First baths!

Ashlyn

Braden

Here's some pictures of Ashlyn & Braden's first baths at home. Braden hates it but Ashlyn seems to love it.

The Thies Family is now under one roof

Everyone's prayers worked and the babies were sent home earlier than expected. We welcomed Ashlyn on Thursday, May 20th and Braden on Saturday, May 22nd. St. John's NICU was very nice and we know we were given the best care possible, but we definitely don't miss being there every day!

Peyton just loves her little brother and sister. The first thing she wants to do in the morning is go find them and give them kisses. She also likes to play patty-cake and shake their hand and says "hi baby!". She says "baby Ashlyn" pretty well. She called Braden "baby Den" for several days but now says "Baden".

The first several days were pretty low-key. They only woke to eat and then fell right back asleep. Ashlyn liked to stay up after her nightime feedings, though! At their two-week checkup they both were up to 5 pounds 12 ounces. They are both eating very well and we are getting used to the lack of sleep again.

Welcome Ashlyn & Braden

Well, since I haven't updated the blog in a while we're skipping a few doctor appointments and jumping to our surprise arrival of our twins! I scheduled the c-section for the 29th and was getting ready for my last day of work on the 11th. My boss was going to take me to a cool new restaurant for lunch and I just about had everything wrapped up before my leave. Well, Monday night around 2:30 am my water decided to break. Although I was hoping it was a false alarm I quickly packed a bag and took a shower. Luckily Mom works right by our house so she came over in her jammies around 3 to stay with Peyton and Greg & I headed up to the hospital. Well, it was no false alarm! I wasn't contracting any more than normal so they went ahead and scheduled the c-section for 6am. Even though my doc wasn't on call she decided to come in to deliver the kiddos. About 5:45 the girl's heart rate dropped so it ended up being a rush to the OR. We never saw a group of people assemble so quickly! Greg said he looked at the clock at 5:53 and they were still getting his gown for him and by 6:01 our baby girl was born and at 6:02 baby boy was born. We didn't even get to bring the camera in! Being I was only 35 weeks, I was so thankful to see decent-sized babies being carried by me. By that evening we finally had names picked out - Ashlyn Paige and Braden Gregory. Ashlyn was 5 lbs 4 oz and Braden was 5 lbs 6 oz. So, our family had a bit of a surprise that morning when we called them to say the babies were here!

Ashlyn is doing well but has random heart rate drops, so she is on a heart monitor. Braden is acting a bit more like his age and has a hard time coordinating his breathing, sucking and swallowing. So, he is on oxygen and a heart rate monitor. He also has a feeding tube as he does not always take his bottle. Fast forward one week and Ashlyn is doing very well - no heart rate drops in a couple days so she may be coming home this week! Braden nursed two times for me today and hasn't had a feeding through his tube since last night. I even nursed them both at the same time! Phew! After several tests, he is now being treated for severe reflux and has been improving by the day. We hope he only has about a week left in the NICU.

I came home from the hospital on Saturday and returned that night where they had a hospitality room for me. I came home Sunday afternoon and Greg has been taking me up there on his way to work this week, Steph brings me home and then Greg goes to visit after Peyton goes to bed. Peyton was having a hard time last week but I think the fact that I came home without the babies has been a bit of a help for her. I show her pictures and she says she is going to help with the babies when they come home!

Big Girl Bed

Peyton has been climbing into her crib and attempting to climb out, so as much as I had wanted to wait we went ahead and converted her crib to a toddler bed. She has been doing quite well in it so far - knock on wood - and rarely attempts to escape during the night.