Not yet

We were supposed to come home with the boys today, but Kolton his still having an issue with his eating. We got as far as rooming in, which means we had to stay over night and do all their care as well as respond to any alarms that went off on the home monitors. Kolton is still having bradycardias at the beginning of his feeds as well as during his feeds if he is tired. His 3AM feed and 6AM feed did not go well, with the 6AM feed he even had to have his NG Tube put back in and some food given that way. He was just too tired. This concerned the nurse as well as us, she called the Doctor and now we are just waiting. Waiting for Kolton to get it down. The Doctor says he probably only needs a day or two. I think it will take longer, I began to worry that something else is wrong with him, however the Doctor says it's because he is a preemie and some take longer than others.

I don't want him home sooner than he is ready, that's how things go I've learned when it comes to babies and the NICU. One minute they are ready and doing great the next they have something they need to work on. We just keep telling ourselves we are on the down hill side of this ordeal, they will come home hopefully sooner than later. It's been over 6 weeks, they have done great up to this point. They aren't even supposed to be born yet not for another 4 weeks, we don't want to push them too hard. Hopefully he will figure it all out soon and we will be posting pictures of us all together at home.

One Day at a time......

It's a song that is quiet appropriate in this situation. Most days are better than others, today I had a rough day. Kolton is anemic, his anemia is very likely causing his eating issues that he has been having. The treatment for this is a blood transfusion, which is very normal for preemies, this will actually make his second one. I do not wish this situation on anyone, I am very grateful that my babies have done so well, however when you hear one of them cry a heartbreaking cry because they are getting stuck over and over again because no one can get the IV in is more than I could bare.

This has been the most happiest, saddest, overwhelming, 3 months of my life. I never wanted to know what complete bed rest was, or what it was like to go into pre-term labor, or what a mediflight or ambulance ride was like. I never wanted to experience a labor that went so fast that I then received a natural and c-section birth. I didn't want to know what went on at Childrens hospital in Team 1, Team 2, or "The Village". Not knowing what a bradycardia or apnea or desat was would be fine as well. Sitting in a dark rooms watching monitors and listening to alarms has been our life for over a month, each step closer to going home is scary but one you look forward to. I hope to never experience anything like this again, but I would do it all over again for those two little boys.

Day 41 - That was NO circus!!

Ouuuch... We got circumsized today!

Day 40 - Almost Home

The doctor is now thinking of sending us home! We'v passed our car seat study (we can sit in a car seat and breath). We're eating most of our formula through bottles now (without running out of oxygen). The doctor says we might get to go home on tuesday or wednesday. We're going to have a lot of doctor visits for follow up though and even some nurses coming by the house to make sure we're progressing at a normal rate. We're going home with monitors as well to sound an alarm if we have some problems with our breathing. Dad has a sad look on his face and kind of a grimmace, he keeps saying something about us getting circumsized tomorrow , not sure what that means but it sounds like we're going to the circus, so it can't be too bad.

Here's a picture of the seldom seen Karter:














and Kranky Kolton..

1 month - Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to us! We've been around for 1 month on the 17th. Here is a pic of us plotting an escape from the NICU:
We've hit a few more milestones towards getting out of here. We're having hardly any bradychardia or apnea anymore and we're both able to drink a whole bottle of formula without passing out from lack of oxygen (drinking may sound easy to you, but we're not even supposed to be breathing air yet so it's a major step for us).

Day 29 - Same Krib, New Lokation

Well, we were relocated today, this time we were sent to a place called "The Village" in a new building. We were moved from the NICU due to space issues (too many really sick babies) and also because we are doing better than most. We've almost learned how to drink from the bottle and we're not experiencing apnea and bradychardia as much. The doctors are saying we will be home in 7 to 10 days. Mom and Dad are scared...

In the mean time.. we like to suck our thumbs!

Day 27 - Karter and Kolton Kickin it in a Krib

Woohoo!We've moved out of the old incubator (we got tooo hot) and into a much more spacious Krib! We were also told that we might be moving to a place called "The Village" next week. This is the last step before going home (or the NICU is just out of room and they kick out the most promising babies).

Here's where we spent the last 3 weeks:














Here's where we're living now!














and Here's a closeup!

Day 25

Today was pretty much another day in the NICU. The boys for the most part were very well behaved today. Kolton tried the bottle again today and did not do so well, he did what preemies do and forgot to breath while he was taking it. This in turn causes his oxygen levels to go down and that in turn scares mommy and daddy and the nurses too if he does not get it up fast enough. Therefore we decided that we would wait to try it again for another day and have them feed him by his tube. Karter is coming around more than he was. Today he showed an interest in sucking on his pacifier more so than any other day. This shows that he too will try the bottle soon. They usually try in week 34 to give them a bottle, Kolton is a whole week ahead of himself and Karter seems to be on the more "normal" track.

