Day 76!!!

I apologize for missing my post yesterday, but everything is fine with the boys!!!  Nicholas is officially on countdown to come home!!! We are at day 2 of 7 now, and Kalleigh had to bring the car seat to the NICU yesterday!!!  The nurses will put Nicholas in his car seat for a few hours to make sure he doesn't experience any episodes and that he is able to tolerate the moving.  This is a very exciting week for us and we are hoping that Nicholas does great and can come home soon!!!   Of course we will not be too disappointed if he has an episode, because the nurses let us know that this cycle can go on for a little while!  So we will remain cautiously optimistic that one of our babies may be home by this time next week!!! 

Nicholas also passed his hearing test yesterday, and the doctor ordered his caloric intake to be increased because she wanted his average weekly weight gain to increase a little bit.  Nicholas now weighs 5lb 3.75oz, so they are hoping he puts on a few more ounces before he comes home.  He has been doing really good with his bottle feeds and when Kalleigh nurses him as well!! 

Joseph has also been doing really good with his feedings, but he is an eater!!!  He takes a little more concentration while feeding him because he likes to try and guzzle the whole bottle which in turn can make him choke or experience an episode, so we keep a close eye on him during bottles!  But he is doing really good and now weighs 5lb 13.5oz!!!  Joseph will have his hearing test either today or next week, and the nurses will try and take him off of his 'micro flow' oxygen next week!!! 

As we look at the calendar and have gone through 76 days of this, we are amazed by how close the doctors were to their anticipated discharge date of November 12th which was their original due date.  We know that this can change, but if all continues on the path that it has, it looks like we will have both boys home by that date, so we will keep our fingers crossed!!!  Kalleigh and I couldn't be more blessed by the continued thoughts and prayers that we receive on a daily basis from everyone, and we cannot thank you enough for your support during this amazing chapter in our lives!!!

Day 74!!!

Today was another good day for the boys, although Nicholas did have an episode in the early morning that wasn't caused by his feedings so we'll have to reset the clock for his countdown.  Officially he is at day 0 again and if he goes to day 7 he can come home, but the nurses and doctors cautioned us not to get too optimistic just yet, and said they wouldn't be surprised if he stayed a week or two more.  Kalleigh and I both don't mind how long it takes, we just want them to come home when they're ready, so it helps us make the transition a little easier.  Don't get me wrong we really want them home, but after the care they have received over the past two and a half months we are confident that the boys are in great hands and we couldn't be happier!!!

Joseph pulled his NG tube out today, and the Dr. said to leave it out and see how things go! So since 11:45 am he has been without it, and I just got back from the hospital and he is doing great!  He still needs his tiny puff of oxygen, but as the Dr. stated she wants him to be taking all of his feedings orally first and foremost so this is a good step!  

Grandma and Grandpa G. stopped by tonight, and Grandma got to feed Joseph for the first time!!!  I won't go into the details but there is a technique to feeding them since the boys haven't fully developed the concept of eating and breathing, so you have to pace them!  It's kind of nerve racking at first, but Grandma got the hang of it pretty quick! 

The house is almost ready to have the boys home!!!  We've taken our time, but of course now that Nicholas could potentially come home in 7 days we need to kick our butts in gear, but we have more done than we think!!!  I think I'm excited for Nicholas to come home to cut the pushups in half!!! 148 today was not fun!!!  Vince helped us get things situated, and I think he is starting to realize that he has two brothers, but I'm sure it will be quite a shock for him, especially since he'll most likely only see one at first, and then hopefully soon after he'll see the second one, which at that point he'll probably thinking "Mom, Dad, I let the first one go, but two!??"  Just kidding, I know he'll be a great big brother and help out a lot with the boys! 

Day 73!!!

I don't know if I have to say too much after these pictures!  This is a priceless moment that we got to see today!!!  Our boys will be sleeping together in the same crib when they come home for a period of time until they get too big, but to see this today was amazing!!! 

Kalleigh and I are going to the hospital together tonight to do night feedings, and check their weights.  Last night Nicholas weighed 5lb 2.8oz and Joseph weighed 5lb 13.2oz, so they are getting up there!  The doctors started Joseph on his diuretic today for three days, in hopes to remove some of his fluids, and get him taking all of his feeds through the bottle or nursing.  The doctor said they want him to be off of his NG tube soon! 

Day 72!!!

