The NICU

Before the girls were born, I had never had any experience with the NICU except what I saw on t.v....thank goodness! Then the twins were born at 34 weeks, which could have been a very bad thing. But it wasn't, because God was in control and knew what He was doing!

Lilly only needed a little oxygen for about an hour and Lilly needed an IV the second night there for a minor feeding issue. That was it...the doctor just wanted to monitor them until they were 35 weeks and then if all was well, we could take them home. So their stay in the NICU was only from Monday evening until Saturday morning. They were home by lunch on Saturday. I never completely realized just how remarkable that was until now...I knew it was pretty awesome, but yesterday I was reminded just how blessed we really were.

Eric and I wanted to go check out the new Dick's Sporting Good store that opened in Harker Heights. On the way home, we flipped to the local country station and heard a lady telling the story of her little boy who had been in the Scott & White NICU because he was born really early. I knew it would make me sad but I kept listening....

They interviewed a nurse and were actually raising money for the NICU, so that was cool. They talked about the fact that the Scott & White NICU has 48 beds in it and they have 47 babies in there right now. The mother who told her story talked about seeing all of the other parents in there with their babies, some of whom would fit in the palm of your hand and some of which didn't make it home. Of course I was in tears by now.

To think of all those precious little babies in there fighting for their lives and all of those other parents dealing with that intense situation...it's awful. I was once again SO THANKFUL for what God had done for us and our innocent little girls.

It could have been much worse, and as a matter of fact, if the girls had been born just 2 days earlier, they would have had to be in that other NICU with all of those other babies. Instead, they were in a Level 2 NICU (much better) and were the only babies in there. I was worried enough about them, and it would have been much scarier for me to see all those other little babies struggling. God protected my heart and my children! He protected my daughter's lives and gave me my healthy little angels to take home! Thank you, God!

So on this beautiful Saturday morning, I sit here in the living room beside 2 little bouncers. In one, I have a chubby-cheeked little girl named Lexi sleeping soundly in her pink and purple flowered pajamas, and in the other one, is little Lilly. Her head is drooping as she tries not to go back to sleep for a nap. Praise God! :)

Lilly in the NICU at 3 days old. She had just been fed and was being burped!

Here is Lexi being burped. She is also 3 days old in this picture. My dad and Debbie had come down to visit us again in the hospital, since I was super emotional, and he took these pictures for us!