the twinslers

12 month pictures

2010-05-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

We ventured out a few months back to get some professional photos taken - quite an adventure, part cat herding, part circus show and a little bit of photography thrown in. Here are some of the highlights.

Ella looking cute.

Ava rocking her Easter best.

Ella showing her pearly whites. She now has 12 teeth, way ahead of the curve, for teeth.

Ava is 1 year old, you can tell b/c of the over-sized novelty block.Getting 1 year old twins to smile at the same time ranks up there in complexity with world peace. Hear is one of the best shots we got of them both.

-tinny out

The Twinsler's Are Mobile!

2010-03-31T11:23:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe, but the Twinsler's have cruised past their first birthday and are now working on 14 months. We took some one year photos that we'll post soon, but the big news is that Ella is now crawling. It's kinda slow and deliberate, but she is mobile! Ava is a little speed demon, is pretty much a shadow, following either Rachel or I all over the house. She'll be walking soon.

So, if you take a step back, we now have two mobile infants... life is great, but it just got a lot more complicated!

-tinny out

2010-01-30T11:24:00.001-08:00

Its hard to believe, but the twinsler's are almost 1 year old. It was last year on the Thursday before the Super Bowl that Rachel was put on bed rest and then on the night of the super bowl, she felt sick, so we went in on the morning of February 2, 2009, and well the rest is what we call, history.

They are so much fun (so much work and stress too), but so much fun. Ava is the go-getter and goes after what she wants. She has the dirty hands and knees to prove it. Ella is our little sweetie, and pretty much sets there and takes life in. She really is as sweet as she looks. Below is Ava, being the stinker that she is, crawling into daddy's lap. She is pretty clingy right now and if there is a lap in site, she wants in it, and she'll let you know it. I hear that is a phase...

-tinny out

Merry Chistmas!

2009-12-31T07:07:00.000-08:00

I think, by far, that the Twinlser's were the best gift that I received in 2009.Merry Christmas & Happy Hollidays to you and yours... Have a safe & happy New Year!

-tinny out

the Motherland

2009-11-17T17:53:00.000-08:00

Several weeks back, Rach and I ventured north for a family reunion. We went with Nate and Whitney back to my hometown of Wauseon. This is the place where I grew up and spent the first 18 years of my life... the motherland.

My parents do not live in Wauseon anymore either, so this was a great opportunity to spend some time with them and introduce some of my extended family to the Twinsler's. This was also the longest that we have tried to travel with the girls (normally about 3 hours). So, thanks to the patience of Nate and Whitney, we set out with 2 cars, 4 adults, 2 Twinsler's, 3 dogs and 3 bikes for an adventure.

Everything went pretty well in terms of travel, and it was great to see a bunch of family that I avn't seen in literally years. The funniest thing that we heard (often) was "Wow, Ava looks just like Nick!" - poor girl.

-tinny out

Halloween

2009-11-17T17:27:00.000-08:00

Better late than never! Here are a few pics of the Twinlser's first Halloween.
Here are the girls posing with their cousins Grace, Jocey and Grant. Our plan to have Ella be a bear for Halloween didn't quite go as planned. Rachel and I always call her Ella bear, so we thought that it was a perfect fit, then, a couple weeks before the holiday, we tried on the costumes and it didn't fit because the girls have grown so much. So, a little last minute switch-a-roo and Ava was a bear, and Ella was a penguin.
Here are Rach and I with the girls.

-tinny out

The Twinsler's First Race

2009-11-17T16:57:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks back, the Twinsler's came with Rachel to see daddy race. Grandma and papaw came as well to watch - OK, lets be real, they came to see the girls...Here is Ella telling daddy good job after the - "Don't get any mud on me!"

-tinny out

Ella wants to say hi...

2009-10-07T12:04:00.001-07:00

She has been talking for a while and I finally captured it on tape.

What we've been up to.....

2009-09-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

Stay-at-home mom
Well, this is my third week taking care of the girls full-time and it is going well. The first week was a little rough as I was trying to get them to nap at the same time without waking each other up. Ava really likes to nap for two hours twice a day and Ella prefers three one hour naps. This means that mommy only gets a break for 1 hour in the morning. We have been having so much fun hanging with friends, walking/running with Giro and shopping. In my time at home I have realized that their are two inventions that I could not live without, the running stroller and the baby swing. Below are pictures of both.

The girls in the running stroller

They like it when Whitney runs with us

Ella in the swing
Ava Swinging

Go Bearcats!!
For the past couple of years my family's had season tickets to UC football and this year is proving to be very exciting!! The twinsler's don't get to go to the games, but they have a lot of fun hanging out with Katie while mom and dad get time away.

My niece and nephew cheering for the Bearcats!!

Hanging with the neighbors
This summer we have gotten the opportunity to hang out with and get to know our neighbors. We love having so many kids around and it is probably the only reason we continue to live in our extremely small house. Below is a picture of the twinslers hanging with our neighbor Lilah.

Dedication

2009-09-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

The Twinslers and their cousin, Jocey were dedicated at church on Sunday. Here are some pictures:

The Rindels Family

Ava

Ella and Papaw

either the Twinslers are...

2009-09-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

... going to be Oompa Loompa's for Halloween...
or they started eating carrots this week.

-tinny out

Ava wants to say hello...

2009-08-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Girls

2009-08-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

6 months is such a fun age. The girls love to talk and smile!!! We had our doctors visit this week and the girls are getting soooo big. Ava is now 13# 9oz and 24 1/4in long. Ella is 13# and 24 inches long. I think Ella is going to catch Ava soon:

Here are some recent pictures:

Daddy and the girls

Happy Ava

Ella Talking

6 months

2009-08-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

Its now been over 6 months since the Twinslers were born. Sunday was their 1/2 year birthday. They are both doing really well. They are starting to "talk" and imitate you when you are talking to them, especially Ava. They have been sleeping through the night pretty consistently, and are eating like champs. The biggest milestone that they have reached is that of the introduction of cereal. They are 3 day into it, and I am not sure either one knows what to make of it yet. Here are the girls working on their head control in their Bumbo seats. Ava decided to make it an action shot. When the cereal comes out, its liek a "Got Milk" photo shoot up in here! -tinny out

Funny Story

2009-07-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

So, Rachel nudges me this AM at about 5:00. I hear baby noises in the background which is not unusual for our house, obviously. Rachel says, listen to that, "It's Ava, and she's cracking herself up!"

I groggely hop up out of bed and stick my head into the girls room to find Ava semi-awake cooing and "talking" like there is no tomorrow, smiling and laughing away - at 5:00am in the morning! It was so cute. I kinda wish I was more awake to remember it...

-tinny out

Did you miss us?

