The girls are here

To: All
From: JT and Writergrl


Please welcome the arrival of our baby girls, Pumpkin and Cricket. They were born Easter Sunday at Rush University Medical. P arrived at 2:46 pm and weighed 1 pound 11 oz. C was born at 2:47 pm andweighed 1 pound 7 oz. The girls are just 26 weeks so they will have to spend a few months in the hospital before they can come home, but they are doing just fine right now and they have the best neonatal medical team on the planet caring for them 24/7.

Right now the medical staff say that that they are experiencing everythingthat babies born at 26 weeks do. This includes a little help from a ventilator with a little oxygen here and there depending on how they are doing. They have both been under bili lights to help with jaundice. P pooped for the first time yesterday (C is still holding it in). Their brain ultrasounds came back just perfect - and cardiac ultrasounds are on deck. A heart valve called a PDA still needs to close in each of them. This is common and a type of ibuprophen is used to close it. If that doesn't work there may be more invasive options, so we are keeping our fingers crossed on that. C is on some medicine for low blood pressure, but she is working off it quickly. Writergrl got to hold P for the first time on Tuesday for one hour. She is hoping to hold C in the next few days when they take the IV out of her belly button.

Things change day to day. We will update everyone on the girls' progess as things develop. The nurses say to take things in stride. Like full term babies, they will have good days and bad. We will be spending a lot of time in the hospital with the girls the next few months and will not have access to cell phones while we are in the special care nursery. Please let us know if you are interested in receiving email updates on the girls each week. We thank all of you for your good wishes.

Love,
JT and Writergrl

Attached are pictures of the girls - in one Writergrl is holding P for"kangaroo care." In the second, C is getting a "tan" to help with jaundice - since the picture was taken, she's been able to ditch the bili light.