March 31

Well, it looks like Will's surgery will most likely be Friday. Everything is looking good, but they want him to finish his course of antibiotics before they operate. He finishes Thursday, so they're tentatively planning for Friday. He looked good today. His leg is causing him some pain and that's good and bad. It's bad because obviously you don't want your baby to be in pain, but it's good because it means that he has sensation in his leg. And the doctor can finally find a pulse in his foot, so it looks like his leg is almost completely healed. I can't wait for him to get this surgery over with so we can get him home. Tonight I asked Hays' nurse to give me an estimate on how much longer he'll have to stay in the hospital, and she said two to three weeks. I really want to bring them home together, so Will has to get better soon. Hays had an eye exam today and everything looks good. He was pretty wiped out after that and spent most of the day sleeping. He woke up tonight after I gave him a bath and he did really well with his bottle. But before he finished it he got tired and pretty much passed out. It was like someone flipped a switch, one minute he was awake, the next he was fast asleep. That eating is hard work for such a little baby!

March 30

Will looks sooooo much better today. His leg looks great- almost completely back to normal. His foot is a little swollen, but other than that it looks great. His face has been really swollen over the past couple of days, but that has come down and he looks like his cute self again. He was a lot more alert today. When Matt and I came in he was opening his eyes and looking around and just seemed to generally feel much better. Such a relief!!! We should find out tomorrow when they're going to do the surgery. Hays was great today as well. His weight is up to 3 lbs. 4 oz., and he's gaining about an ounce every day. At this rate he's going to catch up to Will quickly. He was a tired boy today and barely woke up at either visit. According to his nurse, he gets pretty cranked up around 2 a.m. So we're really looking forward to bringing him home! I guess I'll be watching lots of infomercials late at night with that little night owl!

March 29- Broadway Baby

Tonight Mason met Hays for the first time! Mason can't actually go in to the NICU because he's too young, but we brought Hays up to the window. Mason waved at him and blew him kisses, and then turned around and shook his butt at his brother. Guess we better get used to such "brotherly love." We asked Mason "what was your favorite part about going to see your brother?" His answer- "drinking cherry coke in the lobby." Downright heartwarming I tell you! Will is still improving. His leg is almost back to normal and they should be able to start feeding him again tomorrow. He's been on clear fluids for about four days, so I know the little guy is hungry. My mom and I went to see him today and the funniest thing happened. There was a guy with a baby two beds down from Will- he was about the goofiest looking guy I'd ever seen, sweatpants and sandles, dorky t-shirt, the works. But the whole time he was visiting his baby (well over an hour) he sang showtunes, loudly and badly, to his baby girl. I was laughing so hard, I almost wet myself. At one point he was singing "sunrise, sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof and I whispered to my mom, "Let's start singing matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match" but she wouldn't do it. My sister had the best idea. She said when we left we should have sang "Goodbye" like they do in the party scene of The Sound of Music. I wish we had thought of that! My mom says I'm a horrible person for making fun of that guy, but I fully believe that you have to find humor wherever you can. And this guy was asking for it. I mean, come on, this is not NICU Idol!!!!

March 28

Pictures:

Hays says "Yay, I'm wearing clothes!!!"

So darn cute!!!

Will is steadily improving. Even though it's taking a long time, his leg is looking better every day. Today Matt and I took the "divide and conquer" approach to the NICU. He went up to Egleston to see Will and I stayed home to spend some quality time with Mason. I knew I had been away too long when he woke up in the middle of the night last night and called out for his daddy and his grandfather, but not mommy. So we had a fun afternoon at the park and he was happy to get some mommy time. I also needed to get up to St. Mary's twice today to work on breastfeeding with Hays. It's time for him to learn how to really do it instead of just practicing. He did really well, and I was very proud of him. He's going to start getting bottles during the day when he's awake and alert at feeding time instead of just being fed through his tube. And he can finally wear clothes!!! I got to dress him for the first time today, and he was incredibly cute. He wore a little long sleeved blue onesie with a train on it. It was a little big on him, but he looked adorable. I love the fact that he's finally becoming just a regular baby instead of this tiny, fragile little preemie. Now if we can just get Will better so he can do the same thing, we'll have them home before we know it.

