Jake in his crib!

Ben in his crib!

Do we look identical?

Great Grandma Stephens, Jake & Ben

Great Grandma Wren cheering on

the Tigers with Jake and Ben!

Play Time!!!

Jake's favortie time...DINNER!

Sweet Little Benny!

Update

We have had a very busy week with the move! We are starting to get settled but have come to realize that unpacking is a LOT slower with two babies around! :) The boys finally get to use their baby furniture and sleep in their new room! We have also started to get a routine down! The boys have finally started to go to bed earlier! They have been going down around 8:00 p.m. and sleep until 7:00 a.m. I have to admit, it is really nice to have some down time at the end of the night. I am sad to report that I think I may have to separate the boys into their own cribs. It is just getting too tight. It makes me sad because I know they love sleeping together. We always put them on separate sides of the crib and they always end up wiggling toward each other. I am sure they will eventually adjust.

They have been doing much better with their solid foods too! I think I may be crazy...but I have decided to make my own baby food. It actually isn't as much work as I thought! I have gotten some great tips from Grandma Sue, Aunt Linda and Cousin Kelly! All experts in the area! Kelly recommended this great book called Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. I knew it was meant to be when I read that the author also had ten week premature twin boys!!! Her doctor always told her he couldn't believe how healthy her boys were...and she attributes it to their healthy diet! I think it is worth a try. So far so good!

The big update of the week is regarding an extensive evaluation the boys had this past Wednesday. A program called Early On Intervention came to the house to assess the boys and see if they qualify for their services. The program is for preemies and helps them to catch up to their peers a bit faster. It also gives parents the resources necessary to help with their child's development. After the three hour long evaluation, they concluded that the boys are not delayed and do not qualify. They assessed them as 4 1/2 month olds...not 7 month olds. She said that if they are doing things in their adjusted age frame then they are not considered delayed!! She told me it is very important not to rob them of those 10 weeks they were premature! She told us that most preemies catch up to their peers by the age of two. It was so informative and very reassuring!!

The good news is that they did not qualify based on their development but because Ben has a pre-existing health condition (CLD) he would automatically qualify. I am going to take advantage of their services and then apply the information to Jake too. I think it will be very beneficial!

That is really the big news here! It feels so good to get our life organized and get some sort of a routine established! I will post some pictures of the boy’s nursery soon!
Have a nice weekend!
Danielle

This could be trouble!!!

We are going to have to keep an eye on Mr. Ben!

Saturday we celebrated the big move, Easter,

and Auntie Nicki's birthday!

Jake enjoying his Easter gift from Grandma!

Jake learning to share his favorite toy with his nice friend Gavin!

Jake was fascinated with his friend Kara!

Ben couldn't handle the excitement...

so he fell asleep! :)

Aunt Olivia, Ben, Jake & Uncle Jeremy on Easter

Grandma, Jake, Ben and Aunt Olivia

The Boys on Easter Sunday

Aunt Kim & Cousin Sophia

Ben, Little Miss Shayla & Jake

The boys are going to have to fight over this cutie pie!

Grandpa & Ben

The serious side of Jake!

Happy Jake!

Ben enjoying solid food!! Not as neat as a bottle!

Ben sporting his Tiger's baseball cap!

The boys enjoyed their first opening day...even though the Tigs lost! :(

Uncle Josh & Ben Maxing and Relaxing!

Kevin and his boys!!!

More Up North Pictures!

This is for Liz from the comments.

Liz, I am saying lots of prayers for your sister!!! I am so glad we could give you hope!!! What is her name on the message board? Please keep us posted!

31 weeks is a good place to be!!

:) Danielle

MSU Football Player right here!

Mom & Ben

Poor Jake got a scratch from his little bro!

Our Last Week at the Parents!

Ben & Jake at 6 Months

(Ben is 11 pounds, 9 ounces

Jake is 15 pounds, 12 ounces)

