Happy 3 Week Birthday Twins

Addie and Alex were able to have some "TWIN TIME" today....
Here, they are both in Alex's crib..... Addie was wide awake and had a hard time keeping her hands away from her face.....

Addie and Alex together.....

I tried to take a far away shot so that you could see the
difference in size. In this photo, Addie is wearing a preemie outfit and Alex
is wearing a newborn outfit. He is definitely much longer and has a few more pounds on her.....

Alex took the "Car Seat Challenege" today. During the challenge, he had to sit
in his carseat. They watch how they do in their seat for as long as they will be riding home in the car. Therefore, Alex sat in his carseat for an hour. He passed the challenge. By this, he was able to sit in his carseat for the whole hour without having any issues.

Yea Alex!!!!!!!!! This puts you one step closer to coming home buddy......
Don't worry, your little sister will be right behind.........

On Tuesday, mommy was able to spend 12 plus hours at the hospital with the little ones.
During this time, she took a preemie class and spent lots of quality time with Alex and Addie.
Here are some little updates from today:
Addelynn: Today, she was actually kind of tired... She did do a great job during her bottle feeding sessions. She is trying to bottle feed almost everyother feeding! That is great for a baby her size. As of right now, she has not been moved to an open air crib due to her not having the weight that she needs. She could probably handle it. But, they want her to save the calories that she would spend trying to maintain body temperature if moved right now. Her not being moved is allowing her to add weight. Hopefully by the end of the week, she will have added enough weight for them to consider moving her. As of this evening, her weight was 3 pounds 11.1 ounces. She will be 4 pounds before you know it!!!!!!!!!! I hope that she continues to put on the weight as we bought her an infant pink fur coat to wear this winter. I don't want it to be summer time before it fits! Keep going Addie!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alexander: Mr. Personality himself was quite funny today. He has been doing a great job trying to take all of his feedings by bottle. However, this is such a hard job for such little ones to do. He does great at most feedings! But, when he gets tired, he is done! While visiting today, I fed him everytime! It is fun to listen to him make noises while trying to eat........ Joann, our primary nurse did help me out a few times in order to get him to take the rest of the bottle. We hope to give him more practice today! Alex enjoyed having his sister, Addie visit in his crib today, even though he had his eyes closed most of the time. As you saw above, Alex passed his car seat challenege today. So, once he learns to take all of his feedings by bottle without any hesitation, he will be out the door! We are still keeping our fingers crossed for late this week or weekend.
As of this evening, his weight was 5 pounds 8.9 ounces.

Big Day for Mommy and Daddy

Daddy and Alex bonded tonight....... It is neat to see how much weight Alex
has gained over the past couple of days. You can really tell a difference, espeically in his
facial features.

Addie finally decides to take a nap. Again today, Addie was wide awake....

Mommy and Daddy both had a chance to hold both babies at the same time today.
It was great! Of course, when mommy had them, Addie was wide awake and wrestling in the
blankets. Alex slept the whole time mommy had them both. During moms time, Addie had to be placed on her tummy.

WOW! Here is daddy with the twins. Addie is on Daddys right side and Alex
is on Daddys left side.

Today, our primary nurses Joann and Holly are back! We are so glad that the twins
have such great caretakers...... Joann is our primary nurse during the day shift and Holly is our primary nurse on the night shift. They both take care of the twins 3-4 times each week....
Both of them are great with the babies as well as with us. We have learned so much from them!
Alex is still at 50 mL at each feeding and Addie is still at 31 mL a feeding. Today, Alex started bottle feeding at everyother feeding. Therefore, by the end of the day, he will be up to 4 bottles. Yea Alex!!!!!!! Mommy was able to bottle feed both Addie and Alex this afternoon. Addie was a little piggy and would have had more if she could have...... Alex has started making noises during his feedings and it is very funny! We hope that Alex and Addie both continue to take as many bottles as possible as they have to take all of their feedings by bottle before being able to come home. Tonight, we took Alex's carseat to the NICU as he will be doing the "Car Seat Challenge" later this week. This challenge is where Alex will have to sit in his carseat for the amount of time that it will take us to get home from the hospital. During this time, the nurses will monitor him to make sure that he does not have any issues, such as heart rate drops. As long as he passes, he is getting closer to coming home. On Thursday, mommy will have both carseats/bases installed at the hospital.
On Tuesday morning, mommy will attend a class all about preemies. We are also hoping to meet with the occupational therapists later this week to learn more about infant massage for when the babies come home. On Friday morning, mommy will be scrapbooking at the hospital with other NICU moms.
With daddy being on the road this week for work, mommy will do her best to update the blog with lots of pictures and updates!

Lots of Updates Today

Alex says, "Are you going to ever stop taking my picture"?
Today, Alex was wide awake before his feeding. Now that he is in an open crib,
it is a lot of fun to listen to him make lots of noises. He did pull his feeding tube out again this morning, but it is now back in place....


Tonight, daddy was able to bottle feed Alex. He has been taking between 2-4 bottles daily. He is working towards taking all of his feedings by bottle. Today, the increased Alex's feeding to 50 mL per feeding time. When they gain weight, they increase the feedings. He is just a little piggy....

Alex and daddy during bottle feeding time. He did great until he started to fall asleep....


Addie looks at mommy and daddy while she is supposed to be resting/sleeping.
Right away this morning, the nurse told us that she had been awake for a long time.
Addie seems to not want to rest/sleep when she is supposed to. She is afraid that she is going to miss something, I guess........ This afternoon, Addie took a good nap. She did not even wake up during her diaper change. Addie's feedings have been increased to 31 mL per feeding. She is taking 2-3 bottles each day....

Today, mommy and Addie had some "KANGAROO TIME".
This is where the parents and baby have skin to skin contact. Research has shown
that this is the best medicine that a parent can give a preemie baby. Believe it or not,
Addie slept the whole time! They will try to do atleast one kangaroo session per day.
Daddy will have a chance too.....

The nurses are still saying that Alex could possibly go home later this week. It is all just a waiting game. We are just waiting for him to learn to take all of his feedings by bottle. Addie will most likely be 7-10 days behind Alex. But, she could surprise us!
Updated Weights for the Twins:
Addelynn: 3 pounds 8.3 ounces
Alexander: 5 pounds 3.6 ounces

Little Update for Today

Sorry for the delay in the posting....
We have been very busy! This morning, we attended class at the NICU.
We learned lots about car seat safety and infant CPR and choking... The class
was a great learning opportunity for us. This week, we will take a class to learn all about
the life of a preemie. On Friday, I plan on attending the NICU Moms Group at the hospital for scrapbooking....
The babies continue to do well... Both of them are taking a few bottles daily. We are still waiting for Addie to gain a little more weight so that she can be moved to an open crib. Alex just has to learn to take all of his feedings by bottle and he will be rolling out the door.......
On Sunday, we hope to have updated weights on the babies as well as some updated pictures!

Lots of Pictures

What a cute little girl..... This is a great picture of Addie.

Alex was wide awake this evening before his feeding. He looks
adorable in the santa hat. Today, Alex had his hearing test.....He passed
the test. Addie will have the hearing test once she is moved to an open crib.


Addie is a happy baby..... She seems to be adding more hair everyday.
Her hair color is a light blond.

Addie and Mommy

Alex is awake and ready to eat...... In this picture, you can see how
bundled up he is while in the open crib.

We are learning more and more about the little ones everyday....
Both of them continue to do well! Addie and Alex are both adding weight daily.
We hope to have updated weights on the next posting.

2 Weeks Old and Growing

Alex thinks...... Hmmmmmm, what's next? Now that he is in an open air crib, they like
him to wear a hat to keep his head warm.

Addie gets ready to eat......... As you can see, her eyes are just a little open.
She always tries to stay awake for everything!

Dakota has no clue! Over the holiday's, he enjoyed spending
time with us.....

At home, we have been getting Bradyn used to the babies by bringing
things from the hospital with the babies scent. In this photo, Bradyn is
guarding the baby blankets from the hospital that we have placed on the living room
floor. Bradyn is too funny!!!! He will lay right next to the baby toys, on top of the baby blankets, and even wrap himself up in the blankets.

We had to share one picture of Addie actually sleeping.......


Alex and Addie are two weeks old.... It is hard to believe, but true.....


When we visited on Wednesday night, both of them were very alert. We were able to bottle feed both of them. However, Alex and Addie both fell asleep during their feeding. So, we needed a little help. We have been told that babies do not develop the "sucking refex" until they are 34-35 weeks old and they were just 35 weeks old on Wednesday. So, we feel that they are doing just fine. Alex is attempting to bottle feed 3-4 times daily and Addie 1-2 times daily. Here are their weights from Wednesday night......
Addelynn: 3 pounds 5.4 ounces
Alexander: 4 pounds 14.8 ounces
As you can see, they are continuing to increase in weight... It is hard to believe that Alex will be over 5 pounds when we bring him home....
Finally, we would like to say thank you to everyone for all of the thoughts, prayers, flowers, gifts, and outfits. Everything that you all have done has been truly appreciated....

Happy New Year

Daddy holding Addie before her bottle feeding session....From the second we arrived tonight, Addie was wide awake. The nurse even had to tell us to try and allow her to sleep so that she would be ready to bottle feed. But, Addie never wants to rest or close her eyes when people are around.....

Mommy bottle feeding Alex for the first time......

Alex trying his best to pace himself during his bottle feeding session.
We have been told that "pacing" is one of the hardest things for a preemie to
do when learning to bottle feed. They have to learn to pace themselves and take breaths
in between swallowing. We also learned this evening that they put a few extra mL in the bottles, so that the babies are not sucking so much air out of the bottom of a bottle.

Daddy feeding Addie for the first time. She was very alert this evening.
She did not want to close her eyes for anything! However, she was so interested in
what was going on around her, she had a harder time taking the bottle. However, with a little
help, that job was accomplished!

Alex enjoys spending time in his big boy bed.... Can you believe that this is
not even a preemie outfit? I think that he will be in Newborn clothes from this
point forward as the preemie clothes are getting to be too small........

Happy New Year!
Tonight was an exciting night for all of us...
Both of us were able to feed the babies for the very first time.
Alex tends to be more agressive with bottle feeding than Addie, but she will catch up! Here are some pictures from our visit this evening... Enjoy!