So content

Everything is still going so well.  Emilia, like her sister, has now turned into a lean, mean, eating maching :)  She can't seem to get enough.  We are meeting with her surgeon on Friday and for once I am actually looking forward to a hospital visit.  I just love showing her off!

Eva is coming on in leaps and bounds too.  She is an absolute delight.  I am constantly showered by smiles (not as many as Mr Turtle gets - but I'm not complaining) and she is just the cuddliest little munchkin.

I can safely say that I "get" the joy of being a parent.  I take back what I wrote in an earlier blog that you give up your own life for your children.  What a load of old rubbish.  It is an absolutely MASSIVE life change but one for the better.  There are so many things to look forward to and I love it.

I can't resist posting a few more pictures of my little cuties.

Enjoy :)

Emilia

One of my fears was that my little Emilia's personality had been changed by everything she has been through.  Before the sepsis infection, even at only 30 weeks old, we had got to know her.  She was a really content little girl.  We gave her a bath the day before she got sick and she was smiling and it was so lovely. After the infection she changed, not surprisingly and it was so clear that she was in pain for so long.  Even after the operation and well into the New Year, she was still not herself.  But nobody really knew that because it was only me and Jens who knew her before; it was such a difficult thing for me to have to come to terms with.  

She is lying under her baby gym right now, happily looking at her little hand, red christmas baubles and a smiley face.  She only cries when she is hungry or needs a nap.  She loves it when i sing to her and bounce her on my knee as if she is riding a little horse.  She sleeps well at night and takes good long naps during the day.  She loves to have a bath and take long walks in the frog pram.  Playing with Eva is another favourite :)

I took her to the lung Dr yesterday and he was happy with her progress.  She is scheduled to have a series of lung function tests in the middle March but he did not think there would be any problems after he listened to her chest.

Anyway, my little girl is back and it is just the best thing in the world.  Because even though I don't blame myself, it is still my body that failed us - it is just a fact.  But I can now just leave that in the past because Emilia  is doing so well.

Smiles

They brighten our day, everyday! I hope they do the same for yours :)

Eva

 Emilia

Dr update

So we just met with Eva and Emilia's neonatal Dr.  Eva got the all clear on every count and her development is the same as any 3 month old baby.  She is now smiling all the time and is engaging with us and her toys.  She has taken a particular liking to Mr Turtle, that Grandma Brown got for the twins.

She was also pleased with Emilia's progress, considering everything she has been through.  I asked her about the way Emilia moves and that she sometimes finds it hard to relax and she said that we can see her more as a newborn baby. The way she is progressing is to be expected.  Emilia has also started to smile and make eye contact, although she is unable to follow movement.  We have been told to engage with her at close range and to keep holding her tight to us.  We also talked about the amount Emilia is being sick and she is going to talk with Emilia's surgeon to see if she can start to take medicine that will help her with acid reflux.  She will let us know over the next couple of days.

We have left the hospital feeling really positive about things.  Emilia has made so much progress over the last couple of weeks that I am so certain that she is just going to go from strength to strength.  Emilia's development is to be expected whereas Eva's is much more than can be expected, considering she was born so early with such a low birth weight.  Both babies are moving in the right direction.  They are little individuals that have been on such different life journeys.

The future is bright :)