Moving on up

...to Nursery 3!  The NICU at our hospital has 3 nurseries, aptly named Nursery 1, 2 and 3.  Nurseries 1 and 2 are for the the babies who are in need of lots of support (e.g., respiratory, cardiac, etc.).  We were previously in Nursery 2.  When I went to see the boys this morning, the sweet unit clerk was so excited to tell me that they had been moved.  They are in Nursery 3 because they are stable and do not require enough support to still be in Nursery 1 or 2.  Nursery 3 is where most babies move to before they head home, so this is an important step for our boys.  (I did also learn that the NICU is currently operating at capacity, so that is probably the most important reason why the boys were moved.  But I prefer to focus on the fact that they were moved because they are stable and not in need of too much support).

There aren't any other new updates today.  Sweet Carter is still holding steady at 2lbs, 15oz.  Any day now, we're going to see 3lbs.  Anderson gained again and now weighs 4lbs, 9oz.

So you might be wondering what a difference of 2 inches and 1lb, 10oz looks like.  Well, here it is:

Carter loves his "little" brother

I think Carter's legs are virtually half the circumference of Anderson's

And their heads are a little different in size as well.  I think Anderson will be angry with me later in life for this picture.  Not exactly his best angle.  

Breathing on their own

Both boys are now breathing completely on their own!  Carter got his cannula removed a few days ago, but we wanted to make sure it wouldn't have to be put back on before we shared his news.  He is doing great.  Here's a picture of his face without all the extra tubes!

Carter is doing really well.  He had some issues with his tummy this weekend, so they removed the growth fortifier for a few days.  At one point, he did actually cross the 3lb threshold, but now is back down to 2lbs 15oz.  Luckily, his stomach issues are gone and he has the growth fortifier back in his diet.  We are hoping he will gain lots of weight the rest of this week.  Breathing on his own definitely has taken some of his energy and calories, and he is also completely regulating his own temperature, so keeping himself warm also takes calories.  Since all of these things are relatively new to him, the doctor is not surprised or worried that Carter has not gained weight.

Carter is still doing well at feeding.  This weekend, Ty fed him 15ml from a bottle, which is more than half his feeding.  He has good days and bad days with the feeding, but as he gets older and bigger, he will figure out all of the feeding stuff.  He is also getting taller.  On Sunday, they measured him at 15 inches.  The doctor was a little concerned about his lack of bone growth (determined by some number in his lab work), so they might be adding additional calcium and phosphorous to his diet.  His billirubin count also was slightly higher this week, so the doctor is continuing to watch this as well.  Finally, his shots to raise his hemoglobin have been going well.  He has had 4 now and they seem to really be helping him.  The doctor believes they will continue these shots for the next 3 weeks to help him out.

Despite all of these issues, he really looks great.  His color is definitely better and he is getting some fat on his face and body.  We are excited for him to continue growing so that he can join his brother in the open crib.  He is already regulating his own temperature, so now he just has to gain at least half a pound before they will put him in a crib with his brother.  Here are a few more pictures of him:

Carter got a new hat from his Bama (Ty's mom)

On his 1 month birthday! 

Telling Dad to STOP taking all these pictures

Anderson is also doing very well.  He had similar tummy issues this weekend, so the growth fortifier was removed from his milk also.  He was not as affected by its removal and is now weighing in at 4lbs 8oz.  He is 17 inches long and almost getting too tall for the preemie onesies!

He is now eating 37ml at each feeding.  He is getting a little better at breast and bottle feeding, but is not quite as proficient as his big brother yet.  Similar to his brother, as he gets older and bigger, he will learn to put it all together.

The biggest news for Anderson is that he got moved to a big boy crib!  Here is a picture of his new digs:

And an aerial view:

He is now pretty much just working on feeding and getting bigger.  He is able to make better eye contact now and it's really fun to sit with him.  Now that he's in an open crib, we can hold him whenever we want, so that is very nice.