We saw the pulmonologist today and are happy to report that Ben is doing well. Sadly, he is not off of his medication. The doctor explained to us that the damage from the Chronic Lung Disease takes time to heal. Ben needs to out grow his dosage. The good news is that we have not increased his dosage in months. He is at the low end of the theraputic range. Once he is out of the theraputic range (which they think will be in 1-2 months) we can stop giving him his medicaiton. We are really looking forward to the day that he can just enjoy a bottle with no medication added. All in all, they couldn't be more pleased with his progress. We did also have a long talk about taking the boys out and about. My doctor had a heart to heart with us!! He told us that we need to continue to protect them until their at least one years old. No grocery stores, no restaurants, no big crowds, etc. etc. We also can not expose the boys to smokers or sick people. He explained that their lungs are damaged from prematurity and they take a long time to heal. With time, they will fully recover. I don't know why..but this conversation upset me! I just can't wait to take Ben and Jake out and show them off to the world!! We are planning a baptism for them in June and my doctor was even hesitant about this! Again, I am sad that the boys have to have such a sheltered life but I do know it is well worth it! We are going to plan the baptism and then a small gathering with immediate family. My family knows the drill so I think it will be ok to go ahead and move forward with the plans. I really look forward to the day that we can take them out and about! I know it will be one day soon! We can't thank everyone enough for your good hand washing and being careful about not exposing the boys to illness. I believe that is why they are as healthy as they are!!

Update on House: We will be in by April 1st!!

We can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!

Talk to you soon! :)

Happy 6 Months Ben & Jake!!!!

Mom and Dad are so proud of how far you have come!!!

:) :)

Grandma Sue getting some baby love!

(This is an older picture, but I had to post it! I think it is very sweet!)

Grandma Wren Rocking the Boys!

Jake, Aunty Maria, Kev and Ben

We were all enjoyiing the sunny day!

The boys were not enjoying it as much as we were...as you can see in this photo!! :)

A Trip Outside!!!

Today we bundled the boys up and took them on a walk. It was such a beautiful, sunny day! It was so fun to do normal mom things! They loved it! They loved it so much they fell asleep minutes into the walk.

Now that things have calmed down, I have started to think about going back to see the doctor who gave us no hope about our pregnancy. I am really nervous to see her again but feel it is my responsibility to educate her on TTTS. I have ordered information packets to give her but for some reason can't bring myself to follow through. I don't know if I am afraid to relive the memory or what..but it has been a difficult thing for me to do. Hopefully, I will get the courage to go down that path again. I know that by doing so, I could help a family avoid the pain we went through. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

That is all for now!

Enjoy the weekend!!

Jenny and the boys!

My good friend Jenny came to visit the boys today.

Congrats Jen on your engagement!!!!

Going down memory lane!

As the boys approach almost 6 months old, I find myself thinking back to all we have been through. I love this picture!! This is Kevin trying to help me with a Non-Stress Test. We were trying to locate the heartbeats of both of the babies. This was no easy task. It reminds me of his dedication and determination he had/has! I can't wait to show the boys this picture and explain to them how lucky they are to have such a great dad. I can't wait to tell them how badly he fought for them!! Soooo many stories to tell!

Lately, I have been talking with a lot of parents who are going through the same thing we did, as we speak. It is my mission to give hope to families with TTTS/IUGR. I just want them to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel!! Hang in there and say those prayers!!!

By the way, I would like to say hello and thank you to Lynn. Lynn is a great friend that we actually have never met! She works with our good friend Mike G. She has followed our story and said many prayers for our boys!! Lynn, you are one of a kind!! We so appreciate your sweet and encouraging comments on our blog. They mean more to us then you will ever know! Thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here she is!!!

The house we hope to move into sooner then later!!

Our New Home In Construction

(pre-flood)

Many of you have asked to see photos of our new home and I have not been very good about posting. Well here we are...going back in time...in the back yard of our new house. This was the one and only time I went off of bedrest. My family and I took a trip to see our house when I was about 25 weeks pregnant. This is one of the only picutres I have where I am actually vertical. I also am wearing the only maternity shirt I owned, which was given to me by my friend Amy. I usually wore sweats so this was fun to put on normal clothes and go out. This was three days before I was put in the hospital. Wow...it seems like a life time ago!

What an over achiever!!! Jake reading a book! HA! :) :)

Ben flashing a big smile!

Meet Abbie

This is our four year old Viszla Abbie! She is our first baby! This is the first photo of all three of our sweetiepies together! She has been staying at Kevin's dads house until we move into our new home. My mom is allergic to dogs so unfortunately she has been there since we moved. We miss her dearly! We can't wait to get her back!

THE BOYS UP NORTH

This past weekend we took the boys to our cottage up North. It was so much fun! Lots of doing nothing!!! Sitting by the fire, sipping wine, watching movies and playing with the boys!! There was a huge snow storm too! It was the perfect weekend! By the way, do you think the boys look identical in this picture??

BIG NEWS!!!!

