Happy Birthday Evie and Ramsey!!

The girls are one month old today! We can tell they are already getting bigger and stronger and have little personalities!

Last night we decided to see how long they would sleep without us setting our alarms. They got up at exactly 4 (which is when we usually wake them up) haha Oh well worth a try. They did however sleep until 8:45 instead of 8 so we are getting somewhere! 

Yesterday my friend Ashleigh came and did a newborn session with the girls. This is when we realized that Evie is def. our laid back child. You could put Evie in any position and she would sleep through the whole thing, Ramsey might be our little drama queen. She would let out one loud cry and then smile haha

They were cooperative but peed on everyone of her blankets! You can go to her website and see a preview pic of the girls

ashleighpeak.squarespace.com

Jonathan took this picture when she was getting them ready! 

So sweet!!

Ramsey (L) Evie (R)

one month doctor appointment

We had a busy morning! 

Mom has been staying with us which has been great so we have been sleeping more. Had a great night last night, no crying, thank goodness. We just woke them up when it was time to eat. Mom and i go to sleep around 10 and then Jonathan and my mom do the 1 feeding, mom and I did the 5 feeding then we all got up to get ready to go to their first doctor visit around 8. Headed to memphis children's clinic around 10 and of course got there a little late ( it is us) :) 

Our doctor is Scott Kloek. He was great, we really enjoyed him and he had great advice. 

Evie weighed 5 pds 7 ozs and Ramsey weighed 5 pds 8 ozs. Thats around one pd in a month!!

He said to keep up what we are doing and in a week or two we can let them sleep until they wake up at night. Right now we are setting our alarms to wake them up every four hours.

After the doctor we decided to see how they liked holiday ham! They loved it and while we were there the doctor who delivered them came in. She was so excited to see them! 

People are def. fascinated  by twins. However everyone thought Ramsey was a boy. I think it is because Evie had a pink blanket and Ramsey had a white one. I guess she needs to start wearing bows. haha

Evie

Jonathans photography skills! 

That is a preemie diaper, still a little big!!

Ramsey luvs baths, Evie doesn't so much! 

This is Ramsey, held her paci the whole time, she's so advanced 

I guess Ramsey will always have to wear a bow so people wont think she is a boy! haha

Peggy, did you see her outfit? They luv them :)

We are all home!!

Together atlast!

Ramsey (L) Evie (R)

We were on our way to get Ramsey and they called and said Evie could come home also! We  were so excited but also very nervous!! 

We were pretty overwhelmed when we got the the hospital. They had so much stuff to go over with us  and we had to learn how to use the apnea monitors and everything.

We got the girls all dressed in their smocked bubble outfits, they were a little big but soo cute  Got them all strapped into the car seats, which they didn't mind surprisingly and headed home, slowly :) We got home sat them on the coffee table and had no clue what to do next! haha

The NICU had them on a 4 hour eating schedule so we wanted to keep them on that as much as we could. The first changing and feeding went good. Took a good amount of teamwork but we got it down. They ate good and then went back to sleep.

The nurse warned us but we had no clue how many noises they make! Evie squeaks and Ramsey grunts, its pretty funny! We couldn't go to sleep for a while because of that but they never cried or woke up until we woke them up at 5 am and then 9 am to eat again. Overall, the first night went pretty good.

Mom stayed with us Saturday night and she was a big help. It allowed each of us to sleep through one feeding which was great!

We go to the doctor tomorrow morning so i am curious to see how they are doing and get some good advice! 

Maddie is doing well with them. I can tell she is tired though. She still sleeps with us ( i know she is spoiled) She just lays there when we feed them and kisses them on their heads every now and then. I think she forgets they are here sometimes until they start making noises and she goes to check it out. 

She is a good big sister! 

Ramsey loves sticking her hands in the air

Daddys girls!

Sweet Evie in her going home outfit

Big yawns

Ramsey is coming home today!!

They told us yesterday that Ramsey will be going home today!! We are so excited and nervous at the same time. Mom and I cleaned the house like crazy yesterday to get ready for her, I think its the cleanest the house has ever been :) 

They are sending her home on an apnea monitor to be safe. We are happy about that. However I have been told they are the loudest machines and go off when they aren't having an apnea spell, better to be safe though!