2009-06-24T09:57:00.001-07:00

Sorry for being all MIA on all you folks, but the last month or so has thrown a lot of life at the 'ol Twinsler clan. Fortunately, the twins have been doing great. Both are over 10 lbs now and are starting to smile and show emotions- other than crying ;)

Through a crazy series of events, I lost my job, and Rachel went back to work full-time for a while, offering us both a very in depth look at what its like to walk in the others shoes. I just accepted a job offer, so now we get to figure out what the new normal looks like!

Above is a pic for the girls taken by a friend of ours, Amanda. She did a great job on the ~4 month old shots, didn't she?

-tinny out

Discharged!

2009-05-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

Today we went back to Good Sam for a checkup. Ava now weighs 9lbs 7oz, and Ella is a robust 8lbs 13oz, what chunkers!

The best news we received was that we were officially discharged, and as long as there are not any new problems, we'll not head back to the hospital for 5 more months... who-hoo!
-tinny out

The Many Faces of Ella: Part II

2009-05-27T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ella was being especially photogenic this past weekend, so here are a few shots that cover the range of emotion that is Ella...
-tinny out

Sunday Morning Update

2009-05-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, but for some reason or other we seem to have less free time lately. The whole family is healthy and the girls are only getting up once a night now, w/ Ava having slept through till 6:00am twice. Who-Hoo!

I have always been a problem solver, trying to see causes and effects and how to predict and cause a desired outcome. The Twinsler's have brought out that quality in Rachel as well, especially w/ trying to get them to sleep through the night. Our latest strategy (that has been working pretty well), is to keep them up after their 8:00pm feeding till about 9:30 or 10:00 and then feed them and put them down. They usually do not eat much at this feeding, but it fills their bellies and gives them sweet dreams.

The girls are in a pretty cool stage right now. They have both started to be more alert and aware of their surroundings, being able to follow objects with their eyes. Good stuff. Here are a few random pictures of the stars of this blog.

Ava striking a pose during bath time
Disgruntled Ella post bathThe Girls at 3 months
Ella looking CUTE!
-tinny out

Good Times!

2009-05-13T07:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates over the past weeks. There has been a lot of "life" going on so we haven't been able to (read > made time) to blog. The girls are doing great. Ella is over 8.5 lbs, and Ava is porking in at over 9 lbs. They are just little people. They have started to become more aware of their surroundings and are able to follow you w/ their eyes... so cool!

They are both now on meds for acid relfux which is really helping. We thought that Ava was just a fussy girl, but the doc informed us that she doesn't really have anything in her life that should be making her cry every waking hour, so she thought that we'd give the acid reflux medicine a try. Up till this point, Ava never really was awake w/o crying or feeding, so now it is awesome to just have her be able to set in your lap w/o crying.

Rachel is the best mom in the world, so to celebrate Mother's Day (which was kind a blur), Rachel and I are going to see Brad Paisley in concert in June.

-tinny out

Babies cry a lot

2009-05-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the girls 3 month birthday. We celebrated with huge bottle of fortified breast milk, who-hooo! Overall, things are going well. Things were pretty rough a week or so back, as the girls had us pretty worn down, but we tweaked some of our nighttime feeding strategy and had a few restful nights.

Several nights this week, including last night, Ava has been trying to have a party in her crib... Last night, she cried that "oh my God the world is ending" kinda cry from 11:30pm till I fed her early at 1:15am. After that feed, she has done pretty well, but seems to have handed the baton to her sister Ella. Ella is usually very content, so this ongoing, inconsolable crying is out of the ordinary.

I know that babies can cry a lot, and that is really the only way that they have to communicate to the world. Normal crying is one thing, but I do not think that I have experienced anything worse than not being able to console your crying child. It pretty much sucks.

All you folks that have kids are laughing, I know, and all my friends w/o kids are like huh?

We'll get some more pics up soon.

-tinny out

Life Update

2009-04-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

Life is pretty good. We had my parents in town this weekend which was neat to see as they had not visited since very early on in the hospital. Grandma helped Rachel w/ the girls and around the house and Grandpa helped me lay some mulch in the yard. The twins are doing well. The doctors gave us the OK to start letting them stretch one of the night time feedings which is great, but confusing. Ava sleeps for 3.5 hours and then wants fed, so what do you do w/ Ella after that? She is still sleeping, but will most likely wake in less than an hour, but maybe she’ll sleep longer? Then the girls will be on separate schedules, and then what do you do the next mourning? This is all very confusing, and Rachel and I being the planners that we are can easily drive ourselves nutty!

The girls will have been home for 4 weeks already on Tuesday, and will be 3 months old on Saturday…. crazy!

-tinny out

March of Dimes

2009-04-20T17:24:00.000-07:00

Before I get to the march of dimes I want to let everyone know that today is my due date. The girls are finally 40 weeks!!! We want to thank you for your thoughts and prayers during the past 11 weeks. We are very blessed!!!

Ava 11 weeks ago-2#12oz
Ava today-7#1oz
Ella 11 weeks ago-2#6ozElla today-6# 9oz
I have been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks, so I apologize for the late notice.

This weekend in Cincinnati is the March of Dimes walk. This organization is dedicated to preventing and a better understanding of prematurity. My friends at work (Children's Hospital) have set up a team in honor of the girls and I thought I would give you an opportunity to join our team. If you would like to donate or walk sign up online at www.marchforbabies.org, select join a team. Our team name is CCHMC- Twinslers. No pressure, just thought I would make you aware of this great cause.

Doctors Appointments

2009-04-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

This preemie thing is a full-time job. This was the week of doctors.

Tuesday we had a follow-up with the eye doctor, which is our least favorite thing to do. The devise used to keep their eyes open makes them extremely unhappy. As far as the results, neither one of their eyes have matured completely, but Ava's look better than Ella's. The doctor thinks that Ella may not have peripheral vision in her right eye. The eyes are very confusing to me and hard to explain. We follow-up with them in four weeks.

Wednesday we had to follow-up with the developmental team at Good Sam and the ear doctor for Ava. The developmental team seemed to be very happy with the girls progress. The physical therapist could tell that both of the girls like to spend a lot of time laying on their right ear, so we now have to make sure they lay on their left ear for 20 minutes per day. OPPS!! We are still having some choking issues feeding Ava, so we have to follow-up with them in three weeks. As far as the ear doctor goes, Ava still hasn't passed her hearing screen, so we are following up with her in three weeks as well. The pediatrician is not very concerned about this.

Thursday we had our second appointment with the pediatrician. He was very happy with their weight gain. Ava now weighs 7lbs, 1oz and is 19 inches long. Ella now weighs 6lbs, 9ozs and is 18 inches long. It looks like Ava is going to be tall like her daddy and Ella is going to be short like her mommy.

Here are a few pics from this week:
This is my way of getting Ava to stay on her left ear.
Tummy time with Ella. Usually she does not enjoy tummy time this much.
Hope you all are having a good weekend.

-Rachel

It’s not the size of your stroller that counts...

2009-04-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

...Its how you use it.

