4 weeks old!

We are 4 weeks old today!!
Lincoln reached the 4lb mark this week. She lost an ounce the following day and dropped just below, but we are still so excited that she is getting bigger! She is getting to spend quality time at the breast with Mom every day and really seems to be figuring it out. By the time she is strong enough to come off her feeding tube she will be ready! She is doing really well at keeping her temp and may even get to move into an open crib sometime in the next couple weeks.
Maya is still following behind a bit. Her blood transfusion improved her hemoglobin levels, but she is still having respiration issues. She is having a hard time keeping her O2 levels up and despite daily meds her lung x-rays are looking worse. We hope she can get better soon and be able to come out more like her sis. Keep her in your thoughts.

MJ

Lincoln has graduated to preemie pampers!

Maya - 4 weeks

Lincoln - 4 weeks

Lincoln's pic of her sis.

Maya's pic of her sis.

January 23 - 25

We are realizing that this experience will be full of ups and downs.
Maya had to get another blood transfusion due to low hemoglobin. She had to get stuck several times before they finally got a good vein in her scalp. Poor thing. But she did really well, and hopefully she will start to feel better soon!
Lincoln has been doing well with her breathing so they let us introduce her to the breast today. Not to eat, but just to get familiar. They are still too young to coordinate suck, swallow, and breath. So they have her suck while she is getting her feeding through her tube. She did a great job and Mom was so happy! It was such a nice reward for all this pumping.

Lincoln's cute duckie outfit.

Mom and Lincoln.

Dad and Maya.

3 weeks old!

Today seemed to fly by too quickly.
We looked so cute in our outfits. Mom and Dad held us all swaddled up and we got to meet up once again.
We had lots of visitors today including Grandpa Bob and Grandma Shirley.
Today Maya weighed in at 3lbs 5oz and Lincoln at 3lbs 8oz!!

Lincoln

Hey, I know you!

Lincoln peeking at Dad.

The Maxwells

1/20 & 1/21

We have enter a trial and error phase. We are both growing and showing signs that we can breath and keep warm on our own, so we are getting a chance to do so.
Maya got her IV out and is now getting almost as much milk as her sister at each feed.
Lincoln is trying to come off her oxygen all together. Yesterday morning she was off for a few hours and then went back on when she started struggling to keep her O2 levels up. This morning we tried again, and she was doing really well. She was having some spells, but we are going to let her keep trying on her own. Mom got some good pics of Dad holding Lincoln today with no cannula on, so you can see her cute face better.
Both girls are doing a pretty god job at keeping their temps up on their own. Today they got to be dressed for the first time ever!! It is so funny because they are still swimming even in the preemie size. We can really tell they are growing. It is funny things like their ears which look more defined and their heads which feel so much larger in our hands now.

Mom sneaks a kiss

What the heck are you doing down there? (Dad changing Maya's diaper.)

Dad, Uncle Jake, and Maya

Maya - no longer naked

Maya Jo

Lincoln asleep on mom

Lincoln cracking mom up.

Daddy and Lincoln

Maya - look how much she's changed already!

1/18/11 & 1/19/11

Just wanted to add some pics since I didn't get to it the last two nights. The girls are doing good. Maya is now 3lbs 2 oz!!! She came off the cpap last night and they keep increasing her feeds so she is no longer receiving TPN and lipids! She may even get to lose her IV soon! Lincoln continues to impress us. Both girls are being swaddled again so Mom got to hold Lincoln all bundled up for a long time yesterday. Today Mom and Dad both got to Kangaroo hold. Dad was trying out some of his prime material on Lincoln and we swear she was laughing :) There's much more where that came from.
Hope everyone is staying safe and warm in this blizzard.

Our New Pack'n'Play

Mommy and Lincoln

Sweet Lincoln

1/17/11

Just a quick update for you all. Not too many changes.
Maya reached 3 lbs at her weigh in last night!! She is still on cpap to help get her CO2 levels on track. Mom got to hold her for a bit yesterday.
Lincoln now weighs in at 3 lbs 5 oz. She is on full feeds, no more IV, and hopefully weening off her nasal cannula soon. Daddy got to hold Lincoln yesterday and today was Mom's turn.
We got a really cute pack'n'play that Adam and Jake set up in our bedroom. Since the move and not having much time to unpack, it is the first thing that we have really gotten to set up. It is definitely bittersweet.
Staying positive and hoping for the day when the girls are big and healthy and get to come home :)

2 weeks old!!

We are 2 weeks old today! Everyone thinks we look bigger.
Miss Maya has had a rough couple days. She was really laboring to breath and had to go back on cpap, but now she is doing much better. Poor little lamb just needs some extra lovein.
Lincoln is still doing great! Her umbilical cord fell off and now she has a cute little belly button. Mommy got to hold Lincoln today and it felt so good for both of us. She finished her last round of antibiotics so she got her IV out and Mommy got to wash her hair.
We all love Saturdays & Sundays. It is when we both have our favorite nurses. The girls feel so much better when they are here and Mommy and Daddy are so relieved. We are so lucky to have them taking care of all of us.
We were so glad to see Mamma Joy today. Thanks for coming to see us.
Aunt Emily & Amy, we love our pictures, drawlings, and melt beads! We put them up above our beds to decorate our area. We can't wait to meet you!
Morgan, thank you so so much for going to get the pump. I love it! It really means alot to us that you would take time out of your day to run errands for us. You are such a good friend!
A huge thanks to Uncle Jake who hooked us up with some groceries and even went to get Mommy a part to her breast pump. What a good guy! We love him so much and are already planning to use him as our human jungle gym :)
Grandma Chicky and Linda, thank you so much for coming over to clean and cook for us! You have no idea how much stress that takes off Mommy! It feels so good to come home to a clean house and not have to worry about a few meals. You are the best mommys yourselves and you have taught me so much about what it means to be a good mother.
Nikki and Leslie, that was the best dinner!! We want both recipes. And thank you for the magazines and care package. I'm not going to lie, I have almost ate all of those biscuits.. YUMMY!!
You guys are all too good to us! We are so lucky to have all of you in our lives.

Maya's sweet face before she got switched back to CPAP.

Lincoln with her Momma