End of Week 1/Beginning of Week 2

WOW! I cannot believe my little boys are already a week old. It's been an emotional journey so far and there will be plenty of ups and downs to come we know but this week seems to have been filled with such wonderful joy that no matter what the road has in store for us we know that God has sent us two miracle boys to add to our firstborn miracle boy. Becoming parents was not an easy road; tests, drugs, treatments, tons of dr visits, etc all to get our beautiful Yurchik. We were already so blessed and we decided to go down that road again to have another bundle of joy we had no idea we would fall into the 7% of the people blessed with fraternal boy twins. We made jokes when the ultrasound showed both ovaries ovulating (especially since one never once produced an egg with the months and months of treatments we did with Jr) that we would have twins never truly thinking both eggs would attach- even one was a long shot. Neither of us will forget that 5 week ultrasound after a positive test that showed two sacks. The doctors told us that half the time one doesn't stick so not to get attached to the idea of twins yet... well here we are 6 months later with the sweetest boys we could have asked for. Their road ahead is harder than the road we took to get them here but we have each other, our fantastically supportive family and friends and ultimately God to get us through. I'm sorry if I seem emotional (I am in fact crying while typing) but today was a day with a rough bump in the road followed by something that I cannot even describe...

Anze has a small (grade 2) hemorrhage in his right ventricle of his brain. It's extremely common in preemies under 32 weeks (1/3) and at the moment there's nothing to do but wait and see what is does. Right now it's not causing any issues. There's a 25% chance of cerebral palsy from it which is the biggest concern long term. He will receive another scan next week to track the bleed and see if it gets better or worse and then there may be options or not- it's really out of our hands and in God's right now. I have a friend who's sweet baby girls turn one this month after being born at 30 weeks and one had a similar situation and her proud parents did as we will do and trusted in God and now their beautiful angel is happy and thriving. We are trusting in God that he will get Anze through this as he has everything else for both of our boys. Bump in the road as I said...

But the road straightened out instantly- Anze is off the blood pressure meds, the vent AND the breathing mask. He had nothing on his face but his feeding tube today! What a handsome little guy he is already. Mom and dad were thrilled to see his whole face and hear him cry (first time since he was born we got to hear that sound) and watch him open his eyes and check us out. Then the nurses told us something I will not forget for a very long time. They said we could hold him. Actually pick him up and put him in our arms and hold him. I'm proud of myself for not crying right then. Dad was the first to hold him and as I took a video the tears came. What an amazing dad my boys have. The look on his face as the nurse gave him his youngest son, the words he spoke to him about how much he loved him just melted my heart and I fell in love all over again. My boys are so blessed. I just sat and held Luca's toes and watch my boys together praising Jesus for the moment. As I got my time to hold him I couldn't do anything but look back and forth from son to son and be in awe of them. They are so strong already. In that moment I knew that no matter what other bumps came our way that our family would never be the same again, that our boys would thrive in this world and become great men and do amazing things.

The day for Luca wasn't as exciting. He had no highs or lows (except his brain scan came back clear and won't be repeated until he's ready to come home). All his stats were similar to the past few days; he's still off the bp drugs, still on the high vent and light. No news is good news in my book. He is a sweet little boy that loves to stick his tongue up and curl his legs in. Momma can see he's going to be the cuddle bug of the two for sure. He gets a repeat heart echo tomorrow to check on his PDA (open valve) and then the dr's will decide if he needs another course of the medication to help it close. The first dose did help it shrink some so it's possible that it continued to shrink and he won't need the medication.

An amazing day... now we anxiously await tomorrow when we can hold Anze again and we wait in anticipation to hold Luca for the first time knowing what an amazing experience it will be. It's a step closer to bringing them home! Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers throughout this. Thanks to those that have given blood- the donor staff is impressed by our family's generosity to give knowing that even if the boys don't use it someone somewhere will. Thanks to those that have contributed to the March of Dimes to help other preemies. We love you all!