Kangeroo Care

Along with kissy time with Connor, my favorite part of the day.

Daddy with our precious baby Abby...she has a little virus and needs extra prayers!
Mommy with beautiful baby Ella, all festive for the holidays!

All Abby & Ella, All the Time

I have started a new blog for the babies where I will put daily updates, pictures and whatever strikes my fancy that is just about the girls. I will leave the blog up until the girls come home, then am hoping to make a book about their journey home. It is still a little rough around the edges, but if you would like to check it out, please visit www.abbyellahomewardbound.blogspot.com Of course, I will still be posting here, the new blog will be more like a journal of sorts.

Thank you for all the love and support! We need a little more prayer, not only for the girls, but also for me. I am still struggling with high blood pressure. We are going to try a med adjustment and hopefully that will work. I need to get it under control, and soon. I need to be healthy for when these babies do come home.

Love you all!!

One Week Old!

I can't believe it has been a week since all the excitement!

I finally got to come home on Friday. They kept me an extra day because of my blood pressure. I am taking medication now and hoping it soon comes down on it's own. Leaving those babies at the hospital though? One of the hardest things I have ever done. It gives me a little pain in my heart every time.

That being said, I bawled like a baby when I got home. My house may not be the house of my dreams or a big old mansion, but it is home. I was so happy to be here. There truly is no place like home.

Enough about me you say? Let's hear about the girls? Well alrighty then....

Both of the babies are doing great. They continue to thrive and impress everyone with their progress. Everyone says what pretty babies they are and I have to agree!
They are both being fed through nose tubes and probably will be until 34 weeks or so. They both lost weight, as all babies do, but are both just 2 ounces shy of their birth weights! And they both will steal your heart the second you lay eyes on them.


Miss Abby wouldn't open her eyes for her week old picture for NOTHIN! That's okay...she was a sleepy little angel and when they sleep, they do their best growing! Abby is still spunky, though a little less feisty once they started the nose tube feeing. She is ready to eat from a bottle...heck, she would eat off a PLATE if they let her. she is already at 19 militers. She is my over acheiver (I called that one from the womb, if you remember) and is so cute. She LOVES having her hair brushed. Little Princess Abby.....that's my baby!

Bright eyed Miss Ella, is almost completely off the oxygen assistance. They are weening her slowly which is fine...we've nothing but time! She perks up at the sound of my voice and bats her eyes at her Daddy....as if she didn't already have him wrapped around her finger! She is up to 22 militers of food. Ella is already showing signs of being my girlie girlie, she loves to wear bows! Abby will tug at hers, while Ella will wear the same one for days!! My little Beauty Queen, that's Precious Ella!
We have established a visiting schedule and the Ward (shout out to Marcie and Mike!) and our family have stepped up and offered to take Connor for a couple of hours on week-ends so we can see the girls and have our Kangeroo Care time. I am hoping they will be home by the end of January, and I will NOT take the Christmas tree down until they are here. I am so proud of them for all the fight in them and for being determined, strong little ladies. I am so proud of Connor, this has been so hard on him and he can't even see the babies...he will be such a great big brother and has so much love in his little heart. And of my amazing husband, who spent so much time with me at the hospital while taking care of things at home. My heart is so full of love, I had no idea I was capable of this much love! And it just keeps growing....I'm afraid it will burst.

Pehrson Productions Proudly Presents....

We had a very eventful week-end! Long story short, my water broke early Sunday morning. I also had a rupture in my placenta. So the doctors said, ENOUGH! These babies want to be born NOW! (there was lots of other stuff, but you get the gist). While they came earlier than I wanted, the babies are here and they are precious....May I introduce...Cocoa....or, Abigail Grace Pehrson. She weighed in at 2 lb 14 oz and is 14.5 inches long. She came out at 5:32 p.m. and needed no breathing help. She has already had her first feeding tube meal. Super feisty and not afraid to speak her mind....that's our Abby! Pebbles, or Eleanor Brooke Pehrson, joined us a minute later weighing in at 3 lbs 3 oz and measuring 15.5 inches. Ella is very girlie and has the sweetest little sneezes. I got to "kangeroo care" her this afternoon and we had a great girl talk. Since this picture was taken, she has already been taken off the breathing tube and has just a little nose gizmo now. She is just about ready to be taken off altogether.
We are so very blessed. However, we need your prayers. Their prognosis is excellent, but they have a long way to go before they can come home. I am told they will have to stay in the NICU for 2 months!!! It will hard, but we do what we have to. We are over the moon!!!!

Y'all Ready for This?

