The Twins! Audrey Marie Usher 3 lbs, 2 oz - 15 1/4" long William Michael Usher 2 lbs, 6 oz - 14 1/8" long

February 15th
We found out that Misty was pregnant.

March 3
Misty had a complication the night before and we went to the emergency room in Minden. The next day she went to Dr. Kemmerly's office to get checked out. Later on in the day I was at work eating lunch when I saw Misty walk by outside.  I went out to see her and she was talking to her Dad on the phone smiling a little and she said to him, "Well, Bill's here and he doesn't know yet so I'll let you go".  I knew that she didn't have a miscarriage because she had a little grin on her face, but if her exam had gone without a problem, why would she come see me at work?

Then she showed me this sonogram:

Since then Misty has had a very bumpy ride with the twins. She was put on bed rest for a week because of a partial placenta abruption (the placenta tears away from the uterus). The bleeding stops after the bed rest and all is well for awhile.

July 24 - After having to take the test twice, Misty is diagnosed with gestational diabetes and has to take insulin medicine, go on a strict 1800 calorie diet, and prick her finger several times a day. The good news is the medicine is working so she doesn't have to give herself shots.

July 25 - Bill and Misty go to the doctor's office for a routine ultrasound and Misty almost passes out in the middle of the scan for no apparent reason whatsoever. The twins look good, but we got no good pics because they are so crowded in there it's hard to make anything out. They are 29 weeks at this point and both babies are breech.

July 29 - Friday
Dr. Kemmerly called Misty to tell her that he is concerned about the difference in weight between the twins and the amniotic fluid levels. His office called LSU Med Center to make an appointment with a neonatologist to do a level 2 ultrasound. When they received Misty's history they said they wanted her to be admitted right away. We arrived at LSU at 3:30pm. They did an ultrasound to measure amniotic fluid levels among other things. She was kept in the labor and delivery ward over night hooked up to every possible thing that one could be. Blood pressure sleeve, I.V. fluids, catheter, heart monitors for each baby and a toco monitoring any contraction...ALL NIGHT! They are watching the symptoms she has for preeclampsi. She also received the first shot of steroids to accelerate the baby's lung development. I slept on a chair/bed.

July 30 - Saturday
Still on all the monitors, no sign of a doctor. Nana and Pappy (Terry & Phyllis) arrived around 11:30am. Finally in the afternoon Misty gets a doctor to answer some questions. Misty is put in a room and given dinner. I picked up Matt, Julie and Madison at the airport and came back to the Hospital. Matt and I went home for the night.
 

July 30 - Sunday
Dr. Groom (neonatologist) did the level 2 ultrasound and found there is discordant growth and the boy has much lower fluid levels than the girl.

Aug 3 - Wednesday (Nine weeks before their due date)
12:20pm - Misty called to tell me that her water broke on the boy's side and was moved back to the labor and delivery floor. She was back again on all the monitors and in an uncomfortable stretcher for a bed. The nurse said Misty could go on like this and be moved back to her other room, and checked more often.

3:45pm - She is having contractions about every 7 minutes. The nurses checked her cervix and said there is no change. We don't know if she is dilated at all.

6:15pm - Contractions are still around 7 minutes apart. A fourth year med student doctor thinks that they will probably have to do the section tonight, but he is waiting for the staff doctor to get here for the decision.

8:30pm - Dr. Hurt examined her cervix and she was 2-3 cm dilated so he decided to go ahead with the section. The boy's heart rate was not doing very well when Misty was having contractions. I'm in my scrubs and waiting to go in the ER. Misty is being prepped for surgery.

9:15pm - They finally let me go in with Misty. I watched as they did the section and I tried to comfort Misty.

9:32pm - They pulled Will out and his skin looked very white. They took him to a side room and within a few seconds we could hear little cries from him.