Don’t act like you are not impressed by the size of this rig. It had to be slightly modified to accept our car seats, but this bad boy is how we cart our girls around. That’s right, 68” from front of the stroller to Rachel's heals.
-tinny out

Happy Easter!

2009-04-16T06:36:00.000-07:00

Although a tad belated, the Twins wanted to wish you all a happy Easter!

-tinny out

American Idol 2025?

2009-04-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

I got puked on

2009-04-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we took the twins to Children’s for a follow up eye exam. Although the exam took a very long time, it was pretty uneventful. It took so long that we needed to feed the girls at the hospital, so I started feeding Ella in the waiting room, and then continued to feed as we walked down to the cafeteria. Once we sat down, the ever content Ella let loose w/ the biggest, most aggressive vomit that I have ever witnessed. So, I went back to work w/ the look and smell of fortified breast milk on my dress shirt and slacks. Mmmmm.

-tinny out

Family

2009-04-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

Aunt Reggie and Jocey came to visit the girls on Tuesday. It's hard to believe that Ava and Ella are two weeks older than their cousin.
Ella wasn't very happy to have her cousin that close. Check out the chins on that girl!! -Rachel

2 Month Birthday

2009-04-05T06:04:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures from the girls' two month birthday this past Wednesday.
-tinny out

Visitors

2009-04-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

Rachel and I are obviously really excited to have our girls home. First off, we have a really large dose of "first time parents" going on for sure, both of us have asked the other "is she breathing?" several times (OK, like a hundred times...each). We'd love to throw a huge party to celebrate their coming home, but preemies are very susceptible to germs (way more than normal term babies), so we'll have to wait a while for the party. The NICU staff said that if either of our girls get sick in the first month of going home, they will end up back in the hospital.

So, we are very excited to have visitors, but we just need to limit the twin's stimulation and exposure to germs. So, all we ask is that if you want to visit us, please call first and we'll plan a convenient time. If you are sick, have been sick or anyone around you has been sick, please wait to visit. Once you are here, we'll put you through a rigorous washing protocol that you'll probably laugh at. Please do not take this as a put off, because we do love and desire visitors.

Thanks for all your patience, and we hope to see you soon!

-tinny and Rachel

2009-04-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

Several folks suggested that we keep track of how many diapers that we go through w/ having two twins at home. While this was very intriguing, and I would have loved to see how bad our environmental foot print is, I can barely figure out which end of the bottle goes in the mouth in the middle of the night, much less put a tally on a dry erase board. So, here is a picture of the diapers from the first couple days at home.

-tinny out

Pictures from the first week home

2009-04-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Ava and Ella a few hours before we brought them home. The Twinsler's maiden voyage.
Rachel and the twins in front of our house.
We had Giro on his leash when we brought the girls inside. He was very curious and interested. He has done great, w/ the only anoying thing being that he has gotten very protective of the house, barking at all the evil people that either walk by our house or try and deliver mail.

-tinny out

We're Home

2009-04-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

We knew/hoped that it was coming since late last week, but Rachel wouldn't let me blog about it b/c she thought that the blog was the jinx that was keeping the girls in the NICU. On Tuesday, 3/31/2009, we brought both of our girls home, and its been pretty surreal. We have been so used to planning everything around feeds at the hospital, but now it feels like we have a lot more time. More details and pictures to follow, but the first night was not that bad...

-tinny out

Sleep over!

2009-03-30T06:51:00.001-07:00

Last night Rachel and I slept in at the hospital w/ our babies. It was awesome, we stayed up and talked about boys, did makeovers, had pillow fights stayed up all night! OK, so some of that is a stretch, but we did stay over night w/ our girls to get a taste of what its going to be like at home. We had our girls off the monitors all night and handled the 9:00pm, 12:00am, 3:00 and 6:00am feeds by ourselves, and everything went great. Did I say that they were off the monitors?

Also, babies make a lot of noise...

-tinny out

What's Missing?

2009-03-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

A Skyline dinner for the first person to comment correctly w/ what's missing from the girls in these pictures.
-tinny out

More faces of Ella

2009-03-29T17:11:00.001-07:00

I think that Ella is trying to tell Rachel and I that she is ready to come home. The following series of pictures show her actively removing the leads that monitor her heart and breathing... so independent! Make sure to check out all the distinct faces that she is making...
lookie what I have!
look how hast I wave it in your face to flaunt it!
I am done w/ you now...
-tinny out

The Twinslers' are Hulkamaniacs

2009-03-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, I used to love watching professional wrestling w/ my dad on Saturdays mornings. I loved watching all the classic stars like the Ultimate Warrior, Andre the Giant, the Iron Sheik, the Honkey Tonk Man, the Legion of Doom, and of course Hulk Hogan.

Hulk was the biggest star of his day even though he was like 60 years old at the time. The way that he worked the crowd was amazing. He entrance was sweet, he'd come into the ring and rip off his t-shirt and then do this really weird thing were he would flex with one arm and point off into crowd w/ the other like this...
So, I came into the NICU yesterday over lunch to find Ava w/ her arms out of her tucked swaddling towel like this...
Then after work, I found Ella looking like this...
They are thier father's daughters.

-tinny out

Update

2009-03-25T05:54:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the shock value title to the last blog, I already got figuratively slapped for that. I guess I just wanted you all to share in the emotional ride that we're on. The girls continue to grow, each having their little issues and episodes. Ella just topped 5lbs the other day, so that was pretty exciting. Ava is taking most of here feeds and pulled out her tube (by herself). They will not reinsert unless they need to. She has been doing really well, but had an episode while I was feeding her last night at 6:00. She had taken almost all of here feeds over the past few days. Ella had her first episode in a really long time, so that will probably buy her a few more days. Will we have Ava home by this weekend? God only knows...

-Tinny out

Holy Cow, Ava is Coming Home*

2009-03-23T07:52:00.001-07:00

That is what I was going to blog on Friday afternoon when I got to the hospital. As I was heading down to the hospital after my 35th trip to exchange baby items at Baby's 'R Us, I get a text from Rachel just after the 3:00 feeding that said "Ava is not ready to come home yet." We traded a few more texts, and I learned that Ava had another choking-stop breathing-turn blue episode on Friday and proceeded to have several more on Saturday. So, they put her feeding tube back in her nose and tried to let her rest. She is trying to tell us that she is not ready to go home. However. Ella is our little darkhorse, because she continues to steadily take more and more of her feeds. Ella is our slow and steady daughter, whereas Ava seems to soar, and then crash-and-burn... little drama queen. I had the week taken off work and was all ready to split time btw home and the hospital, but we'll have to wait and see how things go. There is a possibility that Ella could catch up to Ava and they could come home together. I am really praying for this option.
I know it sounds trite, but what an emotional roller coaster. Last weekend when they said that Ava could be coming home on Monday, I was a little freaked out b/c I didn't feel ready, but this past weekend when they said the same thing, I think that Rachel and I were now ready to take Ava home. It was so deflating to have to wait longer when we, in a matter of hours, had planned out the next days and weeks. These twins are really putting a damper on Rachel and I's planning tendencies:)

Oh well, keep our little Twinsler's in your prayers. I'd ask that you pray for Rachel and I that we can feel as confident as possible as we take these little ones home. Right now we are a little gun-shy when it come to feedings, so hopefully God will give us a couple steady days to help calm and pump up Rachel and I before we bring them home.