They are so sweet and each day we see more and more of their personalities. Once again can't wait until they can come home.

Preemie Primer

For some good peemie information...go here.

Day 23 - Very Kranky Kolton

The boys had a good day today. They're doing very well according to their doctor. Kolton has been just a little ahead of his brother from day one and he tends to set the theme. Hopefully his little brother won't follow the theme he set today. Kolton got very cranky several times, mostly around feeding time. He tends to get loud and start grabbing anything near him and pulling on it, including his brother! He got hungry and the nurse wasn't moving quick enough and I caught him sucking his brothers hand! I tried to get a picture but they move too fast. I'm not sure about all of the stuff you hear about the special connection between twins but our twins seem to do a LOT better since they share an apartment now. We have caught them holding hands on several occasions even. They seem a lot more calm when they're together.

Day 20 - Time to Eat!

Today was a great day! Kolton was actually able to drink from the bottle. Today Kolton and Karter's Nurse Julianne showed me many techniques in how to properly hold a baby. I could spend hours and hours holding my boys! I really can't wait for Mr. Karter to grow a little bit and become more active. The nurses tell me he will be the brains in the outfit and Kolton will be the one executing the plan that Karter puts together, and most likely the one left to take all the blame.

Day 18

Today they both seemed to be doing better. Karter had a few desats but nothing like the last couple of days. Kolton did better as well with almost no desats. I asked the nurse if this was all normal. If it was ok that Karter's oxygen had to be turned up a little and that they both had to have blood. I wanted to know if it meant that they were not doing well or what. She said that Karter is following the pattern of a typical preemie, his brother on the other hand was an over achiever and that we should not compare him to Kolton's progress. That between the two Karter was the more "normal" pattern. That made me feel better because I was beginning to worry that it meant something was wrong with Karter. Once again the doctor says they are doing good and that's a good thing.

Today they also got to put on clothes for the first time. The nurse yesterday told me I can bring some for them, but when I got there this morning, the day nurse had put them in some already. She said it will help them learn to regulate their own temperatures. The clothes where preemie clothes and they where too big, not too long but too big around the waist. Kolton promptly got poo on his and I changed him into an outfit I had brought. The one in the picture is the hospitals outfit.

Day 17

Today both Kolton and Karter had to have a blood transfusion, due to not making enough red blood cells, which in turn makes their oxygen rates drop, or desat. We spoke to the doctor about this and she assured us that this is normal for preemies and that they may have to have more than one. I spoke with several of the other moms in the room and all their babies have had more than one transfusion. We of course asked all the questions about the safety of the blood on so on. Once again she assured us it is very safe and the blood is tested and radiated. We were hoping they would not need transfusions, the doctor had discussed this with us once before, however they began desating quite a bit yesterday and last night and blood work showed that they were indeed anemic. They both tolerated the transfusions very well and Karter even began to act like he felt somewhat better and he began to look pinker. For a day or so I had wondered about Karter because he slept almost all the time and unlike his brother only stayed awake for a short time. The doctor said that just like us, when we are anemic, we feel tired and draggy that's what Karter was feeling. Poor little guys, it sure was hard to hear them cry as they got their IV lines put in. I know it hurts because just recently I have had a whole slew of them and they don't feel good, however they only cried for a minute and I managed barley not to cry myself. The nurse said the will do more blood work tomorrow and make sure they don't need more blood, and she also said that they both should be feeling very good by tomorrow. I will be so glad when we are on the other side of this, sometimes it is hard to remain positive, but for my sanity I don't allow myself to play to much of the "what if" game.

Day 15

Something must be in the air today, every baby in the room kept desating at some point or another. No one got too excited about it but alarms where going off in unison. It has been said that the barometric pressure could play a roll in their desating. I was holding Kolton when he did it once and it got kinda of scary, he didn't come up all that fast, well not fast enough for me, but the nurse once again said it was all very normal. Hubby asked the Doctor if they run the risk of cerebral palsy or another defect from the desating but she said no because they don't do it very long and if it goes too long, the nursed intervene with oxygen. It mostly happens when they are eating which we have been told is normal as well. I sure will be glad when this is all over and they are home and doing good. I am a little concerned with them doing something like that when we get them home, but I keep reading and the nurses keep saying, they don't go home until they have not had any episodes of desating or bradycardia for a while.