Please pray for our little sweethearts

Yesterday they moved Mila into the same NICU room as Ella, which makes it so much easier for Ryan and Stacee to visit back and forth between the two. Unfortunately, last night they found out one of the other babies in their room has an infection. Everyone now has to gear up in gowns, gloves, etc. They've done cultures on Ella and Mila to see if it has spread to them.

Please pray they don't catch this bugaboo (or any others for that matter!) Any infection can turn serious very quickly in a preemie, and we certainly don't want their progress hindered in any way. And while you're praying, also lift up this little one who has the infection.

On a good note, Ella's bilirubin is down to 7.5, therefore she has been taken off of phototherapy. Though Mila's is only slightly elevated, she remains on phototherapy, and (from what I understand) seems to enjoy soaking up the rays. Ryan said he got a cute picture of her lying on her back, arms stretched above her head with her little eye protectors on looking like she's sunbathing! Gonna be a bathing beauty just like her Mommy!

NICU doctor has written orders for both girls to be introduced to breastfeeding and/or bottle two times each day. Moving in the right direction!

Thanks for your prayer support! Our family appreciates you oh so much!!!
Christie

"Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything." Phil 4:6 NLT

Melt my heart pictures!!!

Meet the new family! Ryan, Stacee, Ella (in back/top), Mila


Our little angels!!! Mila on top, Ella on bottom

update on Ella and Mila

Our sweet girls have had alot going on today.

Both girls have been placed under continuous photo-therapy for jaundice; their little livers aren't quite able to keep up yet, which is not unusual for preemies.

Little Ella in phototherapy

Little Mila in phototherapy


They have also both dropped down to 4 lb 2 oz, nothing to worry about...weight loss is expected in newborns.

Ella had her IV removed...hooray!!! She is down to having NG tube (feeding tube through nose), heart monitor and pulse oximeter.

Mila had her CPAP removed today, I'm sure she feels so much more comfortable without that obtrusive thing on her face. And not to be outdone by her sister, she also may have her IV removed soon, possibly as early as tonight. As of this writing she is down to just having her feeding tube (her's was through mouth down throat as of yesterday, assuming it's still the same), IV, pulse ox and heart monitor.

Please pray for Stacee and Ryan; Stacee is being released tonight. She has to be out of her room by midnight; they were hoping she'd be there one more night but insurance rules. They are broken-hearted to have to leave their sweet girls. I'm sure it will be difficult for her to get good rest as they travel back and forth to the hospital to spend as much time as they possibly can with Mila and Ella.

Attached pictures are a little difficult to see; trying to keep the masses happy by sending any pictures we receive.

Thanks for your faithfulness.
Christie

catching up

I hate to think that when the Ron Nordell family comes to mind, you might think high-maintenance. But I confess, we do tend to do things in dramatic ways, don't we? In keeping with the tradition, our little girls certainly made a dramatic grand entrance late Thursday. What can I say?

It's been a very busy few days! Stacee's mom arrived safe and sound Friday morning. I know it's been so good for Stacee to have her Mom here. Everybody needs/wants their Mom at a time like this! And she has been so helpful in so many ways.

After our quite late night/early morning Thursday/Friday, we were beat. However, we got up early to make the trip to Presby for PICC line change. A tedious, time-consuming procedure but thankfully, no problems encountered. After grabbing a very late lunch, we headed to Harris, arriving just in time for shift change, therefore had to wait until 8PM to see our girls.

When we were able to get in to see them, we were happily surprised to see both girls had been taken off CPAP. It was wonderful to see their sweet little faces.

Saturday, we were only able to have a short visit. Ron stayed home and slept 'til noon...he really needed to catch up on some rest; while I went for a visit. Then Ron went up while I stayed home to prepare food for a big Gregory family (my side) get together. It was fun to share stories of our girls with everyone, along with the few pictures Aaron had on his phone; at the moment, we don't own a working camera! What kind of grandparents are we??? Mila and Ella are the first grandbabies on both sides of the family, as well as the first great-grandbabies on Stacee's side and my side of Ryan's family.

While Ryan and I were with Ella Saturday, they had to change her IV. Needless to say, she was not a happy camper! Her little cry sounded like a kitten! They put some sugar water on her paci to try to soothe her while they worked on her; which she loved, but she continued squealing while sucking...sad, but quite cute, as well.

Mila was having spells of apnea (poor little thing kept forgetting to breathe) so they had to put her back on CPAP. Necessary, but she was none too happy with that.

