Saving Li'l Smokey

Fun Playtime

Adam — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:09:24 +0000

What can we cay? Our life is 24/7 babies right now. Every day they get more interactive and funny.

Twinkies: Now with more interactive play!

Adam — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:00:49 +0000

Just had to share this little video. Having struggled four months now with two girls who spend most of their time sleeping, eating, pooping and screaming (definitely not in that order!), it is fun to see them reaching even the smallest milestones. Being about two months developmentaly (having been born two months premature), they are just starting to interact with their world. In the last week or so this has included smiles, coos and even a few laughs. Of course they still do plenty of the other stuff (they are having a full-scale meltdown as I write this) but it is nice to see them happy for a change.

First Contact

Adam — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:38:04 +0000

Most of you know that we at the Deem household are big animal lovers (duh!) but you may not know that we are a full-contact pet home. Our labs, Murphy and Lilian, have full access to the twins and this has made for a very smooth transition as we integrate our dog children with the human ones. Many people had warned us that the dogs would likely feel very jealous when the babies came home, and that they may lash out at them from being deprived of our attention. Well, we are proud to say that we had no problems on the jealousy front, and both Lily and Murphy have accepted the twins as part of the pack. Murphy is very interested in the twins and checks on them often with a nose poke or kiss on the face (yes, we said FACE!). Lilian is more indifferent but she has started sleeping by their portable crib so we think she is getting used to the idea. We really feel that keeping the dogs as included as possible has helped keep them from feeling left out or unloved. Of course, it doesn't hurt that they are good natured dogs to begin with :)

We took this video on the day the day that Denali came home from the hospital. We wanted the dogs to "find" the baby, that way they would hopefully be the ones to adopt them into the pack. Did it work out as planned? Well, take a look at the hilarity that ensued when the dogs made first contact!

Team Deem Playtime!

Adam — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 04:06:10 +0000

The twinkies are finally enjoying some playtime. Up till now they mostly just eat, poop, sleep and scream. It is fun having them awake and actually showin interest in the oustide world. Enjoy.

Volunteer Aunties & Grandmas Needed!

Adam — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:00:53 +0000

Denali and Iliamna are looking for a few good aunties and grandmas to provide some extra TLC when Dadam returns to work in early August. Candidates must be willing to cuddle, love and maybe change a diaper or two as needed. We've found a great "mom's helper" to hire [very] part-time--thanks Kassy!, but honestly...we need ALL the help we can get, even just snuggling the girls!

Must also have a current TDaP vaccine (Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis [whooping cough]), as "micro-preemies" are born with very compromised immune systems, and we aren't taking ANY chances! Thanks for understanding that one caveat, and an extra thanks to friends and family who've gotten the shot for the sole purpose of visiting and helping w/the twinkies!!!

Please call, email, or contact us at lilsmokey.social@gmail.com

To those of you who have already offered, we're ready to "cash-in" if your offer still stands! :-) Thanks SO much for all of the continuing love and support.

The Gift that almost never arrived...

Adam — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:45:26 +0000

Got a little package in the mail today from Amazon.com that was originally sent to a place we haven't lived in over 8 years. Karen V. Stefanini from our Li'l Smokey family sent us some lovely blankets for the girls but they were sent to my old apartment instead of our home. Thankfully the lady who lives there now was honest with the delivery people and the Fedex folks went the extra mile to look uo our number, which is now only for faxes. So the other day I see a single sheet of paper in the fax tray wiith a scanned Fedex label and a hand written note reading "Please call Fedex at ..." Once I spoke with them over the phone they were more than happy to send it on saying that it was "for the guy who rescued the bear". I told them it was me, although I had no idea what the package could contain. Well it arrived today, much later than it was supposed to, and I am really glad we got it. Karen has sent the girls two beautiful blankets to keep them warm Blankets come in real handy around the Deem house because we keep it very cool in the summer and they stay bundled up all the time. Thanks again Karen, we love the new blankets!

Team Deem 7/11/11 Photo Shoot

Adam — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 05:58:38 +0000

Hi everyone. We are all well but very exhausted. Both of our mothers have been here to help and it has been a real lifesaver. Will share more when we get more sleep!

Team Deem Update 6/17/2011

Adam — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:26:17 +0000

Hello everybody. Well, we have great news on the baby front. Both of the girls are now over 5 pounds each and they have passed all of their medical screenings with flying colors. Both girls had an eye exam last night that is apparently very unpleasant (they don't like parents there when they do it). When we got there for the evening feeding, both girls were very unhappy and their eyes were puffy from the test. Good news is that there are no vision problems and I am sure they won't remember the experience :)

And now for the good news/bad news part. We expect that Denali will be coming home any day now since she is taking all her meals by either breast or bottle and she is no longer experiencing any of the heart problems ("Bradys") that are common with premies. The bad news is that Iliamna is still a little behind her sister with the feedings so we are not sure how much longer she will have to stay in the NICU. We are very excited to be bringing Denali home but we are sad that Iliamna will have to stay in the hospital without her sister. We will let you know more when we find out.

Quick Update and Photos

Adam — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 02:29:44 +0000

Hi all, we have been super busy lately running between work, home and the hospital. The nursery is all ready for the twinkies to come home, the girls just need to pass a few more hurdles before they graduate from the NICU. Also wanted to post some more photos; the girls had visits from their two adopted/"honorary" grandmas (and their middle name namesakes as well)-- Jill (Jillian) and Ginger (Virginia), which was a lot of fun. Oh and since you have been asking, here are their current weights:

Denali: 4 Pounds, 2.87 ounces

Iliamna: 4 Pounds 5.4 ounces.

--Adam

The NICU

Adam — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 06:17:15 +0000

This is a photo of a "random" NICU, not the one our girls are in (just to give you an idea of what it looks like, with all of the "bells and whistles,"--i.e. machines that make MORE noises than bells and whistles!!!). Kinda crazy! The only real difference is that our girls have "graduated" into a "cribette," which is basically a mini-crib, although I have joked that it is a mini-prison, b/c it is metal with bars. At least they are together, and can snuggle and touch each other (I believe Adam got a photo of one sucking on the other's hand--too cute! I'll have to ask him to post it; we've been just a wee bit busy!). My mom has been a lifesaver, and has been here from Montana to help us organize our house in preparation for the girls coming home (although it looks like that might not be for about 3 weeks, but that's just guessing). Also, Adam's brother and his wife, as well as Adam's parents, came over a few weeks ago to help him organize the garage...what a help (thanks guys!!!)! If only there wasn't SO much more to do! Ack!

As far as the girls coming home, the reason we're looking at a few more weeks (minimum) is b/c they have to reach crucial "milestones" first, including NO Brady's (which I described in the last post), as well as being able to actually eat all of their milk (vs. having it gavaged/tubed into their tummies). While it isn't realistic to expect them to consume all of their meals by breastfeeding by the time they come home (it's a whole different story for preemies vs. "full-terms"), they do have to either bottle-feed or breastfeed (preferrably both). Denali was taken off of her caffeine b/c of decreased Brady's (yay!), but Ilia still has a few per day. Overall, both are doing very well, and the doctors continue to be pleased with their progress. We really look forward to bringing our twinkies home; this NICU thing just feels so surreal! Do we REALLY have two baby girls?!?!?

I'll ask Adam to post pics soon; we had our "honorary grandmas" visit the girls this last Saturday and got some wonderful pictures (they are the ones our girls' middle names are after).

Thanks for continuing to follow our blogging, and for all of the prayers and well-wishes! G'night, Celeste