Happy 1 Month (or -1 Month?) Birthday to H & F!!

So this week the twins turned one month old a month early from their original 38 week due date...Can't believe they were supposed to be inside of my belly for another month!  It really is fun to get to see them change through these stages that we would have missed out on had they stayed in utero full term... 

So the twins are growing tons and maturing every day.  Finn has been super tuckered out lately due to his MASSIVE growth spurt!  He is now at 4lbs 6oz and he officially has a neck fat roll and some chubby cheeks...

Harper has been picking up her brother's slack though around here!  She has been super alert and awake during feeding times...checking everything out and voicing her opinions : ) She is gaining weight as well and is now at 3lbs 3oz ( Fun Fact: That is Finn's original birth weight!).  Her little self is filling out now and there are times when she and her brother really are starting to look alike.  That's been fun for us to see.

Overall this week has been about growing and feeding...I haven't mentioned this before but we are actually in "nursing training".  No, not to become the kind of nurse on staff here at Legacy but actually the breastfeeding kind of nursing.  Yes, you have to train to get good apparently.  Both kids are still getting their food through the tube but
they do show the classic feeding cues and I practice with each of them once a day to get them used to the idea of working for their meal : ) 



Open Wide!



I am happy to report that the training is paying off and both are really doing well and are ahead of where they need to be at this gestational age.  In the next week or two we'll introduce the bottle combined with nursing so they will be multi-talented kids in the end.  Not to mention I'm getting pretty good at needing that third arm less and less : )

Finn- Wide Eyed

The twins had their first eye exam this week and passed without a hitch. They correctly identified each letter on the vision chart.  They are pretty smart babies. 

Just kidding...they were actually checked for a common preemie eye disorder that can lead to poor vision or blindness.  They will have repeat checks every couple weeks for awhile but so far so good!

Another positive this week is that Harper's flow was turned down another notch and she's going great.  We'll just keep weaning her off the air flow little by little until she's done with the nasal cannula altogether...little steps in the right direction!

Harper's crazy big toe

Greg and I are definitely feeling like parents and it's been awesome getting to do more and more with the twins every week.  Gosh, this morning at 6am I was spit up on by Finn and 20 minutes later Harper blew water from her cannula out of her nose and all down the side of my face and hair.  It was gross but strangely awesome to finally be experiencing some of those fun "mom" moments.

We've had a really nice weekend with my brother and his wife coming down to see the twins, a belated baby shower that was lovely and just some low key family time for Greg and I.  The twins are currently sleeping away as I'm typing and Greg is relaxing next to me in the recliner...not a bad Sunday afternoon!

Movin' On Up!

Finn and Harper are moving up in the world!  They've upgraded to a larger room that's much more comfie for all four of us, they've put on some hard earned pounds (well actually ounces), and they were finally able to bust into their wardrobe of mini clothes!


Today they are 24 days old and 32.4 weeks gestation...they've both gained great weight this week and are steadily increasing their feeds which are administered 8 times a day for 90 minutes each.  Finn is eating 33 mL every 3 hours and Harper is eating 24 mL and increasing every day.  All this eating and the extra calories has paid off since today Finn weighs in at 3 lbs. 11 oz. and Harper is a hefty 2 lbs. 12 oz. (1/2 a pound since birth!). 


Finn is still holding strong with zero breathing support and Harper is trucking along with minimal support.  Both are truly doing great.  Despite all our precautions, we did have a little sickness scare with Harper earlier in the week but she was given a clean bill of health after labwork was processed.  Harper still has little spells where she forgets to breathe or her heart rate drops but this is super normal and generally she corrects it herself.  We think she just likes to set off the alarms so we (and the nurses) pay more attention to her : )


We thought we'd include some pictures and thoughts today of the things that make them the unique little people that they are.  They have both proven to be laid back and well adjusted little babies but Finn takes it to another level.  Finn is super chill and NOTHING stresses him out!  He has only yelled at me twice and is super relaxed at all times...it's really a pretty impressive trait and I have to say, that just may not have come from his mom.  Then there's Ms. Harper...she has a flair for the dramatic but is overall pretty go with the flow.  She can be feisty and VERY persistent.  She has absolutely mastered the ability to pull out her feeding tube and nasal cannula and no amount of tape or swaddle can stop her! 


