Maggie's stint is OUT!!

It came out this morning around 7:45am. Thank God it is over with. She did not do as well coming out of the anesthesia as she did last time. She was hysterical this time and they couldn't calm her down. We could hear her in recovery screaming and I got very upset because they wouldn't just bring her to us. One of the docs came by and asked if I was alright and I said "NO!" I can't stand to hear her screaming like that. He went back and told them to take her IV out and bring her to me. As soon as she saw us she stopped crying. As soon as she got nested in my arms she went to sleep. Poor thing. She is doing great now. Sleeping alot but otherwise herself. She ate good once we got home. We are all just tired from getting up at 4am!! Hopefully this will be one of those nights that both girls sleep all night.
Funny twin bond story: Nattie was in a dead sleep in my arms while kids were screaming all around us. As soon as she heard Maggie crying she woke up and was terribly upset. That upset me even more!
Thanks for all of your prayers!
Erin P: I followed your blog for a long time right after your twins were born last year while I was in the hospital waiting for mine. I cannot believe they are almost a year old!

New Pics!

Maggie goes Hollywood!!!



Busy at play! I love these saucers!!!



In Granny's lap the day before Maggie's surgery.



Nattie



This is my favorite new pic! I was trying to capture the handholding.



Bri takes Nattie on an American Girl Horse ride!!!

Maggie is doing....

WONDERFUL! You all were right when you said babies are so resiliant! It is like she never had major surgery. She is happy and smiles all the time. She keeps us laughing because she smiles so much. She has a dimple in her right cheek and it is just so darn adorable you can't help but just laugh at her. She is going to be the one that doesn't get punished when she really should because she is making us laugh!! We call her Smiley!
Both girls are very close to sitting up on their own. Still NO TEETH!! But they, especially Nattie, have been so irritable and chewing on everything. I can't keep Nattie's hands out of her mouth. I wish they would just pop on thru and give them some relief. Orajel is helping although they hate it.
I'll post some pics soon.
Gotta go somebody is crying!

Easter Pics!

Maggie's home!

Getting sleepy!

Feeling well enough to play for a few minutes.

Nothing would do but Mommy! Look how sad her eyes look!

A wagon ride to get her to sleep. Worked like a charm!

We got home today about 11:30am after a terrible, long night. Maggie's IV came out yesterday and they thought she was going home so they left it out. Late in the evening when we were still waiting to hear from the doctor the nurse came and told us that she had a UTI and that was the reason for the fever and they were worried she would become septic so they wanted to keep her one more night and give her IV antibiotics. So later in the evening, after she had fallen asleep, they came in to put the IV in. God it is so hard to watch your baby screaming while they are doing something like that to her. They finally got it in and gave her pain meds thru it along with the antibiotic. They also stuck her finger for a CBC. And would you believe the nurse dropped her blood into the sharps box??!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!! They left the room and just when I finally got her back to sleep another nurse came in and said we have to stick her again!!! I was ready to kill somebody!!!!!! For some reason Maggie's blood was very thin and when they stuck her she bled like crazy especially the 2nd time. It looked worse than it was I know but blood was everywhere, all up her arm, on her blankets, all over the nurse and Maggie was screaming!! They finally got everything done to her but neither one of us slept much all night. The doc woke us at 7 to tell us she could go home!!

You thought that was bad?? I'm not finished yet. We get home and I change a poopy diaper and see something white that looks like a wire hanging out of her and I FREAK!! I called the doc and they told us to bring her in because it is the stint coming out. It rarely ever happens. Of course it happened to Maggie. After an agonizing half hour of her screaming while they were trying to poked that thing back up in her with a catheter, pee and blood and poop going everywhere, they finally got it in. My poor sweety is absolutely exhausted after the last 24 hours. She has cried so much and so have I. She slept alot this afternoon and evening and is sleeping soundly right now. She has been eating well since we have been home. I knew she would eat better once she got back on home turf.

We are so glad to be back home. I missed Bri and little Nattie terribly. Hopefully the worst of it all is over with. Please continue to pray for her. Mostly for a quick recovery and total healing of the kidney and ureter.

Update on Maggie....

