Sunday, May 22, 2005: Lauren at 6-days-old

I think this is Lauren. It's hard to tell, but I think Lauren has an extra pad wrapped around her right leg. It doesn't seem possible, but the girls should not have been born for another 54 days! This is the last photo in Justine Marie and Lauren Ann - Part 1. Please go to Justine Marie and Lauren Ann - Part 2 for more sleeping and growing.

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page to start this blog album at the beginning and move up to follow the sequence of events. And click on the prompt on the lower right called "View my complete profile" to see my other blog albums.

Thanks for looking!

Sunday, May 22, 2005: Justine at 6-days-old

Justine is still connected to all the tubes, wires and monitors. She's doing so well, though, we expect some of those to be removed soon.

Sunday, May 22, 2005: Stephanie and Todd

Everyone's at the hospital again on Sunday, including Stephanie and Todd, checking on the babies. Since Trent and Amy are still in town, I'm sure all six of them spent time together before they went back home to Madison.

Sunday, May 22, 2005: Troy and Justine at 6-days-old

The babies don't take much milk, only a few cc's at a time because their tummies are so small. In this photo, Troy is holding the feeding tube. The milk is going directly into Justine's tummy. She sure is kicking. I thought Lauren was the one who kicked a lot. Maybe Troy is actually feeding Lauren.

Sunday, May 22, 2005: Trent and Troy

The babies are now 6-days-old and Trent is trying out his camera. Looks like Troy is just watching and waiting. He'll be feeding one of the babies with a feeding tube soon.

Saturday, May 21, 2005: At Connie and Troy's

After keeping Lauren and Justine company most of the afternoon, Connie, Trent, Amy, Stephanie and Todd head over to Connie and Troy's house for some R&R. Everyone looks very relaxed. Troy is taking the picture.

Saturday, May 21, 2005: Todd and Stephanie

Todd and Stephanie are equally busy, but have found the time to visit the hospital on several occasions. Todd travels around the country in his job and Stephanie is very busy working in downtown Chicago.

Saturday, May 21, 2005: Trent and Amy

It was great that Amy and Trent could get to Chicago from Madison, Wisconsin to see the babies. They are very busy with work, and Amy is going to school for her masters degree in nursing. Trent is a freelance writer, so he is also busy getting his short stories published.

Saturday, May 21, 2005: It's A Family Affair
Pictured above are: New Mom Connie, Aunt Amy, Uncle Todd (in back), Aunt Stephanie, new Dad Troy, and Uncle Trent. Todd and Stephanie live in Chicago just a few blocks from Connie and Troy. Trent and Amy drove in from Madison, Wisconsin to visit their new nieces.

Saturday, May 21, 2005: Troy and Connie
This is a better shot of how this "kangarooing" stuff works. I'm not sure the mom and dad were supposed to sleep, though! Rest now, Troy and Connie, because when the twins come home, there won't be much time for sleep.

Saturday, May 21, 2005: Troy "Kangarooing"

Troy and Connie were kangarooing with each twin together in the same nursery. This may be Lauren with Troy, but I'm not sure.

Saturday, May 21, 2005: Connie is "Kangarooing"
At 5-days-old, the nurses okayed Connie and Troy to handle the babies. They were to perform "kangarooing", a process whereby the parent and the baby are skin to skin. It's a bonding thing. In this photo Connie is kangarooing with one of the twins.

Friday, May 20, 2005: Connie & Justine at 4-days-old

Now it's Justine's turn to get her diaper changed. Looks like Connie is becoming an expert at this job!

Friday, May 20, 2005: Justine at 4-days-old

Here's Justine with her eyes open lying on her lambs wool blanket. It looks like she would be uncomfortable with all the tubes and wires, but she seemed to tolerate it okay.

Friday, May 20, 2005: Lauren at 4-days-old

Lauren likes to sleep on her tummy, according to her Daddy, Troy. She needs to put on some weight and grow into her skin - and she will in time!

Thursday, May 19, 2005: Connie, Betty & Carrie

A big day! Connie is discharged three days after arriving at the hospital unexpectedly and having an emergency C Section eight weeks before her due date. Scary stuff, but she and Troy got through it with flying colors - even though there were surely some tense moments!

Thursday, May 19, 2005: Troy & Lauren at 3-days-old

Next Troy tries his hand at changing a tiny diaper.

Thursday, May 19, 2005: Connie and Lauren at 3-days-old

Diaper Duty: It seems particularly hard to change a tiny baby's diaper through two holes in an incubator, but that's what Connie had to do here.

Thursday, May 19, 2005: Lauren at 3-days-old

Little Lauren is sleeping peacefully too. There's a caption on a wall in the Special Care Unit that says, "Quiet, please. Babies are sleeping and growing!"