UPDATE: Oh, how tired I get of this....spent ANOTHER evening at Labor and Delivery last night (12/10) - Shortly after posting this! I was looking forward to a quiet night with Lonny, as Connor went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a sleep-over. Long story short, I ended up at the hospital with contractions! They were able to stop them and all is well now. I was put on more strict bedrest for the week-end, but was told that these girls are coming early and to get ready. Guess what Lonny's doing today? That's right, painting the nursery. The girls are still doing great...I am still hoping to get them to 34-35 weeks. Please keep us in your prayers!


Okay, by popular demand (and that would not include mine) I am posting 30 week belly shots....they are something else...you've been warned!

What is truly amazing about this (and I know there's alot to be amazed by) is that right after this picture, I PLAYED A GIG!!! The poor people at the party just looked at me with great nervousness all evening. I think they were checking to see if I was singing or going into labor! Be kind in your comments, folks, be kind.

Down for the Count (down)

Had my follow up appointment with the doctor yesterday. I have officially been told that I am on bedrest as well as work release. He said if not on the bed, then on the couch. This is a great relief, because I don't want to be down in bed without being allowed to get up! A change of scenery is nice! I have been diagnosed with mild pre-eclampsia, and we are hoping to keep it that way (or just have it go away!). I now have to go into the doctor 3 times a week (what part of bedrest does that fall under?) for non-stress tests and to measure fluid and babies. The doctor says now my goal is to make it to 34 weeks (as opposed to the last goal we set which was 37), but I am hoping to keep them in longer, as long as everything is going well. Thanks everyone for all the support and encouragement! My Christmas shopping is done, as well as my baby shopping (except a few essentials I can order online) so it will be kind of nice to just sit out the craziness of the season and concentrate 100 percent on Cocoa and Pebbles.

Showered With Baby Love

I have been so honored to have had two amazing baby showers! And there is still a third one to come. I will post pictures when I can, but it's been a little crazy.

The first shower was hosted by my incredible friend Aimee Nagles-Sims. She is a friend at work who has the most beautiful home in Millcreek. It was a super special night....the food was incredible and the cake! It was a bathtub with a pink bathmat that read "Congratulations Amy" and had two little babies in the tub (complete with belly buttons) and two little rubber duckies. And it was chocolate! There were also salads from The Pub that were amazing. I didn't think I was ever going to stop opening presents! We got so many gift cards that we will be able to buy our stroller and still have some towards the car seats (fingers crossed). We also got a gift card to Babinski's....I am really excited to use that though I am told I will probably be able to afford a sock with the $140.00 since it's so shee shee! I brought my camera, but there was no memory card! So Clayton, Aimee's husband (and a darn fine defense attorney, if you are ever in a jam) ran out and got a disposable camera....now I have to actually take it in and have them developed! When is the last time I had to do THAT???

The second shower was from my girls in the hood...my ward shower! This one was extra special too! There was a hot chocolate bar and fruit and the theme was Ladybugs. Everyone had to pose with a Ladybug Pillow Pet and join the Ladybug Club! This was hosted by my homegirls Marcie and Pearl. The only thing missing was, well, ME!!!

Earlier that day I went in for a routine ultrasound. Girls are doing great! Cocoa weighed in at 2 lbs, 10oz, Pebbles at 3 lbs. This is very encouraging, in that they are still getting nourishment from me despite the 2 vessel cords. Afterwards, I asked if they would please check my blood pressure. They did, and it was 168/94!!! So I was promptly admitted to Labor and Delivery....my 3rd time! Sigh. Nobody but nobody cared that tonight was my baby shower!!! They ended up keeping me all night and I didn't get released until the next day at 6:00 p.m.!! But everything was fine, my blood pressure came down (as well as my swollen ankles) and so far no diagnosis of preeclampsia. And, as a bonus, they put me on work release a whole week earlier, so I am now officially a lady of leisure until the babies come!

Now, back to the shower. The ladies held it anyway and had a couple of special guests....Lonny (who opted not to join the Ladybug Club) and Connor (who opted to join....twice)! They came with the video camera so that I was able to see all the people and decorations. They even filmed Lonny opening some of the gifts. Then Lonny and Connor brought some of the loot to the hospital and hooked up the video so I could watch the party and open some of the gifts myself. BEST. HUSBAND. EVER. About an hour later, my two incredible hostesses brought me more gifts to open. It was the next best thing to being there. And since there was a happy ending, I guess I don't mind. Well, too much anyway.

Thank you everyone for your incredible generosity. I am sure there is no more pink tissue paper or wrapping paper in the Salt Lake Valley. Cocoa and Pebble's closet is bursting at the seams, we have tons of diapers and we are just so happy. And we still have another shower to go! We are so very very blessed.