Here are a few more pictures of him:

On his 1 month birthday! (taken 2 minutes after his brother's just to truly celebrate their separate birthdays)

He got a new hat from Bama as well.

I think those are all the updates for now.  Here are a few more recent photos:

Feeding time

Megan with both boys

Anderson practicing eye contact with Daddy

Ty holding both boys at once for the first time!

Our first family photo.  

Eye exams and Cribs

The boys had a rough day yesterday. They both had their first eye exams and it wore them out. The doctors dilate their eyes, so they were very sensitive to light for the rest of the day (apparently sunglasses do not come in preemie size).  The great news is their eyes looked great to the doctor.  They are looking for retinopathy or the abnormal development of blood vessels in the retina.  Luckily they did not see any of this in either boy.  They will continue to monitor them by conducting the same exam every 2 weeks.  They will watch Carter closely, as he is still on supplemental oxygen and this can affect his eyes.  We were glad to hear that their vision looks great.

Because they were so exhausted, neither boy nursed well.  They were just pretty worn out.  We tried tandem nursing yesterday (nursing both at once) and it is certainly something to get used to.  Anderson was not too tired to push his brother a little bit, clearly indicating he wasn't interested in sharing time with Mommy.  Carter tried to push back, but his arms aren't quite as long as his brothers yet.  We'll continue working on this.

Today both boys looked great.  Carter is up to 2lbs, 15oz and Anderson weighs 4lbs, 4oz.  We are excited for Carter to break the 3lb barrier!  He is proving to be a much quicker learner at nursing and bottle feeding than his brother. Today he latched on well and stayed awake nursing for almost 30 minutes.  He is still getting the majority of his food through his tube, but it is very encouraging to watch him learn to suck and swallow while keeping his oxygen levels up.  He also got his second shot today to boost his production of hemoglobin and he took it very well.  The doctor increased his feeding today to 26ml every 3 hours, so we hope he will continue to grow.

Anderson is doing very well.  Due to his increased weight and ability to maintain his temperature, he is being placed in an open air crib!  The doctor raised the lid on his isolette today and he will be in there for 12-24 hours.   Here is a picture of him with the top up:

They will check his temperature and oxygen levels and if he maintains both of them, he will be placed in a crib either tonight or tomorrow.  He also did much better at nursing today than yesterday and was able to latch on and stay awake for about 20 minutes.

Here are a few more updated pictures of the boys:

 Anderson in his PJs

Anderson and Mommy

Carter filling out (almost!) the preemie PJs

Daddy feeding Carter for the first time

Close-up of Anderson

Daddy doing a Lion-Kingesque presentation of Carter

Mommy holding both boys

Big boy bed and great news!

Anderson crossed an important weight threshold today.  He now weighs 4lbs, 1 oz!  The temperature in his isolette is as low as it will go, so he will likely get moved into an open crib.  Once he is in the crib, we can hold him and interact with him as much as we want.  We will have to wait until Carter is a little bit larger for him to join Anderson in the crib.

Carter did not gain any weight, so he is still 2lbs, 12 oz.  He is doing a great job with his feeding and took 10ml from the bottle yesterday when Ty was feeding him.  The doctor was very pleased to hear that feeding is going so well.  I held him today as they gave him the first injection of his medicine.  He cried a little, but actually took it better than I thought.

The best news for both boys is that their head ultrasounds came back normal.  They began doing head ultrasounds the day after the boys were born to assess for bleeding.  Apparently the first 72 hours are the most critical, and luckily the boys cleared that time without any problems.  On the next follow up ultrasound, they saw a small amount of patchy white matter on Anderson's ultrasound, which could indicate cerebral palsy.  The doctor told us about it and told us he firmly believed it was just a case of the technology evolving and us being able to see things that we never could before.  He believed it was just an artifact and thought Anderson was probably okay. As much as his words were reassuring, we were of course still worried about Anderson. So it was wonderful news yesterday to hear that their one month follow up ultrasounds were normal.

