Still growing...

We have a new update...

Caden is finally a pound above his birth weight, he weighed in yesterday at 4 lbs 13.5 oz... he is almost 5 lbs, WOW!  Linley is now at 4 lbs 8.5 oz so she is gaining on her brother and they are both measuring 17" long now.  They look so much bigger to us now.

No real progress with any thing else at this point, neither of them are finishing a full bottle yet and they are both still having a little apnea.  Tomorrow they are 3 weeks old and on Wednesday they will be at 35 weeks gestation/development.  We are still hoping and praying they will be home at 37 or 38 weeks, please keep us in our prayers.

Trip holding the babies together for the first time

Linley snoozing after a bottle

Caden sleeping

Caden without his cannula (again), hopefully this time
he won't have to have it put back in.

Linley sleeping again, we missed her awake moment

Bottle Feeding...

Caden and Linley got their first bottles on Wednesday, Caden was a rock star (as expected per his paci relationship) and went through the entire bottle, 36 ml. Miss Linley on the other hand wasn't quite sure what to make of it, she piddled with it a bit and only finished 6 ml of her 34 ml feeding. I personally think she is just so laid back she doesn't want to work for her food, she likes the immediate gratification of her stomach filling up on its own.

Because Caden did so well he moved to 2 bottles yesterday, he didn't do quite as well as the day before but that isn't unusual. The nurses said it is typical for them to do really well one day and then fall back a bit on day two. He took 30 ml of his first 38 ml bottle and then only 15 ml on his second round. Linley increased from 6 to 10 ml on her second try. The nurses think she is going to take a little more time but will probably pick it up quickly once she is ready. It is still really early in their gestational age to be taking a bottle, 34 weeks is the early end, next week they will be closer to the natural time for the suck, swallow development skills.

Linley was taken off caffeine yesterday as she hasn't had a recorded apnea spell in 6 days! That means she will have at least 10 more days in the hospital, it takes 10 days for them to get the caffeine out of their systems and for the nurses to make sure that the reduction in apnea spells is not due to the caffeine in the system but the baby actually growing out of them. Caden is still on the caffeine for now as he is still forgetting to breath several times a day, they call it the Wimpy White Boy syndrome :).

I am happy to report that Linley weighed in last night at a whopping 4 lbs 5 oz and Caden made it to 4 lbs 9 oz. They have both almost gained 1 full pound from their birth weight. At this rate, they will probably be 5 1/2 to 6 lbs when they are released from the hospital.

Linley in her lady bug PJs... see how well they are finally filling out their preemie clothes!

She is such a princess!

Caden in his monkey PJs, the nurses just love their clothes!

Our babies graduated!!!

Linley & Caden have been moved to nursery beds, no more incubators as they are maintaining their own body temperatures now!

Caden has also reached a milestone - he is now weighing in at 4 lbs 3 oz (what a big boy)! Linley is close behind at 3 lbs 13 oz, she is almost to the 4 lb mark as well! They are both eating well, still on feeding tubes but tolerating their new 24 cal meals and both eating more than an ounce per feeding.

Look at Caden in his little preemie clothes, this one actually fits!

Our nightly (sometimes daily) ritual... we now have our own little cubby hole to hang out in.

Sweet Caden

Sweet Linley, she looks like a Linley doesn't she?!

Caden on his last night in the incubator, look how cute he is in his clothes... they are tad big!

Linley loves to have her hands at her face, she does ballet in her bed! Cute little froggy outfit!

New pics...

We have a new update for everyone, Linley and Caden are doing excellent! She is up to 3 lbs 8.1 oz and he is maintaining around 3 lbs 11.7 oz (just below his birth weight). They are both off of their IVs and are no longer receiving fluid, just breast milk!

He is still on his cannula because we are still having a few issues with apnea but they have him on a daily dose of caffeine and if he continues to improve on the number of episodes he has each day they will remove the cannula in a couple days. He isn't receiving oxygen through it, just room air to help remind him to breath via air stimulation.

