Angels in the NICU

Do you believe in angels? We do. There have been many times in our lives that we have experienced situations that prove the power of angels and God's love. This entry to our blog is to share with all of our friends and family the latest experience that we had that shows the awesome gift of God's love.

In our latest experience, the birth of our daughters, we saw angels everywhere. We saw them within our family and friends and especially at the hospital. There are many times in life where things are beyond our control. This was especially true in August. Everything was going perfectly normal in the pregnancy. There were no concerns about anything. Light bed rest was to begin at 28 weeks due to the fact that having multiples automatically qualifies you for a higher risk pregnancy.

Leading up to August 21st, Stephen had been out of town the week before and even took 4 vacation days following the business trip to spend at home. This mini vacation was to end on August 21st. Tiffany originally was scheduled to see the doctor on Monday, but moved the appointment in order to accomodate a meeting at school. It definitely makes you wonder what would have happened if Stephen was out of town a week later or if Tiffany left her appointment on Monday rather than moving it to Tuesday. She may have been in the middle of open house while also going into labor. In addition, Tiffany had just found out she had gestational diabetes the week before and needed to go on a special diet (a diet she was only on for one week). She didn't like the diet because she could not eat the proportions that were recommended and we needed to keep experimenting with different foods in order to keep her blood sugar levels in check.

On the morning of August 21st, we had prepared for the doctor visit and our daily chores. We needed to go shopping in order to accomodate her new diet (we still have this shopping list). While being told that Tiffany was dialated too much at 28 weeks and that we needed to go to the hospital, we were still expecting to go home that day. We truly thought that everything would be fine even when we found out she was having contractions. Drugs can do almost anything....correct? Not in this case. It wasn't until we noticed the nurses running around with a very serious look on their face that we knew this was not going to be any ordinary day. At this point, several hours later, we started to call the family to let them know what was going on. This is when the power of prayer really started to kick in. Our families were able to make it to the hospital in time for the birth of our girls. Stephen's parents unfortunately were not able to make it until a little after their birth since they helped by letting the dogs out. They had called to see if they could stop for dinner and at that time it looked as if they would have plenty of time. However, it was about 30 minutes later when it was determined that the babies were going to be born as soon as everything could be prepped. They were able to make it by the time the family was able to meet our girls for the first time - through the glass windows of the NICU.

The most agonizing part for Stephen was knowing that our babies were going to be born 12 weeks early and having to wait 10 minutes (which seemed like an eternity) for the doctors to prep Tiffany. Finally, the time had come for the babies to be born and prayers really began to work their magic. Both Alexis and Riley were born crying - which meant to us that they were breathing on their own (even though they would need oxygen support for a good portion of their stay in the NICU). The angels were with us that evening.

Then there were the angels in the NICU. During our 2 month stay in the NICU, we saw the work of angels each and every day. This was through the hands of each of the nurses and doctors that worked with our girls. Our families prayed along with us and God answered them by providing the best care for Alexis and Riley. We believe that are girls are as healthy as they are due to the care that was provided by the doctors and nurses. The level of care, understanding, support, and dedication was obvious. It was so hard to leave the hospital each day since we could not be with our girls, but it was necessary since the emotional and physical pressures were so overwhelming at times. We never worried when leaving the hospital because we knew the level of care our girls were going to receive. This was so obvious because when we would leave the NICU and look through the windows we would see the nurses spending time with the girls and talking to them. No matter how small this seems, this meant the world to us. The bonds created with the nurses was also unbelievably strong and supportive. They were like family to us. Anyone who could take care of our girls like they did in the Edward Hospital NICU is family to us. They were the angels looking after our girls. We are so thankful for everything they did for Alexis, Riley and us!

Now, the girls are both home. Riley is off the apnea monitor (see future blog entry for more on this). We enjoyed Thanksgiving and definitely did not forget to thank all of the angels that were there for our daughters in order to make sure they would be home with us. We are now preparing for their 1st Christmas. Alexis and Riley have been greatest blessing we have ever received and we have seen the power of God throughout the pregnancy and their birth.

Here are a few pictures of the angels in the NICU: