A Message From Lily...

Hi! My name is Lillian Nicole, but you can call me Lily. I was born June 18, 2008 at 1:09pm. I weighed in at 3lbs 4oz. and was 15 1/3 inches long. I am beautiful!

My twin sister Flora Jane is in heaven. She was stillborn on June 18, 2008 at 1:07pm. She weighed 1lb 3oz. She was beautiful too. My Mommy and Daddy will never forget her.

Please forgive my Mommy for not replying to emails, messages, comments and phone calls. She is spending all of her time in the NICU with me. This is a very difficult time for her and my Daddy. My Mommy tells me that I make her feel so happy...she doesn't have words to describe the way my sister Flora and I have changed her life.

I am doing very well. I am breathing on my own now and I am beginning to gain weight again. In order to go home I need to be eating only from the bottle and breast (no tube feeding) and be able to maintain my body temperature in an open crib. If everything goes well I will be coming home at the beginning of August. My Mommy and Daddy can hardly wait!

Thank you all for praying for me, my sister and my Mommy and Daddy. Please keep praying for me to grow bigger and stronger. I can't wait to meet you all!

Baby Update 6-12-2008

We still have 2 heartbeats. Thank you God for giving us another week with both of our baby girls!

Our bigger baby continues to do well. Our doctors are hopeful that the surgery to separate our babies shared blood vessels has protected her. We are so happy that she is doing well. Please keep her in your prayers.

Unfortunately we did not get good news regarding our smaller baby this week. She is very sick and our doctors don't expect her to survive. Our doctors don't pretend to know what the future holds for us and our babies and they have encouraged us not to give up hope. And we are not giving up hope. Our hope is for what is best for our littlest baby girl. We are confident that she feels safe and loved and is not feeling any pain where she is right now. We are still praying for a miracle, but we want to protect her from any unnecessary pain. She is so strong and definitely has a fighting spirit. Please continue to pray for our littlest baby.

We had to face some tough questions and answers this week, but hopefully we are now better able to make an educated decision on when it is best to deliver our babies. Time will tell what is in store for us and our babies, but for now we are thankful for everyday we get to spend knowing both of our babies are still with us.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful, caring people.

Baby Update 6-5-2008

We still have 2 strong heart beats. A reason to be thankful. Thank you God!

Our bigger baby is doing well. She weighs around 2.5 pounds now and is developing right on schedule. She is a trooper and just keeps moving ahead. Please keep her in your prayers.

Our smaller baby still has a strong heart beat and shows signs of improved blood flow through her umbilical artery (not exactly sure what that means though). Unfornately she did not grow over the last 3 weeks. We were very upset by this news at our appointment on Tuesday, but after our appointment today we have new found reason for hope. Our doctor said that it is disappointing that she did not grow, but that her lungs and other systems are still developing. Right know she weighs around 15 ounces; approximately the size of a 22 week, 2 day old baby and I am 28 weeks. If she doesn't grow anymore, when she is born she will be the size of a 22 week, 2 day old baby, but she will be stronger because her lungs and other systems will be more advanced. This gives us reason for hope. We are still praying that she will grow, but it is good to know that she still has a fighting chance even if she doesn't. Please keep praying for her to grow and show other signs of improvement.

For now we will continue to evaluate weekly to determine when is the best time to deliver our babies.

Some days it is tough for us to remember the positive aspects of our pregnancy. We really have many things to be thankful for.

We still have 2 strong little girls; one of them is doing very well and the other is so strong and determined to make it.

We have endless family and friends that care so much and have shown us such generosity and compassion.

We have an excellent medical team that cares about us and our babies.

We have taken this opportunity to learn about each other as husband and wife and have grown so much through this experience. We now know without a doubt how much we mean to each other. And we will be more prepared for other obstacles that we may encounter throughout the rest of our lives together as a couple and as parents.

And most of all we still have hope and faith that we will all make it through this.

Please keep praying...we are praying for a miracle.

Thank you all so much. We love you!