Pictures ..... Fotos!!

Happy 6 months, Little Wonders!

I've been working on a video of the girls' NICU time for a while, and it seems pretty fitting to post it on their 6 months birthday. The last 12 months have been quite the journey, starting with an emotionally and physically draining IVF treatment, the nightmarish pregnancy due to the girls' TTTS, their premature delivery and time in the NICU and then those tough first few months at home. To look back at it all and see how far we've come is simply amazing. Happy 6 months birthday, Liana and Amaya.

Enjoy the video!
(P.S. Turn up your volume, my voice over at the beginning is a little soft.)



Es ist kaum zu glauben, dass Amaya und Liana schon 6 Monate alt sind. Ich habe ein kleines Video ueber ihre Zeit auf der Fruechenstation gemacht und dachte, dies sei ein angemessener Anlass, um es auf den Blog zu stellen! Die letzten 12 Monate waren eine aufregend-anstrengende Zeit, und zu sehen, wie weit wir schon gekommen ist, ist einfach unglaublich!

Pictures ..... Fotos!!

We had these pictures taken on the girls' due date - July 13. They were 10 weeks old that day.

Wir haben diese Fotos am eigentlichen Geburtstermin der Maedels machen lassen, am 13. Juli. Die beiden waren an dem Tag genau 10 Wochen alt.

Sister love. Liana in yellow, Amaya in white.

Little Angel Amaya

Mom with her two loves. Liana left, Amaya right

"Mom, stop kissing me!"

No worries, I don't usually let the babies sleep on the dresser :)

Lil' Liana

Happy 2 month birthday, babies!

Yesterday, the babies turned 2 months old. Of course, they don't look or act like typical two-month olds ... which is no surprise considering the fact that they're still not even supposed to be born yet! (My due date was July 13). They are doing very well, though. After 7 weeks in the NICU/Special Care Nursery, they came home at the end of June ... and have been keeping us plenty busy since :) Here are a few pictures.


Gestern wurden die Zwillinge 2 Monate alt! Sie verhalten sich natuerlich nicht wie typische 2-Monate alte Babies, und sehen auch noch nicht so aus ... immerhin waeren sie eigentlich immer noch nicht geboren! (Ihr Geburtstermin war der 13. Juli). Aber sie wachsen und nehmen zu und es geht ihnen gut. Nach 7 Wochen auf der Fruechenstation kamen sie Ende Juni nach Hause ... und haben uns seither maechtig auf Trab gehalten :) Hier ein paar Fotos.

Sister love. Liana left, Amaya right.
Schwesternliebe. Liana links, Amaya rechts.

They're two handsful!
Wir haben beide Haende voll zu tun!

Daddy napping with Liana.
Papa beim Nickerchen-machen mit Liana.

Our daughters are here! -- Unsere Toechter sind da!

Our apologies for not updating this blog for such a long time, but the last few months were about as crazy as they get. After our laser surgery in Texas to reverese our babies Twin-to-Twin-Transfusion Syndrome, Esther ended up on bedrest for preterm labor. Mid-March, the babies started taking another turn for the worse, and Esther was admitted to Abbott Hospital, where she spent the next 8 weeks on strict hospital bedrest under constant monitoring for the babies' well-being. We were told that our daughters could be born any day, and were so thankful that they didn't make their arrival until May 4th, 2009.

Liana Sophia was born at 11:13am, weighing 2lbs 6oz. Her sister Amaya Noel was born a minute later, weighing 2lbs 12 oz.

They are both doing great, especially considering all the complications they endured during the pregnancy and their resulting prematurity. They are now at Minneapolis Children's NICU, where they are slowly growing and gaining weight. Here are some pictures:

Esther holding Amaya.

The proud parents will little Liana.

Es tut uns echt leid, dass wir diesen Blog schon seit Ewigkeiten nicht mehr auf den aktuellen Stand gebracht haben ... aber die letzten Monate hatten es in sich. Nach Esther's Laser-OP in Texas Mitte Februar, die das Zwillingstransfusions-Syndrom der Babies aufheben sollte, traten eine Woche spaeter die ersten Wehen auf, so dass Esther Bettruhe verordnet wurde. Am 16. Maerz wurde bei einer Untersuchung festgestellt, dass es den Babies wieder nicht gut ging. Die folgenden 8 Wochen hat Esther unter strenger Bettruhe im Krankenhaus verbracht, wo die Babies staendig dur Ultraschall, Herzfrequenz-monitor, usw. beobachtet wurden. Uns wurde gesagt, dass man sie eventuell jeden Tag holen muesste. Wir sind deshalb sehr dankbar, dass sie es noch bis zum 4. Mai 2009 ausgehalten haben, bevor sie per Kaiserschnitt geboren wurden.

