Introducing....

"For these boys I prayed; and the Lord has given me my petition which I have asked of Him." I Samuel 1:27

Joseph Blane and Miles Warner arrived in this world Friday morning at 10:27 and 10:29, weighing in at 4lb even and 3lb 13oz! James and I are two proud (tired!) parents!! (although I'm not sure it has sunk in yet!) They are absolutely beautiful, and doing incredibley well. Baby J came into the world screaming, with both legs straight out, and Miles made a less boisterous entrance with a few kitten-esque wimpers. I wanted to kinda give an update into their conditions into the NICU more than anything with this post because James and I are doing fine...Im recovering slowly, but moving great, and they are talking about discharging me on Tuesday--although I'm not sure I remember what freedom looks like at this point! So....

When born, Joseph had a little trouble breathing and so was immediately hooked up to a C-Pap (breather over the nose) which he got to move down from on Saturday morning. Joseph and Miles both are wearing the cannela (breathing tubes in their noses) with light oxygen input, meaning that their little lungs are doing great at supporting their bodies on their own. Saturday they were both eating every 6 hours through their eating tube, but today (Sunday) they got moved up to every 3 hours because they were holding the food so well. They get to try eating from bottles by next weekend, when they will have hopfully mastered the swallowing technique :) They also went off antibiotics today, and their oxygen level was again lowered showing their improved lung health! Praises!!

However, we have run into a few trouble spots as well. When we went up to see the boys this morning, we met with their Neonatal Dr to find out that Joseph is anmemic. This stems from me being a negative blood type and the boys both being positive. Essentially, a shot during pregnancy was supposed to help their bodies to build antibodies to fight this off...the only thing the Dr can say is that Joseph might have bled into the placenta in the womb therefore missing his opportunity to form the antibodies to fight the anmemia. Miles however, is fine. For Joseph, this means an increased risk of blood transfusions because his body cannot replenish his blood as quickly. That's also why he is slightly a lighter skin color because he has less blood in his little body. Miles also encountered a slight hiccup today...he had a 'spell' when he was eating. This is what they call it when they actually 'forget' to breathe when they are eating. Essentially his brain was focusing so hard on eating that it forgot to tell the lungs to move and breathe. He did recover himself quickly without the help of the nurses though, which is a great sign. It's a little overwhleming to watch all this unfold...but still so incredible to hear the Drs be so positive about it all. God is in control. He knew when they would be born, and the things they would fight along the way to going home, so all we can do is to continue to pray for these things specifically at the moment.

But their personalities continue to be translated from womb to world...Miles being the ever rambunctious lil man when being monitored in the hospital, continues to heap havoc on the NICU nurses constantly pulling out his tubes and pulling off the heart rate/temperature stickers! He can follow your voice so well with his eyes, as he stays so alert. Joseph is a laid back guy, stretching with arms and legs out, propped up on the blankets, as well as keeping his seemingly constant hiccups, too. We keep getting asked who they look like right now, and we honestly can't tell just yet because of all the tubes. :)

We should be able to hold them within the week, once they get their central line out of their belly buttons. We also get to bring little clothes for them to wear too, once they reach over 1900 grams! Woo! As far as take home time goes, it could be anywhere from 2 weeks to a month, so we are prayerful for the shortest time to healthy baby boys.

Thanks to each and every one of you for your prayers, love, support, texts, calls, messages, etc...and if we didn't get back to you, know that your words still reached us and meant the world to us, and essentially have got us through this crazy beautiful weekend! God has been so faithful and He has heard all of our prayers. He will continue to use them to bring Him glory!

We'll keep everyone updated as we can, and much, much , MUCH love to each of you! Joseph and Miles can't wait to meet you!

Joseph :)

Miles :)

Goooooooaal!

So, we made it. Holy crap.

Overwhlemed is an understatement at this point I think! We have been so blessed beyond what we deserve or expected and are just completely humbled. Everyone's outpourings of prayers and support have got us to this point -- we cannot thank each and every one of you enough. James and I are doing our best to relax and not stress tonight....so I really just wanted to give a quick 'hooray', say we are scheduled for 10am tomorrow morning (although there is a surgery before us so it may not start right then...), Im praying I can get out of the bed a.s.a.p. to get back upstairs to see those sweet boys, and that I can handle the needles! We'll give an update tomorrow with pictures hopefully as we get to meet them, barring no serious problems or complications when they're born. God is good and faithful - so we are trusting in Him!