Today both have elevated bilirubin levels and are being watched for jaundice. Ella has also been having episodes where her sats have dropped and heart rate has elevated, especially when she gets all snuggled in with Mommy or Daddy. She gets too comfy and neglects breathing well therefore oxygen saturation drops. Ella was a little stinker and pulled out her NG tube twice today! She's also been upgraded from a warming bed to an enclosed isolette.

Mila is still on CPAP, which she really doesn't like. They keep it attached to her little head cap and she keeps shimmying down out of the cap which defeats the CPAP purpose; so they are constantly having to mess with her. This little doll prefers to sleep, however she can let out some lusty crying when she's unhappy.

They both have dark hair, long, long fingers and long skinny legs! Maybe they'll play their great, great Mamo's piano one day? Or follow in their Daddy's footsteps and be a runner? Who knows, but it sure will be fun watching them grow and develop their own personalities!

Stacee is doing well and is becoming a pumping machine. It's so good for the girls to be able to get Mommy's milk. I know she and Ryan are both VERY TIRED but are in love with their sweet girls and want to spend every minute they can with them.

Ryan and Stacee have been able to hold each of the girls alot, as well as do "kangaroo care" (skin to skin contact). They have been able to hold them during feeding (through feeding tube) and have been working on getting them to suck on a pacifier while being fed so they will associate sucking with full tummy; Mila's not too fond of the paci where Ella likes it but is having a hard time remembering to breathe when she sucks....there's just so much for an itty bitty girl to remember!!!

Ron and I went to see his parents after our visit this afternoon and were able to show them pictures of their newest great-grandbabies; making numbers 9 and 10; bringing the Nordell clan to a total of 42!

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but haven't caught up on my sleep yet! Please keep praying for our sweet little angels. That they will continue to grow and develop in a timely manner so they may to be able to go home as soon as possible. I think Stacee may be discharged Monday or Tuesday and it will be very hard for both of them to be away from their babies.

Much love, Christie

Pictures of our angels!

Daddy suitin' up for the big event!

Mommy and Daddy headed to recovery

Mila Maree

Happy Birthday, Ella Renee!

Daddy's first time to hold Mila



I could go on and on about how precious they are, but the pictures speak for themselves!

Happy Birthday Ella and Mila!!!

We have babies!!!

Our sweet girls have arrived! Little Miss Ella Renee decided she was tired of hanging out in utero and was ready to meet her Mommy and Daddy. Stacee's water broke (just Ella's sac) Thursday evening as we were sitting at their dinner table at 8PM. After gathering packed bags, camera, video camera, phones, etc. they headed to Harris. Thankfully, Stacee's OB was there and upon examination already felt "body parts"; sonogram confirmed it was time to welcome our girls. Stacee was immediately prepped for C-section, Ryan was suited up and off they went.

Vital Stats are:

Ella Renee born at 11:15PM weighing 4 lbs 5 oz; 18 1/2 inches long
Mila Maree born at 11:17PM weighing 4 lbs 9 oz; 18 inches long

Both of our little angels are doing well for being 6 1/2 weeks premature. They are in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with IV's, feeding tubes, heart monitors and on CPAP (for breathing support). It is estimated they won't go home until around their official due date (April 4).

They both came out pink with APGAR scores of:
Ella 8.9
Mila 9.9

Mila came out screaming (I think she was not too happy her sister was so anxious to leave their snug little home); while Ella took a second to cry, but cry she did! The NICU nurse said Ella has had her eyes open, looking around, checking out the "outside world" and moving arms and legs quite a bit. While Mila just wants to sleep! She's barely peeped an eye open.

OB was very pleased with how things went and Neonatologist said they are not necessarily sick...just need time to continue to develop and grow. They will be very limited on contact (no visitors for a while; and being in NICU there aren't the windows where you can stand outside and see them). They are in NICU 4 which is the most intensive; but as they progress and develop they will move down the hall until finally rooming in -- where Ryan and Stacee will have to stay the night with them in the hospital doing all of their care to prove they are capable of taking care of them at home.

Unfortunately, after getting one picture of Ella, their camera died so I have no pictures to share as yet but will get some posted as soon as I get some.

I'm sure we'll have more to report later; I have not spoken with the new Mommy and Daddy yet this morning and we will be at Presbyterian all day for "maintenance" of Ron's PICC.

Please pray for our sweet girls, (as well as Stacee and Ryan), as often happens preemies may develop some critical issues before they develop fully. And for Stacee's mom (Diane) as she arrives this morning...I know it was VERY HARD for her not to be here with her one and only baby girl as she had her babies. And Stacee is ready to see her Momma!

