this year.  We just hung out at home with our undecorated fake Christmas tree!  John helped Caroline open her presents from Nana and I helped Claire.  Claire pretty much slept through all of the excitement.  Here are a few of the pictures from Christmas day that I have uploaded to Shutterfly.  Hopefully it works!

Caroline & Claire's photo album

Doctors, doctors, and more doctors!

Last week was a very busy week with lots of different doctors' appointments.  Tuesday Claire had an appointment at the pediatrician.  And BIG news, she gained weight!  She is now just a little over 8 pounds!  YAY Claire!!!  Overall she has been eating much better.  She went a few days without spitting up, but the past couple of days she has spit up several times.

Claire, 8 pounds and worn out from all the appointments!

Wednesday was Claire's pulmonology appointment.  She got a Synagis shot, which isn't a vaccine, but an antibody that helps lessen the effects of RSV (respiratory illness, similar to a cold, but could be fatal for an infant).   Then Thursday Caroline had her Synagis shot.  Both girls hated the shots, but who can blame them?!?

Porter supervising tummy time

Friday Claire had an appointment at the ENT and also an eye exam.  Her retinas are now fully developed and no longer premature, so she won't need to go in for another appointment for 6 months.

Saturday Caroline had her first in home physical therapy appointment.  I didn't think she'd have a ton of feedback on the first appointment, but she did.  And it honestly has freaked me out. She is worried about Caroline's head shape and that Caroline is not tracking objects.  The PT is also concerned that Caroline didn't blink when she brought her hand to Caroline's face.  Blinking or closing their eyes is a natural reaction in babies so the PT said that Caroline could be having seizures.  Obvivously something we need to have checked out with the pediatrician.

In other news, Claire has found her thumb and Caroline is still trying very hard to find hers.  Caroline hasn't been taking her pacifier recently and Claire will only take hers when she's too tired of searching for her thumb. 

Claire enjoying her thumb and not a pacifier...

Caroline can't figure out that her thumb is under her fingers.

Claire comes home!

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a week since Clarie came home. She was able to come home last Friday evening. Time has really flown by!  Our biggest concern with Claire coming home was her feeding issues.  She has good days where she eats very well and then days when you basically have to force her to eat.  Before she left the hospital we learned how to insert the feeding (NG) tube, just in case she was having trouble eating. Ok, I'll be honest I practiced only on the dummy, John actually inserted the tube in Claire.  Just like at the hospital she has had good days and some rough days. The first few days at home weren't easy.  We went to the pediatrician on Monday and she lost an ounce from her discharge weight on Friday.  We are hoping it was just a difference in the scales, but we will go back this week for another weight check. 

Claire kissing the hospital GOODBYE!

No more hospital crib!

And we are ALL ready to go!

One HAPPY momma!

The girls are doing well at home together.  At first when one would cry there wasn't a reaction from the other, but it seems like the longer they are home once one cries the other has to cry, yell, or scream louder.  Last night around 1AM they had a yelling/screaming/crying contest.  I decided that I didn't want to be left out so I joined.  And I won, because eventually both girls must have decided they couldn't compete with me and gave up!

Apparently, a leather chair isn't the most effective place to have to babies sit for a photo!

Just hangin' out at home

So much to be thankful for and 3 months old!

Last Thursday we took our first family picture (finally!).  It was Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for this year!

We also got a sweet, sweet card from Claire. 

On Sunday the girls were 3 months old.  To celebrate Claire's feeding tube was removed and she also took her car seat test, technically called the angle tolerance test.  She had to sit in the car seat for 90 minutes and she did a great job sitting, and crying/screaming pretty much the entire time!  She wasn't a fan of the car seat at all!  But that puts us one step closer to bring Claire home.  She weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces tonight.  She is still just working on her feedings but she is doing a great job.  We are going to be trained tomorrow on how to insert a feeding tube, but were told that she will probably come home on Thursday or Friday as long as she continues eating and she has a good next couple of days.

Claire- 3 months old

Poor Claire doesn't love the car seat like Caroline

Caroline continues to do well.  She has really been enjoying tummy time the past few days.  She has an appointment at the pediatrician on Thursday so we'll have an update on her weight then.  But as you can see below she has been growing over the past month!

Caroline at 2 & 3 months

Caroline- 3 months

12 weeks

The girls are now 12 weeks old!

Caroline is getting more active now.  It's hard to get a picture while she isn't in motion (or sleeping)!

Claire is wide awake this week!

Caroline continues to do well at home.  She is still a little inconsistent with sleeping during the night.  She'll have good nights where she sleeps 4-5 hours, and other nights when it feels like she cries throughout the night.  She is eating well, but still spits up pretty regularly.  She hates when milk comes out her nose, which seems to happen almost once a day!