9:35pm - After working to get her turned into a good position because she was transverse, they were able to get Audrey out. They took her to the side room as well. They brought Audrey to us swaddled in a blanket and let Misty give her a birthday kiss, then I got to hold her for a minute. They wheeled the incubator by with Will inside for us to see and he had his eyes open and was moving his tongue and mouth around. They put Audrey in with him and took them up to the NICU. I continued to watch and comfort Misty as they stitched her back up for about ten minutes. They asked me to leave so they could finish cleaning Misty and I went to make all the phone calls. Carol and Charlie and Hunter Brown came to visit. The doctors seemed to take a long time getting Misty back to her room and we all went in to see her.

11:10pm - Nana & Pappy (the Thibodeaux's) arrived. After visiting for a little while and getting Misty checked and on some Morphine, Nana, Pappy and I went to see the babies.

11:30pm - Audrey Marie Usher, 3lbs 2.4ozs. Don't be fooled by these pictures. They look like fat little babies, but they are very tiny.

We have to wash elbows to hands for three minutes every time we go in to see the babies. We saw Audrey first. She had a lot of tubes hooked up to her. Heart rate monitor, IV tube, a tube sucking stuff out of her mouth and a ventilator lightly blowing oxygen into her lungs to keep them open. Her legs were stretched apart like she was doing the splits. The doctor said they were like that because she was breech for a long time in the womb and that it will go away. She is very tiny. She hasn't opened her eyes that I have seen. Her color looks better, she is nice and pink.

11:45pm - William Michael Usher, Jr, 2lbs 6.1ozs

Will was doing better than his sister. He was breathing on his own and had good color. They had a pacifier in his mouth that he was sucking on. He is even more tiny than Audrey. His foot is about as big as my thumb. His little limbs are long and skinny. They both have some brown hair. He opened his eyes and looked at us a few times. The doctor spoke positively about them and said they both are doing very well. They are on IV nutrition and will be getting sugar water and soon will be on a feeding tube to receive breast milk.

Aug 4th - Thursday
12 :30am - Pappy showed Misty pictures of the babies and I showed her the video. We snuck Matt into her recovery room to see her and he was so happy. It took about another hour before they were done with Misty and released her back to her old room. Nana and Pappy were back up visiting the twins and met us in the room.

3:00am - Finally Misty is settled into her bed and the rest of us are drained and about to pass out. Nana decides to sleep on the recliner in Misty's room. I tried to convince Pappy to come with me to Julie's house, but he decided to sleep in the waiting room down the hall.

7:30am - Misty called me for some personal information for the hospital and to make a final decision on the names. Misty went to see the twins for the first time with her parents but it was very painful for Misty. She got to hold Will and see Audrey. After getting back to her room she got some more meds to ease her pain. Her incision goes from the belly button all the way down. It's about 6-7 inches long with 25 staples.

Audrey with the respirator (C-PAP)

Will looking around - 11 hours old

Aug 5 - Friday
7:30am - 12:30pm - Breakfast and breathing exercises. Misty is finally able to take a shower. This makes her feel better and her spirits are much better. We tried the breast pump for about 10 minutes. Nana and Pappy got here and we all went up to see the twins. Audrey still has the c-pap on and seems to be doing well. She was not fussy at all. The nurse said she has lost a a few ounces since yesterday. She looks like she will look like Misty. She has Misty's lips and chin, but we can't tell about the rest of her face with all the monitors in the way. Will is doing great. We were able to hold him and he was opening his eyes the entire time we were there. He seemed to be responding to our voices as he looked around. Will looks just like Bill, but with Misty's mouth. Will was started on photo-therapy today because he is jaundice. His liver is underdeveloped and can't get rid of the bilirubin in his body, which makes him look yellow. Audrey will most likely be put under the "bili-lights" tommorow.

Aug 6 - Saturday
The doctors think they may have to put Audrey on a breathing machine that would breath for her because she is not able to regulate her breathing on her own. The machine is by her bed just in case. Her breathing is raspy and sounds very labored. She looks so tired, breathing is hard work for her.