Sorry again for the late post, but things were a little crazy today to say the least!  Nothing to do with the boys, just with Vince and the house!!! Our poor Vince has the Croup!  He sounds terrible and we're very worried about bringing the virus into the NICU, but we got some assurance from his pediatrician that the contagious part is over now, and also assurance from the nurses that the scrubbing in that we do daily should be sufficient enough to make sure the boys don't get it!!!  Still it's a very scary thing, we don't want the boys to suffer any set backs!

The boys got a visit from Grandma T. yesterday and today, I'll post pictures this week, they're taking forever to download from home right now!  Kalleigh nursed the boys today and both of them are doing really well!  Nicholas is still off of his NG tube which is a good sign, and we may be getting close to starting the countdown of days for him to come home.  He will have to go between 5 and 7 days without an episode before they will let him come home, but he had an episode from eating today, so they still haven't started the clock!!! Still pretty exciting to think that in couple of weeks he will hopefully be home!!! 

Joseph had his echo today, and the cardiologist told our nurse tonight that everything looked really good!!!  We're hoping to get the detailed report tomorrow, but it's very refreshing to hear that about our little 'big' man's heart considering all of the issues in the beginning!  I don't have updated weights to share since the nurse wasn't able to do it during their 8 o'clock hands on tonight, but I will update the blog tomorrow once I get the news!!! 

Day 67!!!

Sorry I updated this a few days ago, but it never got published!!!!!

I know I promised pictures early but better late than never!!!  Here are a few from yesterday that we took with our phones.  I'm not sure when we'll receive the professional ones, if ever :)

The boys are doing great though, Joseph lost a few grams last night, but Nicholas is up to 4lb 12oz!!!  The doctor put them on prilosec for their reflux, which is common in preemies, but the doctor seems to think it will also help them with their oxygen needs.  The doctor stated that he would try this for a few days, and then see if the boys can be off of the oxygen again.

That's really the only change as of right now, I will be visiting the boys later on tonight and hopefully we see weight gains in both of them again!!!

Looks like a pretty happy NICU to me!!!

My first time feeding Joseph!!!

Nicholas, doing his thing!!!

Joseph getting the spa treatment!!!

Joseph just hanging out!!!

10 Weeks!!!

I can't believe it's already been 10 weeks!  The improvements we have seen over this time is amazing and to see our babies grow outside of the womb has not only been stressful, but amazing at the same time!!!  The boys are doing great, and Nicholas pulled out his NG tube today, and the nurse and doctor decided to leave it out for the time being so all of his feeds are being done orally!!!  He took 2 ounces by bottle this afternoon and Kalleigh and I are heading back to the hospital together tonight to do some more feedings!!  Hopefully Nicholas can keep the NG tube out, which makes it one step closer for him to come home!!! 

Joseph is doing great too, he is up to 5lbs 9oz and is breast feeding really well.  We will attempt to feed him orally again tonight so most of his feedings today were without the NG tube!  Because Joseph is still on oxygen at this point in the development the doctor might try a diuretic to help with the flow, however since he was born with the heart condition we have to be careful because a diuretic can sometimes propose more risk than good, so before they make any decisions Joseph will have an echo tomorrow so the cardiologist can look at his heart.  They haven't had a look at his heart for a while so it "can't hurt" as teh doctor put it today!  So hopefully tomorrow everything looks normal, and they can try the diuretic to get him off of the oxygen this week!  The doctor wasn't concerned though and said their development is right on track, especially for boys who are usually a few weeks behind as compared to girls!!!

No more NG Tube!!!

Joseph resting peacefully!!!

Joseph sleeping away the other night!

This sleeping position seems to be popular for both boys!!!

Day 70!!!

I'm posting crib side again so I won't be able to post pictures until tomorrow, so please don't get too mad at me!!!  Nicholas is off of oxygen again!!!  He has been off since about 2 pm today and hasn't seemed to have any issues!  Joseph was bumped down to .025 oxygen which is the absolute lowest he can go, so the next step is no assistance!!!  The boys received baths today and are really cozy in their cribs.  I missed them since yesterday as each day it gets harder and harder to have them in the hospital.  I know it's only a matter of time before they come home though and I'm so happy they are doing so well here!!

I know I ask for a lot of prayers from all of you but they really do help and if you could please say a prayer for my Brother in law Tom's father who had emergency open heart surgery Friday.  We hope he has a speedy and ful recovery!

Vince and I spent the day down on the farm with his cousins and Aunt Sheri, while Kalleigh got to spend a lot of quality time with the boys!  Kalleigh has done and is doing an amazing job with these boys and I can't say enough how proud of her I am!!!

Ill post pictures from the weekend tomorrow, I hope everyone has a wonderful evening!!!