A Christmas to Remember

WHAT HAPPENED?
At 1:45 AM Christmas Eve morning Kristie woke up to a sharp pain and a wet rear. She exclaimed that her water had broken. After a moment of "no way, you have to be kidding" I saw the seriousness in her face. While she got herself ready to go to the hospital I called the doctor's office so someone could meet us there. As we were walking out the door Kristie remembered something she had forgotten. Her bag was packed and waiting for us in the car so I didn't know what in the world she needed. Hair mousse! I'm still waiting for the rest of the story on why mousse was so important at that precise moment.

By running three red lights and speeding down I-75 it didn't take long for us to arrive at the hospital. Contractions started off relatively easy but quickly progressed to longer and more severe. When they were less than two minutes apart it became obvious to us that the babies were coming sooner rather than later.

Because Nicholas was still in a breach position a C-section was the only option. At 6:52 Nicholas Riley Gage arrived with his little sister, Ava Anne, arriving only a minute later. Kristie made it through the operation without incident.

By Christmas morning Kristie was up and walking around but still a little sore.

Because they were born a few weeks early, at 33 weeks, they are in the newborn intensive care unit. Nicholas is in very good health but needs to add a little weight and learn to eat before he can go home. Early attempts to feed him through a feeding tube had mixed results. The first feeding went perfectly with Nick digesting a third of an ounce of a breast milk/formula mixture. The second feeding wasn't as successful. The food was found in his stomach three hours after the feeding - he couldn't/didn't digest it.

Ava is the smaller of the twins and has a few more problems. Her lungs aren't fully developed so she is on a breathing machine. The air Ava is breathing is normal air, the machine just provides the necessary pressure to properly open and close her small lungs with each breath. She also has a problem with retaining fluids. This is causing her to appear puffy and her diapers to be dryer than normal. Neither of these problems are severe and she is capable of breathing on her own, but it requires a bit too much effort so she's just getting a little help. She's already been down-graded to the amount of air pressure they have her on, so progress has already been made!

Both babies will need to fully develop in the NICU before they can go home. We are hoping Nick can come home in a week or less. Ava has some more growing to do so it's likely to be a few more weeks before she can come home.

All in all mom and babies are healthy and happy making this the best Christmas ever!

Dad & Mom