Today we had Ben and Jake's developmental delay follow-up appointment and it went very well. Before I tell you about the appointment, I have to tell you about the day we were admitted to the hospital and put on bedrest. We had a neonatologist come in and tell us that if we deliver early, our sons were at risk of everything from CP to problems with vision, speech, hearing, etc. etc. and that was if they survived! We were so fearful that our children would not have a good quality of life. We wanted them to have a full life, like any parent would hope for their child.

We have always felt that the boys were just fine but were eagerly wanting to hear it from a professional. Today put our mind at ease! Here is an overview:

1) Ben is 10 pounds, 9 ounces. Jake is 14 pounds, 5 ounces. Great weight gain for both!

2) Both boys lungs sounded clear and hearts sounded good as well.

3) And the very best news is, at this time, neither of them have any signs of CP or autisim. Our doctor told us that it is actually a myth that it takes years to diagnois these things. She said there are many signs that clue them into health problems early on. This made us feel so much better. No matter what, we would always see Ben and Jake as perfect little guys, but it was so nice to hear, from a medical professional, that the boys have no signs on any health issues at this time. What a relief!!! :) Whewwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Since we were already at the hospital, we decided to bring the boys by the NICU to visit. It was so wonderful to see our NICU Holden family. It really brought back a lot of emotions. My heart went out to the parents who were there, visiting their children. I just wanted to give them a big hug!! When we were there as patients, they would always announce "Holden Graduates here for a visit!" I always used to wonder if that would ever be us!! And today, on the loud speaker, they proudly announced Ben and Jake as "Holden Graduates!" What a great moment!!!! :)

On a side note, I have to tell you about my favorite new thing that the boys are doing. They are laughing!!! And I mean LAUGHING!! It is so loud, and so funny! They are so interactive! Tonight at dinner, Kevin was just talking with my parents about our latest house situaiton..which by no means, was funny!! But Ben thought it was hilarious!! Once Ben started laughing, Jake started laughing. Then of course, the enitre table was lauging at that point. Their laugh, their smile...it is all so contagious!

Well, we are with out a doubt on cloud nine tonight....and continuting to thank God over and over again!!!! I often think back to a time when several of our doctors suggested that we terminate our pregnancy, and it just makes me sick to my stomach! If we would have listened to them, (which we never would have...that was not an option for us) we would not have these precious sweethearts in our life. Medical miracles happen all the time!!!! We are proof!!

Hope you are having a good night!

Proud Parents to Jake and Ben!! :) :)

Bath Time!

We love bath time! It is quite a production! It is a 2-3 man job to bath, cloth, feed, and get the boys ready for bed. Thank goodness we are fortunate to have extra hands (GRANDPARENTS) to help us!

Grandpa and Ben

This picture makes me laugh because Mr. Ben likes to be held...A LOT! Ben had to be included in lunch time! You can see how content he was just being held by gramps! Also, I need to say a BIG thank you to my parents! They have yet to complain about the bottles and breast pumps that have taken over their kitchen counter, or how their family room looks like Babies 'R' Us, or how we have taken over their spare bedroom and turned it into our baby nursery, or all of the times they have been woken up my baby crys! They are so patient and so kind! We are very lucky!!!!!!!

Aunty Carrie and Jake

The boys have enjoyed their time with Aunt Carrie since she has moved back home.

Great Grandma Wren, Ben and Jake

Stay tuned for the latest photos!

We have a little more time on our hands to update the blog these

days now that we are getting sleep!!!! :)

xo Danielle

Kevin and I want to say thank you for following our story!!! So many of you post such nice and encouraging comments. It means soooooo much to us! Ben and Jake thank you too!

Thank you!!!

Danielle & Kevin

Jake & Ben at 5 months old

Here are my big guys!!! Jake is over 14 pounds and Ben is over 10!!! They are doing very well and keeping us on our toes! Ben is still on his meds. for his premature lungs. However, after a visit to the pulmonologist this week we have decided to start to wean him off of his mediacation which is very exciting! His reflux is almost gone too! He is eating well and trying really hard to catch up to his big bro. The big news with Jake is that he rolled over at about 4 1/2 months! They are both all over the place these days!

As for Kevin and I, we are doing pretty well. We did have a major set back with our new house. We were suppose to move into our new home last week but a pipe froze in the upstairs bathroom and flooded most of the house. We have been pretty bummed about the situation. My gracious parents continue to house our big family and we will stay here while construction is under way. The floors, drywall, etc. have to all be replaced so we will be here for a few more months. No matter how stressed out we are..all it takes is one look at my little angels and it melts the stress away!!! We have a new lease on life since we were blessed with Ben and Jake.

Hope all is well and you are staying warm!!

Lots of Love, Danielle, Kevin, Ben and Jake