When I visited the boys tonight, Carter seemed upset and just didn't look like he felt well, so the doctor ordered a chest x-ray. He'd had a fair amount of mucus in his nose today and seemed to be struggling when breathing through his nose.  The chest x-ray looked fine, so the doctor thinks he is likely just overtired from a big day. He breastfed this morning, then had time with a speech pathologist for evaluation and bottle feeding and maybe it was just a little too much for him.  His oxygen levels seemed pretty good and his color was good, so the doctor wasn't too worried that there was any other respiratory issue going on.  Hopefully he is feeling better tomorrow.

Minor respiratory setbacks and weight gains

We've had our first setback in the boy's progress (which is pretty amazing that they have only made forward progress in the month they've been alive).  Carter's lab work came back yesterday with a pretty low level of hemoglobin in his blood.  They believe this might be the reason why he has not been able to go off the nasal cannula.  They retested it just to make sure, and it came back fairly low again.  The doctor decided to begin a course of injections of a medicine that encourages the body to produce more hemoglobin.  Carter will receive the medicine 3 times per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) for the next two or three weeks.  The doctor will monitor his blood work to make sure his hemoglobin levels are increasing.  The doctor is very confident that this course of medicine will work and there should not be a need for a blood transfusion.  If his levels do not increase after a few weeks, we will discuss if a transfusion is necessary.  In order to help him, the doctor also increased the volume of oxygen currently being given through his cannula.  If all works as planned, this extra oxygen and increase in hemoglobin should increase the oxygen level in his blood, so he should be able to be removed from all of the respiratory assistance.  In addition, his growth should increase once his oxygen issues are figured out, as he will not be expending as much energy just to breathe.  

Despite Carter's respiratory problems, he is still gaining weight.  I did not see their weights yet for today, but yesterday he weighed 2lbs 12oz.  Anderson is fast approaching 4 pounds, weighing in at 3lbs 15oz yesterday. We will give an update if they gained at all today.  

The boys will not be switching to an open crib together in the near future. Anderson is maintaining his own temperature fairly well, but Carter has been a little bit chilly.  Both of them are not quite down to 27 degrees Celsius in their isolette yet, so it will likely be awhile before they switch their beds.  

Feeding is going well. Anderson took 6 ml of milk from the bottle this morning.  Carter is taking in about 3 ml on the bottle feedings.  Although we can't really measure how much they are taking in with breastfeeding, they are getting the motions down  and getting used to it, so it seems to be going well.  They are continuing to receive a full feeding via their tube while breastfeeding, and their full feeding minus whatever they took in through the bottle while bottle feeding. 

One month old

Carter and Anderson are celebrating their 1 month birthday and Father's day today.  They are both still growing, weighing in at 2lbs 9oz for Carter and 3lbs 13 oz for Anderson.  The nurse today told us that while they are pleased with Carter's growth, they believe his growth rate will increase even more once he gets his respiratory issues under control and is breathing normally all on his own.  She said it is typical with IUGR (Intrauterine Growth Restriction) babies that they grow slowly at first and then turn a corner and grow pretty fast.  So we are celebrating his small growth milestones and looking forward to him growing even faster.  

The feedings are going well.  Carter has not really ingested any measurable portion of the milk from either the breast feeding or the bottle, but they do not expect for him to be able to at this point.  Anderson drinks about 3ml from the bottle which is more than the nurses expected him to do at this point.  They are both doing a great job at rooting and the nurses think it was the right decision to start them on feeding this early.  

Carter is breathing well in every position but on his back, so he will keep the cannula in for awhile longer.  He is still quite small, so the nurses think he just needs to gain a little more weight and muscle and he should be able to control his respiration much better.  

As Carter's face begins to fill out more (Ty still calls him Skeletor), he looks a little bit more like Anderson. The nurse today thought they looked very similar.  We will have to wait and see once they are a similar weight.  