March 28

Will's leg looks better today, more of a reddish-purple, instead of purplish-blue. Plus it's warm today instead of really cool, so the circulation is improving. We're still not totally out of the woods, but things are looking much better. We're very anxious for it to be completely healed, but there's nothing we can do but wait and watch. It looks like his surgery will be Monday or Tueaday. The surgeon wanted to go ahead with it today, but Will's doctor said no. Matt and I are in total agreement with her. We need to make sure his leg is okay before going on to anything else. He had an eye exam today since preemies sometimes have problems with their eyes, but his look fine. They're keeping him pretty sedated right now because they don't want him moving his leg a lot, but hopefully things will be great tomorrow and we'll be done with all this craziness. Hays is still doing beautifully. Matt and I had some good snuggle time with him tonight and I just can't believe how big he's getting!

One thing after another

So Will did not have surgery today after all. They took him into the OR, got him under anesthesia, everything was going fine. Then they tried to put an arterial line in his leg and his artery spasmed and shut so there was no blood flow to his leg. Apparently his leg turned completely white. So they had to stop and give him blood thinner to try to open the artery and get his blood flowing again. Blood has returned to his leg, but it's still not totally flowing freely, so his leg is bluish purple. They think it will fix itself and he will be fine, but they're watching it very closely. Everyone pray that it fixes itself quickly, because I really don't want to have a one-legged baby. We don't know when they'll do the surgery. The surgeon was saying they might go ahead tomorrow afternoon, but I want to make sure everything's okay with his leg before they do it. I swear, if it's not one thing, it's another. Are we ever going to get this poor little guy fixed? But tomorrow is another day, and hopefully it will b e a better one!

Think good thoughts tomorrow!!!!!

Tomorrow is the big day for Will! He's scheduled for surgery at 11:00, so everyone say a prayer for him right about then. We know that it will go well and we have absolute faith in God and the doctors, but some extra prayers can't hurt! If all goes well, his recovery should take about a week and then he'll be heading back to Athens. Other exciting news is that Hays had his first bottle tonight! He drank the whole ounce, which is unbelieveably awesome for his first time. He looked so happy and content while he was drinking it too. And he finally weighs three pounds! What a big boy. In less exciting news, Matt and I have spent $90 on gas over the past two days. I guess that's what happens when you do the NICU's of Georgia tour. The upside is that we've spent more time together, just the two of us, than we have since Mason was born. That's been kind of nice. But we'll still be glad when all this driving all over the place is done.

March 24- Next stop on the tour of NICU's- Egleston!

Will made it to Egleston today!!!! He took his second helicopter ride in a week, and made it to Atlanta around 1:00 today. That kid likes to travel in style! Matt and I had to go by camry, so it took us three hours. Will settled in pretty well and was wide awake when we got there. He was seen by the cardiologists and had another echocardiogram done. The doctors said that his surgery would be really straightforward and would be minor as far as heart surgery is concerned. He's having an MRI tomorrow to map out exactly how they'll do the surgery. We aren't sure what day they'll do it, but we hope it's soon. The doctor said they expect about a week of recovery time and if all goes well, they'll ship him back to St. Mary's. We are thrilled that Will is finally there. We really liked all of the doctors and nurses that we met, and the facility itself is great. Plus it's much easier having him in Atlanta because we have family there that can check on him when we're not there. After we left Atlanta, we burned up the road back to Athens to pick up Mason and spend a few minutes with him until I had to rush over to St. Mary's to see Hays. It was so good to finally see all of my boys in one day!!!! Mason was happy to see us and told us all about what the Easter Bunny brought him. And Hays seemed happy to see me. He was wide awake when I got there and mad because his feeding was a little late. But we had a good little cuddle time and I was so proud to see him breathing all by himself. His echocardiogram results were fine, so yay Hays!!! Matt and I are worn out- Matt just pointed out that we went to three different hospitals today- the NICU trifecta. Good grief!! So we're going to figure out our plan for tomorrow and go to sleep!

Happy Easter!

Bunny Hays!!