-tinny out

Update

2009-03-19T07:15:00.001-07:00

After a rough weekend, both girls are doing well and progressing. Ava is back to being a little piggy w/ her bottles, generally taking them in less than 10 minutes, who-hoo!. Ella is still showing lots of signs that she is ready for her bottle, but she still lacks the stamina to finish. It's tough because she almost always show that she wants a bottle, but is only finishing ~1 or 2 a day. So, we’ll keep following what the girls are telling us…

-tinny out

Suck, Swallow & Breathe

2009-03-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

This is harder than it appears for our girls. Little Ella has been progressing nicely, probably on par for how a normal 34 week preemie should do w/ the bottle. She is taken several full bottles, multiple partials (where she is fed the rest through her tube), and several times she has either choked, lost interest or just never started. She seems to get tired pretty easily, but this is understandable as they didn't have to work for their meals before this past Monday, so it can be expected that they are both very tired.
Ava, however, has been quite the little stinker. She had her episode (that Rachel blogged about) on Friday, and then had another while I was feeding her yesterday. Saturday's wasn't quite as bad, but she still stopped breathing, became very blue in her head, and was unable to finish her bottle. She (and her sister) are stressing their parents out! Just to play w/ us even more, today Ava took her 3:00pm bottle in 8 minutes-her fastest ever. Ugh, what a little drama queen! The up and down seems to be much more trying on the 'ol emotions as opposed to just being headed in a general direction, either up or down. Keep Rachel and I's sanity, as well as our girls in your prayers and thoughts.

On an unrelated note, tonight Rachel and I are headed to The Melting Pot to celebrate our 6 year wedding anniversary, woo-who!

-tinny out

Bath Time

2009-03-15T11:36:00.000-07:00

In a few minutes, I am going to blog another not-so-happy post, so I thought that I would tell you all about one of Rachel and I's favorite things to do w/ the girls... bath time. The girls get baths twice a week, and Rachel and I have reached a new level of "wow, we feel really old" because we really looking forward to hanging out in the hospital on Saturday nights during bath time.

Rachel and I each take one of the girls and give them a bath, one at a time. I have had Ava for the past two times, but I am done w/ her for a while (I'll explain why later).
The actual bath is pretty short and simple. First we weigh the baby, which is not a big deal, but during bath time, we unhook all the monitors, which is both scary and liberating. Then we wrap the baby in a receiving blanket, and place them in the tub. The tub is literally a plastic storage container that you could buy at Target, w/ an angled mesh platform to elevate their head out of the water. They say that babies either love or hate the whole bath experience, and we are fortunate to have two girls that like the water. When you place the wrapped baby in the water, they immediately relax and their eyes roll back and you can almost hear them think "oh yeah baby".
You wash them one body part at a time, trying to keep them swaddled as much as possible to keep them warm. Start w/ the face and head and work your way down to their stinky feet and bottom. Because of one of their sensors on their foot, their feet smell horrible... like a rotten band-aid. Once you are done, you pick up the baby into your arms into a dry cloth. Its at this point that Ava, being oh-so-relaxed, has peed on me, twice.

-tinny out

Ava

2009-03-13T11:54:00.000-07:00

Ava has decided that she is not ready to go home yet. Last night she decided to stop breathing and the nurse had to change the position she was sleeping in and stimulate her to get her oxygen sats back up. This bought her at least 5 more days in the NICU. Unfortunately she had another bad spell this afternoon. I was feeding her a bottle at noon today and she decided to choke, turn blue and her body became a wet noodle. Probably one of the scariest things I have ever experienced. She has been a champ with the bottle thus far, so we are not sure what is going on. We actually had to use oxygen to get her color to come back. I think this episode bought her 7 more days in the NICU. We are going to try another bottle now. Hopefully this one goes a little better...

Ava didn't take much of her 3:00 bottle either, and Ella only took 5 mls of her bottle, leading the nurse to think that both the girls are tired. It looks like they will rest tonight, and hopefully their parents can too.

-Rachel

Slaves to the Monitor

2009-03-12T08:57:00.000-07:00

One of the things that Rachel and I are trying to do right now that is providing to be quite a challenge is to ween ourselves from the monitors that the Twinsler's are hooked up to.

When you first walk into the NICU, most people are surprised at how not-hospital it looks. It feels more like a uber-corporate cubical farm w/ each baby having their own little area separated from the other babies by small dividers and rows of cabinets. The second thing that you notice are the sounds. There are all sorts of beeps, buzzes and chimes going off at any time, and then you start to coordinate those sounds w/ how people react. Some alarms trigger urgent responses from nurses, while others just seem to go on and on and on w/ no one seeming to care. It is the NICU's own language, and as a means of survival, you need to quickly get up to speed, or you'll drive yourself crazy worrying about your kids.
At the end of our first week in the NICU, we had one of the nurses walk us through every part of the monitor (screen seen above). The Right hand column shows the baby's statistics that the monitor is directly hooked up to. The left column is another baby of the nurses choice. The whole NICU is networked so that a nurse can keep an eye on another baby that is not w/i eye or earsight. The green row show's the baby's heartrate. Babies have (or should have) a higher heartrate than us old folks. We like to see btw 120 & 160 for this number. The yellow line is the babies breathing rate per minute. This fluctuates in a huge way, sometime dipping into the teens or single digest, the spiking up in the 100's. They sometimes forget to breath, and as I understand it, that is really the crux of SIDS, kids just forgetting to start breathing again. The blue row is the blood oxygen saturation level, and that number is a percentage of 100. We all "sat" 100 most all the time, but preemie babies vary btw dangerously low (<75) and the high 90's. The first two lines, heart rate & breathing rate, directly effect the oxygen saturation, and this saturation is what will affect the health of the baby later. Example, the babies breathing and heart rate can be really bad for a certain length of time, but as long as all the organs are still getting oxygen, we're OK.

The white line is the last blood pressure reading taken. This is taken twice a day. and the little red fine print is a log of all the most recent times that the baby gone out of their "zone". Apnea, brady cardias, low sats, all things we do not want to see here. So when you initially com into the NICU, you immediately look up to the monitor and look for the red... how has she been doing? Each baby has allowable range for each of these readings, and depending on how far out of the zone they are, an alarm sounds. One beep for this and two beeps for that. Every device has its own alarm and "voice".