She is now taking 1 full oz at each feeding and he is getting 1 oz + 2 mls... exactly what they need to be getting at each feeding for their current weights. They will hold at this amount for a couple days and then readjust based on their weight gain. FYI, the next sentence maybe TMI for some of you, sorry! And let me tell you... we are now freezing milk because I have been able to pump so much for them! Thanks for that little answer to prayer, breast milk is so much better for them right now!

They are also doing a better job at maintaining their temperatures, however, they are still getting a little help by the incubators being a couple degrees higher than room temperature. When they put on a little more weight they will be able to regulate their body temperatures a little better and hopefully will be moved to a regular NICU bed rather than the incubators they are in now.

The sweet nurses moved them so they are now in their own cubby hole rather than being in 2 separate spaces... this lets Trip and I hang out with both of them at the same time rather than having to go back and forth.

Every time we visit we get to take their temps, change their diapers, hold them or do Kangaroo care. Soon we will be on to bathing and feeding!

Linley our little frog... look at those legs & feet!

Sorry for the crazy stomach shot but we had to document our little wiggle worm... we were doing kangaroo care and he squirmed all over my stomach for an hour! He moved from one side to the other until he finally settled almost completely off my stomach on the right side!

Daddy & Caden snuggling

Mommy & Linley - she is sprawled out!

Better shot of her hands laid out!

Linley getting comfy

Daddy and Caden

Linley peering through her port hole, she is so alert now!

Caden & his one eye...

Linley

Caden snoozing

Kangaroo update

Yesterday was our first day to do kangaroo care with our sweet babies (skin to skin)... unfortunately Caden had a bit of a fussy day yesterday so I had to hold him earlier than planned so Trip didn't get to participate. I got to hold both of them and Trip just got to be there to watch miss Linley get her kangaroo care. However, tonight, Trip gets to participate and hold Caden!!!

Caden & mommy - camera phone... as soon as he laid down he stopped crying and just slept for the next hour and 15 minutes.

Linley & mommy - she opened her eyes as soon as she heard my heart beat! She just kept looking up at me trying to see what I was up to.

pics of Caden today with my camera phone

miss Linley with my camera phone

We tried to keep them in!

Unfortunately, they both had other ideas... at least we made it to 32 weeks!

On Tuesday morning around 11 am (while on a conference call) I started having back cramps and contractions. I had the nurse come in around 11:30 or so to give me a shot to stop the contractions and put me on the monitor. For the first time, the shot didn't do anything, so we tried another one... still nothing. They rolled me to labor & delivery to try a magnesium drip to see if that would stop the contractions, but before they hooked me up they checked my cervix to see if I had dilated anymore since my sono that morning when I was at 4 cm. I had dilated 3 more cm and was at a 7 by 1 pm... a little too late to stop the contractions at that point. They went ahead and started prepping me for my C-section as my sweet mom called my hubby to tell him to HURRY UP! Trip walked into the OR at 1:49 pm and miss Linley made her debute at 1:52 pm with mister Caden following at 1:53 pm.

Linley Grace Emery born at 1:52 pm July 6, 2010; 3 lbs 7 oz and 15" long
Caden Ryan Emery born at 1:53 pm July 6, 2010; 3 lbs 13 oz and 16.5" long

They are both doing great, breathing on their own room air... they do have feeding tubes and will for a couple weeks until they are far enough along in their development to be able to eat on their own. They will also have an IV for another week or so for fluids. They are off antibiotics and had their food increased today since they are doing so well.

I will be discharged on Saturday and then will make the trek to the hospital every day to see them until they are ready to come home!

Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers. Please continue to keep our beautiful babies in your prayers as they grow and develop over the next several weeks!

Look at his teeny foot!!!!

Caden and his blonde hair... Linley is also blonde (where did that come from?) Both Trip and I were blonde when we were born so I guess it was inevitable.

Mandy in the NICU gave my sweet little girl a pink bow for her hat!!!

Cade & his blonde hair again

Trip holding his little girl...

Linley & her sweet bow