Maggie is a trooper!! She did great!! The surgery took about 3 hours, a long 3 hours for Mom and Dad. Her ureter was completely blocked. It also went into the kidney at the top of her kidney not where it should so they had to move that to the correct place. They removed lots of damaged tissue from her kidney. He said it was HUGE! They took out probably more than a baseball size amount. They wouldn't let her eat last night and she would not rest. Finally Chet and I demanded to feed her about midnight and she ate and went to sleep. She slept on and off last night and ate on and off. Early this morning she developed a low-grade fever that they are keeping an eye on. The doc said to get her up a lot today and if the fever stays below 102 she can go home this afternoon. They took the catheter out a few hours ago and she is filling up diapers!! So please continue to keep her in your prayers and I will update as soon as I can.

6 Month Stats

Their 6 month checkup was today. I cannot believe how big they are getting.

Nattie: 15.15lbs., length 25", head circ. 42cm. She is in the 50th percentile on weight. At 2 months she was in the 10th percentile on weight.

Maggie: 15.3lbs., length 24, head circ. 42cm. She is in the 30th percentile on weight. At 2 months she wasn't even on the charts on weight!!!!

I just can't believe how far we have come. I know the doctors in the NICU kept telling me it would happen but it was so hard to believe at the time. But look at them now!!!

Get this; Brianna's 6 months stats: 15.8lbs, length 25.75"!!!
So the twins are right on track!!

I know it's been a while....

But I haven't had any new pics and the girls haven't done anything new. Yesterday we took them to have professional pics made in their Easter dresses. We took a few pics at home first and as usual they aren't very good. We have got to invest in a better digital camera. They looked so sweet though that I just had to post a few.

Nattie still doesn't want to roll over from her tummy to her back although she is very close to rolling from her back to her tummy. Not much longer and she will be sitting up by herself I think. Maggie rolls like crazy! They are so cute right now and starting to be such fun. They laugh and smile. All I have to do is make eye contact for a big smile. They are very vocal! I don't mean crying, they just talk baby talk alot and loudly! They really are pretty good babies. They love to get out in public. If only they would sleep! Yes, sleeping is still a really big issue. Not napping well or sleeping at night. Oh well, I guess someday we will sleep in this house.

Please remember Maggie in your prayers. Her kidney surgery is next Monday the 26th. I will update as soon as I am able to. Until then....

New pics and some updates...

Here are a few bath pics. I can't get them to smile for the camera for anything but they really do smile alot especially Maggie. Maggie is in the white towel and Nattie in the yellow.

We are back on solids again and doing pretty good with it. Maggie will eat as long as you shovel it in. Isn't it funny if you go back a few months in my blog and read I was asking you all to pray that she would learn to love food and eating. Isn't God great? Wow, Did he ever answer those prayers. Weight wise she is about to pass Nattie up. Now Nattie likes the solids o.k. but nothing like Maggie. I think sometimes she could take them or leave them. They have been sleeping a little better since starting them back. Me? Well I hope squash and green beans are good for my complexion. Surely that cereal is like a mud facial or something??!! Ha! Ha!! Yes, I have been wearing alot of baby food. One day after I had just shoveled a mouthful of peas into Maggie's mouth she let a big sneeze!!! Bri walked in the room just in time to see it and said green stuff was flying thru the air!! It really was funny even though Maggie and I and everything around us was covered in peas!!!

I really think they are cutting teeth. They are drooling so bad and chewing on their fingers constantly. Nattie has been really irritable for a few days too and run a fever of a little over 99. Hopefully we will be feeling or seeing something in there in a few days.

Oh, I almost forgot the biggest milestone......THEY ROLLED OVER this weekend. Maggie on Friday night and Nattie on Saturday morning. Everytime you put Maggie on her tummy she flips over. Nattie still has to work pretty hard as she is very impatient and hates tummy time!

That's about it until next time......

Baby Dedication

The girls did pretty good considering they were really sleepy by the time it started and past ready to eat by the time it was over. I am posting this pic although it is not very good. As I have said before our digital camera is not very good and it was kind of dark in the church. I tried to crop it and lighten it up some but it made it grainy. At least we have the ceremony on a DVD.

New Pics!

Big Sis helping out while Mom attempts to cook dinner!

So cute in their little valentine outfits!