So, for the last 5 weeks, Rachel and I have become slaves to the monitors. Now they are telling us to watch the baby, not the monitor. This is way easier said than done, but we are trying. Yesterday during baths, we had them completely disconnected. It felt like I was unplugging Neo from the Matrix! All went well, but it is quite a transition.

I'll post some pics of the baths soon, that was a good time.

-tinny out

New Pictures up on Flicker

2009-03-10T11:05:00.001-07:00

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Ava's hitting the bottle!

2009-03-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at noon was also Ava's first crack at a bottle. before I say how it went, I just need to say that Rachel and I are already struggling w/ comparing these twins to each other. I think that they are doomed for a life of this, though, so they should get ready for it! Here is Ava's feeding 40-something mls, ready to be had...
Here is Ava going to town in our primary nurse's hands. Good Sam NICU has some of the best nurses ever, by the way.
Ava took the whole bottle in 17 minutes! She was a machine! Here is a picture of the aftermath. I am going to have this picture blown up soon so that it is ready for her high school graduation party.The real kicker is that 3 hours later, Ava started showing all the signs that she was hungry again. She should be hungry, b/c they are on a 3 hour schedule, but she was rooting and biting on her hands (all signs that she is ready for a bottle). So, Rachel and the nurse decided to give a second bottle a try. This is very unusual b/c taking a bottle is a lot of work, so they usually start them out on one bottle every 12 hours. Ava took down here second bottle like it was nothing! What an over achiever.

Rachel and I are trying to not get too ahead of ourselves, but some things are really setting in on us. The first is that Ava could come home first, leaving Ella in the NICU. We really do not want this b/c of the craziness that it would cause. The second thing is that Ava could optimistically be coming home in less than a week. Very cool, but this creates quite a sense of urgency to get the house in order. Please pray that God works out all these details while gifting Rachel and I some sense of sanity. Thanks!

-tinny out

Ella's First Bottle

2009-03-10T06:43:00.001-07:00

On the twin's 5 week birthday, both girls got their first shot at taking a bottle. This is a pretty big moment, b/c taking their feeds from a bottle is the final hurdle before these girls come home (assuming that they keep moving forward on all other fronts, breathing, growing etc). The nurses warned us that some babies take to it very quickly and others can struggle w/ it and take their time. At Noon on Monday, March 9, Ella attempted her first bottle, seen here, looks tasty, doesn't it?
Here is Ella trying to figure out what all the fuss is about w/ her developmental therapist. They allow 20 min for the feeding, and whatever is left, they feed through the gavage (feeding) tube. When it was all said and done, Ella took 13 mls on her first shot at the suck, swallow, breath routine. Afterwords, our nurse said they would have been happy w/ 10 mls... Ella you rock!We learned this AM that during one of her feedings during the night that Ella took here whole bottle from the nipple... She definitely gets her love for food from her Dad.

-tinny out

Big Week Ahead!!

2009-03-08T07:02:00.000-07:00

The girls continue to make steps forward. They have been off oxygen for a couple days now and each day have fewer drops in their heart rates/oxygen sats. Ava and Ella continue to grow at rapid pace (Ava-4lbs 8oz, Ella-4lbs 1oz), and have a big week ahead. On Monday they will be 34 weeks, which is the time they learn how to suck and swallow. We will be trying their first bottles on Monday!! This will lead us into the "feeder/grower" stage and if everything goes well we could be coming home soon!! The girls will start out with one bottle every 12 hours and increase as they tolerate them. Once the girls are able to take all of their bottles without droping their heart rates/oxygen sat for 48 hours they are able to come home. According to the nurses, this can take 2-4 weeks. We are praying that the girls will be able to suck, swallow and breathe all at the same time.

-Rachel

Just how big are they?

2009-03-06T08:31:00.001-08:00

It has really set in recently just how much the girls have grown over the last month. In some ways they are still really small (both under 5lbs, but in other ways they look like normal babies. I set out to use a common object for reference in a highly scientific manner to show everyone out there in the blogosphere how big the Twinsler's are, and how far they have come. So, I've chosen an object that popped into my head the first time that I saw my babies in the NICU, a Chipotle Burrito. I thought wow, my babies are the size of a Chipotle burrito!

Here is an approximation of what how Ava compaired to a burrito during her first week of life.
Now in the second picture, we see Ella eying up her first real meal dirung thier 5th week of life.Rachel and I are both really luck to have such great twins and access to such great burritos.

Chipotle, you out there? How about a little corporate sponsorship for this blog, just think, it could be "the Twinsler's presented by Chipolte."

Seriously, looking over the pitures from a month ago really brings it all into perspective as to how far they come... God is good.

-tinny out

Steady

2009-03-04T17:09:00.000-08:00

Today was an OK day. Ava continues to be a champ on room air w/ no breathing assistance, and Ella had a much better day than yesterday but decided to implode for 45 minutes in the late afternoon. She seems steady now, though.

We have great friends and family, and we are truly humbled by all the love and support that we are feeling from you all. Thanks

-tinny out

What A Day!!

2009-03-03T18:28:00.000-08:00

Nick went in early this morning to find out that the girls had a good night. Which is always good news. He was there for the 9am feeding and had a hard time leaving because Ella kept dropping her oxygen sats. I show up around 10am and spent about 1 hour watching my beautiful Ella's oxygen sats continuously drop into the high 30's low 40's and her poor little face turn very pale with a tint of blue. Talk about stressful!! Today she was very unpredictable, one minute she sats in the 90's and the next minute she drops into the 50's. She knows what she is doing... just look at that evil grin...
Needless to say she is still requiring oxygen. By the end of the day thankfully she was doing much better. This behavior is a little unusual for her, so we are praying it doesn't continue.

On a happier note, our other beautiful daughter, Ava was taken off oxygen today and tolerating it so far. She spent some good time in mommy and daddy's arms. Here is picture of Ava receiving a boogerectomy. This is a pretty regular occurrence where they use a high powered suction device to clean out the nasal passages and mouth... It's pretty much like hooking a Dyson up to your nose, and it usually works.

-Rachel (w/ Nick's help for the boogerectomy)

Happy 1 Month Birthday!

2009-03-02T18:22:00.000-08:00

We have some really great nurses in the NICU!! Last night our night nurse made this one month birthday card for the girls. Rachel and I were very impressed, first because she would take the time to make this beautiful card and second because of how nice a card it was for using supplies from around the office. The confetti are cut up post-it notes - brilliant!

Today, as the card implies, is the girls' one month birthday. In some aspects, this has been a realy long month, and in some ways, it has flown by. The girls are still dancing around w/ their oxygen, but they are continuing to grow and improve. Personally, I think they are becoming a lot more baby, and a lot less science experiement - Thank God for that!

