Micah

Micah was just transfered to Primary Childrens hospital from St Marks. He has some ventricles in his head that are swelling so he needed to be seen by a neurologist to see about putting in a temporary shunt to relieve the pressure. This is actually a common problem for preemie babies. When he got up there they also found that he had an infection that had started to show it's nasty head right before he left St Marks. It's pretty bad and is apparently in his digestive system so he's not being fed my breast milk anymore to give his little tummy a break. The ultrasound today showed that his little tummy is looking better but his white blood count is abnormal which is to be expected with and infection. He's on antibiotics and pain meds because they say it's pretty painful. If he has to have to surgery for the shunt they won't do it until the infection clears up. Micah is a lot more laid back than Mattea so he's not as grumpy or vocal about everything going on with him.

Micah boy LOVES his tummy time. He breaths on his own better and is a good boy.

I love to kiss my little guy as often as I can. He's usually in his little bubble so I get excited when I don't have to look at him through plastic.

Seeing us holding him just helps put into perspective how small he is.

He likes to stretch out and relax. He stretched his legs out really long and doesn't like to have his feet tucked in next to his body.

He likes to wink. It's not very often we see him with both eyes open.

Mattie

Mattea is doing pretty well. She has a PDA, which is a vessel in her heart that usually closes at the end of pregnancy but because she didn't make it that long it was still open. It causes a heart murmur. It look as though it is starting to clear up and close on it's own. If it wouldnt'have close we would have had to send her into surgery to get it closed. She also had an infection but she just finished her antibiotics and look to be doing really well. The Dr has increased the number of times we can hold her a week to twice. She was taken off of the ventilator a while ago. She is really strong will and has a mind of her own. We can definatly see her personality and it's starting to make us nervous (just kidding). She really is fiesty and the nurses tell us she has a little attitude. That's good cause she needs to be a righter right now.

She's really wiggly and has an attitude and she likes to work her way out of her bed. She often sleeps with her hand on her face like this too.

Wide eyed lil' wee.

Our precious girl. She's getting lots of hair.

She's so tiny. We can hold her in one hand. She's wearing one of the hats my Mom knit.

Daddy's little girl. She has him in the palm of her tiny little hand already.

Babies update

The babies are doing pretty well. Micah still has a bleed in his brain but the Dr.'s say it's not critical yet. He is off of the ventilator and has been for about a week. He's holding his own really well. He's also having feedings through a tube that goes into his little tummy. He started at 1mil every 12 hours. Now, he's eating 5 mil every 3 hours. He is gaining weight which is good because they both lost a bit of weight and were little like Ethiopian babies.

Micah boy looking very healthy.

Mattea is doing alright. She has a PDA which is a vessel in the heart that normally closes at the end of pregnancy. Hers didn't close so the Dr.'s are trying to get it to close on it's own with meds but if it doesn't close then she will have to be taken up to Primary Childrens Hospital for surgery. Along with the PDA comes a heart murmur which will hopefully clear up after the PDA is fixed. She has been put back on the ventilator because of the PDA makes it more difficult for her to breath on her own. She is a lot more alert than Micah usually is. We've never seen Micah's eyes whereas we see Mattea's all the time

Mattea saying hello to her Mommy and Daddy

Look out world!

Look out world... here we come. We, the very proud parents of Micah and Mattea are happy to inform you that both of the babies are doing very well. Micah had a few seizures as a result of blood on his brain which looks to have stopped and cleared up. Micah is still on a ventilator but the nurses have talked about removing his ventilator tube. Mattea was taken off of the ventilator today (Sunday) at apprx 2:30. She is doing really well and it's nice to see more of her little face.




The nurses and the staff in the NICU are so loving. They have made our babies name tags for their Giraffe's (special isolate).

Here is our Micah boy. Everything still looks a little scary to an outsider but it's looking a little better.

This is just a special picture of our angel boys face.

Again, the nurses and staff are great and here is Mattea's name tag.

Here is Mattea. She's off of her ventilator but still have a little tube going down into her belly. She does look pretty skinny in this picture. We love the little bows that they put on her.

