Growing and Growing...

As most of you know, our girls were transferred to DeVos Children's in Grand Rapids last week Thursday. It has been so nice for Nate and me to be so much closer to home and to sleep in our own bed each night! I think it goes without saying that being closer to home is nicer for our family and friends who want to visit the girls too! We were so sad to leave the wonderful people in Ann Arbor, but it was definitely the right move for us, especially since there is a good chance one baby will come home before the other.

The isolette the girls traveled in from Ann Arbor to Grand Rapids. They rode in an ambulance while Nate and I drove our car over. We couldn't wait until we all made it to GR! The lady on the right is Kate, one of Sophie's favorite nurses! :)

Reunited for the first time since birth.

We were so sad to leave such a great place!

Mom and Dad were so excited to finally arrive at the hospital! Little did we know, we had beaten the girls there. The Children's Hospital is the blue round building in the middle of the picture.

This is Mary, the nurse from U of M, who traveled with the girls and made sure they arrived safely in GR. Here she is ready to "unload" Sophie in her new room!

An update on our sweet girls...

Last night, Evelyn weighed 3 lbs., 9 oz. She is now at "full feeds" for her current weight, meaning she has reached her goal! She is no longer on the TPN (IV nutrition) or any IVs, so her PICC line was pulled on Friday. She gets 32 mL (just over 1 oz.) of breast milk every 3 hours. She was having trouble digesting the milk, so they started putting it on a pump where it goes in over 1 hour instead of falling in quickly by gravity. This has really helped her! Normally, her feeding goes through her feeding tube and into her stomach, but because the babies are now at 32 weeks gestation and Evie was showing signs that she was ready to start sucking, she got to try a bottle for the first time today! It was so fun to feed her! She did an awesome job; she took 16 mL of her feeding before falling asleep (the remaining 16 mL was given to her through her tube as usual.) We are currently allowed to try bottle- or breast-feeding her once a day, and that will increase as she gets older.

Evie is still on room air and doing great! She is very alert and awake for what seems like long periods a few times a day. She has definitely gotten more calm and quiets down much more easily when she gets mad.

Sophie is doing wonderfully as well, although she likes to scare her Mom and Dad more often than Evie does. I'll try to make this long story short: Wednesday night, her nurse in Ann Arbor thought she was acting a little funny. She didn't show any signs of infection, but they pulled out her umbilical central line just in case. When we got to GR, they checked some labs, which were questionable for infection, and drew some blood cultures to see if there was any bacteria in her blood. This morning, those cultures came back positive. The doctors think (and we are hoping) that the sample was contaminated, since Sophie has been acting essentially normally since this all started. So, they drew more blood cultures today to see if there is actually an infection. Just in case, she has been on antibiotics for the past few days. Because our girls are so tiny and premature, their immune systems are underdeveloped, so even a minor infection could affect them a lot more than it could you and me; we are praying that there is no infection, and if there is, that the antibiotics will get rid of it ASAP! With all of the lab draws and the need for IV antibiotics, little miss Sophie has been poked a few more times than her Momma can handle!

Sophie resting on Daddy's lap with an IV in her foot.

Sophie hit the big girl 3 pound mark 2 nights ago! How exciting! She was having similar problems to Evie with having leftover feedings in her tummy that hadn't been digested, but because of the questionable infection, the doctors have treated her a little more conservatively. Twice now, they have put her feedings on hold and checked abdominal xrays and labs before restarting them. On Friday, her feedings were on hold for 15-18 hours, and today, they were on hold for 6 hours. Both times, the repeat xray looked great. Instead of starting her back up on the feedings she was at, they backed down a little bit, so she currently gets 20 mL every 3 hours. Hopefully soon they will be able to advance them so she can reach her feeding goal as well!

Sophie was taken off oxygen on Friday and did very well! Today, she was desatting a bit, so the nurse put her on just the teeniest bit of oxygen! (For my nursing friends, a tenth of a liter per minute.) This felt like such a step back to me, but the nurse told me it is completely common and not surprising for someone as premature and small as Sophie. She is awake and alert at times, but probably not as much so as Evelyn. The nurses all tell us that her slower progress is normal for preemies, especially for small ones like Sophie, but it's hard on us to see one baby progressing faster than the other.

Sophie's pretty face without oxygen

We have been enjoying a little more freedom to hold our girlies when we want to since they are getting a little bit older! We can't get enough. We think they are absolutely adorable, and apparently, the nurses do too!...

Nate and I have declared tomorrow a "no visitor day." We are "over it," for lack of a better word. NICU life is stressful and hard, regardless of how well the babies are doing. It is so hard to see our helpless little babies getting poked and prodded and to know they don't understand why. It's sometimes hard to remember that, so far, most everything that has happened with our girls is normal based on their gestational age. After all, had I had a normal pregnancy, they would have been inside me for almost 2 more months! There are times we just don't feel like visiting, so we are giving ourselves a break.

For those of you who will visit us while we are at DeVos... just a heads up for you...

• Nobody under 16 is allowed to visit in the NICU.
• You will be asked/required to "scrub in" before entering the NICU... this just involves washing your hands/arms up to your elbows and removing all jewelry below your elbows. You may want to leave bracelets/rings at home.
• You will be asked to have any sleeves rolled up to your elbows while in the NICU.
• If you have artificial nails, you will be asked to wear gloves.
• Call/text us to make sure we're in the room if you're planning on visiting us. They keep track of whether either of us are there, and visitors aren't allowed back if we're not in the room.
• Each time our babies are stimulated, they burn calories, which slows their growth. Of course, they need some stimulation, but loud talking or noises, bright lights, camera flashes, etc. are unnecessary sources of stimulation! We want Evie and Sophie to grow and come home as quickly as they can, so please remember that if you come to visit!
• To prevent infection, right now we are the only ones allowed to touch and hold the babies. Once they are bigger, we are happy to pass them around, so you will get your chance!!

These are all measures DeVos has taken to prevent infection. It seems strict, but it's actually in the best interest of our babies and the rest of the babies in the NICU.

If you are praying for us and our girls, thank you! Here are some specific requests:

• Right now, our biggest worry and concern is Sophie's possible infection. If her blood culture from today comes back positive and they don't think it's a contaminant, she will have to have a spinal tap. We do NOT want her to have to go through that. Please pray that she does NOT have an infection, and that neither of our babies will develop infection during their stay in the hospital.
• That the girls continue to keep growing and tolerating their feedings. In particular, that Sophie will tolerate her feedings so that she can be taken off the TPN and start bottle- or breast-feeding like her sister. The neonatologist told me on Friday that since breathing has been stable for both girls, their big concern now is nutrition. They have to be growing consistently and taking all feedings from a bottle or breast before they can go home.
• This will just come with time, but please pray that the girls continue to make progress toward regulating their own temperature. This is something else that has to be met before the girls can come home.
• Please pray for Nate and me, as it is difficult being in the NICU all day every day. It is stressful and hard to see our babies with tubes and lines, and it is disheartening when we feel like our girls are taking steps backward, even though we are told this is normal for preemies. I have had a hard few days lately and would appreciate your prayers!

I'll leave you with a super cute picture of Evie (top) and Sophie (bottom) from Friday morning...

Love,

Nate, Sara, Evie, and Sophie