Happy Turkey Day

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving with your loved ones. We are so grateful to Rob's parents for hosting a wonderful meal at their house yesterday!

Our Little Turkeys

Must have been all the tryptophan!

Sleeping in mommy & daddy's bed

Original Due Date

Today was my original due date with the girls. Crazy to think that we've had them with us for 6 weeks now but they weren't supposed to born until now. Really puts a lot into perspective. We had a pediatrician appointment yesterday and both girls checked out great. Weights were as follows: Caroline - 7lb,1/2 oz and Olivia - 7lb,14oz. Olivia barely makes the 5th percentile for weight and Caroline is still under the charts but she assured us this is to be expected when the babies are six weeks behind. The doctor suggested I increase Caroline's calories by adding high calorie preemie formula to breastmilk in her bottle. Hopefully this will help her catch up to her sister soon. The girls are still eating every 2 to 3 hours around the clock which makes for some pretty restless nights for mom and dad. We asked the doctor when we could expect for the girls to start sleeping longer stints during the night and were told that because they are preemies it will still be a while before that blessed day. On a good note, I am now cleared to exercise and cannot wait to get back to the gym! Being on bed rest for 6 weeks and not leaving my house very often since the girls have been home has made me super anxious to get out and be active... all I have to do now is find the time to do this! :)

We'll be heading out to Rob's parents for Thanksgiving tomorrow. We wish everyone safe travels for the holiday!

Just the four of us again

Our guests left today to go back to Texas. We were especially sad to see my mom go since she has been our saving grace when it came to helping us with the girls. Guess it's time that Rob and I do this parenting thing completely on our own! Wish us luck. I have my 6 week postpartum check tomorrow morning and the girls have another pediatrician appointment on Tuesday morning, so updates to come.

Proud Grandma Karen

Our little ladybug and chick

More Grandparents!

Auntie Nessa!

Three Generations all in one Picture

Family in Town

So we haven't posted in a while...

As mentioned, my mom has been in town helping us out tremendously, and Auntie Vanessa flew in on Thursday with Jeremy to meet her nieces for the first time! They're having fun with them. My mom is a saint and stayed home with the girls yesterday so that I could go get my hair cut. I haven't cut it in SOOO long - probably about 8 weeks before I went into the hospital at 29 weeks pregnant. So it was much needed and so nice to be out by myself.

First Outing with the Babies

Today my mom and I were feeling adventurous and decided to take the babies to Target to get out of the house for a bit and to use up all my gift cards we received. It's pretty cold here so we bundled up the girls and got them in their carseats to run our errands. It actually wasn't too terrible! But there is absolutely no way in the world I would be able to do that with both girls by myself so might as well get it done while I have the help here. Olivia pooped her pants right when we got there, and both were a little fussy wanting to eat but we actually were able to get all of the stuff I needed.

Here are a couple short videos and pictures from the past couple days.

Liney happy in her boppy pillow

Livi in her bouncy seat

Daddy, Livi and Charlie lounging

Caroline taking a short nap

Sleepy Tummy Time

We tried for some tummy time today, but the girls just took that opportunity for a nap.

The past few nights have been pretty restless. Both girls just do not seem happy sleeping flat on their backs in the pack n' play in our room. I'm hoping this doesn't mean that they have reflux issues. Anyways, the only way I can get them to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time is by putting them in the bouncy chairs... so the living room is where I've been sleeping. The girls in the bouncy chairs and me on the couch, taking turns having each of them laying with me when they wake up and cry between feedings. It's amazing how little sleep I'm able to function with (well kinda!). Thank God my mom is here helping me with the "night shifts". Maybe she'll just move in with us! :)

Hospital Photos

The hospital photographer came around to the girls' NICU room to take their pictures the day Caroline was discharged. To see them, go to www.bellababyphotography.com - click on "Website" and then on the "Client" link - type in "krupatwins" for the password. Olivia wanted to steal the whole show and was wide awake the entire time with her eyes open but Caroline slept through the whole thing.

One Month Old!

The girls are one month old today (still negative 2 weeks adjusted age). We had a pediatrician appointment for both girls this morning. Caroline is starting to catch up as she weighed in at 5lb,15oz - just one ounce away from 6lbs! And Olivia is 6lb,9oz. Everything checked out fine and we go back in 2 weeks for weight checks again.

Here is a couple of funny videos of the girls from yesterday.

Womb-Mates Together Again!

We are finally a family under one roof! We brought our precious Caroline home yesterday evening and had so much fun with both girls together. It feels SO good to be DONE with that hospital, with God's blessing that is. Rob and I had spent every single day at that hospital for the last 10 weeks straight. Needless to say, it will be nice to enjoy our babies in our own home, especially now that the weather is getting colder. They are doing great and keeping mom & dad on their toes for sure. Last night they both slept together in the pack n' play in our room. I don't know how long this will last because they both are such squirmers and squeakers! When I got up for the 2AM feeding, they both had squirmed their way towards each other and Olivia was practically on top of Caroline! And their non stop little grunts and squeaks they make keep me up pretty much all night (not Rob - he sleeps like a rock!). I'm afraid we're already off our synchronized schedule of them eating and sleeping at the same time because Caroline was screaming an hour and a half before her scheduled eating time and the only thing that consoled her was giving her a bottle early... so now she's been consistently waking up way before Olivia. Oh well, I knew there would be challenges and this is just one. It's definitely a little overwhelming tending to two babies at one time. Thank the good Lord my Mom is here staying with us for a few weeks. She has been super helpful by getting up with me for all the overnight feedings and making us home cooked meals so we have one less thing to worry about.
Here are some pictures from yesterday.