Feeding Milestones

It was a big day for the Schlegelets.  The doctor ordered a bottle feeding and a breastfeeding for Carter and Anderson once per day (e.g., Carter can receive a bottle once per day for his feeding and can be breastfed once per day as well; Anderson can do the same). The nurse suggested that we start today with Ty feeding Carter a bottle and Anderson breastfeeding, as Carter still has his nasal cannula and this can sometimes make it difficult to latch and therefore frustrating for the baby and parents.

Ty fed Carter a bottle for the first time (we'll post pictures later)!  Carter still receives a full feeding through the tube in his nose, but the bottle helps him to learn how to suck, swallow and breathe simultaneously.  Carter did not take much of the milk out of the bottle, but he definitely displayed that he knows how to suck and he didn't choke on any of it.  We will try again tomorrow.

Anderson did a great job breastfeeding.  Similar to Carter, he received his entire regular feeding through the tube in his nose and probably just took in a little from the breastfeeding.  He got the motions correct though and his oxygen levels were steady the entire time.  The nurse let me hold him for quite awhile afterwards and showed me how to burp a preemie.  Both of the boys really did great for their first time feeding, and especially for babies who will be 33 weeks old (gestational age) tomorrow.  We are excited to be able to do these feedings with them and have a while new level of interaction.

They are both continuing to grow.  Carter weighs 2lbs 8oz and Anderson is up to 3lbs 11oz.  Ty will post pictures soon of the boys in their preemie outfits.

The Schlegel boys are getting huge.  Carter now weighs 2lbs 7oz and Anderson weighs 3lbs 9oz.  Anderson actually seems to fit into the preemie clothing now.  Carter still has to roll up his sleeves, but he's working on it.  Because of these increases in size, they are now also increasing the amount of food they are getting at each feed. Carter receives 22ml every 3 hours and Anderson is now up to 1 whole ounce (30 ml) every 3 hours!  They are still both receiving the growth fortifier and the doctor is pleased with how well it is working.

The doctor tried to remove the cannula today for Carter just for 30 minutes or so, but Carter did not handle it well, so he will keep it on for a few more days.  The doctor is not very concerned, as Carter is really receiving minimal help through that anyway.  He'd like for Carter to use all of his energy for growth, so the cannula will stay in for a little bit still.

The next milestone for the boys may be reached as early as Sunday or Monday.  Their isolettes are currently kept at 28 degrees Celsius to keep the boys' body temperatures between 97.4 and 99.4 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once the nurses are able to reduce the temperature in their isolettes one degree (to 27 degrees Celsius), they will be able to be moved to an open crib and they both will be in the same one!  Reunited finally! The doctor thinks this might happen as early as Sunday or Monday, so we are pretty excited for that.  This would allow for much more interaction with them and would be better for them to be next to their brother.

Another big update for today was watching both of them take a pacifier while they were being fed and actually sucking on it.  The feedings still all happen through a tube in their nose, but it is a good sign that they are moving their mouths and learning to swallow and suck while being fed.  The doctor may order a bottle feeding for Anderson in the next few days.  Carter actually showed great signs of rooting yesterday, but again it was unfortunately while Ty was holding him, so his efforts were pretty much wasted.

It was a great day of progress for the boys which made for two very happy parents.

Swaddles and Clothing

Both boys are still doing well.  Carter gained another ounce, so he is up to 2lbs 5oz.  Anderson also gained and now weighs 3lbs 7oz.  They are both digesting all their food really well and have barely anything left in their stomachs when the nurses check before the next feeding.

The big news for today is that they both are now being swaddled and are wearing clothes!  Since they were born, they have been wearing diapers only and having their temperature entirely controlled by the isolette.  They are now starting to try and allow the boys to regulate their own temperature a little better and are using swaddles and clothing to help keep them warm.  To give you a reference for their size, Carter's swaddling "blanket" is actually a burp cloth; it wraps around him pretty well.  Carter has a preemie onesie on and it pretty much dwarfs him. Anderson fills out the preemie outfit a little bit better, but it looks a little large on him also.

