Got Oxygen?

Yesterday (May 12) the twins turned 14 weeks old and Hadlee had her 6 hour multi-channel lung test again. We are so pleased that she was successful at 75 and 50 so for the next month she will only be at 50.....she is getting so much closer at not requiring any extra help! It will be so nice to not have all of her stuff to think about when moving her around & traveling. We also weighed them at Nick's gym. Kooper weighed in at a big 10 lbs and little Hadlee is finally up to 8 lbs! My sister, Tera made the point that Hadlee is still smaller than my niece, Brynna was at birth! Ha! My mom told me that I was 16 lbs when I turned 1 year old. I'm curious to see what the twins will weigh then too.

Now that I've been back to work for almost 2 weeks, I am more & more interested in being a stay-at-home Mom. I hate being gone all day & only spending a few short hours with the babies at night before I have to put them to bed. I swear that they change just in the time that I'm at work each day. I would really love to stay home if/when we move back to Indiana. I would really enjoy being free during the weekdays to spend time with my Mom, my grandma's, my sisters, and of course their kiddos!

Updated Pictures

Now that I have returned to work, I feel like the twins change in the time that I'm at school & they're at the babysitters! I cannot believe that they are already 14 weeks old. Time is passing really fast and soon they will be crawling, talking, & all those exciting milestones! At this point, Kooper really enjoys being in the swing! This has been a great help while I am nursing Hadlee or when he is fighting sleep. Hadlee has suffered reflux to the point that her Pediatrician has her on some medicine to help it. When it is acting up, the only thing she likes to do is lay on her belly. Thankfully, she is on an Apnea monitor, so I feel more comfortable letting her lay on her belly when she needs to. We have started taking the twins to a few of our friend's houses to help them start to get used to being around other people, a few kids, & pets. So far, they have handled it all very well.
Kooper being "1 with the Ladies" in his swing on April 10th

Here is my attempt at taking a few cute pics of the twins at 12 weeks old....but I forgot to do it until bath time and as you can see little Miss Hadlee wasn't enjoying any of it!



Sweet Kooper waiting for his bath (12 weeks old)

Miss Hadlee after her bath (12 weeks old)

Great friends of ours had their baby girl in December; so we have been anxiously waiting to get all 3 kiddos together for a play-date. Olivia is 5 months and the twins are 3 months in this picture. (May 2nd)

I started back to work on May 3. We have been so lucky to have a friend of mine, who is a labor & delivery nurse at the hospital I delivered at to be their babysitter. It was a great relief knowing that they would be spending their days with Gretchen....especially since Hadlee is still requiring oxygen.

Kooper is getting so BIG! He is so much fun to cuddle with. He love to hum himself to sleep too when you are burping him. It is too cute!

On my first Mother's Day, Nick got up early & took care of the twins so that I could sleep. It was a wonderful thought, but when I woke up & hadn't nursed or pumped in several hours, I was miserable! The twins & Nick bought be a really pretty necklace that has a little girl & little boy on it. Nick made me biscuits & gravy for breakfast, we watched a movie (one of my fav things to do), and then I layed outside in the sun for a bit while Nick washed my truck & the babies slept! We ended my wonderful Mother's Day by grilling out with Corby, Katie, Becky, and Miss Olivia!

Miss Hadlee is so sweet....when she isn't throwing a fit!

Marley & Gage joined in on the pic too....I was their "Mommy" first!

I went into the nursery to say good-nite the other evening & found that Kooper was happily sucking on Hadlee's paci :-) I know you cannot tell in the picture, but we have marked them so that they are not spreading germs as much as possible.