Much love - see ya on the flip side ;)

10 days to go

"Be exalted in your strength Lord, we will sing and praise your might."
Psalm 21:13

Hard to believe we'll have reached our goal of 32 weeks on Sunday, and 5 days later we will get to meet these precious boys! As of right now, we are tentatively looking at Friday, July 22nd for the boys to come into this world, barring no complications between now and then. Doctors are saying they are beautiful still so far and we are continually humbled! In last Tuesday's ultrasound the boys made a quick and easy 8/8 score on their biophysical profile (measuring fluid, breathing and rapid limb movement)...which is so encouraging that they are preparing themselves for their entrance into this world. :) In today's ultrasound we got a second set of great news...Baby A now weighs 4lb 4oz and Baby B is 3lb 13oz...both slightly ahead of schedule! So amazing to watch it all work! So, I'm trying to be content for the next 10 days and try and get some sleep. I'm still feeling relatively good, minus the nauseousness (from lack of room to digest food) and numbness when I sleep in the hips (which I hear is pretty common!). Continually praying for health, growth, and maturity as we reach the 'birthday.' The pic is their take home outfits, for those of you who haven't seen them. :) Really we are just full of praises, and the last thing on the list is for a clean, responsible, loving home environment I can leave them in once I go back to work--so if anyone knows of anyone, let me know!!!

Can't believe we're almost there. Hope each and every one of you are doing equally well.
Much, MUCH love to you all!

James, Jess & the boys

T-H-I-R-T-Y weeks!!!!!

Woop!

30.1 weeks. Pumped. Goal! At 30 weeks the risk of deficiencies dramatically decreases, and God is so good to have let the boys continue to grow, mature, kick, hiccup, and get chubbier in Mama P's belly! The boys are still looking fantastic on the HR monitors, with no decelerations (signs of entaglement) and we are now talking about decisions on when to take them or to let them keep cooking. Essentially, at 32 weeks they are as matured as a 40 week baby, but weight and some actions such as breathing have not been properly mastered. However, lungs, body temp, brain, etc are the same. With the blessing of going as well as everything has, James and I are weighing the option of trying to go an extra week for the babies to mature and grow just a little more. After that point, the risk for entaglement goes up so much, that it is generally agreed upon by the docs that its better to go ahead and take them out because of the risks of losing one with the mono-mono status we've got. So, at least 2 more weeks, Lord willing, hopefully 3, and then we'll have two precious little boys!!!! Can you say: overwhelming? ha...but so very exciting.
I am feeling very large and in charge these days, and James says I'm getting bigger by the day... which is a good thing right!? Over the past two weeks we've had two AMAZING showers here at the hospital by all our friends and families, and we have been tremendously blessed - and guys, I pray daily that you are blessed back ten-fold for your gifts to us! James says there is just stuff EVERYWHERE in the house - and I am looking SO forward to going home soon and getting to organize it all and do just a little part of getting the nursery ready for them to come home to! Literally can't wait. Plus, I must admit, as I am entering my 6th week here at the hospital, all the interesting 'meats' they serve you are very much getting old, quick. ha! But, still impressed and blessed by the care we get everyday.
The ultrasound (nearly 2 weeks ago) gave us a great update on the boys: Baby A 2lbs 12 oz, and Baby B 2 lbs, 8 oz. which is in the 50th percentile for their gestational age. :) Nurses say they grow about 1/2 lb each week after 28 weeks, so in our next growth July 12th (next Tuesday) we are hoping we'll see two almost 4 pounders in there!! And then with delivery another week to week and a half after that, I am very hopeful for their birth weight!

Here in a bit, I'm planning on going out to watch the Riverfront fireworks here from the hospital, the nurses say you can actually get a pretty good view, which I'm looking forward to! My sweet husband has spend his entire long weekend here with me and I finally sent him home this afternoon for him to rest....although he says he sleeps Ok on the plastic pull-out couch, I am doubtful ;)

Miss you all tremendously and can't wait to see you all soon!

Much love and many prayers,

James, Jess & the boys