One Week Birthday

The first week (October 16 to 23) felt like a month at least. We had highs and lows and many tears shed. We were also overwhelmed with all of the support from family and friends. Thank you all.

Katya with her bottom up

On Monday we were informed that Ruby had a small brain bleed. They use a number system from 1 to 4. She was around a level 2. A level 4 is the worst. It is when blood has gone out of the ventricle and into the brain tissue. It can cause intellectual impairment, cerebral palsy, and other functional impairments. That was a devastating blow. They informed us that they would do another scan in two days.

Ruby ready to do a karate kick

On Tuesday the doctors sat down with us to talk about some survival numbers. On Sunday night someone had mentioned 70% chance of survival. The doctors had now run the numbers in the database. They put in the babies’ age at birth, birth weight, gender, and other statistics. They compare them with babies born 22 to 24 weeks. They now gave us a 15 to 25% chance of survival. The chance of them surviving without many complications was 5%. This was also a devastating blow to our hopes. We were glad that the doctors were being open and honest with us.

Ruby without her shades

Tonio gave Katya and Ruby a priesthood blessing on Tuesday night. He was able to put his finger on their head. He blessed them to have strength and to feel our love and the love of the Lord. He also prayed for the Lord’s will to be done.

Both girls have a valve in their heart that didn’t close called Patent Duct Arteriosus (PDA). It usually doesn’t close until after birth. The two options to close the valve are medication or surgery. They can’t survive a surgery at this point but the medication can aggravate the brain bleeds. When the valve is open it pumps blood into the lungs and increases the strain on their hearts.

Katya without sunglasses

On Wednesday, my good friend Emily came down to visit. She is a nurse practitioner so she was able to help me ask appropriate questions. We sat down with the doctors and they told us that the girls’ brain scan showed that they both had bleeds in both sides of their brains. They all seemed to be Level 3 or 4 bleeds. Tonio arrived right about that time so we were able to talk with the doctors again. The new developments in the brain bleeds have taken their 5% chance of survival with no complications to 0%. We decided to approve a Do Not Resuscitate Policy for both girls because they are so small and fragile we didn’t want them trying to perform chest compressions or other measures.

Ruby with Grandma Aida and us

On Thursday we met with Dr. Minton about the brain scans and he mentioned that there was a chance that Katya’s bleed was not as serious as we were originally told. He was a little more positive than past doctors but he said that we should take it one day at a time. In other words, make the choices for today. My friend Marissa came to visit us and see the girls. Our friend Emily had mentioned to Marissa our desire to make blankets for our babies and Marissa took it upon herself to help us by surprising us with a brand new sewing machine. She is a wonderful and kind friend.

Friday we arranged for Tonio to give the girls a name and a blessing which is a priesthood ordinance. Katrina’s dad, her brother, and Tonio’s brother were able to participate in the blessing. Tonio began with Katya since she is two minutes older. He named her Katya Sophia Uriarte. He blessed again with health and strength. He also blessed her to feel of our love and that she was born to parents who love her dearly. Next he blessed Ruby Alexandria Uriarte. It was a very sweet blessing. He reassured her of our love for her and the fact she is a special spirit daughter of our Heavenly Father. He blessed Ruby that she and Katya would be able to be together.

Katya with Grandma and Grandpa Jensen

Friday night they gave the girls the medication to try to close their heart PDA valves. On Saturday their ultrasounds showed that the valves were beginning to close. The doctors decided to try another dose of the medicine.

Sunday morning Tonio spoke in church. He was asked to choose a talk from General Conference. Originally he was scheduled to speak on October 16. He had to cancel so he could take me to the hospital. His talk was wonderful. He chose Sister Dalton’s talk about raising daughters. With courage he told about the birth of our girls. The talk focused on things a father can do for his daughters:

• First he can love their mother;
• Love her so that your marriage is celestial;
• Lead your family to the temple;
• Help her understand her identity as a daughter of God;
• Be a guardian of virtue in your home;
• Be present in your daughter’s life; and
• Share your testimony.

As Tonio spoke you could feel the love he has for our daughters. You could also sense the responsibility he feels to take care of his girls. I love him so much. I am very blessed to have a wonderful husband and a kind father for my sweet girls.

After church we went to see Katya and Ruby. We learned that Ruby’s valve had closed all the way! Katya’s was still open but not as far as it had been. This was the highlight of our day. When we came home we celebrated the girl’s week birthday by having dinner with Ben, Melissa, and Aida. We had stuffed bell peppers, baked potatoes, and green beans. I had made a brown sugar pecan apple pie for dessert. It was delicious.

A wonderful nurse, Jennifer, suggested that we take a picture with the girls and a familiar object like a dollar bill so we could remember their size. Tonio had a 100 dollar bill in his wallet so we held that up to the girls and took a picture for comparison. They were so small.

Katya rolling in the Benjamins

Tiny Ruby