It's still raining...

When it rains it pours, and we are still getting some rain here. I took James to the doctor today on his 3rd day of fever and voila!--strep throat. Abigail has had a couple of fevers and a terrible cold as well. The doctor said she is fine so far cold wise, but we are looking at another surgery in April for both girls. We are trying to coordinate so that they have both surgeries (ear and bottom) at the same time. No need to anesthetize twice!

We are all happy to be back in the routine again with everyone at home. The house we rent is for sale so we have had several showings. The extra pressure to keep everything spotless is making me a bit cranky. Tasha & Abigail are able to progress again. They are rolling all over and gaining more strength for sitting. We have new high chairs that are more supportive for them and we love these! They are finally able to chew on biter biscuits although their little arms get tired quickly from holding them. Hurray for keeping them entertained! Here are some fun photos from our week. It's funny how simple things can really prompt happiness even when things seem like they are just not going right. These girls' smiles can lighten our entire home. Having them in our family is really a gift to all of us.

Beginnings of spring...

This is one of the 1st days this year that we could go outside without the snot freezing inside our noses. Josh & the kids found some items that had been left together in a storage bin and had a great time playing with "it". Today we booked our house finding trip and I cannot wait to just get away. We are taking the twins, but still--that is a huge break for us.

Natasha Retracting

I am posting this so that everyone will know what I did not. This is what it looks like when a baby is having a hard time breathing. This is actually in the hospital when Tasha is receiving oxygen so we know she is being watched. I wished I had known what this looked like 3 weeks ago.

Home at last.

We picked Natasha up from the hospital on our way to take my dad to the airport. (insert our family cheering here). Thanks Dad! We could never have made it that last 6 days without your help. Thanks mom for sending him since you were not in a position to come. I know you wanted to be the one to help. Thank you everyone for your prayers and help. Natasha weaned from 1.5 liters of oxygen to none in one afternoon. It had taken Abigail 4-5 days to do the same. I still wake up in the night to check on their breathing but they seem to be well. Tasha's cranky but still doing OK. I think she's just mad that she's not with Grandma & cousin Savannah in Utah.

I am amazed at how much my other kids have missed us & the twins. I have done less housework and more playing with the kids because I think I missed them too. Besides, half of my to-do list involves packing to move in 3 months and I am just not ready for all that yet. I am, however, ready for the warmth. We can't take the twins out in public for 3-4 weeks so that stinks but we are just so happy to have them both with us now. They are 2 little rays of sunshine that make us a better family.

The good & the bad...

Natasha surprised us all by weaning off oxygen yesterday. Her heart rate decided to cooperate as well. Her stats aren't superb, but I think they are good enough that we can go home this afternoon on day 8 for her--day 15 of the whole RSV ordeal. Hurray! She is getting harder to entertain as she gets better. She wants her siblings to entertain her and they aren't here.

The bad news is that after making plans 2 months ago to visit my new niece in SLC the Dr. has called that off. Not only is the elevation change in the airplane dangerous, but the overall elevation in SLC may cause them to need oxygen. He wrote me a letter to give to the airline but NWA/Delta does not accept hospitalization as a reason to change or refund tickets unless we pay a huge fee. Which, ironically, is more than what we paid for the tickets in the first place. Needless to say, I am devastated. I hope that someday soon I will be able to see my sister and my beautiful new niece. Unfortunately, it's not worth the risk to go now. I was only going with the girls so it is probably better this way. My kids have all missed having mom around and they have a winter break right now. We are just going to have to find some fun local stuff to do. Well, provided it isn't public because the girls can not be in public for 3-4 weeks anyway. We'll just have to do lots of dates. :) I will just be glad we can be together again!

Hospital Daze

Bad things happen in 3's

1. Abigail in the hospital. (She was released Fri. morning after 11 days)
2. Natasha in the hospital.
3. Andrew. Wed. night as we were at the grocery store stocking up for grandpa's visit later that evening, Andrew started to tremble. I thought he was having a seizure but he was still standing. His face went white and his nose & mouth turned purple. I knew he was still breathing but I was terrified. We drove recklessly to the nearest hospital (ironically it's not where the twins were) and checked him into the ER. He had acted just fine until the incident, and now he was listless, running a 102 degree fever and working hard to breathe (it's called grunting or retracting). I thought it was RSV and the chest x-ray showed a viral upper resp. infection but the simple RSV test said negative. The next day we went to the doctor like we were told to and he said to watch him. Friday afternoon my dad was with Natasha so I decided to lay down with Andrew for a nap. He started retracting and struggling to breathe again. I could hear the strain and called my pediatrician. He and my mother-in-law (she is an ER doctor) strongly suggested the ER. This time we went to the same hospital as the girls. 4 hours and 3 breathing treatments later they diagnosed him with RAD--respiratory airway disease. He is highly prone to asthma later in life and very susceptible now to any resp. illness. Luckily they gave us breathing treatments and his breathing settles down often during the day. Thankfully, his cough is calming as well. We can only hope this recent rash of dramas will end with 3. I am embarrassed that many of the ER staff members recognized me and asked about the girls. 4 ER visits in 11 days is enough drama for me.

On the plus side, Natasha is weaning from oxygen much faster than her sister. It's probably due to the fact that she never had and big crashes or ICU time. Also, a medical student researched and actually found accurate medical statistics on our girls. In the US there are only 10-15 documented cases of identical twins with DS each year. I have been searching for statistics with actual REAL numbers for 9 months. Happy Happy Happy!