Day 7!!!

The boy's had a decent night, they are both remaining off of their ventilators which is great, Nicholas is still getting about 28% Oxygen while Joey has been between 45-55% since he's been off.  They hope to wean both boys down today and get to the 21% number "room-air".  We will keep an eye out for them and hopefully things will continue to improve for the two little munchkins!!!

Nicholas having a good morning!!!

Jr. has the hiccups today!!!

UPDATE 8/17/2013 9:20 PM:  The boys had another good day, filled with a lot of visitors as well!  They got to see both Grandmas, Auntie Sheri, Uncle Tom, and of course Mommy and Daddy!  Both boys continue to remain stable at their current levels. 

Joseph had one of his umbilical IV Lines removed, so only one remains, and he will most likely be getting his PICC line tomorrow or Monday.  Joseph was upgraded to 1ml of breast milk every three hours as well today, which according to the nurses in the NICU is a good sign.  He had to go back under the light today since his bilirubin (Jaundice) numbers were up, so he has the cool shades on again!  He will have another echo on Monday to see how his heart is progressing and if the duct between the aorta and pulmonary artery, referred to as the PDA (patent ductus arteriosus) has completely closed.  Hopefully Monday we get the news we want and he continues to progress every day!

Nicholas, is my cool cat, where Joseph is the fighter, we compare it to good cop, bad cop!  Hey we have to have a little humor in this situation right!  Although we know that little Nicky is going to be the sneaky one, who will pull of major pranks in very clever ways, and probably get his brother blamed for most of them!  He is doing really well, he was on his stomach a lot today as well.  He was very alert today and even got 20 minutes of cuddle time with Mommy this afternoon!  Nicholas is only getting 1/2 ml of breast milk every 12 hours because he is still on his medication to close his PDA, but it was his last dose today and they hope to get him on the same schedule as Joey as early as Monday.  Nicholas will have his echo on Monday also. Nicholas' oxygen has been brought down to room air as of 9:15 tonight, and also gained an ounce today to bring him up 2lb 1oz!!!

As we come up on one week of the boys being born, we are truly blessed by their arrival!  I'm not going to lie, this hasn't been easy by any stretch of the imagination, but with all of the support we have received from our family and friends, it has made this process tolerable, and kept us strong and positive for our boys!  Vince has also helped a lot too, by keeping us busy, and letting us enjoy him as usual!  He is going to be a great big brother and I can't wait until he can meet his new partners in crime against Mom and Dad!!!

Goodnight to everyone and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued prayers and well wishes for our family, we are forever grateful!!!

Goodnight Nicholas!!!

Goodnight Jr.!!!