The Twins' Arrival and Week 1

Easter Sunday of 2006 will always be a special day in the Johns family. Rebecca was 28 weeks and 2 days officially and the previous week had called it quits at work so she could rest at home. We were hoping to make it to the last of May, first of June for delivery. She had a busy Saturday and was physically drained as she was getting so uncomfortable with the pregnancy. Sunday morning I could tell she was miserable and asked her to stay at home and rest. The hard-head that she is, she didn't want to miss out on Easter Sunday at Church and the annual lunch and easter basket swap at her parents' house. During church, she went to the nursery and laid on the floor. Our doctor told us that the pain she was feeling was "round Ligament pain". He said she could take some pain medicine and it would help. After getting her home Sunday afternoon, she took the medicine and laid down. This didn't help the pain and I told her we were going to the hospital.

After arriving at the hospital, she continued to have these pains. They continued to get more severe each time. The nurse wanted to check her to see if she had dilated. I could see the nurse's eyes and knew something wasn't right. She said the she was dilated at 4 cm. The nursing staff immediately administered Magnesium sulfate in hopes to slow the contractions. They also gave her a steroid shot. This shot was to go to the babies to help speed up their lung growth for an early delivery. They hoped they could slow her contractions down so that we could wait days, possible 2 weeks for delivery. We knew we weren't coming out of the hospital without the babies at this point and hoped we could hold off delivery for some time.

She continued to have these contractions and shortly after arriving on the eighth floor at Centennial Women's, she was measured again. This time she was 7 cm and everyone started preparing for an emergency C-section. The doctor's and nurses did an outstanding job preparing us for what was going to happen and getting us ready.

At 9:56 P.M. Abigail Reese Johns was born weighing in at 2 lbs. 3 oz.


One minute later, 9:57 P.M. Ansley Reagan Johns was born at 1 lb. 7 oz. They were immediately taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. (NICU) Both girls were breathing on their own when I was invited to come see them.

Monday, April 17th: Ansley was put on the ventilator to help her breathe as her little body got tired doing this new task on her own. Abigail was given a C-PAP which also gives a little pressure to help lungs stay open. Both girls were given good reports and were resting nicely. Mommy was able to visit with her babies for the first time.

Tuesday, April 18th: There was really no change. Ansley's blood gases came back with CO2 levels elevated, so they turned up the ventilator. Abigail had a great day.

Wednesday, April 19th: Again, Ansley's gases were abnormal, so they continued with the elevated levels on the ventilator. Both girls were having spells where they forget to breathe. Fortunately in the NICU, there is a nurse right by the bed to help them remember.

Thursday April 20th: Abigail was able to move down to a Nasal Cannula. This is what you see with adult patients in the hospital or at the store with two little prongs in her nose to give just a little oxygen when she needed it. Ansley was still on the C-PAP and her CO2 levels in her blood were decreasing!! So they were able to turn the respirator down a bit. Rebecca was able to hold Abigail that evening.

Friday, April 21st: Today was a very difficult day. We had to leave the girls in the hospital and go home. It was made easier by the girls having a great day. They were both resting well and all their monitors were showing good signs.

Saturday, April 22nd: Today was another good day for the girls. Ansley was taken off the ventilator and given the C-PAP her sister had been on. Abigail was resting well. She was having spells where she would forget to breathe. This is normal for premature babies. We were told that Ansley had a heart murmur and that they would treat it with three doses of medicine. We called Saturday night to check and after 2 doses the murmur was still present.

Sunday, April 23, Today the girls are 1 week old!! Abigail was having her breathing spells more often today and we expect her to go back on the C-Pap to give her lungs a little added pressure to remember to breathe. Ansley was doing well. She was checked after her third dose of medicine, and the heart murmur was gone!! We left them alone today so that they can get some rest.

Monday, April 24th. Rebecca was able to go to the doctor today to get her staples taken out. I was able to go back to work after a week away. After her appointment, her mom brought her to the hospital and I met them there to see the girls. Abigail was put back on the CPAP machine and she hadn't had any more spells in the 4 hours since. Today was the first time Ansley was able to be held. Rebecca Kangaroo'd with her for about 25 minutes and it was great. Ansley is a cuddler. She seemed very calmed by mommy's touch and that was neat. Her sister, much like her father, would rather just stay to herself most of the time, but does enjoy kangarooing with mom as well. We went back tonight to bathe Ansley for the first time. They disconnected her from all of her monitors as we did this and it made Daddy a bit nervous!! When we hooked her back up to the monitors, she did perfect and her SPO2 level was at 100%!!

Up to this date, I have been writing in past tense as we just set this blog up today. We will do our best every evening to give updates so that we won't leave anything out. I apologize for my bad grammar and writing skills. I am sure that Rebecca will be able to make this blog much better as she is able to moderate future posts. Thank you for your continued prayers and keep checking back on our girls.

Eric Johns