A little tummy time! Dang those blue eyes, you get

red eye in every pic.

And last, Mags sleeping. Oh, life can be so hard on a little baby!!

Baby Dedication

We are having the girls dedicated at our church on February 10th. We are christian and this is a ceremony that our church does for babies every 3 months. So there will be a bunch of babies. We are excited about it though. It is kind of like their debut! I took some pics here at home yesterday of them in their christening gowns but they didn't turn out very good. I will post one or two when I can.
O.K. I decided to nix the oatmeal for now and the rice went back in the bottles. Neither of them were sleeping good without the rice and the oatmeal was just too hard on their tummies. I don't think they are ready for solids yet. I am going to wait another month or so and try again. The good news is that they are taking more ozs. in a day now than they were a week ago and the best news is NATTI SLEPT ALL NIGHT 3 NIGHTS IN A ROW!!!!! Please God let it continue!! The bad news is that they are not napping well at all during the day and it makes for extremely grumpy babies. I am not sure how to remedy this problem. I do have them both down right now and just pray that they sleep for a couple of hours. They really need an afternoon nap whether they think so or not! Ha! Ha!
I will post some pics later!

Maggie's Surgery

Please keep Maggie in your prayers. Her surgery is scheduled for March 26th. We had to push it out that far because we have no family here that could help with the other two kids. So my Mom can come up that week. In a way I am glad it is a ways out and then on the other hand I wish we could just do it and get it over with.

Today has been a bad day. Both girls have been extremely irritable. I think they are really gassy. Today is the 3rd day of oatmeal. Maybe their tummies are just adjusting to it. I hope tomorrow is a better day for both of them. Natti didn't sleep all night again last night! Starting about 3:45 I was up and down with her. I decided that since their reflux seems better I would omit the rice cereal from their formula. My thoughts are that without the rice in it they would eat more ozs. in one setting. The formula has more calories, protein, fat, and carbs, so it should keep them full longer. Right? Well they only ate more one time today. Unfortunately is wasn't the last bottle before bed. I could barely get them to take that one at all. Especially Natti and she's the one I wanted to eat more!! Oh well, maybe they will do better tomorrow.

Funny thing is when Natti woke up at 3:45 she was talking and laughing and I just laid there until she started fussing. When I went in she was completely unswaddled(I swaddle tightly and tie a cloth diaper around them! Houdini!) kicking her feet like crazy and looked up at me and smiled and squealed!! Her first squeal of delight and I had to play it down. I wanted so bad to pick her up and play with her, she was so darn cute!!! But I just reswaddled her and gave her the paci and she turned her head and closed her eyes. Of course it didn't last, I was up and down with her until 5 and she finally went back to sleep until 6:25 when I fed her and then she slept for another hour. She did take a 2 hour nap today, thank goodness!!
That's all for now....

4 Month check up

We are a little behind, they are actually 4 1/2 months but they had RSV shots and their kidney tests at 4 months and I just couldn't do more shots too. Ped. says they look great! They are on the charts in weight and heighth and head circumfirence. With their adjusted age (3 months) it puts them in the 40th and 50th percentile!!! Wow! Brianna was never that high on the charts and she wasn't a preemie. She was just a small baby until she was about 4 and then she caught up with other kids her age. So with that being said, I am happy with their weights and heights. Natalie weighs in at 13.1 lbs. and 23 inches long and Maggie is 11.14 lbs. and 22.5 inches long. We got the go ahead to start solids. Since they have had rice cereal in their bottles for reflux since they were about 6 weeks, he said to start with oatmeal and progress from there. This is when it starts getting fun. Maggie is sleeping all night most nights. Natalie was before Christmas and I don't know what happened to her but now she is waking up several times a night and she just wiggles and squirms constantly. Half the time I end up putting her in bed with me because I get tired of getting up and down to give her a paci!! I am getting a work out in the middle of the night! The ped. also said that maybe solids will help her start sleeping better.
I still haven't heard from the Urologist about Maggie. I haven't called them because I just don't have the heart yet to actually schedule the surgery and start counting down days. And I just keep prayng that by some miracle it will start opening up and she won't need the surgery.

