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

7 weeks old!

The girls were 7 weeks old yesterday.  Amazingly enough they both weighed 5 pounds 1 ounce last night!

Caroline's hair is looking really red thanks to all the pink blankets!

Sleepy Claire

Caroline is now taking bottles like a champ!  She finished 7 bottles yesterday so her feeding tube was removed earlier today.  We were told today that she might go home as early as tomorrow. but first  she has to pass a car seat test in which she has to sit in her carrier for 90 minutes with out her stats dropping. 

 

 

Daddy feeding Caroline

No tubes for Caroline!

Claire is also doing really well.  She is now on lower pressure of the bubble CPAP.  Her doctor is no longer hearing a murmur so we are hoping her PDA has closed entirely.  She will have an echo later today that will give us more information.  She is opening her eyes more often now so I think she is feeling better!

Claire is working hard to get better!

Wide awake!

Daddy was excited to dress the girls on Saturday for the big game.  Too bad his team forgot to play after they dressed!  Thanks to Chris and Meredith for the cute Clemson gear!

Daddy and Claire pregame

Caroline wishes she was wearing Ohio State!

Claire sporting her Clemson onesie!

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6 weeks old!

It's been another busy week for the Redfern twins!

Claire was taken off the ventilator last Friday evening and is doing well on the bubble CPAP.  We were preparing ourselves for surgery this week, but on Monday we received some great news- Claire's PDA has almost closed!  It was only open about 1mm. Because of this huge improvement surgery is no longer recommended. She will have another echo next week to see if the PDA has closed all the way.  The surgeons are now waiting and monitoring her to see if she will need surgery on her diaphragm in the future.  Claire is winning the weight war too.  She is weighing in at around 4 pounds 12 ounces this week.  We are so proud of her and know that all the prayers from everyone have made a huge difference.  As if all that wasn't exciting enough, Claire was moved into her own room on the 2nd floor.  She has two windows and even a door!  It is much quieter and I think it will be a great place for her to continue to grow bigger and stronger.  She also wore her first outfit last night!

Claire's first time wearing clothes!

Caroline has had a good week also.  She is now able to take between 4-5 bottles a day.   She is no longer taking caffeine either.  Caffeine is given to preemies to help with apnea.  Babies has to be off of caffeine at least a week and needs to tolerate 8 bottles a day before coming home.  She is getting there!  She is gaining weight too, weighing in at 4 pounds 9 ounces. 

Caroline relaxing

5 weeks old!

The twins turned 5 weeks old on Sunday! It's only Wednesday and it has already been a busy week with the girls!

Claire's hand breaking free!

Caroline wide awake!

Caroline just hit the 4 pound mark on Monday night. She was 4 pounds 1 ounce! She is now bottle feeding too.  She took her whole bottle in 15 minutes on Tuesday. She is growing so quickly!  She is very alert and active.

Caroline loves the pacifier!

Claire has reached the 4 pound mark too! She weighed 4 pounds 1 ounce last night.  She is still on the ventilator.  She has had a lot of secretions over the past few days so the doctors decided to send some of the secretions to the lab and it turns out that she has an infection.  Yesterday she started antibiotics to help her fight the infection. Her doctors think that she would benefit from surgery to close the PDA and at the same time they would also perform a procedure to help her left diaphragm work properly. The surgeons at Children's Hospital want to wait until the infection clears up before doing the surgery.  So we'll wait to see how things go over the next few days.  

Claire looking pretty in pink!

Please continue to keep the girls in your prayers!

1 month birthday!

The girls were 1 month old last Tuesday, yes, mom is behind- yet again!  Both girls weighed about a pound over their birth weights, right around 3 pounds 10 ounces.

Caroline- 1 month old

Claire- 1 month old

On Wednesday Caroline was taking off of all respiratory support.

I walked into Caroline's room to find her doing this. Not very helpful to her!

She was SO happy to have that out of her nose and off of her face!

She can sleep much better without all the extra stuff!

On Friday Claire had to be put back on the ventilator.  Although we hated to see it, she is now much more stable.  Exciting new to share for Claire too, on Saturday she got an open air bed!   Yay, no more isolette for her!

Claire swaddled and fast asleep in her new bed