Multiple Blessings: We're Home!!!

For those of you who haven't yet heard, our babies were discharged from the hospital on November 7 (our neice, Gracie's, birthday...Rachael won the contest!), at 35 weeks 2 days gestation. We cannot begin to express how grateful we are to finally have our babies home with us!
**We cannot thank you all enough for your dedicated prayers. We couldn't have made it through this experience without God's strength and all of your support!!

As you can imagine, getting used to taking care of two infants can be quite an adjustment. We had a lot of practice in the NICU, which was a nice stepping stone in preparing us for being home. For the first few days I was somewhat anxious about having them home (Scott would probably say that is an understatement, as I didn't want to take my eyes off of them or be out of an arm's reach). In the hospital, they were almost always on monitors, which gave us a sense of security knowing their heart rate and respiratory rate at any given moment. It took a little while for me to be able step away briefly or sleep heavily knowing that they would still be breathing when I returned or awoke. We are now feeling much more at ease and have started transitioning into getting some sort of routine down for our day to day activities.

Scott was able to take off 4 days from work, which was SO nice! He went back for two half days at the end of last week. It was good for me to manage on my own for a couple of half days before he goes back to work full-time next week. I have to say that I was anticipating a huge sense of being overwhelmed and a possible breakdown, but I managed to make it out just fine. It is definitely a lot of work, but more than worth it. We have never been happier in our lives :)

The babies had a busy week for our first week home! They had doctor appointments on Monday and Friday, and their last eye exam on Wednesday. Tycen now weighs 5 lbs 15.5 oz and Shaylie weighs 5 lbs 4 oz! They are gaining weight very well since they came home, which is such a huge relief for Scott and I. We also found out that they won't have to do any follow-up eye exams, as they both have perfectly vascularized retinas!

**Praise God, praise God, praise God!!!

I will try to update the blog from time to time, mostly with pictures as I know that's the most exciting part. Thank you for your continued prayers for our family!

Here are some updated pictures: