Twins arrival and update

The twins were born via C-section on May 1, 2009. We went in for our 35 week doctor visit on Thursday and the ultrasound showed that Abigail had only gained 1 oz over 3 weeks while her brother had gained about 1 lb. She was not getting the nutrients she needed so the Dr. said we had to get her out now. They admitted me immediatly to give me steriods in order to boost their lung development. Aiden Jeremiah was born at 744 Am weighing 4 lb 14 oz and Abigail Reese at 745 Am weighing only 3 lb 9 oz. We have been on a journey since then. The first day (Friday) they both did very well considering they were so premature. We had to tube feed them but they were both breathing on their own. Saturday Abigail started to decline some- she was vomitting up everything they tried to feed her. On Sunday the neonatal specialists told us they were concerned she had an infection of the bowels called NEC. This infection has a one in four mortality rate for infants. They transfered her to the NICU at USA Children's and Women's hospital Sunday afternoon. Daddy went with her, while mommy and Aiden stayed at Providence. As you can imagine, this was an extremely emotional and difficult day. The doctor was very blunt with us about the infection and her condition, so we wept and prayed most of the day at the thought of losing our precious little miracle. It was overwhelmingly difficult for me to watch them take her away, hooked up to a million different machines and monitors, and not be able to go with her. They have run many tests on Abigail and are continuing to. They stopped feeding her for 2 days to give her bowels a rest and may try to feed her again today. Progress for her will be very slow- her belly is still very inflamed, and her blood counts are not great. She will probably be in the NICU for a month. Please pray that she doesn't have the infection, that her belly will heal, and she will begin to grow. She now weighs only 3 lb. I was still trying to recover from my C-section and began to develop a very severe headache called a spinal headache. Sometimes spinal fluid can leak when they go into your back for the epidural and the only way to fix it is to go back in to your spinal cavity and inject some of your own blood to clot the leak. We tried to get the procedure done to fix it, but there was some confusion with the dr.'s and we were preoccupied with the condition/stability of the babies. Aiden has begun having episodes of not breathing along w/ a severe drop in heart rate called apnea. They have begun running test on him to see if he has an infection and they are giving him medicine to help him breath. We are not removing either baby from the incubator currently to hold or feed them because we don't want them to expend any energy at all. They released me from the hospital late last night (Tues). I was supposed to go see my little girl at USA but the staples in my incision got twisted and stuck so they had to call in a Dr. to remove them and by then it was too late. They also refused to do my spinal before I left, although I was in excruciating pain from the fluid in my brain. So my physical pain, along with the disappointment of not getting to see Abigail, and having to leave the hospital made this one of the hardest days yet. Leaving my babies at the hospital and coming home without my family was harder than I ever imagined it could be. Even though I could not be with Abigail, at least little Aiden was not alone while I was still there. I hated the thought of them not being held, or loved on by anyone- being there all alone. It's just not how any mother would have ever imagined it to be. Not only that, but Ben and I are forced to spend most of our time apart so He can go be with one of the babies. Through many tears we helplessly trust our little miracles into their Makers hands and pray that He will hold them when we can't be there. Wednesday morning, my headache was worse so I had to be readmitted to the hospital for a blood patch to be done. I'm recovering now and having to lay flat for 6 hours for it to take full effect. Please continue to pray for Abigail and Aiden- their health and growth. It is times like these that our faith is tested and proven genuine. We trust that our Father is completely in control of our lives and of our babies lives. It is so reasuring knowing we don't have to live by statistics- God is way bigger than that. We are leaning on His strength, because we do not the strength to walk this on our own. Please pray for Ben and myself- emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Not only are we emotionally overwhelmed, but we are also physically exhausted from pumping every two hours and traveling to see babies. We are taking things one hour at a time, and the Lord is carrying us through by His gracious hand. Thank you so much for your prayers and concern.