Thank Heaven for GRANDPARENTS!!!

Kai, G-mama, Kennedy, G-daddy & Kamry

"Cheers!"

"Yum"

G-daddy and G-mama came over tonight to watch the girls so that Lamarr and I could go on our first date since having all three kids at home. We had a great time. We went to Chevy’s for happy hour and had margaritas (mine a virgin of course since I am breastfeeding lol!). Of course we spent almost the entire time talking about the kids but it was sooooo nice to get out!The grandparents seemed to be just fine when we got home. Thankfully the kids didn’t scare them off lol!!!! We are so lucky to have such great parents that want to keep the kids while we take a break. We really appreciate it!!!

We are FULL TERM today!!!!

Kennedy Brynn

Kamryn Bailey

Today is my due date and we are celebrating it WITH our 11 week 1 day old twins. YAY!!! When I think of all the different ways things could have gone I realize just how truly blessed I am that all turned out well. God is so good !!!! It’s hard to believe I would be carrying around 14 POUNDS of baby had I made it to my due date. Yep, that’s right…the girls are now a whopping 7lbs each! Kennedy has been home for 29 days and Kamryn has been home for 11 days. The grace that God has shown to our family is mind blowing!

I can hardly remember life before we found out we were possibly pregnant with momo twins. It felt like the longest pregnancy in the world but in reality it was kind of a quick whirlwind pregnancy. We had so many doctors appointments, meetings with genetics counselors and specialists, trips to the lab, etc. Then of course there was the LONG inpatient stay. Before I got pregnant with Kai and the twins I had often heard stories about woman who had overcome all these odds to bring a child in to the world. I had heard about long bed rests, inpatient stays, lots of medication, shots, etc, etc, etc. I always thought to myself , “Wow, I could never handle something like that.” Well, I guess God decided to prove me wrong (lol!) because now I am one of those women and I am proud to be one!. I don’t think there is any greater motivation than the health of your children…with a pregnancy like this you really learn what you are made of. Everything I went through to get these girls here was so worth it and of course I would do it 10 times over if that’s what God wanted me to do. Luckily once they are here that’s that and I don’t have to do it 10 more times lol! Of course I did not make it this far alone…without God and the support of all of my family and friends I never would have made it. I truly believe that! If I ever come across anyone who doubts the sheer awesomeness of God I have two things to show them….1) picture of my girls’ umbilical chords tied in 7 knots and 2)a picture of my girls today….enough said!

So now we enter the wonderful world of Adjusted Age. This is the calculation used to assess the girls’ development so today they are officially 1 day old. As I am sure you have figured out you just subtract 11 weeks from their actual age and you get the adjusted age. So, if a full term baby is supposed to master a developmental skill at say 3 months old, we can expect our girls to master it at about 6 months old. Research shows that most preemies catch up to their full term counterparts at age 2 and then we will stop using adjusted age. Since they were so early they will be tracked by the High Risk Neonatal Clinic through Kaiser and we will have lots of follow up visits to track their progress. So far the neonatologists they have seen don’t anticipate any long term negative effects from being born at 29 weeks (hallelujah!). Their actual age will be used for all medical related things like immunizations and medication.

I am eternally grateful to you all for all of your prayers and support through this journey and now that the girls are home I ask you to pray even more. We will need it as we learn to be parents of 3 GIRLS!!!! The nurses in the NICU who had older children all said, “If you think this is hard, just wait until your girls are 16 and you are handing them the keys to the car”. I can’t even bring myself to think about the teenage years quite yet…after all I do teach high school so I see things on a daily basis that I don’t want my daughters to ever do lol!!!!

So…here are the new prayer requests. Thank you so much!
-Please pray that the girls continue to gain weight.
-Please pray that the transition to all formula goes smoothly and the girls are able to tolerate it.
-Please pray that the girls’ H&H levels continue to rise so they can be healed from their anemia.
-Please pray that the girls’ hernia’s self resolve and do not require surgery.
-Please pray for health for our household.

Happy Easter

Kennedy

Kennedy

Kamryn

Kamryn

Kai

Kai

Happy Resurrection Sunday!!!! Oh what a special day…first because of what Easter represents, Christ dieing for our sins and rising today and second because I spent it with my 4 favorite people. Lamarr, Kai, Kamryn and Kennedy!!!! This is the first Easter in my 32 years that I haven’t been in church. I love Easter Sunday in church. Hearing the story of what Easter means never gets old and I always seem to learn a new detail. I also love all the plays and reenactments I have seen over the years. Of course I also love seeing everyone dressed in their Sunday best…especially the little ones! This Easter we got up and watched church on T.V. while feeding all three girls. I got the girls dressed up in their Easter dresses so I could do a quick photo shoot. I just couldn’t help myself. Auntie DD bought the girls the cutest little preemie Easter dresses and I found Kai one to match (sort of). Kamryn didn’t seem to mind the photo shoot to much. As you can see she slept through it. Kennedy on the other hand was awake and fussy. Kai loved to spin around in her “princess dress” and take photos. To Kai all dresses are “princess dresses” lol! We all took a nap in the afternoon and I think Lamarr was able to get in a couple of Madden games on the play station. Uncle Eric sent over two plates for Easter dinner. YUM!!!! It was delicious. Awesome day! I can’t wait until next year when all my girls are in church! Hope your Easter was great too!

