Greetings from the hospital-

We said that we'd be updating on Fridays unless there was a change worth sharing. Well, we've had some recent changes over the past few days worth sharing. On Sat, November 16th I went into labor, and the fantastic team of doc's and nurses did everything in their power to help slow it down, but baby A had had enough of being cooked at that point. So.....here's the update:
We were doing our normal evening routine of monitoring and learned that baby a's heart beat was above normal range, so I was put on a fluid IV to help bring the heart beat down. Everyone cooperated, and I was taken off IV's and we went to bed.
I woke-up for my 1 am vital check, went to the bathroom, and felt a contraction. This was not new, as I have had them off and on throughout our hospital stay. I let the nurse know, and we decided to put me back on the monitor to be safe. Unfortunately, meds, the IV, and repositioning did not slow down the contractions. The exam from the OB doc resulted in no signs of dilation, and did not feel it was necessary to move towards surgery. However, contractions increased, I was laboring, and baby a's heart had been tyachacardic for longer than they wanted. Around 6 am the surgeon was called and everything happened very fast.
I went in for the c-section, and by that time baby A had gotten pretty low, so they needed to do a "vaginal assist" to pretty much push baby A back up to birth her breached via the c-section. Baby B came shortly after that. We learned that we were the parents of two baby girls!! They were immediately handed over to the NICU team as I went to recovery.
So, we are excited to announce the birth of...
Vivian Louise Burns born 11/17/2019 @ 6:19 am 1 lb 9 oz (Baby A) and
Eloise Michelle Burns born 11/17/2019 @ 6:20 am 1 lb 12 lbs (Baby B)!!!!
Below is general overview of some of the complications that have come along with our journey...
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Little Vivian and Eloise will be in the NICU at least until their original due date (mid-Feb 2020). Right now Eloise is working on breathing on her own, will be on a cpap machine, and is being tube-fed. She is being kept under a heat light to ward off jaundice, and as of yesterday has been OKed to be held by mom and dad :-)
Vivian is our little fighter who has been without amniotic fluids for the past month-plus. Due to that, she has not developed the lung capacity to breath on her own, and will remain intubated for the foreseeable future. She had had numerous blood and plasma transfusions, and it took a team of docs appx. 24 hours to get an IV-type tube placed into her due to her veins being so small. She has struggled with some clotting and internal fluids and is not OKed to be held by anyone at this time. Zach has been going to doctor rounds for the past 2 mornings to stay up-to-date with how they are moving forward to keep her thriving. We learned this morning that she had a stable evening, and that they have successfully gotten a line into a vein!
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Concerns and complications will continue, and we will probably not update Caring Bridge everyday, but will do our best to update more frequently. Feel free to reach out to us with questions at ANY time.
In the meantime, Zach and I are doing as well as we can be as I recover. I have been able to hold Eloise 2 times now, which is the BEST feeling in the world. Zach has continued to be my rock, held my hand, rubbed my head, and laughed and cried with me through the labor and delivery process. We will be relocating to the cities for the next few months, having to put our life in Duluth on hold.
We have been blessed with so much support, and we ask for it to continue especially now that we're mom and dad to Vivian and Eloise as they start their life in the NICU together.
We have continued to be impressed with the excellent care we are receiving from the team here. In a way, the doc's and nurses have become an extension of our family. So much so, that we asked the chaplain to facilitate a naming ceremony for us with our parents present. We were able to walk a labyrinth together as a family, hold hands, send energy to the girls, and share our hopes and wishes for Vivian and Eloise as they have had their own unique experience entering this world.
We look forward to sharing their upward progress soon, as well as ways that people can support us in the near future.
-With continued love and gratitude,
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