5 weeks

What a crazy week! The kiddo's are back on track. :) Nich and Hailey have H1N1 and since they've visited the babies within a couple days of being sick, all three of the babies are isolation in the NICU room until Monday. They've moved them to the back wall and are following pandemic precautions to be safe. Everyone that comes on the back side of the room has to wear gowns, gloves, masks and eye glasses and change gowns between kids. The babies have all tested negative to H1N1 but have been started on Tamiflu for the next 10 days, again just to be safe. Nich and Hailey are feeling much better - Hailey only has a cough (which will probably last about 6weeks) and Nich has been fever free for 24 hours! I don't have any symptoms, but since I was in contact with Nich and Hailey, I can't visit the babies until Monday. That has been so hard! I know it's for the best and will follow all necessary precautions, but I miss them! The unit has been very good at making sure we get up to date information about H1N1 and nurses are providing updates on the kids.

Late pictures this week due to H1N1, but I called and got their weights! :)



Brennan Nicholas 1lb 13oz (birth weight 1lb 4oz)

Brennan had a good week overall. He was on minimal ventilator settings (until his bug yesterday) and the docs were planning to extubate him (take his breathing tube out) since he had already pulled it out himself. Monday he had a GI test to make sure everything flowed correctly and that tired him out breathingwise so, they decided to keep him on the vent and get him used to feedings instead. He started feeds on Tuesday 1ml every 3 hours and is tolerating them well! Yesterday he got a bug and was acting really sick so they stopped his feeds, but restarted them today! He's been our steady by sure one. He's been able to tolerate light the best and keeping his covers open for a couple minutes. I feel like we can have conversations just by looking at each other...he is so expressive! I can't say enough it is so amazing to see their eyes and connect with them! They are getting better eye control and I know he sees me through the isolette. I can't wait to hold them and show them how much we love them!



Landon James 1lb 15oz (birth weight 1lb 7oz)

Landon is a stinker...downright stinker! He has been the fiesty one, always swinging. They put him on a paralyzer (since he fought the JET ventilator), morphine drip and Ativan all to relax him. Well, now they want him to wake up a bit to start breathing with the ventilator and to start feeding. He's not too sure...a couple times he just clamps down and won't breathe. He won't let the vent breathe for him, thus his oxygen saturation drops, heart rate drops. The nurses have to stimulate him (tap his foot, talk to him, etc) to get him to relax enough to breathe. They even tried to bag him (pump breathes in through a bag) and the bag wouldn't deflate. He is such a strong little baby! We definitely have our hands full with this one alone! He had his GI test yesterday and passed with flying colors! He may get to eat tomorrow, if everything goes well! He's off his final antibiotic tomorrow. I know I wrote this with Brennan, but it is true for all three. I cannot express how excited I am to connect and see my kids looking at me! Now that Landon's getting less sedation, I can see him and love his spunky personality!



Brooklyn Danielle 1lb 12oz (birth weight 1lb 3.5oz)

Brooklyn has been the first on two things this week! First to eat and first to be on room oxygen air! She's breathing 21% oxygen on the conventional ventilator - that's huge news! She was also the first to eat breast milk. Brooklyn did not have to have the intestinal drains like her brothers so she didn't need the GI test. She and Landon do have lung problems and PIE so this is really good news that she is off the JET vent and on 21% oxygen! Our sweet girl is growing leaps and bounds! Tuesday after I fed her, I just watched her...amazed at all our miracles, how perfectly formed they are and how much spirit they have. God gave us strong fighters and a cheerleader in heaven.

Brennan, Landon and Brooklyn's progress has been bittersweet for me this week. Don't get me wrong I am SOOO proud of them and just adore them, but feel like something's missing. We have had our what-if's surrounding Katelyn's death, and it's been hard for me knowing I won't be able to do the exciting things with her as I'm doing with the other three. I know she's in heaven, not having to go through any of this pain, one day our entire family will be together. We won't have to worry about our health, just enjoying time with our Lord and each other! Keep us in your prayers! It's what helps keep us going!

Feeding time!!

Brookyln started on breast milk yesterday!! She is taking 1cc (1ml) per hour, every 3 hours. Not much at all, but it's a start! Brennan had a GI test yesterday to check for any strictures in his bowels because of having Necrotizing Entercolitis (NEC). They followed Barium through his digestive track and then checked for fluid back up via x-ray. During the test, my sweet boy had his first poop and it was a blowout! Guess everything's working fine! :) He was able to start feeds today, but don't have a picture of it. Landon will have an enema GI test tomorrow at 1pm. If all goes well he may start feeds tomorrow evening or Thursday.



