Hi friends! It has been a little over two months since I’ve posted and we’ve been home from the hospital. A lot has happened and some friends from afar have asked for an update, so I figured I would post one here!! I said I would check in with updates and I haven’t done so!! Life is a little busy 😆🤷🏼‍♀️. 

Tomorrow is a special day. It’s a one year anniversary of finding out I was pregnant. Our ivf transfer was confirmed successful last year on my birthday which was pretty cool, and although we didn’t know it was twins until the middle of January, this marked the beginning of our journey with the girls. What a year. So much has happened, it’s pretty crazy. In this season of thanksgiving I can’t begin to thank God for bringing us through this time and being so gracious and good to us in so many ways. Before this journey with this girls, I would continually ask the Lord to help me with my fears and worries.  Having a fearful spirit was something I struggled with and my prayer has been that I would overcome this. I was telling Jeremy yesterday that I suddenly realized that throughout our experience in the hospital and the uncertainty of Caroline & Cameron’s lives at the beginning, I lost my fearful nature. I had to rely so heavily on God and his will for their lives that I couldn’t live in worry. Of course I worried, but it didn’t take over which it can easily do. My perspective has been so changed for their lives and my life and I am certain that He has us in His hands and He is with us, no matter what. Being a mom makes me realize even more how much God loves us and we are all his children. There’s a new children’s album by a Christian singer, Ellie Holcomb, she has a song called “do not worry” it’s so beautiful and has been such a positive reminder to me. We play her new children’s album during play time with the girls in the morning. I’ll link the song below if you want to listen to the simple and beautiful message echoing scripture😊 (Matthew 6:25-34). 

Okay, so a health update. And prayer requests. The girls both had swallow studies a few weeks out of the hospital. Caroline was approved to start having a bottle that was honey thick. Cameron got downgraded to nectar thickness for her milk. Caroline was doing awesome the first couple weeks, downing her bottles so quickly. We were getting so excited that we could maybe take the tube out soon!Then things quickly went the other direction. We think it was a combination of her reflux and increase in volume, but it’s hard to know. At the moment, she will not touch a bottle or a passifier. She starts to gag and will not drink it. Becoming orally averse is something very tough to overcome. She is not completely orally averse, we can touch her face and we are working with her therapist to get different tools in her mouth and keep everything positive and happy for her, but no bottle. The therapist said we may need to accept that she might not ever drink from a bottle again. And that’s okay. She’s had such a negative experience because of the reflux that she’s choosing not to suck bc her reflex is gone now. The sucking reflex is gone around 3-4 months in babies and it can be common for babies with feeding tubes to stop sucking because they know they’ll still get fed. Thank goodness we have a g tube and can still feed her. Anyway please please pray for her and that her reflux would go away and this therapy would be successful and that she’ll start tasting foods and the aversion would stop. This time has been a bit stressful and letting go of ideals or timelines has been tough but freeing at the same time. We are consumed with therapy and doctors appointments about 4-5 a week on average and so also just pray for our stamina. On the bright side, the girls are rock star sleepers now!! They’re almost 4 months adjusted age and they’re both sleeping 8-8 and have been doing so the past month🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻. They hardly ever cry and if so, self soothe super quickly- this is one benefit of living in a hospital for five months and not being used to parents coddling them all the time. Caroline is on track so far developmentally based on her adjusted age and Cameron is a month or so ahead in some areas. So they’re both doing great!! It’s hard not to compare their progress, but they’ve both had such different journeys with Caroline’s two major surgeries. We are blown away with them and couldn’t be more proud of these little fighters. We are thankful for the doctors and therapists and people helping us on this journey. 

They’re so much fun and have such different personalities! Caroline is so happy and content and Cameron is happy and super busy! Their growth has been great, Caroline was packing on the weight at the beginning with the g tube but they’ve dropped her calories and they’re both tracking great on their growth curves for their adjusted age. The goal is to close the gap which can take anywhere from 2-3 years old with babies born in the 24th week. Caroline last week weighed 11lbs12oz and Cameron weighed 11lbs9oz! 

Mom and dad are tired. Two is amazing and also a circus. It’s hard not being able to take them anywhere, we just have to make it past cold and flu season... they pretty much have to remain healthy until their first birthday. I have tendinitis at the moment so if you’d keep me in your prayers, I’d super appreciate it. Being able to use my right/dominate hand is pretty essential when caring for two babies. 😆

That’s it’s for now. 

Love you all. Can’t thank you enough for supporting us and praying for us. Have a wonderful thanksgiving with your families!

“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord” - Psalm 31.24

“I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” - Psalm 34.4

💜💜💜💜💜💞💞💞💞💞💞