We're able to touch our little ones now! We always ask if they are stable enough first but it's not very often that we can't touch them. This picture was taken today. It's Sterling touching Mattea's little head. She always responds when her dad touches her. Yesterday she was kicking his hand.

Thanks to everyone for all of your prayers and well wishes. Ourselves and our babies are definitely receiving blessing from our Heavenly Father. We're very grateful for all we've been given.

Suprise Arrival!

On December 8th 2009 at apprx 12:20 PM Micah Sterling Cluff and Mattea Hope Cluff decided they were sick of being with just Mom and wanted to meet their Dad. Yessiree bob, they were born at 27 weeks 5 days by C-section. Both babies were ventilated right away. We were expecting that and weren't suprised to hear or see it happen.

Micah was the first to appear. Truth be told he was almost pulling himself out once they cut through to him. I felt the water break and then heard the Dr's say, "Wow, he's grabbing the forceps with his hand." They pushed his little hand back in and then pulled the rest of him out.

(Micah shortly after birth in the NICU)

Our son was born weighing 2 lbs 10 oz. Tiny, yes we know. However, that's a pretty good size considering how early they were. Micah has a significant amount of hair considering how early he was. It looks pretty blonde actually.

(Micah a little later)

Our daughter was born one minute after her brother weighing in at a whopping 2 lbs 5 oz. Mattea is our little fighter. I could hear her crying (oh so softly) in the operating room which was kind of nice to hear. We heard from the NICU Dr later that night that Mattea was actually breathing room oxygen and wasn't using the ventilator. They mentioned they may be taking her off soon.

(Mattea a little later in the day. Her left arm is up by her head. I think it's cute)

Mattea also has a lot of hair considering her age. Her hair is darker than her brothers.

(Mattea shortly after birth in the NICU)


Side note: Fear not friends and family! We will still be having baby showers. I estimate they will be happening in January. More news to come.....

I've escaped!!!

Yes! I've escaped! My Dr came into my room the Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving and gave us the good news that I was being sent home on bed rest. Yay! We were so happy. So, we loaded up the car with all the things we had brought (ALOT), went to my Mom and Dad's to pick up Pedro. We decided to take one picture together to documents our stay in the hospital.

Sterling's family needed to get a family picture done so his Mom could send out Christmas cards. Sooo, with me being on bed rest we decided to have everyone come over and make it a do-it-yourself family photo. We borrowed my Dad's very nice, expensive camera and this is what we got.

Our little family... soon to increase significantly with the twins.

A lovely belly pose. Yes, it's very large. I went and had an ultrasound done and the tech told me I have 1.5 times the amount of amniotic fluid in each of the sacks so essentially it's almost as if I'm carrying triplets without the 3rd little human in there. Because they have so much fluid they never hold still. I feel bad when the nurses have to track down their heart beats and put me on a monitor.

And....lastly... the entire Cluff clan. Minus all the babies on the way. Sterling's little sister Brittney (in the dark brown sweater) is also pregnant. We've got three little babies coming within 3-6 months of each other. Fun huh?

Micah and Mattea will have a couple cousins their same age becasue my brother Kim and his wife Leslie just had their 3rd baby (a girl, Carmendy) right before Thanksgiving. Lots of blessing all around us.

Hello from a hospital bed

Yes, I am stuck in the hospital until I deliver Thing One and Thing Two. I'm not hurting, the babies are safe, but as a precaution because I wasn't even aware I was having contractions or dilating I have to stay. I'll be here for Thanksgiving and that kind of stinks but I can't complain too much. My brother and his family (in Texas) are stuck in a hospital for the 2nd Thanksgiving in a row. I do get sad but I have some really great family and friends that visit me.

My mom knits cute little beanies but they are pretty big. I told her she should figure out how to make teeny tiny beanies. Well, she came in and presented me with the cutest little preemie beanie you've ever seen. She's only done one so far but she's gonna make another one.

Sterling "wearing" the beanie my mom made for our babies.

Konni at 25 weeks (in the hospital, obviously.)

The beanie in proportion to a coke can. Cute huh?