Are they Identical?

Sorry that we haven't been posting much the last few weeks. We have been very busy with both our sweet girls, and haven't had much time to blog. But I (Austin) wanted to take a few minutes to let you know how Grace and Kate were doing.

Overall both Grace and Kate are doing great! They are nearly double their birth weight (around 8 pounds now)! They are very good eaters! They don't always sleep through the night, but we are getting on a better schedule with them. Typically they eat around every 3 hours and generally sleep in between.

Car rides have definitely been the best trick we have found to get the girls to sleep when they are fussy. But we can't just drive down the street; they need a good 15-20 minute ride to really get them to sleep.

One of the most common questions we get when new people meet them is "Are they identical?" The answer we give is that while we aren't sure, neither Sara or I can tell them apart. Both girls look so similar that the only real way we can tell them apart is that Grace has her toes painted red. In addition to this, however, we have started to notice some differences in their personalities. Grace is becoming more of the drama queen and fusses with the slightest little thing. Kate prides herself is always giving Sara and myself goofy facial expressions. We are trying to capture some of these expression with a camera, and will soon post pictures to give you a glimpse of her funny faces.

We will be back later this week with some more updates. Thanks for your continued prayer and support of our beautiful girls!

Kate and Grace Meet Annalise!

It's quite in our house right now (knock on wood) so I actually have time to blog :)

My bother got married last July. Not only did I get an amazing sister in law but I got a fabulous niece as well. This is blog is about how Annalise finally got to meet her cousins :)

When I first found out I was pregnant, Annalise told me that there were two babies in my belly. I said no way girl, but low and behold there were two babies in my belly. When I had my first ultrasound and found out that we were in fact expecting twins Vanessa (my sister in law) told Annalise and she simply replied with "I already knew". Seriously, she is the baby whisper. We told Annalise she could meet the babies after Christmas, not thinking much about it due to the fact that March was in fact after Christmas. As Christmas approached Annalise became more and more excited. Unfortunately, she thought she would get to meet the babies the day after Christmas. After the girls were born Annalise didn't get to meet the babies due to the fact they were in the NICU and they couldn't have visitors under 16.

With confidence we told Annalise she could meet the babies on Easter. Unfortunately, Kate was admitted at Children's Mercy and we were not able to get to introduce Annalise to her cousins.

Annalise was finally able to meet Kate and Grace on Tuesday. She was so excited to meet them. Before, she wanted to hold them she wanted to check out the car seats and rock and plays to make sure they were safe for the babies.

Annalise and Grace

Annalise and Kate

We are so blessed to have Vanessa and Annalise as part of our family and it was such a joy to see Annalise finally meet her cousins!

We're Home!

We are finally all home from the hospital!

For those of you who don't know, Kate and Grace were born premature and spent the first 4 weeks of life in the NICU at Centerpoint Hospital. (This is standard procedure for preemie babies.) Fortunately there were no major health issues with either Grace or Kate, so after they both had gained enough weight, maintained their body temperatures, and were eating well, they were allowed to come home (Grace on March 27 and Kate on March 29.)

After the girls came home we spent about 36 hours together at home, just the four of us, before we discovered that Grace had developed a fever of over 100. On Saturday (March 31) around 5 AM we took Grace up to the ER and they quickly transferred her to Children's Mercy South where she was admitted for the weekend. All the tests came back negative and on Monday morning Grace was discharged; we thought we were in the clear.

Then Monday afternoon came around, and the same thing happened to Kate. She had a high fever and was also admitted to Children's Mercy. It took her a little longer to fight off whatever bug had made her sick, but we were finally able to discharge her from the hospital yesterday.

Everyone is home again; all four of us under one roof! Both girls are really healthy and doing great. They are over 7 pounds now! Thank you to everyone who was praying for them; we can't tell you how much we appreciate your love and support!

Being A Daddy

This post took about 4 hours to write.

As I was writing I (Austin) was feeding Grace. Every time I thought she was finished eating, I'd burp her, snuggle a bit, and then go back to writing. Of course, no more than a few minutes of writing, she would wake up and we'd do the routine over again. As soon as I finally got her to sleep, Kate woke up and we went through the same thing. Now all my girls (Sara included) are sleeping soundly and I can finish writing.

I have been a daddy for just over a month now! To say it simply, it has been the most nerve-racking, fun, sleepless, invigorating, stressful, and enjoyable month of my entire life.

For this post I thought I would share with you a few thoughts I've had over the past month and what I've been learning from my new role of a daddy. Then I'd like to close with a brief letter to my two beautiful girls.