They are both being seen by the occupational therapist now.  They work on having the babies sit up without escalating or dropping their heart rate.  They are also working with helping the boys to self-soothe and be able to handle more stimuli.  Carter and Anderson need to be able to sit up and lay back down without dramatically changing their heart rates in order to be fed by a bottle or breastfeed.

The great news is that the therapist told Ty that Carter was responding to visual and audio cues.  Both boys will get a visual screening next week, but it was very good news to hear that Carter was responding to visual cues.  Anderson definitely responds to audio cues as well, but we forgot to ask about visual cues.  We will know more about their sight next week after the screening. They also will receive a hearing exam before they leave the hospital.

Overall, it was a pretty good day.  Both boys get very tired after their time with the occupational therapists, and Carter had a few more episodes this afternoon where his heart rate dropped and oxygen levels dropped correspondingly, but we were still able to hold both of them and they did great while we were holding them. Lots of good news to celebrate and we hope for more tomorrow.

No big updates today

We visited the boys this morning and there aren't many new updates.  At first we were saddened by this as it meant there wasn't any positive changes, but I think we are getting closer to the point where there won't be as many day to day changes with them.  So Ty and I have tried to change our perspective to the "no news is good news" frame of mind.  We'll let you know how that goes.  :)

Carter did gain an ounce yesterday, so he is up to 2lbs 4oz now.  His height and head circumference did not really change since last week.  The height is apparently the least accurate measure they do because it depends entirely on how the nurses position them to weight them and how much they stretch their legs, etc.  They do not seem concerned that his height and head are about the same.

Anderson is still at 3lbs 5oz, but he did gain a few grams, so we will likely see a change in weight tomorrow.  He is still doing well with his respiratory stuff and we are excited to see if he continues to try and feed today when we hold him.

3 weeks old!

We met with the doctor today to discuss Carter's liver.  They ran several tests to determine the level of bilirubin and it had risen slightly higher than yesterday.  The doctor ordered an abdominal ultrasound to assess if Carter had a gallbladder and if he had the appropriate ducts in his liver.  The great news is that Carter's ultrasound looked exactly as it should. He has all of the structures he needs internally and they appear to be functioning exactly as they should for his age and size.  The doctor believes he is simply not processing as well because he is so small and this is something he will grow out of as he gets larger.  So at this point, no further intervention or surgery is needed; we just have to wait and let him grow and hopefully this will all resolve on its own.  Other than the liver, Carter looks good.  He did not grow at all yesterday, but averaged out to just over a half an ounce growth per day this week.  The doctor will continue to watch his growth and can add more protein and other fortifiers if his growth pattern declines.

Anderson continues to do very well.  I was holding him today and he did a few behaviors that suggested to the nurse and doctor present that he may be ready to try and work on feeding through a bottle and eventually, breastfeeding.  I think they will test out the bottle later this week and see how it goes!  This would be pretty early for him to be able to coordinate the sucking, swallowing and breathing required, but the doctor is optimistic.

They both looked great today and we were so happy to hear that Carter's liver is normal.  We will let you know when we get an update on their height and any other growth!

Still growing!

Both boys grew again today!  Carter is 2lbs 3oz and Anderson is 3lbs 5oz.  The nurses measure them once per week on Sundays, so we are excited to find out tomorrow if they are getting taller and their heads are growing as well.

The doctor increased their food intake yesterday, so Carter is now getting 19ml at each feeding and Anderson is getting 27ml.  They are still getting the growth fortifier, as well as iron and a multivitamin.

Carter has not had any other gastrointestinal issues, but the doctors are slightly concerned about his liver functioning.  They do a complete lab work up on Sundays, so we are meeting with the doctor again tomorrow to  check on his liver issues.  The doctor believes the most probable thing is that because Carter was so small when he was born, his liver isn't quite as developed and therefore doesn't function as well.  Fortunately, if this is the case, he will simply grow out of it as he gets larger and older.  The doctor didn't seem too worried, so we are trying to follow his lead.