Finn is filling out a bit and has little chipmunk cheeks, huge hands and pudgy feet.  He even has biceps, when he catches the light just right... His feet turn in but apparently Greg and Uncle Jake were both pigeon-toed as kids and they turned out okay I suppose : )  Harper is still very long and lean with the longest fingers ever and pointy little elfish ears (seriously cute).  Her face is super dainty with the biggest dark eyes ever.  Over the past week we've seen a dimple appear on her chin which is a very desirable feature that came straight from her mom : )  Both seem to have a little color to them and have a pretty good head of brown hair..not a bad way to start out in life!

patiently waiting her turn....

Finn's foot

Finn's big paw

Hi Guys!! I've got clothes on!

Harp's elfish ear

the manly bicep (pictures don't do it justice)

Lil Peanut

Harp's a thumb sucker

Harper in clothes!

Today has been a great day with 45 min. sponge baths for both, first clothes (matching of course) and a very special visitor from a far off land.  We love our weekends with the twins, lots of fun firsts are generally packed in.  Greg and I are doing well.  Hanging in there with work and life here at the NICU but overall we are doing great and have lots to be thankful for. 

Hope you all have a great rest of your weekend!!

A Day of Firsts!

Finn

Harper

Yay for the weekend after our first days back at work!  Greg and I are spending lots of quality time with the twins today and were able to give them their First Bath (which was much needed)!  They are now sparkly clean and it was a fun time for all. 

Mom & Dad w/Finn

Finn's 1st Bath!

Harper's 1st Bath!

Harper Getting Dunked





Harper Toweling Off



Finn Post-Bath

Harper has some good news to share, she'd put on more weight and officially passed her EKG review so no heart issues to worry about.  Finn is at birth weight and is on his way to growing big as well : ) 

Finn's Belly Shot

Harper's Belly Shot

It's been 17 days since these two came into this world in dramatic style..can't believe all that's happened since the 29th!  They've made such fantastic progress and have really put our minds at ease over these past two weeks.  We've also been able to do more and more with them, it's so nice to feel more involved with their care. 

Some cute moments from this week...

Cuddly Finn

Finn Conked Out!

Nose to Nose





Harper & Binky

Harper

Harp Sleeping

Today the twins also received their first stuffed animals to keep them company (Thx Aunt Mary and Mami!!).  We'll also be using these little guys to help track their growth over time. 

We hope you all had a great week and thanks for loving our twins!

Passing with Flying Colors!

This week the twins continued to make great progress and really make the most of their first two weeks of life.  Finn has continued to do awesome off all breathing support and Harper has really done great as well.  She started getting a little tuckered out however so is on a nasal cannula that provides her with just little puffs of air to remind her to keep taking good big breaths.  She's really proving to be a tough little one. 

Harp also has what's considered a premature heartbeat which is super common in preemies and typically is not indicative of any issues.  However our doctor is being extra cautious and ordered an EKG for Harper just to rule out any heart issues.  Now I was there for the EKG and she was a super star.  She laid perfectly still for the tech and didn't mind all the crazy looking probes they stuck on her...believe me, if she doesn't like something she'll let you know and she was 100% okay with this (otherwise we probably wouldn't post it for you).  The tech said she was the smallest person he's ever done an EKG on...I believe it!  Anyways, so far the results look fine but we are waiting on the final word from the cardiologist at Emanuel.  (Prayers please)

Someday she'll look back at this picture and say "Dang!!!".  And again I assure you she pretty much snoozed through the whole thing.

Unfortunately Greg has had the sniffles this week so has been taken off "baby holding" duty so I've been holding the two together pretty often.  The upside is we do get some pretty precious moments of the twins interacting together (such as the hiccup wars)...they do squawk and make little peeps back and forth and react to each other.  You can't see it well in this picture but Finn actually had his hand resting on Harper's arm under the blanket...so cute :)

I had to toss in this one since it's a good one of Finn's little face...

My goal tomorrow is to get a glamour shot of Harper...it's tough with her cannula in her nose but I'll do my job as a mom and will take a million pictures of her until we get the perfect one :)  We have to document the drastic changes in them in just these 2 short weeks!  Both babies have now hit their birth weight and Harper actually exceeded her birth weight last night.  They are going to grow and change so much in the coming weeks!

They both had ultrasounds of their little heads to check for brain bleeds.  Both babies passed that test without a problem.  But they were left with sticky gel on their heads and are in desperate need of a bath.  So stay tuned for the first bath coming up in the next day or so!