Happy Easter everyone! It looks like we'll be heading up to Egleston first thing tomorrow morning (fingers crossed). There are a couple of beds open and as long as no other super-critical babies come in, Will's got a spot. We are soooo ready to get him there and get him fixed. He had a decent day for the most part, and I got to give him a bath and hold him for a few minutes tonight! Hays is still doing beautifully (as you can see from his adorable bunny picture- thanks mom!). He did have an echocardiogram done today to check on a heart murmur that he's had, which is very common in preemies and usually something they outgrow. We'll get the results of that tomorrow- and they'd better be good! It was really weird to be away from Mason on Easter. We missed him a lot. Matt and I were invited to join my friend, Katie's, family for Easter dinner and we had entirely too much fun with them. Many, many thanks to the Aranda family for their kindness!

March 22

We're still in Disgusta, and we still don't know when Will's being transferred to Egleston. We'll hopefully have a definite transfer day tomorrow. Will had a rough afternoon. He was really agitated and couldn't get settled. His heart rate was really high and I was concerned about him. He had been getting pain medication as needed in Athens, but they don't give pain meds just because a baby is intubated here. I have no idea why. Wouldn't you want pain medicine if you had a plastic tube down your throat? They kept trying to settle him by changing his position, swaddling him, etc, but nothing worked. I kept telling them that he needed pain meds and they finally gave him something. After that he settled down and has been resting peacefully tonight. I'm going to have to talk to his doctor tomorrow and get this whole thing straightened out. It's not the time to change his medication right before he's transferred to yet another hospital to undergo surgery. Lord I'll be glad when this is over!!!!

March 21- We have an answer!!!

We know what's wrong with Will! He has a vascular ring, which basically means that a blood vessel from his heart grew in the wrong direction and wrapped around his trachea. This puts pressure on his airway and causes it to collapse when he's extubated. The bad news is that the only solution is a pretty major surgery. The good news is that this is not an uncommon condition and it can be fixed. They can't do the surgery in Augusta because they don't have a pediatric cardiologist on staff right now, so we'll have to go to Egleston. We think they'll transfer him on Sunday which means we'll spend another day in Disgusta. Luckily some of our friends came into town today to visit family, so we have someone to distract us when we're not at the hospital (which my friend described as a "futuristic baby farm!"). Beats hanging out in the hotel room! Hays is still doing great. They took him off the nasal canula last night and he's been breathing on his own all day! We can't wait to get home and see him breathing like a big boy! Everyone pray that we get Will to Egleston on Sunday so we can get this surgery out of the way and work on getting our boys home.

March 20- Disgusta

We're in Augusta. It pretty much sucks. I know that the doctors are great and that they can do things here that they can't do back home, but we still hate it. I'm sure it's mainly because we are so spoiled by the amazingly nice NICU at home. Here we're in a big, ugly room with lots of alarms beeping everywhere and lots of people we don't know. We miss our outstanding nurses who know and love our baby. The bronchial scope is scheduled for 9:15 tomorrow morning. Hopefully they'll figure out what's wrong and how to fix it. We have faith that they're going to do exactly what needs to be done. Will's doing pretty well tonight and he seems to be settling in okay. I think he's having an easier time than I am. It was a hard afternoon. I'm too worn out to go into too much detail, but it was hard. I'm just ready for tomorrow morning. The sooner they fix him, the sooner we go home. Today's good news is that Hays went from the high-flow nasal canula to a regular nasal canula. If he does well, they'll take him off of that and he'll be breathing all on his own! So everyone think good thoughts for both of our little guys. One more thing before I take my tired self to bed. In the Augusta NICU they have these painted mural things of babies and flowers above each baby's bed. The problem is, the babies in the paintings are hideously ugly!! The one above Will's bed has this god awful pig nose. It's the funniest, ugliest thing I've seen in a while. We'll try and get a picture of it before we leave!!!

March 19- Daddy's Day

Pictures:
Matt (his crazy hair) and his boys!

