Feeding and Growing!

Luke and Amelia have spent the last week doing exactly what they should be doing ... eating and growing.  Tonight Luke weighs 4lbs, 12oz and Amelia is 4lbs, 4oz.  They look huge to us!  It's amazing how on such tiny bodies, a few ounces really does make a big difference.  Amelia is taking full bottles now, she just needs to gain the stamina to take every feeding and she will be ready to come home!  Luke is taking his time ... he gives me the sweetest looks at feeding times and I can just imagine him saying, "But why, Mama?  Why don't you just feed me through the tube and we could just snuggle instead?"  He loves to be snuggled!  It's hard to make estimates but the doctor said today that it's realistic that they could be home in another week or two.  We're getting the nursery all ready and are so excited to have two babies home with us.  The hardest part of the last week for me has just been fatigue.  The combination of recovering from bed rest and the c-section, pumping around the clock and frequent trips to the NICU have left me pretty wiped out.  But my stamina is slowly coming back.  I know that once the babies are home we'll experience a whole new level of exhaustion!  Every phase has it's own joys and challenges ... but what a sweet phase this is in so many ways ... we're already realizing just how quickly they grow and change and want to enjoy and soak up every day!

Two weeks old!

More pictures!

Can we tell it's time for a feeding?  And maybe the newborn size hats are a bit too big still :)

Emme after she pulled out her NG tube ... oops!

The twins get to be in the same crib now ... so sweet!

Nine days old!

Tomorrow the babies will be nine days old!  I can't even believe how fast the last week went ... They're growing up so fast :)  On Thursday night they got moved from the higher acuity NICU to the low acuity part of the unit.  What a blessing!  Now they just have to learn how to coordinate their eating/breathing and they can come home ... what a sweet day that will be.  But the process of learning to eat can take a month or more for preemies so we're learning even more about patience.  I miss Luke and Amelia every minute I'm not with them.  But we're really trying to use this time to get the house ready for the babies and get back into the flow of life.  Tonight we even went on a date night ... the first time in over three months!  As my dad says, "You're never going to have such qualified babysitters!  And you guys need some time for you!"  Tomorrow we're looking forward to being able to go back to church.  These are the routine and normal rhythms of life that we've missed.  We're up at the NICU for most of the day and then home in the evenings.  I'm feeling so good ... so thankful to not be on bed rest!  It's a very humbling thing to be so dependent on people to do everything for you.  And while it taught me a lot, I'm still just loving the fact that I can get up and get my own cup of water or snack.  What a treat!

"Look Mom -- No CPAP!"

Amelia sleeps with her mouth open (like her Aunt Michala!)

Amelia having sweet dreams

Sweet Baby Luke

Luke's outfit says, "Good Things Come in Two's" -- We agree!

The babies have made amazing progress in the last few days.  We are so thankful!  Both Luke and Emme no longer need CPAP (support for their lungs) which means we can actually see their sweet faces without all their gear on.  Tonight they'll both get their IVs out because they're tolerating milk really well in their feeding tubes.  They've also outgrown their need for the bilirubin lights.  They now officially qualify as "feeders and growers" the name the NICU nurses use for babies that are in the NICU only because they need to learn how to eat and need to put on weight.  We've been amazed at the progress they're making.
Now that they're more stable we're able to do something called "kangaroo care" which means that we get to hold the babies skin-to-skin.  They put Scott and I in reclining chairs and surround our area with screens so that we can hold them skin-to-skin.  It's important for the babies to bond to us and it's AMAZING therapy for the parents too :)  There is nothing in the world like holding your newborn on your chest.  The hour or two that we get to hold them every day is such precious time.  It overwhelms me with thankfulness.  I am so blessed by these two babies and by Scott, who has selflessly put all three of us above himself over the last 8 months.  He is already a great dad!  I'm overwhelmed by God's grace which has allowed us to become Luke and Emme's parents.  They are truly gifts of grace to us.
Last night was my first night at home in 57 days (OUR first night at home since Scott spent every single night at the hospital with me).  I have such an appreciation for little things ... soft sheets, the smell of coffee in the morning, getting to take showers longer than 5 minutes (and not have to sit on a shower chair!), sleeping next to Scott (Haha!  I told him I always felt at the hospital like we were at summer camp!  He'd be across the room on his cot with his sleeping bag and I'm calling out to him, "Good night honey!")  Scott's parents are here with us and they worked on so many neat projects while I was in the hospital, getting the place ready for the babies.  My parents filled our fridge with food before we came home (and my favorite coffee!)  We have great families!  Leaving the hospital was really hard.  I cried the entire way home.  There is something very unnatural about leaving your newborns behind when you go home.  I know it's where they need to be but I will be so glad when we're all four home.  At the rate they're improving at right now I'm hoping they'll only need to be there about a month.  We'll see, I know how things have real ups and downs in the hospital and they may need to go back on CPAP.  But I'm hoping for the best!

Falling in love with Luke and Amelia ...

My first look at the babes after the c-section

Miss Amelia Jane

Our baby girl

Grandma meets the babies!

Grandpa Tim

Our little man under the bilirubin lights

Mama and Luke

Daddy and Emme

Mama and Emme

Daddy with Big Luke

The babies are two days old today!  Luke Edward (4lbs, 2oz) was born at 11:51am and Amelia Jane (3lbs, 9oz) came at 11:53 am ... It's a pretty amazing thing to hear your babies cry for the first time.  And we were so thankful that they came out screaming!  The c-section went really well and Scott followed the babes right into the NICU while I went to recovery.  They are having the issues of prematurity that we expected for 32-weekers.  Both babies are on CPAP (support for their lungs) and will probably need that for a week, maybe two.  Luke and Amelia both have high bilirubin levels (which leads to jaundice) so they're under special lights to help lowers their levels.  Our little glow worms!  They both have feeding tubes and are tolerating small amounts of breast milk every 3 hours.  Both babies are having brief episodes of apnea, meaning that they forget to breathe, which is common for preemies because their brains aren't mature yet.  The apnea episodes usually resolve around 34-35 weeks.  As much as we knew these would be the issues they'd have it's hard to watch your babies hooked up to so many machines.  But we're thankful that they're in a great hospital getting really good care.  The highlight of every day is at 8pm when we get to hold the babes ... that makes everything worth it ...  The best medicine there is!  The plan is for me to be discharged on Tuesday.  It's ironic that after 8 weeks of wanting to go home, now I want to stay!  I can't imagine driving away from the hospital without our babies.  But it'll be a blessing in some ways to have a bit of time at home to start the long recovery from bed rest and the c-section.  Thank you all so much for your prayers Friday ... these babies are such a blessing to us.  We can't wait to introduce them to our family and friends!

Tomorrow is the big day!!

Well ... tomorrow is the big day!  We're scheduled for a c-section at 1030 in the morning.  The babies will be 32 weeks old tomorrow and after many conversations with our doctor we decided that at this point the risks of staying pregnant (the decelerations, the magnesium) outweigh the risks of prematurity.  We are excited to meet these two and nervous about all of the unknowns.  It was a tough decision to make (knowing that they'll spend 4-6 weeks in the NICU) but my dear friend put it this way ... parenting is all about making the best choices you can with the information you have at the time.  We're learning some lessons of parenting extra early!  And it really is a miracle that we've made it this far and are still pregnant! We'll be sure to post pictures as soon as we can.  Thank you for loving us through the craziest months of our lives so far ... more craziness is sure to come soon to the Coyle house!