-tiiny out

Weekend Update

2009-03-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

Things have been going pretty well as of late for the girls. They have both been up and down in terms of breathing. They are slowly being weened off oxygen and "flow", but the nurses are quick to remind us that the girls are the boss, and they let us know what they want to do (I really hope that doesn't come home w/ them) They continue to tolerate their feeds that keep being increased, and all their systems seem to be working well, because they are growing. I am not sure of their exact weights, but earlier this weekend, they were both 1lb over their birth weights, and Ava could go over 4lbs tonight. Late this past week was the first time that Rachel and I both really noticed that they are getting substantially bigger. They both have cheeks, chins, growing bellies and the start of fat rolls on their arms and legs (as much fat roll as a less-than-4lb baby can have).

The other night, I asked the girls "How much are foot-longs going for these days at Subway?" They both rolled their eyes as I snapped these pictures...
Finally, Mom and Dad are doing well too...

-tinny out

that's my blanket!

2009-02-26T12:49:00.001-08:00

Times must be tough in the NICU, because earlier this week, the Twinsler's were removed from their separate incubators and placed together into an open crib. They call this co-bedding and its something that they do for most preemie twins as it is suppose to help them develop. Although they are both still fluctuating w/ their oxygen needs, both twins continue to grow and develop. Last night was actually the first time that I realized a substantial change in their appearance - they have chubby chins! More to come soon...

-tinny out

On a roll?

2009-02-24T06:19:00.000-08:00

The end of last week was pretty rough, but our girls had a pretty good weekend and Monday. Ava is in a new, open crib, waiting for Ella to get done w/ her antibiotics to "co-bed". It's a sleepover! Both babies are over 3lbs and growing. They are both still on the nasal canulas w/ varying levels of breathing assistance. Last night Rachel and I got to help give them baths, but because this is a pg-13 blog, no pics, sorry! but to tide you all over, here are a few recent snaps. Above, Ava and I are kangarroing, below, you see Ella wide awake & alert.And here is Ava sleeping w/ her mouth open... Thanks for all your support...

-tinny out

Visitors

2009-02-21T14:49:00.001-08:00

The girls really enjoy visitors. Here are some pictures of their recent guests. Grandma got to hold Ava during a feeding on Wednesday (I am sure that Grandma from North Carolina is very jealous).
Nate and Whitney have visited several times...
Who's that behind you, Ella!?!?
-tinny out

Ups and Downs

2009-02-21T14:39:00.000-08:00

What a crazy couple of days. Rachel and I are headed to a baby shower for the Twinsler's that we are really looking forward to, so I need to keep this brief. Ella is doing pretty well. She is breathing room air, w/ some extra flow through her nasal canula. She has 3 more days of antibiotics, she is almost ready for an open air crib, and is taking her feeds well, and last night she hit 3 lbs!Ava has now become our little stinker. She has had an uncharacteristically rough couple days, and the doctors think that she may have a blood infection. They started her on antibiotics and are taking blood cultures from her daily (just like w/ Ella earlier this week). Overall they are both healthy, and the nurses keep telling us that this is just what preemies do, ups and downs.
Thanks for all your love and support!

-tinny out

Thursday Update

2009-02-19T19:00:00.000-08:00

The girls had a pretty good days today. They both continue on oxygen and surprisingly Ava is requiring more than Ella. They both continue to have episodes of heart rate drops and at times have trouble keeping their oxygen saturation up, but this is mostly right after eating or if they are stimulated too much. Because of this step backwards a lot of tests were done today to make sure there isn't anything else going on. So far, they haven't found anything else going on. The plan is to wean the oxygen as tolerated. We will keep you updated.

About the infection....I'm not exactly sure where to start. One of the cultures drawn about 5 days ago ended up growing staph, which may again be a contaminate, but because this is the second culture that grew staph they decided to change the antibiotic. This new antibiotic will take care of the staph and enterococcus. They also pulled out the PICC line just in case that was causing the infection. The doctors as well as Nick and I are very confused and frustrated with this changing infection. I just hope they are treating the right thing.

Nick promised to post more pictures this weekend.

-Rachel

Thursday AM

2009-02-19T05:50:00.000-08:00

I went in this AM to see both my girls back on nasal canulas. The nurse said that both twins did a lot better overnight once they had the breathing assistance in place. Yesterday was quite a day w/ a lot of commotion, so let's hope that was the case. Nurse says that this is totally normal w/ babies of this age ~31-32 weeks, they are just being "preemies."

-tinny out

Rough Night...

2009-02-18T19:03:00.000-08:00

The NICU is kinda strange. It has its own energy and it ebbs and flows in no predictable way. Sometimes its calm and soothing, other times its loud and chaotic.

We've had a pretty good run for the past week or so. Ella was taken off oxygen this past weekend, and both girls have been more or less taking their feeds and growing (Ava is now 3lbs 2 oz. and Ella is 2lb 12 .) They both seemed to be having less episodes and self-stims. This morning they "popped the top" of Ava's crib. This is what they call it when they open up the incubator's top, essentially making it a normal open air crib. I think she wanted to feel the wind in her hair.

I'll let Rachel blog about the blood infection, but I'll just say that we had a solid 8 hours of "yeah, we're good" until the story changed again... Ugh!

So tonight, Rachel and I headed to the hospital for one of the more difficult visits that we've had yet. In short, the NICU was flowing in a really bad way; lots of alarms and noise, lots of babies crying, and an overall very eerie vibe. The twins started out OK, but started to have episode after episode for no apparent reason. None of the usual tricks that the nurses use were working. Ella is back on a nasal cannula (room air w/ added flow), and Ava's color looked too dark to me. It was really painful to be there, I felt helpless, and it was even more painful to leave... Lots of tears tonight.

-tinny out

We'd like to introduce...

2009-02-16T16:44:00.000-08:00

...our new cousin, Jocelyn Marie. We kinda stole her thunder as she was supposed to be born right about now and have a month or two to enjoy the limelight as the youngest grandchild, but we sure showed her! Here is the proud momma and Grace and Grant. I don't know what they are feeding her, but we need to get us some of that!
-Ava and Ella

Infection Update

2009-02-16T16:12:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates...We had computer troubles this weekend.

The infection saga continues....The blood culture that we thought was growing step turned out to be growing enterococcus, which for the doctors was a little more alarming. It was for sure not a contaminate, which meant that little Ella did have an infection in her blood, and definitely needed the lumbar puncture to make sure she didn't have spinal meningitis. The lumbar puncture was done on Saturday and the awesome resident and nurse were able to get enough fluid on the first try, so we don't think Ella suffered too much. That culture was sent to the lab and we found out today that it was clear, so the infection is only in her blood. Praise God!! The plan is to treat her with antibiotics for 10 days, but the doctors are still questioning how she picked up this infection. It could have been from me (Rachel) or the PICC line that was placed days ago. To make sure that it is not the PICC line they drew another blood culture today and if it grows the same bacteria then they are going to pull the PICC line out and find another way to give her the antibiotics. Sorry for the lengthy update, I hope it all makes sense.

