The Hop Twins

So I would be in complete denial if I would say that things have not been stressful, emotional and one complete roller coaster! I cannot tell you how many times I have cried and/or had a breakdown, but all I think are good things and they do help me relieve some of the stress. There is one thing that hasn't changed and that is the fact we are a family and even though we are split apart at the moment we will be back together hopefully soon. With all of that said, I haven't posted in a while because things had really stayed the same, until a few days ago...........

Both babies are now completely off IV nutrition and are relying on breastmilk with the addition of a fortifier for extra calories and protein. Ashton and Brielynn are now receiving feedings every 3 hours, like a normal feeding a newborn would have. Both seem to be doing really well on the feedings and they are gaining weight. Brielynn now weighs 3lbs 15oz and Ashton is 2lbs 14oz!!! When you see them in person you can really tell the size difference, Brielynn is really starting to get chubby cheeks so we are hoping that Ashton will catch up soon. The other BIG news is that our babies have graduated and they have moved to a level 2 nursery! This is such exciting news in the world of preemies. Tuesday we got the phone call saying both of our babies were ready and they would be trasported to Abbott in their Special Care Nursery. We were just elated to hear this news, that means we were going in the right direction. Chris, Branson and I visited the twins in their new temporary home, and realized it was much different. There were more babies around, and it was not as private as before. Plus, both babies seemed to be a little bit stressed from the move. After we left, I had one of my emotional breakdowns and really doubted the decision to have them moved. Our original plan was to keep them at Children's but unfortunately they had no room, so the closest location would be Abbott (we were trying to avoid an ambulance ride for our babies when in transition).

Then, after my breakdown I got to spend the whole day with my little ones yesterday. I got to hold both babies in the kangaroo care, while I sang and talked to them. Ashton still seemed really stressed though, he kept having what we call "episodes" where his heart rate and oxygen levels would drop down severly!!! From there blood work was ordered to rule out every possibility. Everything came back normal, except that his hemoglobin levels were low which we already had known. So, that leads us into today....... this morning I got a call that Ashtons hemoglobin levels were still low and had dropped more from the day before, so that means another blood transfusion will happen today (hopefully it will be his last) and from there they feel this will help him progress further. And lastly, both babies got their eye exams today and from what I am told they did very well. Both babies eyes are looking great, they are immature which is to be expected for their age, but they are where they should be. After all of this, things are starting to look good again and we just keep praying and hoping our babies will continue to fight and get bigger and stronger every day.

Ashton and his blonde hair, he is just too cute!