Please forgive any typos or misinformation...we arrived home at 3:30 and I'm one tired girl!

Much love!
Christie and Ron
Nana/Grammie/Hey You (not sure yet!) and Papa

Long overdue!!

Sorry it's been so long since I updated...Ron's been sick, which keeps me on "high alert".

Jan 29th, Ron came down with bronchitis. Thankfully, it was caught early and we were able to treat him at home...keeping that no hospital streak going! WOO HOOO!!! We were also concerned about Stacee since we had been around them a good deal that week, including the night before Ron spiked a fever. Praise God she has not shown any signs of illness. Stacee is now at 32 weeks and doing well. Being off of work and on partial bedrest has really helped. They have a website if you'd like to check them out: www.nordellfamily.shutterfly.com

Back to Ron, as I said, we caught the bronchitis early, keeping it from developing into anything else. However, he's overall felt like crud. He has also been having a great deal of digestive issues (more-so than usual).

It seems to go in cycles like this; he'll do fairly well for a few weeks, maybe even months, at a time--and then there will be several weeks/months that are just BAD where he feels he is fighting off yakking all day, every day. It seems everything constantly backs up and sit's in his esophagus ready to come up at the slightest provocation. We haven't been able to determine a rhyme or reason to it.

I often wonder if the stress of school exacerbates things. He enjoys the classes and needs something that gives him a purpose and keeps his mind engaged; on the other hand, school is really hard for him...it's been over 30 years since he had to study and it tends to bring on alot of stress and frustration while making him even more tired.

As you can imagine, this roller coaster is very much affecting his mood. It's a catch 22...down when he has nothing to do; or down when he's so worn out from school and studying that he finally gets sick and can't do anything.

Our life is not all gloom and doom...we try to encourage Ron to get out some and he's making an effort to step out in faith and try to do a little. He attended the men's breakfast at our church in January; a few weeks ago he and Aaron went to a Mavericks game and we've had a couple of birthday celebrations (Stacee, Jan 25 and Aaron, Feb 4). He has thoroughly enjoyed each of these events but is one tired pup afterwards; and always ends up yakking, ugh. He had talked about wanting to try to start going to both church service and Sunday morning bible study; but with the setback he's had, we've not even made it to church service the last few weeks.

More to share, but I'll save it for another time, this e-mail could easily become a novel!

Thanks for standing in the gap and praying us through these difficult times.
Christie

"I have learned that pain can isolate us and cause us to feel alone in our journey, even when we have those around us who care. But a word from the Lord companions us as nothing else can...because it goes into the very marrow of our existence.
I'm surprised at how small my vision is for God. I've walked and talked with Him for years, and yet I'm still startled by His generosity and jolted by His desire to know us and be known by us. To remind us of that, He has dispersed light to give us insight, direction, protection and hope that we might consider Him and His glorious ways."
from Catching Fireflies by Patsy Clairmont

"He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others" 2 Cor1:4

"Delight yourself in the Almighty and look up to God...pray to Him and He will hear you" Job 22:22

Good News ~ Happy Birthday, Stacee

Happy happy birthday, sweet Stacee!

In celebration of our baby mama's birthday, the girls behaved themselves very well today! OB appointment went well; they monitored her for a while and praise God she had no contractions! Sonogram showed both girls look very good developmentally with each weighing right at 3 pounds. Being typical girls, though, they want to do things their own way and are both hanging out head up. If they don't turn between now and time of delivery (whenever that may be), they will be delivered via c-section.

Stacee was sent home with an oral medication (procardia) to be taken as needed if she starts having contractions again; but the contractions do not stop within an hour, she is to go to the hospital. They were very happy to be told Dr. B has upgraded her to partial bed rest for the next couple of days. They will watch and see how her body reacts and if things go well; she will be allowed to continue on partial bed rest. I know this would be a huge blessing; allowing her to supervise the completion of the nursery, as well as all the other things that need to get accomplished before these little ones arrive.

She will see her high-risk pregnancy doctor tomorrow and will now start seeing her primary ob/gyn weekly.

Thank you for your continued prayer.

Christie

Stacee update

Received update from Ryan around 12:30 and they were going home soon. Stacee was having contractions 20 to 40 seconds in duration with a rate of 12 or so per hour. They gave her a shot of tributaline to help relax the uterine contractions. Babies heartrates continue to be awesome. She will see her regular ob today and high risk ob tomorrow.

