First of all, some good news.....

First of all, some good news..... Alyssa went to the eye doctor today. For those of you who do not know, Alyssa is legally blind in her left eye. She has perfect vision in her right eye. Our first step was to get glasses. When that didn't work, she started to wear a patch over her good eye. Her other eye was a good camera, the brain just hadn't turned on to start processing images. She is severely near sighted in that eye. Well, while I was on bed rest, the Grandmas took to keeping her occupied enough to wear her eye patch. She wore it anywhere from 2 to 9 hours a day. And it worked. Her brain has turned on in her eye. Yea!!!! He said she has improved tremendously. Sounds good to me!!!! Alyssa does really well with her patch as long as you entertain her. And it has paid off. Thanks Grandmas!!!!

So we will continue to wear the patch for the next three months until her next appointment and hopefully it will have improved more. I know it will hard for me to keep her entertained while I'm caring for 3 other ones but I'll manage. We are just so thankful it has turned on.

I will try to give you the cliff notes of Emma and Olivia.

Emma - (birth - 1 lb. 6 oz.) (today - 1 lb. 10 oz.)
Olivia - (birth - 2 lb. 9.4 oz.) (today - 2 lb. 14 3/4 oz.)

Both PDAs have closed in their hearts.
Emma - will be checked to see if her "resolving Grade 1" (blood on the brain) is gone in a couple of days.
Olivia - has been checked twice for blood on the brain - has been fine both times.

Emma - on the Jet ventilator. It allows them to give her more pressure without damaging her lungs. Both her lungs are hazy right now. They are focusing on letting her rest and grow so that she can get strong enough to breathe on her own.
Olivia - on C-pap - anywhere from 21%-27% oxygen.

Both on feeding schedules - doing o.k. with it.
Both need help stooling - Olivia needs it more.
Both have episodes of BA and A of prematurity.

We are really just focusing on a day at a time. We need to be patient and give them time to heal and grow. Alyssa was in the NICU for 6 weeks and she was born at 35 weeks. We know that these girls - born at 29 weeks - will be there awhile. We will just keep praying for both and the drs and nurses to make the best decisions. They are the sweetest girls - well, along with Alyssa and Loren.

I keep having to remind myself that if we hadn't had them early there is a good chance that Emma would have been stillborn or born very sick. I'm thankful for where they are. They have been through so much.

Thanks again for all your prayers!