Mommy feeding Brooklyn! Just above her head you can see a brown syringe. I just had to hold it upright so gravity carried the breast milk down her feeding tube. Took about 5 seconds, but I was thrilled!!! Her and Brennan eat every 3 hours at 12, 3, 6, and 9 around the clock. Brennan's was a little delayed since I did Brooklyn first. Not quite sure what I'm gonna do when we throw Landon in the mix! Definitely not a one person job!



We haven't been able to get many pictures of Brooklyn because she's so sensitive to light and touch, but today she was having a great day and I took advantage! :) She got off the JET ventilator and on the conventional and doing most of the work herself! She's breathing 21% oxygen, which is the same as room air! She has been making great progress, and so quickly!



Landon has been much more alert today. Yesterday he had a bug and was pretty lethargic, but he definitely turned around! He had his eyes open most of the day today and I was able to watch him move around and study his surroundings. Again, took advantage of a good day and snapped a pic! :)

Brennan had a great day too, just wasn't very photogenic. That's ok, picture day is Thursday! 5 weeks old and 28 weeks gestation!

Happy 4 Weeks Babies!

Cannot believe it's been 4 weeks!! In some ways it feels like it's gone by so fast, other times definitely feels longer. Well, without further adieu....pictures! (sorry for the delayed post..our camera died and Nich brought back the charger last night. Hailey wasn't doing the best, which made for a real quick visit-not even enough time to charge the camera battery).



Brennan Nicholas 1lb 11oz (birth weight 1lb 4 oz)

Brennan has been the wild man this week! On Wednesday night he pulled out his ET tube (breathing tube) and had to be reintubated. His nurse said it really wasn't very eventful and he did ok without it! The doctors decided to start to wean him off the ventilator if he can tolerate it and possible take him off early part of next week!!!! Now we know not to get too excited, the common phrase around here is "don't trust a preemie!" Things could change, but Brennan has been holding pretty steady on his ventilator settings and tolerating the weans well. One of the nurses showed us how to tell if the baby is breathing on his own and Brennan has been doing quite well! A couple instances we watched him breathe 2 vent cycles on his own then needed some help from the vent. She explained it like this: the vent is set for certain number of breaths per minute, say 35. If he breathes 20, the vent kicks in and helps with the other 15. If he can do 35 it won't need to help at all that cycle. His drain from his intestinal surgery came out this week as well. He still needs to poop, but everything else is looking good! He's doing so good! The doctor actually told Nich that Brennan was doing very good. This means so much to parents!! (remember when our kids only were described as critical, very sick and sick!?! :)



Landon James 2lb 3oz (birth weight 1lb 7 oz)

Landon has had an eventful week, with the pneumothorax last weekend and his cranial ultrasound came back with ventricles slightly bigger. He is recovering well, and his last chest x-ray came back showing improvement in his right lung of the PIE. Thursday he was switched to the conventional ventilator (removing the JET) and he's doing great! The JET vent was helping him oxygenate a little better than the conventional, but his settings were so low on the JET that they decided to try him on the conventional. Thankfully he hasn't gone back! Though the JET is good for him, it also causes more lung damage than the conventional vent so we're happy for him! So often on the JET he was fighting it and trying to breathe over it and he can take his own breaths on the conventional vent and boy is he ever! It's so amazing to watch his tiny little chest rise all on his own! They are such strong babies, it's awesome to see how far they've come!



Brooklyn Danielle 1lb 15oz (birth weight 1lb 3.5oz)

Our sweet Brooklyn has been making progress in another area - pooping! Today (I know not technically a 4 week update, but exciting none the less!) she had such a large poop that she desated (dropped her oxygen saturation) and her heart rate dropped a little. Apparently this was real tough for her to get out! Nurse wasn't thrilled to change her, but amazed her little body produced that much! We're in trouble with this one! :) She is still on the JET ventilator and needing a little help from Dopamine to keep her blood pressure up (boys have been off that med for quite a few days now!), but she wanted her own area to excel in! All the kids have been given diuretics to help with peeing off the extra fluid. Doesn't Brooklyn look so much better?! They have been weaning her ventilator, 1 wean a day as she's much more sensitive to change than the boys. She didn't use to be, but has recently become so. Hopefully she doesn't get spoiled from getting her way with her nurses! :)

