happy cinco de mayo

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support. It is amazing how our lives are forever changed already by William and Luke. We can't get enough of them (I'm sure the nurses are a little sick of us already):)

While I've cried on and off throughout the suprising delivery and leaving them in the NICU at our discharge, the tears were never ever tears of fear or anxiety over having these babies out. the tears were representative of overwhelming joy. these babies were miraculously brought into this world and how i simply don't know. i know god is a miracle worker. but....to call these twins "miracles" just isn't enough. they are gifts from above

cole and i are so excited each morning when we wake up and realize that for the 6th day in a row, we're parents. i always heard about the love you have once you have a child. i just never could have imagined, though, what that meant.

so the update... they have had a good couple of days!

William- William is having less episodes of apnea & bradycardia. He remains on the breathing mask, but has been so much more comfortable and looks like he is not working as hard. His fetal heart valve still has not shut, and they are repeating an ECHO today to see if it is improving, staying the same, or getting worse. we pray that it will close on its own, and that he doesn't have endure any medicine or other interventions to close it. he is tolerating small amounts of breast milk through through a tube from his mouth, into his stomach. they continue to increase these amounts as he is tolerating it more and more. the team attempted to put in a PICC line for him today, but they were unsuccessful. They are going to try again tomorrow, and we pray that it is successful, so that he will have the established access, and so that he endures less trauma to his tiny veins. He received the light therapy for his elevated bilirubin levels (jaundice) yesterday, and I had to take this picture of him 'tanning"

Luke- Luke is also much more comfortable with his breathing. He continues to have episodes of decreased heart rate, but has been able to recover on his own for the most part. We are also increasing his feeds. The doctors are pleased with his respiratory status and have gone down on the support that he is getting. He seems to be tolerating this well and adjusting to this new rate. praise god! Doesn't he look so relaxed in this picture:)

Both boys will have a head ultrasound on the 7th. We are praying that they will have no brain bleeding. These bleeds are common in premies, but we pray that they are clear of these. We also continue to pray for their development, and that they are hitting appropriate milestones for their gestational age. We truly love them so much and are so thankful for your love and support.

I think they are going to let me hold William tomorrow and hopefully they will let their daddy hold them this weekend.

Much much love!!!