Claire was finally moved up to the 7th floor of the hospital on Tuesday night.  We had a meeting with some hospital staff members yesterday to get a better idea of when she will be released.  She is just working on finishing bottles and eating at this point (still!).  There is a chance that she could come home with the feeding tube if she isn't gaining the strength she needs to finish the eight bottles in 24 hours.  So we will see, but we are hoping that she is able to join us at home very soon!

The girls hanging out.  Almost caught Caroline's smile!

11 weeks and due date

Ok, so I'm a week late, but the girls turned 11 weeks old last Sunday.  Both girls continue to grow stronger each day.

Claire snoozing

Caroline in her crib

Claire is still working on taking bottles.  She finished 3 bottles on Monday, but she hasn't been consistently finishing her bottles everyday. She hit the 7 pound mark this week! She had her 2 month immunizations last Friday and she did not enjoy them at all.  She had an episode in which she dropped her heart rate so she was put back on the nasal cannula last Saturday.  She recovered well and was back off the nasal cannula by Sunday.

Caroline also made it to 7 pounds this week!  She is now only waking up once during the night to eat.

Silly baby girls on their due date

Believe it or not Monday, the 18th was my due date.  So here are the girls now officially 40 weeks old adjusted.  So that means it's time to come home Claire! :-)

10 Weeks!

Last week was a busy week. I went back to work so that I can have time at home once Claire is released.  It wasn't easy going back, but I know it will be worth it in the long run.  However, the biggest and most exciting news is that Claire is now off of all respiratory support and is doing very well!  It's so great to be able to see more of her face.  She is working really hard so bottle feeding isn't coming easy for her.  She needs more time to gain strength so she can get suck, swallow, and breathe down .  Last night she weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces!  And she passed her hearing test.  So good news all around for Claire! 

Claire really doesn't like the camera

But she will eventually open her eyes!

Caroline is doing well at home.  She loves to be held and LOVES to eat.  She is steadily gaining weight as well.  At her appointment last Friday she weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces.  Today she had her first "manicure" because she keeps scratching herself.  Notice both girls have their hands covered this week!

2 months old and Halloween!

We celebrated Halloween last week with super cute pumpkin hats from the Cannings.

Then the next day, November 1, the girls turned 2 months old!

Caroline is doing well at home.  She had an appointment with the pediatrician on Friday.  She got her 2 month shots and labs done.  Good new is her red blood count is much higher than it has been so hopefully anemia is a thing of the past for her.  The pediatrician, Dr. Green, did detect a heart murmur, so she was referred to a cardiologist for further evaluation.  Yesterday she went and she does have a soft flow murmur that should not have too much of an effect on her.  She is visiting her sister everyday and she even has her own bassinet in the room.

She doesn't seem to mind visiting her sister too much!

Just hanging out at the hospital

Claire continues to amaze me!  As of today she is on half a liter on the nasal cannula only getting room air.  She has started taking bottles also.  Her pretty little face is starting to lose the extra puffiness from the oxygen, and she is opening her eyes so much more now. 

Claire's first bottle on Sunday

8 weeks old!

I can't believe it's been 8 weeks since our little ones were born! And what an interesting 8 weeks it's been!

Caroline in her cradle at home

Claire in her big girl crib at the hospital

Claire has had a great week and has made some huge gains this week! She has gone from the bubble CPAP to high flow respiratory support. She continues to do well on high flow as they are weaning the liters per minute that she is receiving.  On Sunday night she weighed 5 pounds 6 ounces.

Sleepy Claire

Caroline is doing well at home. She is on a really good schedule from the hospital so we are just keeping that schedule which has helped us a lot! She has had a couple baths, an appointment at the pediatrician and an appointment at the eye doctor too.  Along with going to the hospital everyday to see her sister, Claire, Caroline has been a busy baby!

Caroline relaxing at home

The twins meet again & Caroline comes home!

Yesterday was full of excitement! Caroline met all the hospital requirements for discharge so she was released yesterday! She passed her car seat test on Monday night and took 8 bottles a day for a 48 hour period. She has been off caffeine for over a week and didn't have any drops in her vital signs so she was ready to come home. We are so proud of her!

Daddy preparing Caroline for her big test

She didn't mind sitting in her new seat for 90 minutes

Last picture in her hospital bassinet

We LOVE Nurse Vicky! One of our favorites!

We are ready to go see Claire!

And off we go!

Even more exciting than Caroline coming home was that the twins were able to finally see each other. They were separated at birth and haven't been in the same room since. Once Caroline was released we couldn't get down to Claire soon enough! Caroline was wide eyed but as soon as she was put into Claire's bed she closed her eyes and laid silently beside her sister.  When one would start to move or make noise the other did the same. It was an amazing thing to witness! I couldn't take enough pictures of the two of them together-enjoy!

Together at last!

Sweet baby girls

Proud Dad

Happy Mom

Love

More LOVE!

First bedtime story as a family

BFFs