-Rachel

Strep

2009-02-14T06:24:00.000-08:00

Well unfortunately it looks like Ella does have an infection. Yesterday we found out that the culture grew something that resembles strep, which is not that surprising since I tested positive for strep B 30 minutes before the C-section. She was started on antibiotics yesterday and the course of treatment will be determined once the culture is identified. We are praying that it is not strep because if it is she will need a lumbar puncture (like a spinal tap) to make sure the infection is not in the fluid around the brain. Poor Ella. We will keep you updated on this as soon as we find out more information.

Other than the infection, Ella seems to be doing well with less oxygen requirement everyday. We are hoping by next weekend she will be on "room air".

-Rachel

Now we wait...

2009-02-12T18:56:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday morning, Rachel and I learned that Ella may have an infection. Ella Rae was having a few more-than-normal (even for her) episodes of apnea and brady cardia (where she either forgets to breath or beat her heart). The doctors drew some blood and found that she had a high white blood cell count. This could be a sign that Ella is fighting an infection, but not necessarily. So, they put the blood in a culture for observation and administered an initial round of antibiotics. They said not to worry, as it probably would not be an infection, and that these were precautionary steps. It gets a little funny after this because as we head back to talk to our nurse, and she thinks that Ella just needs her caffeine upped. Ugh-should I worry or should I not?!?

Last night, both Ella and Ava had great nights. The night nurse said that they were angels and that she did not have to log a single episode between them, which is a first. So, everything's great, right?

Then late this afternoon (Thursday), the doctor informs us that they did find an infection-like structure in Ella's blood culture, but they have a suspicion that the culture was contaminated. Ella is doing really well, so they decided to draw a second culture to either confirm/deny the presence of an infection. So, I guess that we now pray that there is not any infection.

Keep little Ella Rae in your prayers.

-tinny out

Drama Queen

2009-02-12T18:48:00.000-08:00

I think that Ella Rae may turn out to be our very own little drama queen. below are a few pictures that show some of the sides of Miss Ella.-tinny out

Wednesday Update

2009-02-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

I came into the NICU before work to find Ava looking like this...
Earlier this week, Rachel was able to Kangaroo both girls at once.... lucky! I tried later that day and it didn't work out so well. I was a little nervous, and I think that the twins felt that energy and were extra fussy.
Here is Ella through here porthole.-tinny out

Tuesday Update

2009-02-10T16:39:00.000-08:00

The girls continue to be moving in the right direction.

Ava was taken off her oxygen today and seems to be doing well without it. Yesterday she reached her feeding goal rate (20 mls every three hours) and tonight she will start on fortified breast milk, which will help her gain weight. She continues to not need an IV, which means that she is only hooked up to leads (which monitor her heart rate) and the feeding tube, which is now going through her nose. They tell me that having the feeding tube feed through the nose is more comfortable and allows her to work on sucking with the pacy. The only concerning thing with Ava is that her brain scan showed tiny cysts around her brain. The doctors didn't seem that concerned about it and plan to scan her again in about 6 weeks. We are going to get more information on this tomorrow.

Ella continues on oxygen and they tried to wean her down to 1 liter, but that only lasted 6 minutes before they needed to bump her up again. I think they are going to try weaning her again tomorrow. She is going to receive 15mls of breast milk every three hours and hopefully reach her goal rate tomorrow (20 mls.) The TPN was stopped and they may be able to take out the PICC this weekend. Ella's brain scan came out normal.

I have been going to the hospial every morning and for the past two days they have let me kangaroo both of them together. Yesterday was the first time the girls were able to be next to each other since delivery. Ava is really funny when she is kangagooing with her sister, because buy the end she tries to move as far away from Ella as she can. I think she is tired of her sister already.

I just wanted to thank everyone for their continued support and prayers. Daddy and I would not be able to survive this season in our lives without you.

-Rachel

2009-02-10T08:58:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pics from the weekend. Here Ella looking all content and cozy...
And here is Ava being ambushed by the nurse "What's going on, stop that your hands are cold!" Right after this picture was taken, she slapped the nurse hard! :)
-tinny out

Happy Birthday!

2009-02-10T08:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Monday, was Ava and Ella's first (week) birthday. For some reason, they wouldn't let me bring in a cake w/ candles into the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) to celebrate. They said something about pure oxygen being pumped through the walls and that flames are a bad idea (blah, blah, blah :) . So, daddy had to improvise. I purchased a couple small frames and made them each their own birthday cards.

Whatever you all are doing, whether its praying, thinking of or meditating, please keep doing it, b/c the girls have had 3 good nights and 3 good days in a row.

Sunday night, Rachel's parents returned from vacation and met the twinsler's for the first time.
-tinny out

Good Stuff

2009-02-09T08:06:00.000-08:00

We've had 3 good nights and 2 good days in a row, so these little girls are coming along. Both are breathing "room air" (no supplemented oxygen), but both still have some extra "flow". I'll try and post more tonight, but here are a few pics from the weekend. Rachel Kangarooing and a sprawling Ava.
-tinny out

Some More Pictures

2009-02-08T06:56:00.000-08:00

Rachel and Ella Kangarooing, still w/ her Cpap on.
Ava through the port hole
Rachel changing Ella's diaper
-tinny out

Here come the Grandparents!

2009-02-08T06:21:00.000-08:00

My parents traveled in on Saturday for the weekend to meet the girls. They arrived in the late afternoon and we went up to the hospital in time for their 6:00pm feeding. Rachel and I were able to change the girls diapers and help w/ their feeding time rituals. Overall, the girls are doing well. Tonight, Rachel's parents get home from Florida. The girls said that they were sorry for causing such a ruckus during their vacation... oops!

Here is Ella saying hello to Grandma and Grandpa Tinsler...
Ava saying what up!

-tinny out

C-pap

2009-02-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of Ella. As you can see, she is off the c-pap. I think she is a lot cuter this way. The bruise on her forehead is from the c-pap mask.

-Rachel

feeding update

2009-02-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

Ava and Ella seem to be doing better with their feeds. Ella is currently getting 5mls of breast milk every 3 hours and continues on TPN for the rest of her calorie needs. Ava is currently getting 15 mls of breast milk every 3 hours and if she tolerates the increase tomorrow she will likely come off TPN, which means the IV can come out. I'm sure she will be very happy about that.

These pictures are of the girls during their 6 o'clock feeding tonight. If you look closely you will see a syringe of milk, held by the nurse and a pacifier in their mouths. The pacifier is used to associate sucking with their belly getting full. This will hopefully make the transition from tube feeding to a nipple easier. Ava likes her pacy better that Ella.

-Rachel

Ava says Hello!

2009-02-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

Friday AM Ava said hello to daddy and said "Why don't you get some pics of me up on the Blog already, Ella is not the only one that can open her eyes."
Bright light, bright light!
-tinny out

Friday Update

2009-02-07T05:58:00.000-08:00

Friday, the girls had good days heading into the weekend. I'll hopefully post in a little more depth later, but here are the high points. Both were taking their feeds w/ little to no aspirate (left over food in stomach when its time for the next feeding) , Ava was taken off her photo therapy lights. Ella gained 10 grams, and Ava opened her eyes, for daddy. Nick changed his first diaper. We were discharged on Friday, and that went OK. We headed home at 3:00 (to a clean house, thanks Jenn & Sally!), and settle in for a few hours before heading back for a visit in the evening. This will be a big weekend as the Twinsler's will get to meet all of their grandparents for the first time.

For now, I'll leave you w/ some pics of the diapers that that the girls are wearing. That is a standard blackberry Pearl phone for reference. They are pampers, for all the P&G folks in the house. These diapers look so big on our girls b/c they don't really have any butts yet, but they promise that they'll come! The best factoid about these is that they are not even the smallest size that they make, yikes!

Ella opened her eyes

2009-02-06T06:05:00.000-08:00

I went down late last eve, after our hardest day thus far to say good night to the girls, and Ella was squirming all over the place. After a few minutes she opened her eyes! I about melted and struggled to get the camera out to capture the moment.

Today, they plan to take Ella off Cpap, Ava off the lights, and we are really hoping to get to Kangaroo w/ them...

-tinny out

Feeding

2009-02-05T19:25:00.000-08:00

Feeding and IV's have been a problem the past couple of days. Both of the girls are currently on TPN (nutrition through the blood) with the hopes of transitioning to breast milk as soon as possible. An NG tube (a tube going through the nose and into the stomach) was placed on Tuesday and both girls were started on 3 mls of breast milk every three hours. Before each feed they attach a syringe to the NG tube and suck out what is left in their stomach, to make sure they are tolerating it. If what they pull out is the color of milk and less than 40% of the feed then they are likely tolerating the feed and can be given more. Ava has been tolerating the milk more than Ella. Ella's feeding has been stopped several times and continues to only get 3 mls every three hours, with the majority of her nutrition coming from TPN. Because of this she was given a more permanent IV called a PICC line. Ava on the other hand is up to 9mls of milk every three hours, with the hopes of d/cing the TPN soon. We have a wonderful dietitian named Suzanne monitoring them closely, so mommy is trying to be a mom and not the dietitian.

-Rachel

Day 4, A dose of reality

2009-02-05T18:55:00.000-08:00

Today was rough. Everything to this point has been generally trending upwards, but today was discouraging. Ava was put under the lights for jaundice (but thankfully, Ella no longer needed the lights), so we were not able to Kangaroo w/ her today. Ava was generally steady but was really up and down w/ her feedings. I think Rachel may blog about that later. Ella is our little stinker. She already knows how to get to her mom and dad. She had a lot of bradycardia today (brady's for short). In layman's terms, this is when the heart rate get's dangerously low, and the baby needs to remind itself to keep breathing. They call this a self-stimulation or self stim. Basically an alarm goes off, and a nurse watches the baby to see if they bring their own heart rate back up. If needed they'll jump in and help stimulate the baby by moving and gently poking the child. They'd rather the child self stim because you don't want them to "learn" that someone else is always going to handle them.

There were a lot of these episodes today, each one lasting only a few seconds, but they are so hard to watch! Each one really takes its toll.

Here is Ava holding daddy's hand for the first time.

-tinny out

The Girls' Room

2009-02-05T08:54:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pics of the girls’ room. Now you can see why we chose the colors that we did for this blog. I am pretty happy w/ the room, but I drove myself crazy in the process. I did most of the work right after we learned that we're having girls, finishing during the holidays. I really enjoy these kinda painting projects and would love to help out other people or do this on the side, but who am I kidding, I don't think I'm going to have much time for a second job :). We have since added bright pink curtains (thanks Grandma Tinsler!). I bought white mini-blinds for the room on Saturday, thinking that I’d get to install them soon. I guess the joke is on me!

We also have one of our cribs (thanks, Rybolt family). I assembled it last week and it looks great, perfectly matching the changing table/dresser that I painted.

Who's this schmuck?
-tinny out

Those are centimeters...

2009-02-05T06:06:00.000-08:00

...not inches. :)

Day 3

2009-02-05T05:47:00.001-08:00

Here are a few pics from yesterday. Ava was removed from the Cpap devise and put onto a nasal canula, basically supplemental oxygen like an elderly person could use. We think she looks a lot cuter w/ out her mask. She is taking her feeds and is passing bowel movements (both very improtant if she is to build stregth and grow. Here is Ava before the removal of the Cpap.

Here is Ava right after the removed the Cpap before they put on the nasal canular.Here is Ella. She takes after her mom and likes to sunbathe, already. She has jaundice, so they had her soaking up the rays under a special light. Has anyone seen my Oakley's? Ella is slowly starting to have bowel movements, and is accepting about 1/2 of her feeds, so they took a break on day 3, and will start them again on day 4.

Day 2 update

2009-02-04T15:48:00.001-08:00

After a very blurry initial delivery day (Monday), Rachel and I got to hold our babies for the first time today. We were able to touch them yesterday, but it was pretty overwhelming approaching these little girls. They look so small and fragile, we didn't want to break them :) We held them during a process called "Kangarooing." This is a process where the babies are placed on your bare chest, and the you're both bundled up together. It is pretty much one of the coolest things that I have ever experienced. Here are pictures or Rachel w/ Ava and Ella in my "pouch". I think that I look 17 in the picture.

They came early...

2009-02-04T15:36:00.001-08:00

The long version of our delivery story will come, but for now, Ava Gretchen and Ella Rae Tinsler were born on February 2, 2009. Ava was 2lbs 12oz. and Ella was 2lbs 6oz. Both were 14.5 inches long, and for coming 11 weeks early, they are doing well. Below is Ava, all done up w/ her CPap respiratory devise to help provide pressure so that she can breath.
Below is Ella. She is a few steps behind Ava, but both were stable. She is also on cPap, but requiring less oxygen. The goal is to reduce that compliment over time to get them to breath "room air." The nurses said that they can see the spunk in these girls, which they will need for the road ahead. Its kinda funny, all of their parts are their, but they do not have any much body fat because they were delivered so early. I think that they kinda look like little old men.

Ultrasound Image

2009-02-04T13:20:00.000-08:00

Rachel and I learned that we were having twin girls at our 20 week ultrasound a while back. I had great intentions of getting some images posted, but w/ the holidays and me being lazy, I never did. I think that they are going to be cyclists, but that is just a hunch...

We're having twins!

2008-12-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

Rachel and I are expecting twin girls and we are ecstatic! They are due on April 20th, but twins like to come early so we are hoping to get them into April. Let's all pretend that this post was done back before Christmas... it will help the whole story make more sense. Here is Rachel at 27 weeks
Below is Rachel at Thanksgiving this past year, about 19 weeks. That is our dog Giro w/ her, but he is not possessed like this picture makes him look. He is a great pooch, but he is in for a big surprise...