The birth of Jessica and Alyssa

Alyssa Grace 1lb 15 oz

Jessica Elizabeth 1lb 10 oz

After my water broke, we decided the safest method to deliver was by C-section. It was very unreal to me...thinking the twins were coming out very soon. Keith and I were both very scared. It was the day after Mother's Day, May 12 at 12:21 and 12:22...I was 25.4 weeks, that Alyssa Grace (Ursula) and Jessica Elizabeth (Phoebe) were born, weighing 1lb 15 oz, and 1lb 10oz respectively. As scared as I was, I knew that I did everything possible that I could do, and these girls wanted out for a reason...we didn't go through everything we did for nothing, these girls are going to be fighters. And they've proven that in this first week of their life. They were both bagged and intubated, which is well expected at this age. It took me about 2 hours to recover from surgery, then we finally got to meet our precious little girls. They are so tiny, but look like beautiful little babies. I still can't believe how small they are. They have so many lines and tubes but were alive and stable.

It is going to be a very very long road ahead of us...but we're very hopeful, and will continue to think positive and do everything we can to help Alyssa and Jessica get stronger.
We had our first scare the night after they were born...a routine x-ray was done on Jessica showing some air in her abdomen. Rob, the surgeon came to my room that night with a consent form to perform a possible laporotamy, or pembrose drain, depending on the results of another test to determine where the air was coming from. If from the stomach, then surgery was required...not even a day old, I was so upset and terrified, knowing well that she may not survive surgery, which Rob confirmed. Luckily...the air was not in the stomach, but the intestines, therefore a drain was inserted which was less invasive. He called me after the procedure to tell me everything went well, thank God. We still dont' really know what is going on there, the U/S didn't show too much, so they are keeping an eye on the drainage for now, and hoping it will resolve on it's own.
Jessica also had some perfusion problems when she was born, her feet, especially her right side, were blackish/blue, so they changed one of her IV lines, and luckily this week the color has improved and she only has a small blue bruised mark on her right great toe. We were all worried about her losing her toes...so another worry...decreased some.
The girls both had U/S done on their brains to determine if they had bleeds on the brains. This has been a big worry to Keith and I since the beginning. Luckily, neither one had a bleed. They will be monitored for bleeds up until they are 3 years old. Poor little Jessica had some type of lesion though, but we dont' know if it is significant or not, so another U/S will be done next week to monitor for changes.
Both girls are breathing room air. Jessica is still on the ventilator with very little pressure support, but mainly because she's having so many other issues. Alyssa has been off the ventilator for a couple days now, breathing through nasal prongs on CPAP, which is just a little bit of extra pressure to help keep her lungs open. Today, Friday...she has had a couple of periods of apnea, but she recovers ok from it...she may go back on the ventilator, which they told us from the beginning would not be unusual, she is still so young, and in "honeymoon stage". Often micropremie's do really well there first week, and develop more problems in their second or third week.
Alyssa lost 15% of her weight as of yesturday, but then gained again today, so she is up to 1lb 11oz, and Jessica is relatively the same.
Lots and lots of information. Keith has posted some pictures on both mine and his facebook sites.
Thank you to everyone who has helped get us this far and who I know will continue to support and pray for us in the months to come. Jessica and Alyssa are beautiful little girls who already are starting to show their personalities. We love them so much, and can't wait until the day we can bring them home and introduce them to all of you.