05-10-10

I hope all of you mothers had a great weekend. I know as the first Mother's Day for me...it was amazing. Richard and I woke early on Sunday morning and got ready for church. But we visited the girls before we went to the church. They were excited to see us...even though they slept and didn't pay any attention to us. Needless to say I visited the girls three times throughout the day and night. My mom and I went back at the 3:00 pm feeding and the girls had been busy. They went shopping with Daddy and got me some flowers. The are also crafty girls. They made me a Mother's Day card and signed it with their feet. Well, Quinn signed with her feet and Brooklyn signed with one foot and one hand. Her other foot was occupied with an IV. They colored the front of the card and it was all glittered up. It was perfect. I think they got a little bit of help from the nurses though.

We also got to hold them last night. The Nurse Practioner has put in an order for the girls to be held daily using the Kangaroo Care technique. So we plan on doing that every night. Brooklyn gained a few ounces...2 lbs. and 3 oz. She is porking up. It is hard to believe that she 2 ounces away from the weight Quinn was when they were born. I can't remember Quinn being that small. But I do see them everyday and I have a hard time seeing the weight changes. We didn't get Quinn's weight because we interrupted the bath process to hold them. I will ask for that tonight.

The Respiratory Therapist talked to us about changing their high flow cannula to a regular cannula. She wanted to try it last night and if they struggle with it she would put them back on high flow. The difference is the regular system is not high flow and it makes them work harder to get their air intake. With the high flow, the air is given to them and pushed in their nose through the cannula.

I called today and the girls are doing good. No changes other than the regular flow cannula. Nurse Tracy said they flucuate between 21% to 26% oxygen. Room air is 21% oxygen. They have been flucuating today and trying to work with the new flow system. Once the babies are used to the regular flow, they will stay at the 21%. It is a process to train them on breathing without anything at all. They have to work a little harder so they do not get dependent on the air being given to them.

I know they will work hard. They just so happen to be the strongest girls I know. They will be just fine. I have faith in God to keep them working hard to graduate to the next level. They will start trying to feed on bottle and breast soon.

I am a negative thinker. I always find the bad things that could happen and don't even think about the possibility of good happening. It is a terrible trait...I know. Richard is constantly letting me know that I am a negative thinker. On the Friday after they were born, I had an episode of negative thinking. I prayed to God that the tests for Quinn and the brain bleeds be negative. God answered my prayers and I have been faithfully positive ever since. I was even positive when Brooklyn decided she was tired of being in NICU. I can't say that my stress level hasn't peaked from time to time. But they have been doing so good. I feel good when they are doing good.

Last night, Richard and I discussed in great detail the workings of God. We truly believe our faith in Him has created such an ease within us. We have all the support we could possibly imagine. The NICU has amazing people that we trust completely. And not to mention we think Dr. Leigh is the most amazing baby doctor ever! All of these things combined, especially faith, has made this ordeal into an experience. It is a "one day at a time" experience. I am grateful for each day and I look forward to the next one. I have complete faith that God is watching over my girls and continues to hold them with his healing hand. I am not as crazy stressed as I can be and usually am. I enjoy this feeling so much better. Faith is a funny thing.

I feel like their due date is an eternity away, but I know that if eternity is what I have to wait...then so be it. Honestly, looking back on the last few weeks, they seem to of flown by. Saturday they were 33 weeks, gestationally speaking. On Wednesday, they will be a month old or as Richard and I say they will be negative 6 weeks old.

Also, I am working on getting some photos on the blog.