1. Being a daddy reminds me of the important things in life.

2. Being a daddy has helped me understand better the character of God as my Heavenly Father.

3. Being a daddy has been one of the greatest joys in my life

4. Being a daddy has given me a greater appreciation for my parents.

5. Being a good daddy is a legacy I hope to leave to my daughters, that one day they would also marry Godly men who are also good husbands and daddies.

6. Being a daddy has been one of the greatest responsibilities God has entrusted to me, but is also one of the greatest blessings He's given to me.

I absolutely love being a daddy. I love my daughters; getting to hold their hand, getting to cuddle with them, and getting to see them learn and grow even over this short amount of time. I'm excited to take them on daddy/daughter dates, to see them walk for the first time, and to hear them say their first words (which will be 'daddy,' of course). I can't wait for them to grow up, yet I absolutely treasure the moments we have right now.



Grace and Kate, your daddy loves you, and I hope you always know that to be true. But even more importantly, I want you to know that you have a daddy in Heaven who loves you more than I ever could, enough to send Jesus to save you so that you could be with Him forever. As your daddy here on Earth, my prayer for you both is that you love God, your heavenly daddy more than anything else. He's entrusted me with the job of caring for you, spoiling you, and teaching you about Him, and I'm going to do my best. I'll always love you; I'll always cherish you; and I'll always be your daddy.

Love,
Dad

The Olympics of Medical Professionals

I have seen a lot of Doctors in my life due to my type 1 diabetes. But, I never really realized how medical professionals should be ranked until I had Kate and Grace.

Bronze Medal:

These are the medical professionals who know their stuff, but just want to get you in and out of their office. I have experienced a few bronze medal medical professionals but in my experience they are few and far between. They are more concerned about their pay check then they are about making sure you have your questions answered.

Silver Medal:

These are Medical professionals who are great. They listen to your concerns and don't look at you like you are an idiot and don't know what you are talking about. This would be your most common medical professional.

Gold Medal:

These are the star medical professionals and the point of all of this rambling that you have been so patient in reading. We have been blessed to have mainly type of individuals these during my pregnancy and this last month since the girls have been here. (Shout out to all of our NICU nurses... seriously, you guys are the best.)

One person in my mind who needs a gold medal is the girls pediatrician. We went to Dr. Powell's office based on the recommendation of the NICU team and they have been wonderful. After Kate was admitted to the hospital the Dr actually called me just to see how I was holding up and if there was anything they could do for us. Then yesterday after what we will call one of Kate's blueberry spells (she holds her breath and turns blue, it can be pretty traumatic) there was a knock on our door and the nurse walked in holding balloons and a teddy bear. The girls pediatrician sent it over just to let us know the office was still thinking about us. Gold medal Dr. Powell's office, Gold medal.

The Adventures Begin..

On March 2nd Austin and I (Sara) began one of the biggest adventures of our lives... we became parents to the two most beautiful girls in the word (we may be a little biased). Over the past month we have had a lot of struggles as well as a lot of wonderful moments. In the next months we will have a lot of big changes coming, and we want to share the good and bad moments with all of you no matter how near or far we are from you.

I had a challenging pregnancy to say the least. I think I probably solely funded my high risk doctors salary for the year with my co-pays (man, did this pregnancy make us thankful for health insurance!). But my pregnancy came to a culmination the last week of February. I was a hot mess to say the least. I was sleeping on the couch due to the fact I got stuck if I slept in our bed. If I would have been on fire, I wouldn't have been able to stop, drop and roll due to the fact that I had a speed bump for a belly. Through the latter part of my pregnancy I had developed pre-eclampsia. The last week of my pregnancy, my blood pressure shot up and began to wreak havoc on me. Once I was admitted to the hospital I went into preterm labor and shortly after we got to meet Grace Emery and Kate Sophia.

I was able to meet them briefly before they were whisked away to the NICU, where they spent the first 3 weeks of their lives. They spent time learning how to eat and remembering to breathe. Grace came home from the NICU on March 27th. We were so excited to have her home, but we missed Kate. It only took her two additional days to get to join us at home. Unfortunately, due to a bug and high fever Grace ended up being admitted to Children's Mercy hospital. The day she was discharged Kate was admitted for the same bug. Kate is still in the hospital due to the fact that since she is sick she keeps forgetting to breathe.

Austin and I have learned a lot about the difference between surviving and thriving in challenging circumstances over the last month. We have come to the realization that to thrive in hard times you have to just deal with what is in front of you at the moment and not get overwhelmed about everything else. We are called to be faithful with what God has set before us in that moment and not get overwhelmed with the 50 other things on our to do list.

We are so thankful for all the love and support we have received from all of those around us! Please continue to pray for our sweet girls as they are still growing and developing.