The Unexpected Party

As you may (probably) have heard, our twin girls arrived at 33 weeks on Monday, August 2nd. My water broke at 4:30 in the morning, and they were born at 8:51 and 8:56 a.m. The girls tolerated labor very well and I did not have to have a c-section.

Jane Melody Butchart
Born 8:51 a.m August 2, 2010
4 lbs 8 oz 17 in

Elizabeth Ann Butchart
Born 8:56 a.m August 2nd, 2010
4 lbs 11 oz 18 in

Jane and Elizabeth are doing well considering how early they are. It's been confirmed that they did have some Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome at the end, Elizabeth had about twice as much blood at Jane, among other things. They've had PICC lines put in for their IV's, but they're feeding by mouth pretty well. They both need to be gavge fed (through a tube in their noses that goes directly to their stomachs) a few times a day, but it could be a lot worse.

We get to do Kangaroo Care once a day with each of them. Kangaroo care is where you lay the baby skin to skin on your chest and sit quietly and still for 2-3 hours. It has a lot of benefits to the babies, I'd recommended reading about it a little bit. I think it's pretty interesting.

They're both breathing on their own really well (probably due to the steroid shots I received and the lung surfactant they received right after birth), and they're getting better at regulating their own temperature. We have an excellent neonatologist and pediatrician and absolutely wonderful nurses, and we are confident that the girls are getting the best care at Madison Memorial. Thank you guys so much for all of the love and help you've given us!!