Thursday, May 19, 2005: Justine at 3-days-old

Justine is sleeping so peacefully with her little legs and feet dangling over the edge of the comforter, a trait she certainly must have inherited from her Daddy Troy and Grandpa Bob.

Thursday, May 19, 2005: Betty & Connie

Betty and Connie visit the Special Care Unit. This is a big day: The babies are moved from open beds to incubators where they'll have more quiet and controlled climate. They also have IV's placed directly into their belly buttons for feedings.

Thursday, May 19, 2005: Troy

This is a perfect shot of the kind of diaper Justine and Lauren were wearing. It was the smallest diaper they made, but still fell off of Lauren.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005: Lauren at 2-days-ld

This is a great picture of the Special Care Unit where Justine and Lauren are spending their first weeks of life. It's amazing all the equipment and technology that is used to care for these precious little premature babies. In this photo, Lauren is sleeping under the jaundice light. The nurses made a cute sign for her - they made one for Justine too.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005: Carrie & Lauren at 2-days-old

This is Aunt Carrie, who arrived with Betty, to visit the babies. Carrie looks in on Lauren, who's wearing a special hat and lying under the light that counteracts jaundice. Troy said although the hospital took the precaution of treating jaundice, he and Connie never thought the babies' skin looked yellow - they always looked rosy and pink!

Wednesday, May 18, 2005: Lauren at 2-days-old

This is Betty's hand in relation to Lauren's size - at about 1 lb. 9 oz., Lauren is not much larger. Pretty incredible!

Wednesday, May 18, 2005: Betty & Justine at 2-days-old

Grandma Betty, Connie's mother, arrives with Carrie, Connie's sister who is also an MD, to visit her new twin granddaughters.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005: Troy & Justine at 2-days-old

Troy was at the hospital every minute he had to spare. Here he checks in on Justine, who is under the light to counteract the onset of jaundice, a yellowing of the skin. This is a condition that's common for preemies.

Wednesday, May 18, 2000: Connie & the Anesthesiologist
Here is Connie and the nice anesthesiologist who took Justine's picture in the delivery room when she was born. He's making rounds and stopped to visit Connie.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005: Connie
Mommy Connie is feeling a bit better at 8:22 AM two mornings later. Looks like she has a big breakfast to polish off, but it doesn't look like she has much of an appetite after the emergency C Section surgury two days before.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005: Lauren Ann at 26 hours old
This is little Lauren Ann one day after she was born six weeks early in Chicago at 1 lb. 13 oz. and 12" long on May 16, 2005 at 5:12 PM, two minutes after her sister, Justine.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005: Justine Marie at 26 hours old
This is Justine Marie one day after she was born. This photo was taken by her Dad, Troy, at about 7:42 PM.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005: Stephanie, Troy, Todd
More company to visit the proud Mom and Dad. Aunt Stephanie, left, and Uncle Todd, right, bring Minnie Mouse balloons to celebrate Justine and Lauren's arrival. The proud Dad, Troy, is standing in the middle.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005: Connie & Lynette
Here is Mommy, Connie, and one of her first visitors, her best friend Lynette from Indiana who visited on May 17, one day after the twins were born.

Monday, May 16, 2005: Marti
It should be explained that as our brand new baby granddaughters were being delivered in Chicago, Illinois, Bob and I were in the Alps in Switzerland! The babies weren't due until July 31. Our trip was to end on May 24, way before the due date. Little did we expect to get an international phone call from our daughter-in-law Stephanie when we were getting up at 9:30 AM in Interlaken, Switzerland on Tues., May 17 saying, "We've got babies!" After talking with Troy and being assured that the babies were in good hands at the hospital, we decided to continue our trip through Switzerland and on to France. Stephanie was able to get our lay-over in Chicago extended by 24 hours so we could see the babies before flying home to Las Vegas. We saw the babies for the first time on May 25 and those photos will appear later in a series of blog albums, Parts 2-5.

Monday, May 16, 2005: Justine Marie at 3-Minutes-Old
This is little Justine Marie at the moment she was born in Chicago six weeks early at 2 lb. 9 oz. and 15" long at 5:10 PM. This picture was taken by the anesthesiologist's camera phone for Dad and Mom, Troy and Connie. For some reason, though, he didn't catch Lauren just two minutes later at 5:12 PM. It probably got way too busy in that delivery room with two new preemie babies to care for within two minutes of one another.

Welcome to Justine Marie and Lauren Ann - Part 1

This is the story of Connie, Troy and Lexi (pictured in Puhrump, NV outside of Las Vegas in November 2002) and how their little family grew from three to five on May 16, 2005 with the arrival of Justine Marie and Lauren Ann, twins girls!