Fetal fibronectin test was negative, which is good. (I believe this indicates if delivery is likely in the next couple of weeks).

Please continue to pray.

Christie

Stacee, Ryan and girls

Please be in prayer for our sweet Stacee. She is 30 weeks along in her pregnancy with our grandbabies (twin girls--Mila and Ella) and has started experiencing some preterm labor. She went to the hospital last Thursday, they monitored for a while (babies doing well), gave her a couple of doses of terbutaline to stop uterine contractions and put her on bedrest for the weekend with plans to see her ob on Monday.

This evening we were over to take dinner and celebrate Stacee's birthday (which is Monday). She was experiencing mild contractions all day despite being on bedrest, and around 9PM went back to the hospital (they are there still).

Obviously, she's upset and worried about so many things that still need to be done (especially finishing the painting and putting together of the nursery) before our sweet girls arrive. They have the majority of their furniture for the nursery, car seats, stroller and some clothing, however baby shower is not until next month therefore they have no mattress's, sheets, receiving blankets, or other basic necessary items, yet.

Please pray for Stacee's health and the health of the girls', as well as for comfort and peace for both Stacee and Ryan. Pray that they will rest in knowing God is in control, His timing is perfect and as His word promises He has knit these babies together in their mother's womb--they are fearfully and wonderfully made and all their days have been written in His book before even one them has come to pass.

We are blessed to have each of you as faithful prayer warriors and never take that for granted!

Love, Christie

update

It's been a couple of weeks since I last updated, but what can I say; it's hard to make time when I'm back at work, therefore I try to fit it in when I'm super tired and then I'm worried about exactly what I've written in my delirious state. ;)

Woo hoo! Good news...we made it 2 for 2 and are declaring the holiday hospital streak officially smashed! I'm even thinking of taking the packed bag out of the car.

We spent a very quiet New Year at home; very benefical to have extended time to rest and recuperate from our "eventful" fall.

The only excitement we've had lately is no school last Thursday due to weather; along with our discovery of a slab leak. It seems suddenly having heated tile floors is not a good thing, although they felt quite nice on the cold tootsies during last week's frigid days.

We spent Thursday with no water (read inability to brush teeth, shower or potty!) as well as the jaw rattling sound of an area of our kitchen floor being jack-hammered. I hate it when you overhear the boss say to his worker "I thought this was going to be a piece of cake". YIKES! Despite the challenge posed, the plumbers did an excellent job; they were efficient, kind, and great about cleaning up after themselves.

Unfortunately (fortunately?) there was no water leakage inside the house, however, if you don't have water leak within, insurance does not cover...bummer! So, three days of work and $1500 later; we once again have fully functioning plumbing. The only thing left to do is replace the few tiles they had to remove. I'm so thankful our new appliances have not been installed yet; I wouldn't want them dirtied by that fine dusting of silt from jack-hammering.

Ron's doing ok; discouraged to be having a spell of daily yakking, regardless of what he does or does not eat. His labs are staying within normal range further affirming Heparin must have been the culprit messing with his potassium level. All other vital stats are stable as well. He looks great but continues to have very limited energy and stamina. I'm sure most of us would feel this way if we were yakking daily, too.

Please pray as classes begin next week. He has wisely chosen to take only 2 classes this semester: he will retake the Anatomy & Physiology (which he had to drop last semester due to extensive amount missed last semester because of hospitalizations) and his next Math course.

We have a busy weekend ahead of us with a shower Saturday, honoring our newest addition to the family. Malorie Kate is a 9 month old sweetheart from China; daughter to our nephew and niece Jeremy and Julie, and little sister to the best big brothers, Jonah and Hudson. We are so excited to spend time getting to know Malorie Kate over the next 6 months as Jeremy and family are home on furlough (they work with Campus Crusade for Christ in Athens, Greece) until June.

On Sunday we'll be at my sister's after church rooting on the Cowboys.

Also, continue to pray for Ron; the daily yakking really gets to him and he's been in a bit of a funk the last several days. . . Ugh! Weight is stable; no change in energy level; still sleeping about 12 hours a night (almost always interrupted because of couging due to reflux). He does admit that some of the extended sleeping could be due to the fact it kills time; what's the use in getting up when you have a whole day stretched out in front of you but can't really do anything?

Thanks faithful ones!
Christie

"Peace isn't the absence of pressure. It's the presence of God and our attitude toward His provision in the midst of our stress."
"…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances" Philippians 4:11b (NIV)