Life at Home

Now that the twins are home, Nick & I are much happier. We were both more than exhausted from spending our days sitting in the NICU. A few days prior to their discharge, we stayed the night in one of the hospital's FLC rooms. Those 2 nights helped us feel better about Hadlee's monitor & oxygen. Since they have been home, I cannot believe how unbelievably fast the days pass by! They are good eaters...pretty much ever 3 hours, which can be really hard on mommy because I am doing my best to breastfeed as often as possible. They came home on 24 calorie breast milk, which meant that I have to pump, then measure out, and then add NeoSure to make it higher calorie to help them gain weight. When they are not getting fortified milk from a bottle, then I breastfeed them. It sounds easier, but it takes so long to feed both of them! Hadlee also suffers from reflux and is on zantac to help, but she still has issues spitting up & laying flat. She prefers to lay on her belly or up on my chest. Throughout the day while Nick is at work, I have found it nice to place Kooper in his swing. He likes it most of the time which allows my hands to be free to tend to Hadlee. She unfortunately isn't permited to be in a swing yet until she can pass her car seat test.
On Monday, April 12, we had to take the twins to their pulmonologist. Hadlee had her 6 hour multi-channel lung test done, so we were there almost all day. Nick had to go with me in order to carry everything & help with Kooper while she was being tested. The test is important because it helps to show us if she is receiving the adequate amount of oxygen. Basically, if she is receiving too much oxygen, it can lead to eye development issues, but if she is not receiving enough, it can lead to pulmonary hypertension. This is a disease that could cause permanent damage and require lung and/or heart transplant. Thankfully, the test showed that Hadlee is at the correct amount of oxygen, but unfortunately, it showed that she is still requiring 100cc's of 02. We were praying that her lungs had made some improvement and her 02 could be decreased, but no luck yet. Kooper had his 6 hour multi-channel test done on April 19 and he thankfully passed his! Hadlee will have the test completed again in May- so hopefully she will do better then!
Exhausted after bath time

Enjoying an afternoon nap together

Chilling on Daddy's Harley blanket b/c it was 90* outside & we didn't have our A/C on yet.

Bright eyed Miss Hadlee

3 Generations of Dixon's

Hospital Photos

The day before the twins' were discharged (March 25)- we had their hospital pictures done. Because they were still in the NICU, the photographers came to their room, which was really nice but also meant we were limited to what they could do.
*Our first family photo*

The Twins together- 7 wks. and 1 day old

Miss Hadlee Maelynn

Mr. Owen Kooper

~Too SWEET~

~Their tiny feet~


I am hoping to be able to get new professional pictures done again soon. It would be nice to have them done once Hadlee is off the oxygen. The stickies to keep her nasal cannula in place makes her little cheeks red & raw. :-( Unfornately, I'm not sure when that will happen.

7 weeks and 2 days later.......

Thanks to our great friends- Katelyn & Lexa- for the Welcome Home sign!

Although Nick & I were super happy to hear the news on my expected "due-date" (March 26th) that the twins were being discharged, we were also very nervous. Hadlee was coming home on oxygen, so we had to be trained in proper use of her equipment & monitor. Also, since she failed her car seat test 3 times, she would be traveling in a car bed. The nurses & docs went over the seriousness of their lung disease & how important it would be for us to limit visitors & absolutely no public places until around summer time. This of course is hard because a lot of our friends & family would love to come help us with them & get to see them, but we have to do what is best for their health.
Their primary NICU nurse was Kristin. Not only did we spend most of the 7 wks. & 2 days with her, but her daughter used to compete gymnastics at Nick's gym so he already knew Kristin pretty well. It was wonderful having her with us on our day of discharge!




Here is nurse Kristin rolling us out of our NICU 2 room!

Loading up in the truck....we had a few people staring as we loaded up all of our belongings after being at the hospital for so long.



The twins slept the first couple of nights in our bedroom, in the cradle that Nick's great grandpa built back in 1966. They are just 2 of many babies that slept in it.


They were quickly moved to one of the cribs in the nursery to sleep though. The cradle was too short for both of them to stretch out in. Here is a pic of the twins 8 weeks old! Hadlee weighed 5 lbs. 14 oz. and Kooper weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. at their 8 week Dr. appointment!


