Eddie walked into the NICU and put on her gown. She washed her hands thoroughly and then stepped inside. Carlie, one of the day nurses, smiled at her.
"Good morning Eddie."
"Hey. How did they do last night?"
"Josie only stopped breathing twice. Brooklyn only once."
"And Addie?"
"Three times. Dr. McClain wants us to get her and echo as well just to be on the safe side."
Eddie nodded and sat down in the triangle space between the girl's incubators. She saw that only Brooklyn was awake. She smiled and stroked a finger over her little hand.
"Good morning Brookie."
Brooklyn turned her head towards her. Eddie smiled wider. Then Jamie walked in. He sat down next to her.
"How are they?"
"Brookie only stopped breathing once last night."
Jamie faked enthusiasm and spoke to the baby. "Wow you did?"
Brooke looked at him and moved her hand towards his. Eddie then glanced at him.
"Dr. McClain wants Addie to have an echo too."
"Why?"
"She stopped breathing three times last night and Josie twice. He just wants to rule some things out I guess."
He nodded and looked at the other girls. Josie was still fast asleep but Addie was waking up. She blinked a few times. Eddie stuck her hand in Addie's incubator and smiled.
"Good morning Addie."
Addie looked and wrapped her hand around Eddie's finger. After a while Carlie walked over and lifted the twins out of their beds. She handed Brooklyn to Jamie and Addie to Eddie along with their bottles. Eddie had been pumping milk for them two times a day since they had been born. She gave it to the hospital so they could give them the right measurement. Eddie adjusted Addie the way the nurse had shown her the day before and started to feed her. Addie sipped slowly. Eddie had to reposition her oxygen mask in her nose halfway through. She cringed as she did so. Carlie smiled at them.
"I bet your family is in love with them already."
Jamie smiled. "Well they haven't seen them yet since Josie and now I guess Addie are so prone to infections."
Carlie nodded. "Well I may have a way around that."
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Jamie walked into the waiting room and found Frank, Henry, Erin, Nicky, Linda, Danny, and the boys standing there. Jamie stepped into the room.
"Thanks for coming."
Erin looked concerned. "Is everything okay with the babies?"
He nodded. "As well as they can be." He then smiled. "Would you like to see them?"
They all nodded and Jamie spoke quickly.
"I'm sorry boys and Nicky but only the adults can go in. Since you are in school you're exposed to a lot of germs that can make them really sick but I can show them to you through the window."
They nodded. Nicky smiled.
"We get it."
He led them all back to the NICU. Carlie smiled.
"Can we do this in small groups? It's a little tight in there."
Jamie looked. "Dad and Grandpa first then you guys?"
Danny nodded. "That works."
Carlie checked their temperatures and then had them sanitize their hands before putting on gowns. Jamie then led them into the room and over to where Eddie was waiting for them. She smiled and showed them the first baby.
"Brooklyn Faith."
Frank grabbed his granddaughter's hand and smiled. "She is beautiful."
Henry nodded. While Jamie and Frank stayed with Brooklyn Eddie showed Henry the other two.
"Here is Addie. She's sleeping."
He nodded and looked at her. "I don't want to wake her."
She then pulled over the last incubator. "This is Josie Grace."
Henry looked at Josie. She was wide wake and staring straight back at him. He reached his hand in and stroked her cheek. She looked like she was trying to smile. He looked at Eddie.
"Beautiful just like her mother."
She smiled. "The other two look like Jamie."
"But this one has your eyes. Kind and strong."
After Frank saw the other two babies Danny, Linda and Erin walked in. Linda smiled at all the girls. Danny seemed too stunned for words. Carlie asked he and Erin if they wanted to hold them. Danny held Josie while Erin held Addie. Danny actually started to tear up as he looked down at his niece. Erin held it together. After a while they left as well and Eddie held each baby up to the window so Nicky and the boys could see them. When they left Erin broke down into tears. Danny rubbed her back. Nicky looked at her carefully.
"Mom how about I stay home tonight?"
"That would be great."
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When Monday rolled around it hit both Jamie and Eddie hard. Eddie shook the entire way to the hospital. It didn't help that it was Jamie's last day of leave. He would have to go back to work in the morning. He saw her nerves showing and reached over and grabbed her hand. When they walked into the NICU Dr. McClain was waiting for them with a tall brunette doctor around Frank's age. Dr. McClain motioned to him.
"This is Dr. Newmen our head of cardio. He will be looking at the scans with me."
Edie and Jamie shook his hands. Dr. McClain spoke calmly.
"It is noninvasive. You can be in the room if you want. It is basically an ultrasound of the girl's hearts. If there is a murmur we'll see it and go from there."
They nodded. The nurses were gathered around Addie and Josie. Tara spoke calmly.
"They're ready to transport."
Dr. McClain looked at them. "Are you two coming?"
Eddie grabbed Jamie's hand as she spoke. "We're not leaving them."
Dr. McClain nodded. Eddie set her bag down and they followed the doctor's. Once they were in the procedure room Dr. McClain glanced at Dr. Newmen.
"Which baby do you want first?"
Dr. Newmen looked in the file. "Umm Addelyn."
Tara gently lifted Addie out of her bed and laid her on the exam bed. Dr. McClain slid a soft blanket underneath of her. After making sure that all of her wires were still intact he looked at Jamie.
"Can you hold Addelyn still?"
Jamie nodded and placed his hands on his daughter. She was so small his hand covered her entire head. Eddie sat on a stool at Addie's head and spoke to her softly. Dr. Newmen squirted a little bit of gel onto Addie's chest and then moved a doppler around. When he did that Addie squirmed and started to cry. Jamie held her gently but made sure she didn't move. Eddie stroked her hair and it seemed to calm her. After a few minutes he took the doppler off of her chest and gently wiped the gel off. He then pressed his stethoscope to her chest. He listened intently and then nodded to Tara.
"You can put her back."
She lifted Addie gently and put her back into her incubator. She then grabbed Josie. When it was her turn she was calmer then Addie was. She stayed still and when she was done she went back into her incubator quietly. They returned to the NICU and waited for news. After an hour they were called into Dr. McClain's office. Eddie felt nauseous. Jamie reached over and took her hand. Dr. McClain cleared his throat.
"Well we have looked at both of the girl's echos again and I will let Dr. Newmen talk about the results."
Dr. Newmen sat on the edge of the desk. "We scale murmurs from 1-6. 1 being very minor and 6 being major. I place Addelyn at a 1. It is very quiet and I expect that it will go away as she grows. It is something that Dr. McClain and her pediatrician will need to keep an eye on. Josie on the other hand is at a 3 so far."
Jamie felt a lump rise in his throat. "So far?"
"It appears to be a septal defect. In the lower chambers of her heart is the wall of her heart which is called the septum. There is a small hole that is causing her heart to work a little harder. That explains her rapid breathing."
Eddie started to cry silently. She felt helpless. Jamie squeezed her hand and spoke shakenly.
"How do we fix it?"
"The hole is small and hopefully it will close with time. For now we watch it. She will need a monthly appointment with me and an echo every three months. If the hole gets bigger it may require surgery."
Eddie finally spoke. "So it doesn't really affect her right now?"
"Not really. It may mean she'll need oxygen even when she goes home. The fact that Addelyn stops breathing more then Josie is actually a good sign."
They nodded. It wasn't the news they had wanted to hear but it was better then what it could have been.
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