We are 10 weeks old!!! (39 weeks gestational age)

Bedtime.

Do we look alike?

On the way to the doctor's office. Do you think it's time for a bigger car?

We are now adjusting to having two babies home. YAY!!!! We have had both girls home for 2 days now and things are going pretty well. They are both on a 4 hour schedule. They still sleep A LOT and I am not complaining one bit. Overnights are difficult but everything always seems to be better by morning. After all we went through to get them here a little sleeplessness is ok lol!!! However, whoever came up with “Sleep when they sleep” clearly didn’t have a 3 year old at home and a strict pumping schedule they had to stick to. Lol!

I ventured out with all three girls for the first time today. I thought taking a preschooler and a newborn was hard…try two newborns. Thankfully my great friend Chenetta came along for the ride and moral support. As we were driving to the doctors office I realized that the gas pedal felt a little funny. I soon realized I had forgotten shoes. Luckily I did have some little slippers on. The doctor and nurses got a big kick out of this. They complimented me for getting all the kids to the doctor’s office with everything they needed lol! I assume these sort of mishaps will happen as I learn to be a mother of 3.

Cabin fever is starting to set in a little given that we can’t take the girls out for a few months. I am enjoying spending time with my 3 girls but also looking forward to being able to get out with all of them eventually or have people over. Oh well, four months of cabin fever is a small price to pay for ensuring their health and safety. We have the rest of our lives to get out of the house with them. Once life outside of the house ramps back up I am sure I will be wishing we had time to sit around the house all day.

Kamryn's Discharge!!!

Kamryn all ready to go home.

Nurse Sarah walking Kamryn out.

Kai meets Kamryn for the first time.

First Jackson 5 Family Photo

I got the call yesterday…Kamryn is ready to come home. Praise God!!! She has been brady free for 9 days, off the nasal cannula for 8 days and has fully weaned from the diuretic with no complications. I think that is the best call I have ever gotten. G-mama stayed with Kai and Kennedy while Lamarr and I went to pick up Kamryn. On the way there we were calculating random things and learned that we have spent 102 days at the Women and Children’s Center and have driven over 4,000 miles roundtrip for visits during my inpatient stay and visiting the girls in the NICU. Wow!!!! It was all worth it.

The discharge went really smoothly. We are old pros at it considering we just did this a few weeks ago with Kennedy. I was able to hold it all together with no tears this time…UNTIL…one of the primary nurses, Eva, said to me, “Thank you for giving us the privilege of taking care of your girls.” That was it…the waterworks were turned on. What she said was just so thoughtful. Here I was so thankful for them and at the same time they were thanking us for the opportunity to help. I will definitely miss the primary staff that took care of our girls but I would be lying if I said I weren’t so happy that we will not be seeing them on a daily basis. I can’t wait until the NICU reunion next year when we can show them how much growth and development has occurred.

When we got home Kai was just as excited to see Kamryn as she was when Kennedy came home. She sat down next to her and just stared at her. So cute! G-mama took our first family photo. The Jackson 5 all under one roof. It doesn’t get any better than this!

To the NICU Staff,
Though I know most of you will never read this blog I wouldn’t feel right not closing this post thanking all of you. You were able to do for my girls what my body couldn’t. You created a womb and nurtured my girls for the 7 and 9 weeks that they needed to develop before they were ready to come home. You provided everything they needed to survive. Words can never express how truly grateful we are. Thank you for caring so much about our babies and ALWAYS making us feel welcome no matter what time of day or night. Though I hate that any family has to have a NICU experience, I am so happy that you are all there doing what you do 24/7 to make sure that these tiny babies have the best outcome possible. You are truly miracle workers!!!

Kamryn's Car Seat Challenge

Kamryn had her carseat challenge today and she passed with flying colors. Woohoo! Once step closer to coming home!

We're 9 weeks old!!! (38 weeks gestational age)

Kennedy finding her voice!!!!

Kamryn hanging out waiting for doctors to say she can go home.

We are getting adjusted to having a little one in the house again. Kennedy is such an easy baby (for the most part). She is on a 3 hour schedule thanks to the NICU. She has been to the dr. for two more weight checks and is gaining weight quite nicely. We are dealing with some acid reflux issues but just got medicine that I hope will work so she can be comfortable.

Kamryn is doing well in the NICU. She was taken off the nasal cannula again on 3/28 and seems to be doing very well. They have now started to wean her from the diuretic she has been on for the last two weeks. She was given this medication to help release fluid she was building up in her lungs. She has been Apnea/Bradychardia free for about a week and things are looking really good. The doctors say to get ready…at any time we could get the call to bring her home.

Both girls had their 2 month immunizations. The shots make me so nervous…luckily no fevers and both girls seemed to tolerate it well…just a little extra sleepy.