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| Welcome to the world....Eileen Patricia Johnson |
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| Welcome to the world...Margaret Carolyn Johnson |
We can hardly believe it but Eileen and Margaret are one week old today. They were born at 36 weeks/1 day on Friday, February 11. Eileen Patricia was born first at 10:42 pm and was 6lbs 12oz and 21 inches. Margaret Carolyn arrived at 11:09 pm and was 5lbs 14oz and 17 inches. I was induced Friday morning due to my low platelet count and as a safeguard against the potential complications of cholestatis which I developed late in my pregnancy. Unfortunately Eileen's lungs were not as developed as we all had thought and she had to go directly to the NICU when she was born. We were able to keep Margaret with us in the hospital and bring her home on Monday. It was a wonderful Valentine's day gift to come home with Margaret but heart wrenching to leave Eileen behind. Eileen was transferred to the ISCU (the step before home) nursery on Tuesday once she was able to breathe on her own and regulate her own temperature. It has been very hard to have Eileen not at home with us but we know she is in amazing hands at Swedish Hospital and we spend as much time as we can there feeding and caring for her (Rob has truly been amazing with this). We were so lucky to celebrate their one week birthday today by being allowed to bring Margaret into the ISCU to see Eileen. Neither seemed to be very aware of the other but Rob and I were overwhelmed with love seeing our two darling baby girls together. We didn't have a camera with us but our mental pictures of the moment will stay with us forever. Eileen is getting stronger by the day but we got some disappointing news today that she will need to stay at the hospital for at least another 5-7 days. Eileen can now take both the bottle and the breast like a champ but she needs to stay until all of her feedings are done via nipple instead of via a feeding tube. She is the sweetest little thing you ever did see. She is very patient and calm and loves bottle time with her dad and spending time skin to skin with her mom. Margaret is doing great at home. She is such a sweet girl and loves snuggling with her dad. She makes us laugh all the time with her funny little faces. She's teeny tiny compared to her sister but very, very strong. We can't wait for you all to meet the girls in person once Eileen is home and settled and we are so, so, so grateful for your love and support.
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| Margaret after her first bath |
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| Eileen lounging in the NICU |
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| Eileen in the ICSU...one step closer to home! |
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| Margaret having story time with Dad |
