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Note: Yes this post is long. But you get a prize for reading the whole thing.

In the past Mary Jane and I have always tried to stick with the "we" when writing posts. Keeps things unified and what not. These last couple days though that has been thrown out the window. That said I thought people would like to hear briefly from Mary Jane:

Hi everyone. I wanted to first say thank you to everyone for all their kind words, thoughts, and prayers over the past several days. To say that Jason and I have been living a nightmare is an understatement. However, we do have two very tiny beautiful little girls now. Mary Parker and Emma Jane were born on August 30th at 1704 and 1705. They weigh 1 lb 12 oz and 1 lb 13.5 oz respectively and were both about 13 inches long. They are in the NICU now where they are gonna spend a lonnnnnnnnng time... hopefully. I just wanted everyone to hear from me that they are doing okay and Jason and I are taking it one day at a time. It is very surreal to be the patient/parent and not the nurse.

We appreciate your continued prayers and support!
Mary Jane

All that said, let us try and answer some frequently asked questions (I've now been told that it is obvious a man is writing this because there aren't enough details...so Mary Jane and I are going to tag team this)

Who? Mary Parker Broge was born on August 30, 2008 at 5:04 PM She weighed 1 lb 12 oz and was 13 3/8 inches long.

Emma Jane Broge was born on August 30 2008 at 5:05 PM She weighed 1 lb 13.5 oz and was 13 3/8 inches long.

How? This was an emergency c-section which took place because

a) Parker's sac ruptured Thursday morning at 3:00 am

b) Parker's placenta abrupted Saturday afternoon

c) Turns out Parker had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck which, due to the lack of fluid, could have been a real problem. (are you noticing a pattern here? Parker, Parker, Parker. That girl is already in trouble. Well you better believe we are nipping that one in the bud. I have grounded her to her isolette until she learns to behave (about three months))

Expected length of stay? Two-three months. The babies were 26 weeks and one day old (14 weeks early) The original due date was December 5th. We always said we figured they would come some time in November. For now, figure that if everything goes smoothly they will come home by their due date (Dec 5).

So are we out of the woods? No. This is going to be a day by day sort of thing with many ups and downs. This is pretty much what we were worried about when her water broke. It wasn't the getting them out that would be the problem, its the keeping the healthy so they can develop. Mary Jane's new mantra is "it's a marathon not a sprint"

What are the hurtles to overcome?

Now that's a question. A question with such a long answer I don't know where to begin. A lot could happen. Every major system in their body is still developing and was not designed to be outside of the womb this early. That said God has allowed developments in science which are truly amazing, but at best, these are just trying to psyche out their bodies into thinking they are in the womb and let the body grow and develop the way it should. Ideally the only thing Emma Jane and Parker should be doing is growing, but suddenly they have to eat, breathe, regulate their temperature...etc. It's pretty stressful when your less then 2 lbs.

What could happen?

Just about anything. Frankly, they could very easily still die, or it is possible they grow up and live perfectly normal lives. There is an increased risk for all sorts of developmental problems ranging from Asthma, to Cerebral Palsy. As you can see the unknown factor is high here. This is in the hands of the Lord, and we have no choice but to take it day by day.

How are they now?

Pretty good. Last night Emma Jane was breathing really well and they were starting to think about taking her off the ventilators. Parker on the other hand was needing to go up on her vents. Today things are the exact opposite. They are now talking about taking Parker of the ventilators and Emma Jane is needing to go up.

Turns out Emma Jane has a heart murmur. This is almost certainly caused by a PDA (turns out that is not a Public Display of Affection, nor is it a Personal Digital Assistant. It stands for Patent Ductus Arteriosus.)

Short explanation of this (medical personnel reading this please forgive my attempts and making this an overly simplistic explanation)...there is a hole in the heart which is natural and helpful when developing in the womb. As a part of development it closes right after birth. Emma Jane's just hasn't closed yet. There are a number of ways to aid in this. The first two, which work a vast majority of the time, are medicines (the first is simply to give her ibuprofen...that just floors me), the third would be surgery...but we are still a long way off from that worry.

Can we visit?

Not quite yet. Mary Jane gets discharged on Wednesday. We need the rest of this week to get settled into this new pattern of life. Mary Jane is still healing and will be in some pain for a while (all those out there who have had a c-section can empathize). Your e-mails, phone calls, and posts are greatly appreciated.

Can we help?

Yes.

How?

Well, prayer is still the best thing. We still have family here this week to help. Starting next week we may have more needs. Don't worry, we'll be more then happy to accept help. We're going to be needing it for a long long time. We always figured we would need a bunch when they came home and that probably won't happen until December, but we are likely to need a bunch in the months leading up.

When can we see pictures?

Well, just because you were good and read the WHOLE post, how about right now?!

Jason holding hands with Parker right before she was wheeled out of the OR and down to the NICU

They stopped on the way out to let Mary Jane hold hands with Parker

Emma Jane peering at momma as she is being wheeled out of the OR. Note: In any of these early pictures it is easy to spot Emma Jane. She's the only one who can open her eyes. Parker's eyes are fused shut.

Parker resting. (this is before she got under the bilirubin lights)

Emma Jane resting. The head thing is to protect her eyes while she is under the biliruben lights.

Jason helping to lift Parker as they change her bedding in the isolette