Liana Sophia erblickte um 11.13 Uhr das Licht der Welt und wog 1070 gr. Ihre Schwester Amaya Noel wurde eine Minute spaeter geboren und wog 1260gr.

Es geht ihnen erstaunlich gut, aber dennoch werden sie die naechsten 6-8 Wochen auf der Fruechen-Intensivstaion verbringen.

Houston, we have a problem.

No sooner had we returned from Germany and at a routine ultrasound we received the terrible news that our identical twin girls were suffering from Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). Basically, one of the girls has been receiving too much blood and the other too little, all via the blood vessels in their shared placenta. If left untreated, the mortality rate is about 90%. It is treatable, though not curable, so we hopped on a plane and flew down to Houston, Texas for laser surgery on the placenta. We spent about 5 days down there and returned home this past Tuesday evening. The surgery appears to have been successful, but there are no guarantees and it only increases their chance of survival. So we wait and we pray. Esther's at about 20 weeks and we need to make it another 10 weeks to give these girls a good chance of making it as preemies. We do appreciate your prayers for our two little ones, and so you can pray for them by name, it's time to let you know what they are!

Liana Sophia (Baby A - the recipient twin with too much blood)
Amaya Noel (Baby B - the donor twin with too little)

Liana is Hebrew and means, "My God has answered." Sophia is Greek for wisdom. Amaya is Japanese and means "night rain". And Noel is associated with Christmas and the miracle of Jesus' birth.

Here's some pics of our time in Houston.

This was right after surgery: talking to family in Germany.

One of our favorite doctors (we only had favorite doctors!!) checking in on the babies post-surgery.

Our new friends Kim and Nate with their TTTS-Survivors.

Aren't they adorable??

Two wonderful new friends who took care of us, the Knakes.

This is the chair Bjorn lived in for 2 days :)

Finally heading home.

Trip to Germany - Deutschlandreise

We were so excited when we got the okay to go on one last trip to Germany - despite Esther's twin pregnancy being considered a high risk one. It was going to be our last trip ever, after all, traveling without children in tow. Also, we hadn't had the chance to meet my sister's baby boy born in October ... so the trip was more than overdue. And we had a fabulous time! Due to Esther's ever present morning and motion sickness, we didn't do a lot of traveling while there ... but stuck close to my family's house to spend time with Esther's parents, siblings, and her grandma. Bjorn helped out on the construction of Rebecca and Thomas' house for a day - it's amazing how quickly it's coming together. With all the fun we had, the 10 days were over way too quickly - but we're so thankful we got to make this trip.

Wir waren super froh, als wir von unserem Arzt das grüne Licht für den Flug nach Deutschland erhalten haben ... obwohl sie Esther's Zwillingsschwangerschaft eigentlich als Risikoschwangerschaft eingestufen. Immerhin war dies unsere letzte Reise, bei der wir noch noch keine Kinder im Schlepptau hatten! Ausserdem hatten wir unseren Neffen Jeremias, den Sohn von Esther's Schwester Rebecca und ihrem Mann Thomas, noch nicht persönlich kennengelernt, obwohl er schon Anfang Okotber geboren war. Es war also höchste Zeit für eine Deutschlandreise!
Aufgrund Esther's ständiger Übelkeit sind wir nicht so viel unterwegs gewesen, sondern haben in erster Linie Zeit mit Esther's Eltern, Geschwistern, und ihrer Oma verbracht. Bjorn half auch mal einen Tag auf der Baustelle von Thomas und Rebecca's Haus ... es sieht schon fast bewohnbar aus :)! Bei dem ganzen Spass, den wir hatten, vergingen die 10 Tage dort natürlich viel zu schnell ... aber wir sind echt total dankbar, dass wir diese Reise machen konnten.