Grandma Karen

Ready to come home!

Livi passed out
Liney passed out

Sisters!

Caroline is coming home!!!

Tomorrow is the big day... that is, if she has no brady's between now and 5:30PM tomorrow evening. She passed her car seat test last night and had her Hepatitis B vaccination today, so she is all set to come home. She has been doing so great these past few days. She weighed in at 5lb,8oz this morning and has been eating about 60-65 ml's at every feeding, which is just as much as her sister. I'm so proud of her! So hopefully our next post will show pictures of our baby's homecoming.

The girls are scheduled to have their pictures taken by the hospital photographer tomorrow afternoon. I'll post the link to the site so all can view.

Videos of Livi at home!

Here are some vids of Livi at home.

Here she is right after her first kitchen sink bath:





She eats 8 meals per day, here is #3 from Sunday:

Livi's First Bath and Doctor's Visit

Olivia had her first pediatrician appointment on Friday. She checked out great and weighed in at 6lbs even (so now she is most likely a couple ounces over that, as she should be gaining about one ounce per day). The doctor did faintly hear her heart murmur and we have a follow up echocardiogram scheduled at the Children's hospital in February for that. She also said that her belly button is slightly herniated, which could correct on its own so we'll keep an eye on that as well. She is scheduled for her second appointment in one week, and we tentatively set it up for Caroline to come in as well - hoping that she'll also be discharged from the NICU by then. Yesterday Caroline had not had any brady's in two days so we are potentially looking at Tuesday for her homecoming. They asked us to bring in her carseat today to do her test! We're keeping our fingers crossed. We were also surprised to see that she has started eating as much as her sister, taking about 60-65 mls per feeding! I hope she catches up soon. She was 5lb, 4oz yesterday.

Here are some pictures of Livi getting her first bath at home. She didn't even cry that much.

Olivia's first night home

Last night was Olivia's first at home. We all did pretty well, I think. Rob and I didn't get much sleep at all, but that pretty much comes with the territory. It was wonderful to have her here and to be able to comfort her when she woke up. She loves being held so we spent a lot of time just sitting together. She is still on her schedule of eating every three hours, and just like clockwork she was up right before it was chow time. I had set my alarm for the three hour increments, but didn't need it because she definitely lets us know when it's time to eat.

Here are a few pictures of Livi right before she was discharged from the hospital, and then a couple of her and mommy at home.

As for Caroline, she was not cleared to go home today because she continues to have brady episodes. Although she has not had any while sleeping (the most concerning kind), she has them during feedings where she gets too tired while trying to finish her bottle, holds her breath and her heart rate drops. The past few times it drops into the 40's lasting 10 to 15 seconds. Because of this, the doctors decided to keep her a few days longer. They said today that they want to see how she does over the weekend and then reassess.

Olivia is coming home TODAY!

We are so excited! She just passed her car seat test and is all packed up ready to go. AND ... there is a chance that Caroline might be coming home tomorrow! It will be day 5 for her of no brady's. So if she stays status quo for the next 24 hours we can finally be done with this hospital! Keep your fingers crossed...

Uncle Cliff came to visit us today as he had a layover in Chicago for the day. I'll post a cute picture of him holding his grand nieces later.

Both over 5lbs now!

Caroline has made it to the 5lb mark! She was 5lb,0.8oz today and Olivia was 5lb,9.5oz. No brady's today while sleeping for either. Caroline had a couple with her feedings, but they aren't counting those for the "five day rule". The doctors actually talked to us today about possibly discharging Olivia tomorrow since it will be her fifth day for no brady's while sleeping. So if she doesn't have any overnight and none tomorrow throughout the day she will be free to come home. They gave us the option to keep her there until Wednesday so we feel more comfortable with the fact that she has indeed outgrown having the episodes, and I think we're leaning towards that option. And Olivia's umbilical cord fell off last night. So we'll be able to give her real baths when she gets home. Caroline still has hers but it should fall off in the next day or so.

We'll see what tomorrow brings...

NICU Day 18

The doctor came around this morning and heard a murmur in both girls' hearts. They originally only heard one in Olivia, but today found a soft murmur in Caroline as well. They said that I should not be overly concerned at this time, as the valves could close on their own in time. But both will need to get an echo soon to take another look. Other than that, the girls had a good day. Both had a couple of brady's today, funny how I come to almost expect them to happen every day. I hope they grow out of these episodes soon. This daily hospital routine is really wearing on us. Rob and I have spent every single day at that hospital for the past 8 weeks and 5 days now (including my inpatient stay while pregnant). We miss them terribly after kissing them goodbye each night, such a strange feeling to have to leave your children in someone else's care every day. It's almost like we're not even their parents yet. People tell me to enjoy this time of "free babysitting" and restful nights before we bring two needy babies home, but we actually want the WHOLE experience of having them here at home with us where they belong. I'm their mom and I should be the one there to comfort them when they wake up at night, and we should be the ones taking shifts warming bottles and changing diapers at 3am. We actually want all of that because it's part of being a parent. I know our time for this is coming, but I can't help but feel like we're missing out on some of it.

Here are a few pictures of our visit with Grandpa Richard and Grandma Linda over the past couple days.

Proud GrandpaMommy & Caroline

Livi trying to suck her thumb

Caroline has turned in to a good eater!