21 days of life update: stick with this post, the story below is amazing.

To start off: Our kids are small. They will always be small. We will never see any of them play offensive lineman, and that's ok. They are both 2 lbs 14 oz (bigger), but Reece hasn't grown much in length over the last 2 weeks - we aren't worried because she is now bigger than Max in weight and head circumference, and the doctors, nutritionists and specialists aren't concerned at this stage. They are starting to change their food from donor breast milk to formula that has more calories, so as long as their little digestive systems can tolerate it, they will be full time on formula in the next few days. UcenterDress unique without similar with others for bridesmaid

Sara is not feeling great yet, and certainly we are seeing the blessing of having our children in the best care of the nurses, doctors, and specialists of the Good Sam NICU so she can rest and recuperate for when they do come home. I have started back to work and will continue until the kiddos come home, potentially sometime in late August or September.

I want to share one of the most amazing stories we've experienced in our journey here, and to share how cool we believe our God is in all of this:

We have friends Anya and Dan Heinbaugh who have been trying to get pregnant for some time, and wound up having a fraternal twin pregnancy of one boy and one girl due on September 6th (we were due September 1st).

Both Anya and Sara have struggled with diseases that cause autoimmune issues and thus higher risk pregnancies. Both were in a small group together through our church and have prayed countless prayers together during that time.

Both Anya and Sara had their water break for one child around 30 weeks gestational (they were at 31+ weeks) that caused them to go to Good Sam, and both stayed in hospital care for a few days before birth to protect the babies as much as possible.

Both gave birth within 1.5 weeks of
each other (us early on June 27th, Anya N Dan early on July 10th) and our 4 children are in the Good Sam NICU literally next to each other without anyone prompting this to happen. We didn't tell anyone to do this, and we didn't even know they had given birth on until later on Monday after seeing their kids near ours. No one knew we knew each other!

This is where things get a little crazy - Our children's names are Max and Reece, and their daughter's name is Clementine Reese. They named their daughter's middle name after a close family friend who recently passed away named Max Reese Hickerson. Literally the first names they see when they come into the NICU are Max and Reece, with their family friend watching over them in all that has transpired.

I mean... come on. That's God just showing off. We didn't tell anyone the names we were thinking and neither did they, but what a crazy story to show God's faithfulness and power through something as scary as our combined experiences.

It is amazing to go through a lot of the same things and milestones as they have, and to at least have friends to talk through the emotions and spiritual battles we are all fighting together.

Sara and I aren't great right now, but we can be holding on to what we know as true and good in our lives (as I'm sure is the case for Dan and Anya). We aren't emotionally as stable as we want to be, and I know that this will get easier for all of us as we heal and trust more not on our own understanding, but Christ. I could emotionally handle one healthy newborn baby, but 2 in the NICU as small as they are, and our 3 year old who needs lots of love too?? No chance on my own energy and time.

God will see us through this. God will see our children through this. From a Crossroads service a few weeks ago, one man who was struggling with infertility stated that "You never had control. That was the illusion."

Have a great week,

Mike and Sara (Reece <--, Max -->)