Technically, Carter still has his nasal cannula, but he has become quite adept at removing it himself and often then placing it in his mouth to chew on it (or gum on it, as he doesn't have any teeth).  The nurse tried to remove it for an hour and a half this morning, but his oxygen levels were not stable enough to allow her to fully remove it.  The doctor thinks he will probably be on this for another half a week or week.

Anderson continues to do well.  He rarely has issues with his oxygen levels and is growing very well.  He had a  fairly high heart rate for a little while today when Ty was holding him, but judging from the smell in the room afterwards, the high heart rate was a result of working hard to fill his diaper for Daddy to change it.  The next step for him is to regulate his own temperature enough to be moved to an open isolette with just a radiant warmer.  They are trying to get both boys to be able to stay at the same temp so that they can finally put them together in the same bed.

We'll keep you updated with the doctor's assessment of Carter's liver tomorrow.  Hopefully we will have more weight gains to report as well!

Packing on the ounces

Ty and I visited the boys this morning and were very happy to see that both of them gained weight yesterday.  Carter is now up to 2lbs, 2oz and Anderson is 3lb, 3oz!  The doctors want the boys to gain a half an ounce or an ounce each day, and they measure this over a week.  For example, Carter didn't gain anything yesterday, but today he gained 2 oz, so he's essentially covered for not growing yesterday.  They just start to talk about adding other supplements when a child hasn't gained at least 3.5oz (half an ounce per day) in a 7 day period.  That's a long way of saying, the boys have grown and are right on track for where the doctors want them to be.

Carter's stomach and fissure on his bottom both seem to be healing.  He has had no other stomach issues and no more blood in his diapers.  He is still on the nasal cannula for breathing assistance, but the assistance is very minimal at this point and the doctors hope to remove this next week.  He originally looked much lighter in skin tone and hair color than Anderson, but we were not sure if this was just because Anderson had so much more hair.  As Carter's hair continues to fill in, it looks darker and darker.  We still do not know if they are identical or fraternal.  They look fairly different right now, but that is perhaps related to the rather sizable weight difference between them.  We will have to wait and see as Carter fills out a bit more if they look alike.

Anderson is still doing great.  Ty got to hold him yesterday and he was definitely making motions like he was going to breastfeed!  Ty kept reminding him that he was the wrong parent to try this little maneuver on.  The nurses told us that babies typically do not coordinate their ability to suck and swallow (skills needed for breastfeeding) until about 32 weeks (gestational age).  The boys will be 32 weeks on Sunday, so they may begin assessing if Anderson looks like he is ready to start working on feeding.  Hopefully they will also include some instruction on identifying the hairy chest (e.g., Ty's) and knowing this is not the one to try for food.

Ty and I have been going together in the evenings so that we can hold both of them at the same time.  We will try to take some pictures again soon and hopefully Carter's cannula will be removed so you can really see his face.  But for now, here is what we think each of their smiles looks like:

 This is Anderson's smile.  We need to get a better one, now that his cannula is gone and his feeding tube goes in through his nose.

This is a pretty recent one of Carter.  Ty keeps referring to him as Skeletor (any He-man fans), but he looks less and less like him as he puts on weight and his face fills in.

Carter had a rough day yesterday.  He threw up after his 11am feeding.  The nurses weren't sure what had caused it, so they took some x-rays and everything looked fine.  They believe it might have been the extra vitamins, iron and fortifier in his milk at that feeding.  He also had some blood in his diaper, so the doctor took a look and found a small tear on his bottom.  While I am sure this is uncomfortable for him, it'll heal quickly and they were very glad it wasn't something that was bleeding internally.  With all of this going on, he didn't gain any weight yesterday, but he also did not lose any.  He is still holding steady at 2lb.  He is getting 17cc (a little over half an ounce) of breast milk at each feeding and two packets of growth fortifier.  I visited him this morning and he seemed like he was having a better day than yesterday.

Anderson continues to do well.  He gained weight again and now weighs 3lb, 1oz.  He is getting 25cc of breast milk at each feeding and the growth fortifier.  He is still doing well with his breathing, so we are just waiting for him to gain weight and regulate his own temperature.  

To give a face to go with these updates:

 Meet Anderson.  This is one of the few times he was actually happy sleeping on his back.  He likes the tummy much better. As you may notice, the 17oz difference in weight between he and his brother is noticeable.  :)

And this is Carter.  This is the face he made when we told him he only weighed 1lb 10oz when he was born.  We were amazed too little buddy.  

Updates on the Boys

Here are some specific updates on each of the boys:

Carter:  Our firstborn has crossed the threshold and now weighs 2lbs!  He no longer has any IVs and is being fed breast milk through a tube in his nose.  He is getting a fortifier in order to help him pack on the pounds and this is added to the breast milk before its given to him at each feeding.  He eats every 3 hours.  He does still have some respiratory support through a nasal cannula, which is just a little plastic tubing that goes into his nose.  The doctor thinks he probably does not need this any more, but wants Carter to use his strength to get bigger rather than expend extra energy breathing, so he will probably stay on this support for a few more days.  He looks better and better each day.

Anderson: Our youngest is now weighing in at 2lbs, 15oz! He also has been removed from all IVs and is getting the same mix of breast milk and growth fortifier through a tube in his nose.  He is no longer on any respiratory support.  They took him off the cannula a few days ago and it seems to be going very well.  When holding both of them, you can certainly tell that Anderson outweighs Carter by a fair amount, but the nurses think the gap could close quicker than we think.

Truly, both boys are doing great and we get very positive reports from the doctors and nurses each day.  They continually remind us that each day in the NICU can be very up and down, but so far, we have only experienced the ups.  We pray that this continues, but are also prepared to deal with not so great reports when we get them.  So far, the only "negative" (if you can call it that) is that while they are both tiny, they can sure fill a diaper.  We can only imagine what it will be like when they are both bigger.

We will keep you updated on any new changes!

Ty and I decided that it would be easiest to have one place where we post updates about our boys, their health and some pictures of their progress.  First and foremost, we cannot thank you enough for your thoughts, prayers, phone calls, texts, emails, etc. about the boys.  We feel so fortunate to have so many people that already love our kids.  Thank you for all that you have done and will continue to do for us.

Just to give you a little background, our twin boys were born prematurely at 29 weeks.  I went in for a doctor's appointment on May 17 and my blood pressure was extremely high.  The doctor decided I needed to be admitted to the hospital in order to observe me and the babies.  One of the babies, Carter (formerly known as Baby A) was much smaller than his brother and they were concerned about his growth.  I was in the hospital for almost a week with constant monitoring of my blood pressure, my kidney and liver functioning, the babies heart rates and the blood flow to their placentas.  The doctors determined that I had preeclampsia, a condition associated with high blood pressure in the mom which presents many possible complications for the mom and the baby(ies) including premature birth.

On Sunday May 22, the doctors determined that my body was no longer functioning properly and it would be safest for me and the babies if they were delivered.   Carter Scott Schlegel was born at 3:07pm, weighing in at 1lb 10 oz and 32cm long.  Anderson Joseph Schlegel was born born at 3:09pm, weighing 2lb 11oz and 38cm long.  The boys were immediately taken to the NICU where they will likely reside for the next few months.

Ty and I have been very impressed with the level of care they have received in the NICU.  The doctors and nurses have been great to work with and are very supportive.  We luckily live about 5 minutes from the hospital, so we each visit 2 or 3 times per day.  The NICU is open for us to visit all day, except between 6:30-8am and 6:30-8pm when there is a shift change for the nurses.  The neonatologist calls us every day with an update and we can call the nurses at any time of day or night to see how they are doing.

Overall, the boys are doing great.  We are so amazed each day at their progress and how much healthier they look each day.  I will give more specific updates on each of them as we get them and include some pictures.