I've been in N. America for a week now helping my sister and her husband (Jason) with Olivia and the twins. I've been so busy and the time has passed so quickly that I've had hardly had a spare moment to sit down and blog or email.

I arrived last Thursday (April 26th) after a fairly uneventful flight. My plane was delayed 2 extra hours during my stop over in London (in addition to my scheduled 3 hour layover), but it actually went pretty fast so it seemed like we were in the air and landing in Vancouver in no time. And thanks again to Chris & Corina for picking me up at the airport and driving me to Lynden. That was a huge blessing!

Over the past week, I've been dividing my time between driving to the hospital and playing with Olivia so that Jason can do the same. The twins were born about weeks early, Evan at just under 6lbs, and Addison at 4.5lbs. For the first week they were hardly nursing at all due to their small size. My sister was really adamant that they nurse, so they were receiving her milk though an NG tube (through their nose). We were only allowed to hold them during the feedings so they could conserve as much energy as possible.

They are now two weeks old and have both broken their respective birth weights. In fact, they have made it to the next pound category (Evan at 6lbs and Addison at 5lbs). Since they are bigger and stronger, they've been nursing more regularly which means that my sister is at the hospital more often. She actually stays there at night in a "camping room" to do the night feedings and only comes home for a short period in the afternoon and evening.

This is hard on her because she sees that Olivia is having behavioral difficulties with her absence. Jason and I have been doing as much as we can to distract her and keep her busy, but having mama gone all the time is difficult. And since I've been thrust into the role of surrogate mommy to a three year old, I'm struggling to be adequate. My only consolation is that she loves me and we get along pretty well together.

The twins will be in the hospital for a bit longer as they are still getting the hang of nursing. My sister is trying all sorts of techniques to get them to feed better - nursing them together, nursing them separately - but it takes a lot of time and energy for all involved. They are so tiny that it is difficult to see them struggle. The doctors recommend that they should stay at the hospital until they can nurse every feeding really well. We are praying that my sister won't get discouraged and resort to bottle feeding.

Needless to say, it seems that we still have a bit of a long road ahead. Our hope is that the twins come home by Mother's Day. Y'all can pray for that. I've learned a lot in the past week of living at my sister's house with Olivia and helping at the hospital. It is good training for my future as a mommy and I've definitely got an accurate picture of all of the work that is involved. I want to say three cheers for all of the moms out there!

I'll try to update again soon, but my time is limited. I'm at Nana and Papa's now so I have a few minutes of spare time. Until then, keep us in your prayers. Thanks!