Oh and a special thanks to Chris and Allison for the homemade chicken pot pie dinner...it was sooo good! 

What a Busy Couple Days!!

Wow the twins have some news to share!  They have now spent 36 hours off their CPAPs (the breathing support) and are lovin being free of their unstylish hats and dorky headgear!  This is big kid stuff so they are pretty pleased with themselves.  Once they maintain their breathing for a good 48 hours, we should be in the clear and not needing to put them back on the CPAP at all.  All day today Finley was Mr. Personality.  He had all sorts of expressions and things to say now that his little face is unobstructed.  He was super alert and just really fun to interact with.  Ms. Harper had a lazy day herself.  She was active and alert as well but let her brother have center stage, which was very gracious of her.

AND the twins are off their IV!  So what that means is they are getting 100% of their nutrition from their feeding tubes and not needing anything intravenously...this is another milestone for sure.  All within the past two days : )

They have also upped their feedings and extra calories and are slowly but surely creeping back up to their birth weight.  That's good news. 

The final (and personally most exciting) achievement for the past 2 days is that brother and sister were able to spend some quality time together, side by side where they belong.  I have been able to hold both babies at once and it was the most special experience of my life.  Finally reuniting them meant the world to us, even if only for a few hours.  These two video clips show the dynamic duo in action :)

We were obviously getting a kick out of them.  Some things are just cuter in pairs.  : )Anyways, Greg went back to work today and was super sad to leave us behind but he had a great day back.  He said the kids were really sweet about the babies and the TJ staff was awesome as always.  I'm going to return to work on Wednesday but I'm so fortunate to have an amazing job that I love that will also allow me to work from the NICU a fair amount.  We are very blessed with our careers and our amazing employers.  I can just picture Greg now on "take your child to work day", bet he can't wait : )

Thanks everyone for following along and for your continued support and prayers for Harper and Finn.  We owe their many successes to God and pray they continue on this track of great progress.

Allie & Greg

Bulking Up & Working Out

So the twins have decided svelte is out and big is in...they are both now working on pumping up by adding extra calories to their milk diet.  A whopping 24 calories each feeding!  Greg and I did the same last night by deviating from our diet of hospital food and feasting on a homemade lasagna dinner with friends, Pat and Kelsey (thanks again guys!).

Extra Calories..Yum

Finn's Vending Machine

We are hoping after a few days of this fortified diet that we'll start to see some growth.  Preemies have to work so much harder than they would have had to in utero so lots of calories are being burned that should be going to their growth.  We're excited to now be able to look forward to some weight gain and putting some meat on their bones! 


Skinny Girl!

 We thought we'd make mention of big sister who is patiently waiting for the twins (and us) to come home to her.  Ella has been having a great time with Greg's parents and their dog Telly but we miss her! 

Ella Bella

Overall the twins are doing fantastic and have had a streak of uneventful days.   We did have to laugh though, it looks like Finn may have been sitting cross legged on top of his sister in my belly...as a result he likes to turn his little feet in when he relaxes versus keeping them straight.  This is 100% normal and something that will naturally correct itself but we can help it along with doing little foot/ankle exercises to help straighten his feet out...So not only is he bulking up his diet, he's "working out" these days as well : )

We are getting close to trying to remove their CPAP (breathing stuff) and see if they can maintain breathing 100% on their own.  Also next week we may be able to remove their IV and start to cut down on the millions of wires hooked up to them.  This will make those diaper changes so much easier!  So lots of important steps for us to look forward to...we'll keep you posted on how it goes!

Baby Steps

Finn and Harper have made some great progress these past two days!  They both have "graduated" from their phototherapy so we had to pack up the sunglasses and turn off the lights.  Now they get to cozy up in their dark little beds, all swaddled in their blankets and snooze away.  It's very cute... 



Swaddled Finn



Snug as a bug



Also, they both were turned down on their respiratory support to CPAP 4...if they do well here for a few days they may be off the breathing apparatus altogether!  Then we'll get to see their sweet faces all the time.  We are very excited about this mini milestone : )

Isn't she sweet?



And the final mini achievement that we're celebrating is that they are both continuing to up their feeding amounts...Finley is now downing a tablespoon of milk 8 times a day and what's amazing is it takes them a full hour to eat even that tiny of an amount!



Finn working on his "sucking" skills



So lots of little blessings to be thankful for today...and many more to come!