Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2006





I just wanted to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas.
To all our family and friends who have been there since the day the first email went out about my delivery at 23 weeks, thank you so much for sticking by us in the best and worst of times. Thank you for your love and prayers...and most of all thank you for believing in Serena and Edwin.
To all my fellow micro preemie moms: Thank you so much for the support, advice, and for being a sounding board for the past 11 months. When I started blogging last Jan, I couldn't have imagined the invaluable resource you've been for me. Thank you for giving me the strength to be a better mom.
To everyone else who is interested in Serena and Edwin and reads this blog: Thank you for your interest in my children and for faithfully checking in on their amazing progress.
Last year Edwin was going through his "death spells", his last one was the 22nd, and I wasn't sure if my guy would even make it to Christmas. All I wanted for Christmas was for my two babies to get better and be able to come home.
This year, we have sooo much to be thankful for.

Here are pictures from our visit to Maine over the weekend. My aunt came up from Florida. The last time she saw S&E they were 1 month old and very sick. This was the same week we were told EJ had "close to a zero percent chance of survival" and Edwin and I had to think about ending support. She said she knew he was going to make it and gave us hope, even when I thought there was no way possible that he would get well. Both she and my grandmother came up, were there for his baptism and his PDA surgery in Boston. During this time Serena became septic and was put on antibiotics. Having them come up showed me how much they cared and really got me through one of their worst times in the NICU.
Of course my aunt was so excited to see them, as was all of our family...no one expect my grandfather had since them since the NICU days. We had a wonderful time visiting!






Look how far we've come...and yes, my boy is sitting...I didn't catch him once anytime he was sitting. He balanced himself without my intervening! My little princess on the other hand didn't want to sit by the end of my photo shoot and was far too interested in crawling over to inspect the camera. As you can see they both decided since Daddy didn't put that present under the tree, which is blocked now by a chair, the present was fair game and they began opening it.










And look at my two standing in their play area!






Tonight we go to Grammy's so I'll have even more pictures soon!

Nasal cannula who?

It's official...EJ is off O2 one hour TWICE a day! We got the order today when I called the pulmonologist to ask if we could begin time off since he's been on only 100ccs for a month and has been very stable. So he began today and he managed his first hour off without one dip. He was 97-98 almost the entire time. He never went lower than 94. He just finished his second hour off for the day and the same thing...high 90s and NO DIPS!!! We're on our way to saying goodbye to the O2!
Also, here are some pictures of the kids trying Hawaiian pizza. They both loved it, like most every other table food they eat.

Quick update on my sweeties

We had an RSV shot today. Edwin cried so hard, my tears came out. It wasn't fun :(
So, weights today: Edwin 19 lbs 9.5 ounces, Serena 18 lbs 4 ounces...they're growing.

In other news Edwin is progressing with his crawling, getting up on all fours and staying there for a few seconds, and sitting much better...even without hands on the floor on the outside of his legs. He's let go and stabilized himself a few times this week, and although he still has the exaggerated extensor tone, as long as he is content and doesn't want to turn around to crawl on me he will be a good boy and practice his sitting.
Serena is in to EVERYTHING! She cruises from here to there, and sometimes thinks she's a big girl and takes her hands off whatever she's holding onto and falls...it's scary and I hope she stops doing that soon. The other day she stood in the middle of the floor without holding onto anything for a couple of seconds! She loves to put balls into things...like her "Little People" minivan and other toys with holes in them. She LOVES her brother!
We're excited for Christmas...it'll be much better than last year!

Here is the picture of them with Santa from the "tongue" weekend...This was the first picture, all frames after this is Serena crying...lol.

And these are closeups I cropped from a picture from my my mom's house I posted 2 posts ago. Aren't they gorgeous?

Video clip time!

Here are some video clips of S&E playing at Grammy's from last weekend. They really like to play with each other, and it's so fun to see them interact.

Enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We are having a fun weekend at Grammy and Grandpa's since Daddy is in Vegas for the Hatton-Mayweather fight. My grandfather came down from Maine to see the babies today. It was so nice to have him see them happy and healthy since the last time he saw them they were on ventillators in the NICU.

As you can see Edwin has discovered his tongue. We think he also likes the feel of his tongue on his two bottom teeth that have popped through. He has had his tongue out all day for the past 3 days! lol!


Enjoy the numerous pics of the little ones!

ADORABLE twins!

With great-grampy

See my tongue Grampy?

2 cute

and again

aahhhh!

Mommy being silly with EJ

Mommy and her babies

One tired Mumma

EJ

Beanie girl

driving

playing

climbing

looove those eyes

my funny face girl

pooped with Grandpa!

'Tis the Season

It's the Christmas season and I am so excited this year. Last year we didn't celebrate because S&E were still in the NICU and it didn't feel right. This year we have a tree (fake because it's easier when the kids are this young) and the radio station that plays continuous Christmas music is usually on in the house and always while we're in the car.
I can't wait to give S&E their presents, even though they don't really get Christmas yet. Either way, I'm in the Christmas spirit and feel so blessed this holiday season.

In other news, EJ two bottom teeth FINALLY broke through. Serena has two bottom ones and her two tops ones are just breaking through. Serena is saying Mama a lot and seems to be associated it with me and says it to me when she wants me to pick her up. When she is upset, she will crawl over to me and pull to stand on my legs and say "mama mama mama", it's so amazing!

Here are some pictures of EJ sitting (with a little support from his toy) and Serena loving him! They are so close and really love each other (minus when Serena pulls his hair and tries to rip his cannula off his face.) She just did this while I was writing the post, and because we tape Edwin's cannula with Tegaderm, he let out a huge cry. I had to say "No!" to Serena and picked EJ to comfort him. I wish she would stop doing that. I think she is trying to pull his hair in the last pic too. But he always seems to forgive her. They follow each other around and want to play with whatever toy the other has. They smile at each other every morning and after naps. They really seem like they are happy to see each other. It's really cute!