Twin Update: One Month in Hospital

I spent three hours trying to write a detailed post of how we're all doing.  It was pages long and it wasn't very positive.  I realized that if I didn't want to read all of that, then why am I writing it?  So, here's new and condensed version:

• Lizzie is so sick she can't sing a tune.  If she tries to pull her usual 2-year-old 'cry if I don't get my way' stunt, then she quickly finds herself short on both the expected sympathy and drowning in snot. Thank you to my friend Dave for lending us his collection of 70 kids movies.
• I've been sick this week, meaning even less sympathy and even less tolerance for crying.
• Brooke is trying not to get sick, and so far succeeding.
• The twins are still in hospital.  I could get into details but really what you want to know is: 
• Yes, they're still there.
• No, there's been no real progress for the last two weeks.
• No, the doctors don't have clue when they'll be home. But they have ruled out eating problems, breathing problems and neurological conditions.

Now to the photos - the real reason you read this stuff.
(A friend of mine asked me this week why we don't post new photos.  I assure you these are new photos, they're just in the same place. still.)

The first set are with my sister-in-law's camera, so much higher quality if you click on them.

This next set shows the awesome stuff the nurses did for their one-month birthday.

And finally, last night when we managed to catch some photos of them awake.

Pasé tres horas intentando escribir un relato detallado de como estamos. Fue muy largo y no muy positivo. Me di cuenta que si ni yo quise leer todo eso, entonces ¿porque lo escribo? Así que, aquí está la versión nueva y compacta:

• Lizzie está tan enferma que no puede cantar. Si ella intenta llorar porque tiene dos años y no le estamos haciendo caso, rápidamente descubre que no hay mucha compasión y está ahogando en flema. Gracias a mi amigo Dave quien nos presto 70 películas para niños.
• También he estado enfermo este semana. He encontrado menos compasión y aun menos tolerancia por llorar.
• Brooke se esfuerza por no enfermarse.  Hasta ahora, va bien.
• Los gemelos siguen en hospital. Yo podría dar detalles, pero realmente lo que ustedes quieren saber es:
• Si, siguen en hospital.
• No, no hemos visto ningún progreso por los últimas dos semanas.
• No, los doctores no saben cuando saldrán. Pero ahora saben que no tienen problemas digestivas, respiratorias ni neurológicos.

Entonces, las fotos - la razón real por leer este blog.

(Una amiga me preguntó ¿por qué no ponemos fotos nuevas? Mi respuesta es que si son fotos nuevas, los gemelos simplemente sigan en hospital.

El primer grupo de fotos sacamos con la camera de mi cuñada, así que son de más alta calidad.

El segundo grupo son de las cosas lindas que hicieron las enfermeras por cumplir su primer mes en el hospital.

Y finalmente, anoche cuando logramos sacar algunas con los gemelos despiertos.

Twin Update: Rinse and Repeat

You would think that since it's been nearly a month with no twin updates, we must have our hands full with the twins and be horribly sleep deprived.
The truth is that no. We're caught in a weird Star Trek TNG plot where time seems to repeat itself daily without noticeable progress. Every morning, Brooke goes to the hospital at 7am and tries to get the twins to eat - and every morning they're too sleepy to make any substantial progress. The doctors scratch their heads, predict that this weekend will be the one where they take off (like the last 3) and assure us that they'll be home in no time. Brooke pumps all day and freezes the excess milk that she doesn't take back to the hospital for the twins' feeding tubes.  Then at 7pm, we find babysitters to watch Lizzie while we go try to feed the sleepy twins again.
We've now been in this time loop for a month. We try to keep our spirits up, and the doctors keep assuring us that at least they're stable, they're not going to die - they're just also not going to survive outside that environment yet.
Well today is different, we're going to try letting them get real hungry for a change.  Let's see if that puts a little motivation into their sleepy heads.
Thanks again to all the family and friends who make this routine possible, and hopefully we'll break free of the loop soon.

Ok, monologue done.  Now cute baby pictures taken from the few times we can get them to wake up:

Pensarías que ya cuando ha sido casi un mes sin noticias en nuestro blog, debemos tener nuestras manos llenas con los gemelos y estar bien cansados.

Pero la verdad es que no. Estamos atrapados en un episodio de Star Trek donde el tiempo parece repetirse todos los idas sin progreso notable. Cada mañana, Brooke va al hospital as las 7 y trata dar a los gemelos ganas de comer - y todas las mañanas están tan cansados que no comen. Los médicos se rascan la cabeza, predicen que este fin de semana será aquel en que se mejoran (como los últimos 3) y nos aseguran que estarán en casa pronto.  Toda la leche que no llevamos al hospital congelamos y regresamos al hospital a las 7 de la tarde para repetir.

Ya hemos estado en este lazo temporal por un mes. Nos esforzamos por mantener el ánimo y los medios nos aseguran que por lo menos están estables: no van a morir, pero tampoco pueden sobrevivir fuera del hospital ahorita.

Pues bien, hoy es diferente: hoy vamos a dejar de alimentarlos tanto - a ver si el hambre les da ánimo por aprender. Gracias otra vez a todos los que nos auydan a mantener este situacion dificil.

Bueno, ahora que he hecho mi monólogo, aquí están algunas fotos de los gemelos en los mementos cuando están despiertos.

Back In & Back Out of Hospital

Brooke surprised us both by passing a clot the size of a baseball.  When she passed 3 more golf-ball sized ones, we rushed to the ER.
It's a good job we did, about 15 minutes after arriving, her lips turned blue and her blood pressure dropped to 64/45.  Suffice to say she was re-admitted to hospital.
After two transfusions, an overnight stay with free meals, and some medication, they sent her home.
Tomorrow the twins are ready to begin nutritive feeding - if they do well, they'll get more meals they have to eat on their own strength. That will keep up until they get to come home.
Thanks again to all our helpers, inside and outside of the hospital.