A surprise and cute smiles

Our beautiful little miracle girls continue to amaze Thomas and I. They both definitely have their own personalities and they are good at letting us know what they want. Haley always lets us know when she's hungry and wants a bottle. We decided to try Haley on Neosure formula. She was started on Elecare formula after her bowel surgery and then was transitioned to Nutramigen. Haley doesn't have any allergies to milk protein and had tolerated regular formula before her bowel surgery so it didn't quite make sense to keep her on the Nutramigen formula any longer. She tolerated the Neosure well and we were surprised when we gave her 3 ounces of Neosure in the bottle and she drank it all! What a wonderful surprise! We didn't have to use the tube or the pump. She must like the Neosure compared to the Nutramigen. The Nutramigen formula smells terrible so I don't blame her for not wanting to drink it. We are so proud of Haley for taking the whole bottle. I have been wanting her to take the whole bottle for so long. We will have to continue to have the tube in her nose until she is consistent with taking every full bottle. When she is tired she doesn't take it all and we must use the tube.

I finally got a picture of Haley smiling. Daddy was playing with her and got her to smile. She loves her daddy!



Rachel will definitely let you know when she is tired and ready to go to bed. She also lets us know when she wants to be held or she wants her pacifier. She is very observant and loves to look around and see everything in her surroundings. Rachel is getting better everyday. She is not coughing as much and she seems to be breathing better. We are so glad that this bought of sickness didn't send her to the hospital. We feel so blessed that both Rachel and Haley are watched over and blessed by our heavenly father. They could not have gotten this far with out him.

Rachel always smiling. She is a happy girl.



Well this week will be a good break for the girls and I. They only have one doctor's appointment on Friday with Dr. Farrior their pediatrician. It seems like every week the girls have a doctor's appointment almost everyday. So this week will be nice, but we know that the doctor's appointments will continue since the girls were so premature. We are grateful for all the help from doctor's and therapists in helping our girls achieve all they can.

Another busy week

Another busy week just about over. What a week it has been. The girls had several doctor appointments on top of discouraging news and sickness. Also grandma went back home. We love and miss her.

Grandma holding her granddaughters. She sure does love them!



Haley is a superstar! She had the OCRG test this week and she passed with flying colors and is off oxygen. We are so thrilled that she is doing well in regard to her lungs. It has been nice that she is down to only one tube attached to her. Its great getting to walk around with her through out the entire house. Yeah no more oxygen tubing! Unfortunately we didn't get a good report after she had her ABR (sedated hearing test). We were told she has severe hearing loss in both ears. Supposedly the problem is fluid behind her ear drums. Haley is scheduled to see an ENT doctor in a couple of weeks to see if they can figure out what is going on behind her ear drums and get treatment to improve her hearing. She will most likely need hearing aids no matter what. Haley has developed quite a personality. She makes me laugh with the cute things she does. She is progressing with the therapy she has been getting through ECI. Unfortunately she has not rolled over yet, but she is making improvements in other areas. Haley is smiling more and it just melts my heart. Haley has made improvements in the amount of formula she takes from the bottle. She is now taking 1 1/2 - 2oz. Doesn't seem like a lot, but this is good for her. We look forward to getting that tube out of her nose sooner than later. I love it when she does something so simple that she has not done before. It's the simple things that matter the most. I just wish and hope the best for her and that she will be able to hit all milestones. She is way behind in meeting them, but in her own time she will meet them.

Haley sitting in the Bumbo chair



Haley and her cute pouty lip. She makes me laugh whenever she gets upset and that lip drops.



Rachel is sick with bronchial pneumonia. The girls were doing so well at staying healthy, but I knew eventually that one or both would get sick. Rachel is on an antibiotic and seems to be getting better only after 2 days of it. Earlier this week Rachel had a follow up visit with the ophthalmologist (Dr. Coats) and got a good report. Her eyes are doing well and she doesn't need glasses at this point. Rachel is growing well and is just about 15 pounds already. She is also making progress in different areas with the help of ECI. Rachel is such a beautiful little girl. It melts my heart to see her smile.

Rachel in the Bumbo chair



The girls together

The happenings the Past Week

This past week was busy. There was something going on almost every day. I am so grateful that my mom (the girls grandma) has been at our home with us to help out. I will miss her when she leaves on April 22. She has been helping me out when the girls have their doctors appointments. This past week both Haley and Rachel had an appointment. Haley went to her retina specialist. There has not been any changes to her right eye. Which to me is not good. I was really hoping that her right eye was looking better since Haley does respond to sunlight. We won't know what she sees until she gets older and is able to tell us. Her eye doctor thinks she won't see anything more than shadows. We are staying hopeful that she will be able to see more. Only time will tell.

Haley enjoying her swing



Rachel saw the pediatric ENT. The doctor looked at her vocal cords and saw that one of her vocal cords is still paralyzed. The doctor said it could take a year from when she had the PDA surgery for the vocal cord to start working again. If it doesn't start to work again its not the end of the world. Her other vocal cord can take over and she will be able to speak and eat. We think its already taking over since Rachel sounds better to us than in the past. Rachel also had her OCRG test which is a 4 hour test to see how she oxygenated while asleep and awake. She did ok when awake, but once asleep her oxygen sats went too low so she will continue on the oxygen. She will have this test done again in 4-6 weeks.

Rachel sleeping. She looks so peaceful.



Rachel had a very special visitor. Cathleen, one of her primary nurses at Woman's hospital came to visit her. It had been a little while since she has seen Rachel. She missed her so much. She loved seeing her and holding her.

Cathleen and Rachel

The Girl's Room

I realized I had not posted any pictures of the girl's room. We mostly finished it a while ago. We still want to add a changing table. The girl's are still not sleeping in their room/cribs yet. They are still in our room with us until they get off the oxygen. We also still want to monitor them closely. Also their room is on the other side of the house so we are not ready to move them out just yet. They are getting closer though. We are so grateful for this beautiful baby furniture from grandma Claudia. We love you!

Staying Busy

We have seemed to slack off a little with our blog. We apologize to all who read it. We are trying to do better. It has been so busy with our girls here at home that we find little time to do much. We continue to work with Haley and Rachel as they continue to grow. We try to do all the suggested therapy the occupational and physical therapist tell us to do. We are so thrilled with the progress they both seem to be making. We know the road ahead will be long with regards to their development, but we will do all within our power to help them along. We thank the good Lord each day for our daughters. They are such precious little girls to mommy and daddy. We love to hold them, play with them, and kiss all over them. We know that they are suppose to be here for a reason and purpose. We are so eternally grateful that God saw fit to keep them here with us. We enjoy them more than words can express. They keep us on our toes that is for sure. They both seem to have doctor's appointments on average two to three times a week. Its not always fun to go see all these doctor's, but we will do whatever it takes to make sure our girls stay healthy and continue to progress. We are especially looking forward to an appointment this coming Friday for Rachel. She will be having a 4 hour test called an OCRG to test if she can come off the oxygen. We really hope she will be able to. With time we are seeing the girls get better and stronger. We are just amazed everyday how well they are doing seeing how early they were born. They are true miracles and we love them so very much.

Rachel and Haley both napping at the same time. I love it when that happens which is not that often.



Rachel loves playing with her play gym



Haley looking beautiful

Picture perfect

I've taken a lot of pictures of the girls the past couple of days. Here are some of my favorites.

Mommy with her beautiful daughters



My three children doing tummy time. The one in the middle is my husband - enough said :) Daddy loves his girls!



Haley attempting to roll over. She is so close to rolling over. I expect it any day now.



Rachel's beautiful smile. She is so beautiful!



Haley after her bath. She is loving that she took over daddy's side of the bed for a couple of minutes.



Rachel napping after a doctor's appointment.



I was trying to get a picture of Haley smiling. This is the best I got. She is so funny. She makes me laugh.



A close up of Rachel.

The Girls first Easter and Happy 8 months old

The girls are 8 months old today and its their first Easter! They are growing and getting bigger everyday. We had mentioned in a couple of posts ago that they weren't growing enough, but according to the GI doctor, Dr. Krishna, whom the girls saw last week thinks they are growing very well and doing just fine. In fact their weight gain is a little too much. We are glad they are growing well. We love those cute cheeks, they sure do get kissed a lot. We are happy that they also continue to make progress developmentally. Each day I notice something new they have not done before. The girls are getting therapy through ECI weekly.

This has been a good past week. Rachel almost landed in the E.R. for the second time to have her G-Button put back in. She woke up Tuesday morning and we noticed it was not in. We kind of panicked a little because there is roughly two hours to put it back in or the hole will close up. We were thankful that the hole didn't close up. I was able to get the g-button back in, but we needed a new g-button because the balloon that holds the button in was leaking. Thomas sent a text to the pediatric surgeon Dr. Bloss, and not one minute later he called Thomas and told him to come to his office in the medical center and he would take care of it, and he did. Dr. Bloss is such a great surgeon, as well as a person. He just seems to care very much about our girls. In fact after he replaced Rachel's g-button (in between surgeries he was doing) he gave her a big kiss on the forehead. He is just a kind man. You rarely see surgeons who really care about their patients as much as Dr. Bloss. We are grateful for good medical care here in Houston for our precious girls. Haley had an uneventful week thank goodness. No special trips to the doctor for her. Rachel and Haley are doing well considering the rough start in life they had. We are so grateful and blessed. They are miracles and I remember that everyday.

This Easter day we give thanks to our Savior Jesus Christ, for He truly is our Savior. He came to this earth and gave his life in a selfless sacrifice so that we could obtain immortality and eternal life. We declare that Jesus Christ does live. It is on this day we remember the resurrection of Him who has conquered the grave, even Jesus Christ. The Savior has conquered it not only for himself but for all who have lived and who will ever live in this mortal life. This Easter season Thomas and I are so grateful to the Lord for providing a way to be reunited with our children that have gone on before us. We love him, we worship him, and we desire nothing more than to be more like him.

The girls in their Easter dresses



Rachel



Haley