Evie will be coming home friday or saturday probably! YEAH

I think she heard us talking about her sister coming home so she stepped it up and started taking a full bottle. They took her off caffeine Sunday and they go home around 5 days after that as long as they are eating good. 

We are sad to leave Evie up there :( She will be home soon though. I guess it will be good to have one for a night to get the hang of it, but then it will all change when two get here!!

We are going to try and keep them on the same 8,12,4 schedule the NICU had them on as long as we can. They said they should do well on it for a while until they need to eat more, than it will be more like every 2-3 hours.

Thanks for all your prayers while the girls have been in the NICU, they have done really well! 

one more step towards HOME!

Much has happened since i wrote last!

I went to see the girls on Friday and when i called to be let in they told me to walk down the hallway, the girls have moved to continuing care! I was so excited! Closer to home! They are together in a corner so it is so easy having them right next to each other. They are off all machines. They have the leads on their heart to check their heart rate and oxygen levels but that is all. You just take them off that and then we can feed them and cuddle with them! So much fun :) 

Evie is still having some apnea spells but it is mainly when she is eating. They are thinking she just has a lot to do at one time and that is why she forgets to take good breaths. If she has them within a week of coming home they will just give us a monitor.

Ramsey got her feeding tube taken out because she has been able to take all her bottles on her own!! They told us she might come home in the next few days, i am trying not to get my hopes up but how great would that be?!?! 

I think Evie heard us talking about that and yesterday when we went she took her first bottle and then did it again in the afternoon, YEAH!! She still has her feeding tube in just in case she doesn't take the whole thing every time. She is our sleepy girl and usually falls asleep before she finishes eating.

They said once they start taking the bottle consistently, going to the bathroom regularly and gaining weight they can go home. So i am thinking soon!!

They are not allowing visitors except parents and haven't for a while but since yesterday was easter they allowed grandparents! They were thrilled. We took my mom and dad up after we went to church, ate lunch at my parents, then met Jonathan's mom up there and then Jonathan's dad came. They really loved seeing their grand-babies. They haven't seen them in over a week!

I have started to drive again which has been fun! I thought i would have totally forgotten since i haven't driven since mid december. It makes things much easier, i can run and see the girls whenever i feel like it and i don't have to inconvenience anyone anymore:)

Thats all the updates for now! We will let you know when they get to come home!!

Boobooburito ( Ramsey)

EVIE

Evie after her first bottle :)

Finally together :)

Evie (L) Ramsey (R)

Moving right along!

Thank you for your prayers, phone calls and emails yesterday! I was talking to my friend Natalie and i realized that i had a peace about Catherine Grace yesterday. I got to the hospital and they have put the girls in open beds because they were able to regulate their body temperatures. So i was able to do Kangaroo care with Evie. It was wonderful. For those of you who dont know it is holding your baby against your chest skin to skin. It helps with bonding since that is hard to do in the nicu. She cuddled up with me so good and just slept. It reminded me of holding Catherine Grace when she was born and i just realized how blessed i was. Then last night i got to do the same thing with Ramsey. What a wonderful thing to do, it really helped me yesterday. 

They are doing really well. I don't want to get my hopes up about them coming home any time soon but they seem to be moving right along. We love our babies!!!!

Ramsey in her little outfit

Daddy and Evie

Evie in her open bed

Ramsey luvs her toboggan and pacifier

Day of Prayer

Jonathan and I would like to thank all of you who are interested in our lives and read our blog. It means so much to us that there are so many people out there who care about us and our girls. As most of you know our first daughter, Catherine Grace was born and passed away today, one year ago. Today is a bittersweet day for us. We are sad because we miss our sweet girl and wish we got to do and see the things we get to do with Evie and Ramsey. The day is sweet knowing that the Lord has blessed us double! Today we have the babies we have prayed for. Gods plan is always perfect. I know i said this in an earlier post but  a year ago today i would have never thought a year later i would be holding two beautiful baby girls. We are so blessed and even though having our girls in the NICU is hard, they are in the best place to grow until they are healthy and ready to come home. We would like to ask that if you read this today you say a prayer for us and our girls. Ask God to give us strength to get through each day of going back and forth to the NICU. Our babies health and to lift us up when we think of Catherine Grace today. We love you all, thank you!