All in all we've had a terrific week! I know not to let my smile get too big, but it is so good to get good news after all the ups and downs and instability we've had! We can't believe they're coming up on the time we thought they'd be born! In the next couple weeks we should see some really exciting changes - next week (28 weeks gestation) they can have their side covers of their isolette's open and once they're off antibiotics they can eat (probably next week as well)! I can't wait because I know how good the milk will be for them if they can tolerate it. It's Mama's Magic Milk! :) The doctor said it can help heal their lungs and Brooklyn and Landon will need that. We're feeling more and more like parents, getting to change diapers and getting closer to spending more time watching them. They have such distinct personalities and want to be shown love in different ways (Brooklyn, from a distance!). We're learning so much about them and can't believe in some ways that they're ours. We truly have been given a gift to watch our babies grow and see God working in their little bodies. This journey is one we will share over and over, giving praises for the work He has done and will do! I know I've said this before, but we are so thankful for all of your prayers, comments and notes of encouragement. We don't know how much of an impact these kids are having and how God is working through them. We are trying to really focus on seeing what God has in store for us, seeing each opportunity He has laid out for us. Everything happens for a reason, and He's given us such strength to get through what lies ahead. Thank you all for your love, prayers and support! When we're feeling overwhelmed, we know the body will be praying us through!

leaves

Today Daddy and Hailey took time to have some fun together! Sometimes in life I focus on the chore instead of the fun of doing an activity. For the past three years I have to rack one million and one leaves. However, this year I realized I have a helper! Her smile and laughter brought tears to my eyes as she laugh and giggled as I put leaves in a pile and showed her how to jump in them. She loved every minute of it! Hailey is amazing on how she has is able to help me stay focused on the fun things in life and not worrying about what I cannot control!

Nich

Quick update

Results of the latest cranial ultrasounds....Brennan has had no change in his IVH! Landon, on the other hand, has had a slight increase in the size of his ventricles. If you remember, the last ultrasound showed them slightly decreased so now they're back to the first increased size. They're not any bigger than they have been which is good news, but we thought things were trending down. All of the stress from the pnemothorax and blood pressure inconsistency last weekend probably caused the increase in his bleeds. We probably won't know what areas (if any) of their brain and development will be affected, so we're praying for the best!

Now for the great news...Brooklyn & Landon have pooped! Hooray! A body part is working correctly! :) Funny how the littlest things bring such joy! Landon has been off blood pressure medicine for a couple days and Brennan is almost off (on 2 out of 20 of Dopamine).

A balloon for Katelyn

A couple weeks ago one of Brennan's nurses, Debbie, suggested we send a note on a balloon to Katelyn. Hailey constantly talks about Katelyn, wondering where she is, how she's doing and wondering what she likes. She said Katelyn will tie the balloon to her baby bed. :) We decided today was the day to send her a balloon. We went to Dollar Tree to pick out a balloon and Hailey, knowing that Katelyn's favorite color would be pink, picked out a pink heart balloon. It was perfect. We wrote a note telling her we loved her and missed her. There is not a single day that goes by that I don't think of her. Wondering what she would be like, what she would look like and praying for Brooklyn and the loss of a twin sister.



Hailey and Daddy walking the balloon in the Nichols Arboretum where we decided to let the balloon go. It's right next to the Ronald McDonald house.



Hailey cried like she has never cried before and I was crying right along with her. She cried because she thought she was going to get to see her sister. She wanted to see Katelyn and give her the balloon. We felt horrible that we didn't make it clearer for her, but told her again that she was in heaven with Jesus and we let the balloon go so it could fly up and take our note to her (this way Katelyn would know who the balloon was from). As luck would have it, the balloon got stuck in the tree, making Hailey cry even more. She was so concerned that Katelyn wouldn't get her balloon. I told her she would get it, the wind would come and help it get to her. She asked if Katelyn would get it by herself or if Jesus would help her. I said of course Jesus will help her get it. She didn't think he could because he was a baby (she hasn't quite understood that Jesus grew up since Christmas), but his mommy would help Katelyn.



Holding each other as we both cried missing Katelyn. This was the first time I saw Hailey really cry out of sadness. It broke my heart that she hurt so bad. We cried and held each other as a family and I think this was really healing for all of us. After this, a group had dropped off "babies" in baskets with pillows and blankets for the kids at the Ronald McDonald house. Hailey named one Katelyn and took such good care of her all night. It's so hard as a mom, grieving the loss of my daughter while helping my other daughter through her own feelings. She is growing up before my eyes. She's so sensitive and I need to help her understand what she's feeling and get through it. Please keep Hailey in your prayers as she understands her feelings and mourns the loss of her sister. Even though Katelyn was just 3 days old, Hailey had been loving her since she found out she was going to be a big sister. It's been so hard on all of us, and not until today did I realize the real impact on Hailey. We miss you Katelyn!

First Video!

Here's our social butterfly! Thought you all would appreciate seeing our babies in action! :) When Brennan has his eyes open, he's ready to visit! I stood there for about 20 minutes just looking and talking to him. It's so fun now that they're getting so much bigger and more social! Can't wait to hold them!!!! The video's kinda long and loud, just ignore the talking and beeping in the background. The other kids have been pretty knocked out when I've checked on them. My goal is to get all of them on video and put something together. I love my kids!!! :)