Nana Sandy drove in today and got to hold Will.

Aug 7 - Sunday
The breathing machine is still by Audrey's bed, ready for her. Both babies are still on IV's for nutrition and hydration. Misty was released from the hospital. We all went out to eat at On The Border, then Terry and Phyllis left to go back to Baton Rouge and the rest of us went to Julie's house. After I filled prescriptions and got ice cream for the kids, we left Julie and Madison and went back to the hospital to see the twins and then finally back to Arcadia. Audrey starts her photo-therapy for jaundice today.

This is an email that Nana Phyllis sent when she got home.

Hello everyone. We are finally home; it was very hard leaving the babies in the hospital. Audrey has really had a struggle; she has underdeveloped lungs and as you know has been on the C-Pap. They finally removed the C-Pap and you can see a little blood in her nose, her nose is smushed and turned up a little. She had a rough morning, but I talked to Misty tonight and she said her evening visit was much better. She has a bruise under her arm and on her back from delivery, her hands have bruises from the IVs, both feet have bruises too. She looks like she has been a few rounds with Mohammed Ali. There is a noticeable difference from the picture we sent you on day one. Hopefully she is on the right track now. The nurses tell us to be prepared to take two steps forward and one step back. Please continue to pray for her, she is so precious, she will just hold on to your finger as if to say “Help Me”.

Picture # 07 was Audrey’s day one.

Picture # 45 was taken today Aug. 7th. She hasn’t been able to open her eyes because of the C-Pap. Today was the first time she could actually see us. I will send pictures of William (Will) next.

Please continue to pray for them and for Misty.

- Hello again! Here are a few shots of Will. He was supposed to be the twin with all the problems, but as it turns out God answered our prayer for him and he is a little fighter. We can already see his personality and has absolutely won our hearts over! He has been breathing on his own since birth. He has had a few little episodes where his heart rate dropped.

Preemies only breath through their nose, they have not learned yet how to breath and suck at the same time. They will not know that instinctively for several more weeks. If you give them a pacifier they will suck on it until they turn blue which is exactly what Will tries to do. They need to suck, but they will only let them do so for a very short period of time. Will watches you and will follow you with his eyes, he responds to your voice, he has even smiled a couple of times, especially when you tell him about his dog Lucy.

Matthew got to see him for the first time Saturday, but only through the glass. They only let the parents and the grandparents in the NICU. Matthew says Will has creepy eyes! He looks like a little old man with a lot of skin! At the rate he’s going, he will fill out that skin real soon. He is very laid back, sometimes you go in to see him and he looks like he’s kicked back on a beach somewhere just enjoying the attention wide awake just taking it all in. One day we walked in and he had his legs propped up on a little blanket with his ankles crossed and his arms behind his head. It’s almost like he’s at a spa waiting for his sister to get better so they call all go home.

Picture #01 was taken the day he was born. Don’t be fooled by the size of the pacifier, it’s a tiny little preemie pacifier, not a normal size one!

The next were taken I think Friday. In picture #18 you can see how small he is in comparison to Terry’s hand. You can almost hold him in one hand. He was under the ultra violet light getting a sun tan today. He was turning a little jaundice. Audrey will probably be under one tomorrow, she was looking a little yellow too. They will probably be in the hospital until they weigh 4 to 5 pounds. They say premature babies usually go home on their scheduled due date which is September 29th. Will weighed 2 pounds 6 ounces at birth, and he lost a few ounces (which is normal), he now weighs 2 pounds 4 ounces. They usually gain ½ ounce per day. Audrey weighed 3 pounds 2 ounces and now weighs 3 pounds and 0 ounces. She has had to work really hard to breath and hasn’t been able to tolerate milk yet. They tried milk one day and had to put her back on IV liquids.

Thanks so much for your prayers and please, please continue to pray for them

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