Brianna just got a report card and she is on the honor roll!! 2nd time this year. If we could just get her to stop talking so much now. Like mother like daughter! Ha! Ha!

I have great news about Joseph. Some of you don't know but he is my older son, 20 almost 21!! Whew!! Yes, I am too young but I am feeling older everyday. Anywho, Joseph is a very talented piano player and has been playing with different gospel quartets for the last couple of years. It has opened the door for wonderful opportunities for him. If you know anything about gospel music you have heard of the Kingdom Heirs?? He was contacted by them last week and told that they had heard wonderful things about him and would like for him to come and play for them. He did and a few days later they called him to come again and offered him a position in the group!!! He will be playing at Dollywood from spring to fall and then traveling the winter months. As a matter of fact the Kingdom Heirs will be here in Louisville in February and Joseph will be with them. I am so excited for him. He is thrilled. God has truly blessed him with this musical gift and I am so glad he is using it in this way. Go see him if you get the chance!!

Well that is about all for now. I have more pics but need to download them. The girls are out and I was awake most of last night and needless to say I am exhausted so off to bed I go too!

Until next time....

Don't have all the details yet but...

Maggie is going to have surgery. They will be detaching her ureter from the bad kidney and taking out the piece where the blockage is. The kidney now has some damage, swelling way beyond what it should be, so they will remove part of that and then reattach the ureter. They will place a shunt in the ureter that runs from the kidney into the bladder so that it doesn't grow closed during the healing process. Then unfortunately they will have to go back in and remove the shunt later. They hope for her to make it to 6 months of age. I guess they are basing that on how bad the kidney looks and how many infections she gets. She does have an infection now and she started a different antibiotic yesterday. We only saw the nurse practicioner who will be talking to the doctor and calling us back tomorrow with more details and a time schedule. Right now there is no change with Natalie's according to the renal US. They may schedule her for the nuclear scan again, like Maggie had on Friday, in the future.
They still would not sedate Maggie. They have to be 60 weeks old and they subtract how many weeks early they were, so Maggie was nowhere close. I was very upset and told them they had better get it right the first time! They hit the first vein and she only had to be catherized once but that was bad enough. Man she cried and it just broke my heart. And again it was a very long day.
The pediatric urologist no longer takes our insurance and they are the only one around here. They told us we would have to pay for the visits: $118 times 2!!!!! I said I don't think so. Just have the doctor call me and we will look for someone else to treat them. They went back and talked to the office manager and the nurse practicioner and only charged us $80 total for both girls. They were very nice and said they would work with us because our girls really needed help. DUHHHH.... Our medical expenses so far have been astranomical!!! I have a stack of bills that I can't get the nerve up to even look at and figure out a payment plan. Some of the letters are starting to get nasty so I know that I have to tackle this soon. O.K. I am rambling....sorry, just tired and worried.
Thank you all for your prayers and comments. I really look forward to reading them and the emails that you send me. Please continue to pray for my girls health.

Christmas Day pics!

Don't they look adorable??? Nattie on the left and Maggs on the right.
We had a pretty good holiday. Most of my family was sick including me. Thank goodness the twins are o.k. Nattie has had a little snotty nose but not too bad. They go on Thursday for the next RSV injection and Friday for more kidney tests. I called the urologist and voiced my concerns about having the invasive tests so soon again. Unfortunately they say it is because they are fairly sure that Maggie will have to have the surgery to correct the blockage in her ureters. I just pray that the results of Fridays test show some improvement so they will hold off on surgery and give it a little longer to correct itself.
It is back to school for Brianna tomorrow and I am dreading it. I have enjoyed this down time. No homework, no early to bed and early to rise for her, no scheduled events. It was very nice and now we are back to the grind! She is ready though.
I hope all of you had a wondeful holiday! Happy New Year!
I will post the girls test results as soon as I know.

Merry Christmas!!!

I just wanted to wish everyone Merry Christmas before I leave for TN tomorrow and post this new pic. Isn't it adorable?? Natti is on the left and Maggie on the right.
God bless all of you and your families and I pray you have the Merriest Christmas!!!

Nothing new really...

The urologist office called on Monday and Maggie has another UTI. My suspicion is that she never got rid of the last one she had and probably won't get rid of this one at least not for long either. Not with urine just sitting in her kidney and not draining. So I decided to go ahead with the next scan in January but I do want a long term plan from the doc after that.