I was super excited when my Mom sent me a text saying that her & my Dad were going to stop by our house in SC on their way back from their Disney vacation. They had went to Florida with Tera, Alex, Braylee, & Brynna for spring break. Mamaw & Papaw brought the twins Donald & Daisy stuffed animals from Disney World. It was a wonderful Easter weekend with my parents.....plus it was near 90 degrees so it was perfect weather!

Random Pics

On March 18, the twins had their hearing tests done. Hadlee's test took over 40 minutes, but Kooper's took just a short 10 minutes. That just shows how much of a wiggler our little girl is. I thought the pics of them were cute b/c they looked like they had cool head-phones on.


I just loved the wooden blocks that we received from my college BFF's- Erin, Kastonia, & Susie. All sides of the blocks are personalized for the twins. Here is a few pics of them. Thanks girls!!!


When I bought Hadlee's pink pants to wear with her white blouse for their hospital pictures, the tag was marked incorrectly (obviously). I bought what I thought were newborn pants, but they were HUGE, as you can see in the picture!

Making Progress

Saturday, March 13 Nick got to bottle feed Miss Hadlee


Today, the twins are 6 weeks old! I cannot believe how much they have changed over the past few weeks. I also hate that Nick & I are really the only ones that have been able to witness their progress, but the NICU has very strict rules which are understanding. At the ending of last week, Nick & I both were amazed at how well the twins were doing. We felt like they were finally making progress in the right direction. Hadlee was waking up & staying awake more often & they both started bottle feeding. They do not get a bottle every time, but they are now up to 3 times a day! Yesterday, Hadlee had her first attempt at breast feeding. She did pretty good for about 15 minutes, but obviously didn't get too much milk because she also took her bottle. They are both still receiving the extra calorie in the breast milk to help them maintain their weight. Today, Hadlee is 5 lbs. 3 oz. and Kooper is 6 lbs. 6 oz. The twins also "graduated" from NICU 1 to NICU 2 yesterday! This was a big step that Nick & I have been waiting on. We've been told it is very likely Hadlee will come home on oxygen, but we knew that being moved to NICU 2 was another step in the right direction. This week as been a little overwhelming because of that. The docs & nurses are filling us in on all the things that will happen now & over the next several years. Since the twins were 8 weeks early, their brains are not developed enough to handle everything that they are now exposed to & expected to "handle." I don't think Nick & I truly realized how much this affects them. Even today, they are still not supposed to be out of my belly, so they are not supposed to be exposed to eating, breathing, seeing, swollowing, hearing, controlling their body, etc.... They have been working with an OT and thankfully today, Nick was able to spend a couple of hours with her as well so that she could show him how to do their therapy. We have laughed before about how different the twins act. Hadlee is always grunting, pulling her shoulders up around her neck, squeezing her arms in, & balling up her body as small as possible. Kooper on the other hand is more like a wet noodle (and I say that with love). He flops his head around and throws his arms out wide into the "w positon." We've now learned that there are 2 ways that premature babies respond to respiratory problems. Of course, Hadlee is responding one way & Kooper is responding the other way! The OT says that "32 weekers" and younger on average need therapy for 3 years. We're hoping Hadlee & Kooper won't need that much, but only time will tell. The nurse practitioner and Dr. Clark have informed us that the twins also qualify for the developmental program offered at GHS. I'm sure we'll learn more about this once we are discharged, but this program follows the twins for their first 6 years. Mr. Kooper will possibly need a few surgeries as well, but the urologist will not do his surgery until around 6 months old. We're praying everything "fixes" itself before then.

*Our first picture of the twins together!*

March 15 at 5 wks. & 5 days old

I am still unsure if we did the right thing by going ahead with the c-section so early. Every hour of every day that they are in the womb; the better. I don't think my Doc would have waited longer, but I am still not sure that it was the best for the twins. Dr. Clark (NICU dr.) talked to us again today about how chronic their lung disease is and how their development is uncommon. He has written several articles & studied lung diseases for many, many years and our twins have him stumped. Maybe his experience with our twins will lead to new information to help future preemies?.....hopefully at least.

Happy Hadlee after 1st breast feeding attempt

Owen Kooper after they were moved to NICU 2