We're home...again

Well, as some may know, Abigail had an apnea spell on saturday. She was not breathing, and if I had gotten to checking her pulse, I am sure it was not there. I had just sat down to nurse them both, when I looked down and Abby was blue. She was not breathing. I gave her some breaths, and then she took a big gasp and started to become less purple. She never really did cry, or turn back to pink so we called the ambulance. She grunted all the way to the hospital, and we were not about to let her go to sleep. I was able to hold her in the Amulance and keep her awake. We went to Cooks, and since this was an unexplained episode, and she had had a fever last wednesday night, they did a full septic work-up. This included blood culture, urine culture and a spinal tap. We also had a chest x-ray and a CT scan of her head. Everything was normal. She had an elevated white count - which could show infection (probably viral since all the cultures were negetave) or it could increase in response to the "near death" experience she had. We will probably never know what caused it. At one point the doctor even mentioned SIDS (which we rescued her from) as a cause. At any rate, she is back on the cardiac monitor - which is FINE with us. I was really wanting one for Isabelle, also, but just have to pray that all is ok. I am home today, trying to get things caught up in the house, and caught up on some rest. Here are some pictures from our stay.

How Identical Are They?

People are often asking us how we tell them apart. The truth is, they are getting harder and harder to tell apart as they lose that "preemie" look. I took some pictures last night and here are our hints.
Here are the back of their heads. Note the Hemangioma on the back of Isabelle's head.

Here are their belly buttons. Isabelle has an umbilical hernia. We hope that this will close on it's own, but if not, she will need surgery to correct it.

Here are thier ears. Abby is on the left, Izzy is on the right.

We are really enjoying them, trying as it may be at times. We're up for the challenge. We actually went out for our first outing ALL TOGETHER, (other than to church) Saturday night. Emily had an awards banquet for Cheerleading. It was nice, but as soon as the food was done, Rocky took Caleb, Matthew and Olivia home. Here is Emily with her trophy.

And here are a couple of pictures of Olivia and I holding the twins. She is really taking to them. Sometimes "hitting" them out of love. We're working on "gentle".

All is WELL

I know many of you have been waiting to hear about Isabelle's head sonogram. We had it repeated on friday, and the doctor called yesterday and all is well. No need for follow-up, and the fluid has actually decreased. I am home today and tomorrow, enjoying the nasty cold weather. Hopefully I will have time to get some more pictures taken and up. Also, tomorrow is Emily's 10th birthday! She is excited, but bummed - as the TAKS test is on her birthday.

On Laundry...

Well, people often ask how laundry is at our house. I have to admit with 10 people, it tends to pile up. I told Rocky the other day, if we just didn't wear any, it would be more time for me to do something more useful with my time. Take today, I had 5 loads done and on the table to fold by 10 am or so. Luckily it was my day off. Hopefully by this evening it will all be put away in it's place. I still have one in the dryer and one in the washer (don't you always have that?) and about 3 more to do today. Phew, I'm tired just thinking about it. I will just think of it as exercise going up and down the stairs a million times.

On another note, the girls went to the doctor today for their checkup. They each got 2 shots and Abigail weighs 6 lbs 15.5 oz, Isabelle weighs 6 lbs 9 oz. They are the same length and the same head circumference. They are just growing and healthy - all thanks to those who prayed, and our Jesus who made them so!

As promised, but a day late...here is the dining room table!

Olivia's First Pigtails

Olivia was home from "school" sick today with Grammy and here is what they did...PIGTAILS! How big she looks.

Latest News

The girls are just growing and growing! We went to the lung doctor yesterday for their RSV shots. He was pleased that they were both off oxygen, and gave us a note that we could have the equipment picked up! No more oxygen tanks around the house, checking sats three times a day, etc. He also said we could give up the heart monitors. I was hesitant, so he is going to let us keep them for another month. They really give us peace of mind, especially when we are busy and aren't in the room all the time watching them breathe! They have not had any alarms in almost 2 weeks. I did take them off today, just to try to wean MYSELF off of them.

Their latest weights......Isabelle is 6 lbs even, Abigail is 6 lbs 9.5 oz. Abby has now passed Emily and Matthew's birth weights of 6 lbs 6 oz! They still seem so small to us!

We'll post more pictures soon.

Welcome Home Mema

Tonight marks 24 hours that our house is complete once again. Mema has been home since yesterday, the girls are home, and we are trying to adjust to life here without Getaw. It seems ok. I think we are all at peace with him being gone. We all knew that it was time, that he wasn't who he once was - and probably wouldn't like who he had become and how he was having to live.
After dinner, everyone needed a bath. Before I came in to bathe Matthew and Olivia, I grabbed this picture of the girls, face to face. It calmed them down somewhat until I could get to them.