Monday night was the Mother/Daughter Christmas tea at church. We left Dad with the twins alone for the first time!!! and according to him the last time!! He says I can do it but I have to have Bri's help too. He said "how do you do it by yourself?" My reply of course, "I don't have a choice!" There is no other option so suck it up!!! and get it done!!!

On the way to the tea Bri and I were listening to Christmas music and singing along when I looked in the mirror she was grinning from ear to ear and I asked what she was smiling about. She told me nothing 3 times and finally the last time I said come on tell me what you are smiling about and she said "I just you love you that's all!" Awwwwwwwww..... Made my day!!! I just love that kid too!! All evening she kept telling me "Mommy you are so pretty and I love you so much"!! I guess she needed some one on one Mommy time. For so long it was me and her and then her world got turned upside down. We had a great time and Dad took a pic by the tree before we left. I just got all my hair cut off! It makes my head look huge, hee, hee! Or maybe my head was already huge. I gotta get this weight off!! Maybe after the winter when we can come out of hibernation!!!

Thanks for your replies Laura, Kim and Stacy!! Your support really helps me along.

The dreaded day was as bad as I feared...

What a horribly long day! 1st we arrived at 7:30am and had to wait forever just to get registered. Both girls were getting grumpy because it was time to eat and we were told not to feed them after 4am because they were going to be sedated. Almost two hours after our arrival they called us back to get their IV's and catherization only to be told that they were too young to sedate. O.K. I am seriously aggravated at this point. They decide to catherize each one and then put in their IV's. It took two tries to get in Natalie's and I am not a happy Mom. Maggie's cath went pretty smoothly. IV's were a nightmare. They stuck poor Natalie 3 times before getting a vein!!!! I was pissed! After two tries on Maggie I told them to get somebody that could hit a vein on the first try. We ended up taking her to pre-op and this really nice, competent, male nurse hit it on the first try. By this time the girls were so upset they wouldn't eat. The first test was the nuclear scan. They filled the girls with IV fluids and dye and put them into a machine, looked kind of like an MRI machine and they could watch what was happening with the fluids in their kidneys. Then they put lasix into the IV to make them pass the fluids. They next test was to flush saline and dye into the catheter's and watch it. By the time we got to that department both of their catheters were out and they had to be catherized again!!!! I think the nurse we had first thing that morning was pretty incompetent!! Then we were off to the urologists office for the results. In a nutshell the tests showed that both kidneys on both girls are functioning just as they should. The problem is that there is a blockage in the ureters that go from the kidneys to the bladder. Natalie's is draining, albeit slowly, but they think with time it will open up and be completely normal. They just want to watch it for now. She is scheduled for another renal US January 5th. Maggie's bad side is not draining at all or only dripping and they can't even see it. So her kidney is staying full of urine all the time. They still think that she will outgrow it. Worse case scenario is surgery to remove the blocked portion of the ureter and reattach it. But they won't do that until they have to. She is scheduled for a renal US and another Nuclear Scan on January 5th. They promised me that they will sedate her this time!!! We finally arrive home after 3pm, very long day!
The more I think about it though, I am going to call the doc back on Monday. 1 month!!! How much can possibly change in one month? What will they do if there is no change? Is it really worth putting my baby thru that trauma again so soon? The US's are no big deal and pain free, but I can't stand all that poking and the drugs they will have to pump into Maggie for the scan. If they aren't going to do anything else no matter what the results then why not wait 2 months or 3?
Anywho, not really bad news but not great news. We are happy to know that the kidneys are functioning well. Please continue to keep our sweeties in your prayers. This is not over. Thank you all that are praying for them and thanks for all of your email and comments.
Thanks Laura and Kim!!
I think everybody is finally asleep and I am going to bed too, afterall, it is midnight!!

Need your prayers...

The kidney tests are Thursday morning. We are just ready to get it over with. Please pray that all goes smoothly.
Here are a few more pics! Maggie is showing off her usual personality and Natalie's face says it all..."Can you please make her be quiet!!". Big sis watching TV with Natti B on her chest. Aren't they so sweet??