Friday, September 24, 2010

Homeward Bound

Laurel and Julia are now 1 month old! Julia is about 5 pounds and starting to get fat cheeks! Laurel is still in the NICU, and they have not been able to locate any specialist here to see her. Her doctor recommended transfering her to the US. Chris's company got their International medical team involved, and they decided the US would be best, also. So, our plans are to transport her to Houston as soon as possible. First, we have to get their birth certificates and then their passports - not an easy job here where every document has to be "attested" several times, the father must be present, the paperwork has to be translated into English (if you want!). I have been to the US Embassy - they wouldn't even let me in! Finally, after a few phone calls, I got someone to come out of the Embassy and talk to me. Everything has to wait until after the weekend! We are hoping to be able to leave for Houston by Wednesday. Laurel will go by air ambulance, and we will go on a commercial airline. This sounds dramatic, but it is quite common here for those who are able to seek care elsewhere. Laurel is stable but requires the ET tube to hold her trachae open. Her "seizures" are questionable - the MRI looks good. She just needs some specialists to diagnose her problems and start treatment/therapies/etc. The exact hospital she will be admitted to in Houston is still undetermined, but we are hoping for Texas Childrens.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

More Pictures

Jolee (with Julia - 12 days old) loves being a big sister!
Laurel Jenae doing much better - 10 days

Julia Heidi on her way home!!!
Julia going home - 8 days
Mommy forgot the socks!
Laurel - 6 days

Downtown Dubai


Here are our latest pictures. Julia went for a weight check today and now weighs a whopping 2kg! Laurel's eye and mouth infections are clearing up. Jolee calls Laurel the "baby in the box (incubator)" and Julia the "baby with wrinkly skin"!!! We are looking forward to meeting some homeschoolers in Dubai on Thursday to ice skate. We missed the homeschool activity today because of a traffic accident across the 7 lane highway - a garbage truck lost a tire - took us 3 times longer to get home!



Monday, September 13, 2010

Pictures!


Laurel and Julia - 3 days old
Happy Birthday to Me
Julia - 2 days old


Julia - 1 day old



Starbucks in Ibn Battan Mall




Chris's top corner office

Friday, September 10, 2010

Life is Definitely a Circus!

Sorry we have not been updating everyone. Everything has happened and
we have had no internet access until today! Apparently they did not
lay any internet lines in our neighborhood. So now I have over a
thousand emails to read!

We moved into our house the middle of August as planned. We have a few
curtains to hang and a few pieces of furniture still to buy, but for
the most part, it is home! We got our Surburban this week. Chris is
enjoying his work - he travels to an adjoining emirate once or twice a
week (30 mins away) and goes to India once a month for a few days to
check on the engineers there.

The twins were born Aug 26 by c-section, 2 days before Angela and my
birthday! They were 34 weeks and weighed 1.7 and 1.9kg, 45 and 44cm -
about 3lbs 10 oz and 4 lbs and 17 inches long. Twin B (Laurel Jenae)
had polyhydramnious that was expanding daily and squishing Twin A
(Julia Heidi). I was being monitored twice a day the last week. The
Fetal Specialist had suspected twin-to-twin transfusion since I was 3
months pregnant. So I called Chris to come home from India and we had
the twins the next day. Twin B (Laurel) was born first, didn't cry,
and after awhile decided not to breathe. Twin A (Julia) was born 1 min
later and did well. She spent a week in the NICU and has been home a
week. She is tiny but breastfeeds well. Laurel is still in the NICU
and is still entubated. She breathes on her own but her airway
collapses when the tube is removed. The MD thinks there never was any
twin-to-twin transfusion, but that Laurel was not swallowing much of
the amniotic fluid. The hosp she is in (American Hospital) does not
have a Neonatal ENT, so they are considering transfering her to a hosp
that has that and other specialists for a ent work up - maybe tracheo-
malacia? Also, she has had seizures twice that are under control with
phenobarbital -the MRI and the EEG look good but were sent out for a
second opinion. And her feet turn in at the ankle - the orthopedic
will start castings next week - a 3 to 6 month process, no surgery
required. She is off all IV fluids and is on full breastmilk feeds via
a gavage tube from her mouth to her stomach. She seems to improve
daily, but needs the specialists to see her for a full diagnosis. The
other hospitals are full, so we are waiting, trying to be patient! I do have pictures, so hopefully I can add them to the blog. The twins appear to look
like Mom!

The other kids are doing well. Timothy has made friends with 2
brothers in our church mtg - he has spent the night there twice - they all
like soccer and computer games! The family with 2 girls has returned
to Dubai. So there are quite a few kids in our mtg! We have Friday
morning gospel mtg or Bible Study and Sunday evening mtg (Sunday is a work day). Jolee has become quite the big sister - sleeps with her big sisters. Now if I could get herto use the toilet, I'd have it made!

The last month has been Ramadan here - the Muslims fast all day until
the sun sets and then feast all night! Not much work gets done during
the day - they get to leave work at 2pm. The shops open back up at 9pm
and are open until at least midnight. But there is no public eating or
drinking during the day - very inconvienent! If you are caught, there
is a steep fine and a jail term! We are quite glad it is over today!

Hope all is well with each one there. I know you think it has been hot
and humid there, but I think we might find it refreshing!