Hays says "Oh, it's all too much for me"

Mason's shirt says it all




It's official, tomorrow we will be making the trip to Disgusta. We don't know what time, but at least we finally know what day. I'm pretty much dreading the hell out of it. I know that it will be a great hospital, and I would go to the ends of the earth to make Will better, but I hate going down there not knowing when we're coming back. Do you know how hard it is to pack for a trip whose duration is unknown? Pretty darn hard!!! And I'm just dreading that moment that the helicopter lifts off with one baby, and I have to kiss my two other boys goodbye and drive off into the unknown. But we'll get through it- not like we have much choice in the matter! On the upside, Matt got to hold both of his boys tonight, which was great. I've definitely had the lion's share of cuddle time with the boys, so it was Daddy's turn. And I'm thinking Will might turn out to be a daddy's boy. I got to hold him today, but he was awfully irritable and got all fussy and turned a lovely shade of dark purple (yeah, that was kind of scary!). So that put an end to my holding time for the day. But when his daddy got him tonight, he was happy as a clam! (Little stinker!) Everybody just say your prayers for Will tomorrow. Pray that the doctors can find the problem and fix it quickly and easily and that we get back to Athens SOON!!!!

March 18- Bath Day!

Pictures:

Will being bright eyed and bushy tailed

Hays getting his first bath

Hays complaining about his first bath

Both boys are doing great today. Will seems to be feeling a million times better. He was so alert this evening. And he seems to love attention. He was mad and crying when I got there tonight, but after my sisters and I spent lots of time with him, he was a happy boy. I guess he just likes to be surrounded by his adoring public! We still don't know when he's going to Augusta, maybe tomorrow, maybe Thursday. But at least he's doing really well at this point. And he's huge! He's 3 pounds 15 oz, so he's gained more than a pound since birth. Both boys got their first bath tonight, so they're not dirty little monkeys anymore. Hays did not think much of bath time, and he made the whole NICU aware of his displeasure. That kid can scream!! He weighs right at 2 pounds 10 oz, and he's getting bigger every day. They are spending more time awake every day. They really wake up in the early evening around 7 or 8. They are really starting to get interested in their surroundings and love all the attention they get from everyone. They're starting to act like real babies and it's just amazing to se how much they've progressed over the past (almost) four weeks. They each have very distinct personalities and we're having so much fun getting to know these little guys!

March 17

Things are looking up today. We're still nervous about the Augusta thing (or as I like to call it, Disgusta), but we're getting used to the idea. It looks like they'll be coming to get him Wednesday. Mason is very jealous that his baby brother gets to ride in a helicopter! When I told him about it he said, "Mommy, he will need a helmet." Funny kid!! Will's nurses had to move his vent tube down further in his chest which gives us a better idea of where the problem actually is. It looks like the trouble begins in the lower airways, but we'll see what the pulmonologist says. He looked much better after they moved the tube down. He had a great afternoon with no problems, his infection levels have come down, and his swelling is way down- for the past couple of days he's been retaining fluid and he's looked like a fat sumo baby! He was really alert and happy tonight and you could tell he was feeling much better than he has the past couple of days.
Hays is doing great. They moved him in to a regular isolette since he's doing so well. His doctor did scare the crap out of me today. He told me that Hays had an infection and I was starting to freak out, until he he realized he was looking at the wrong chart!!
And once again we have a nurse brag. When I went in this morning they had little cards on all the babies' doors with their little footprints on them that said "Happy St. Patrick's Day" How cute is that? Man, those nurses rock!!

March 16

Well, it looks like Will may have to make a little excursion to the NICU down in Augusta. We just can't figure out why he can't get this airway thing straightened out, so they might have to do a bronchial scope to see exactly what's going on. We're pretty nervous, but we'll do what we have to do to get him better. Everyone just say lots of prayers that it's a quick and easy trip and that we figure out exactly what's going on and how to fix it. Other than that, things seem to be going pretty well. . Will's infection levels are going down with his new antibiotics and hopefully it will be all knocked out soon. Happy news is that I got to have kangaroo care time with Hays twice today! He's getting so big and strong that he can come out to play more often. He also got his IV out today, so we're proud of him. Y'all just pray about this Augusta thing and we'll keep you posted!

March 15

I'm pretty sure that Hays is the world's happiest baby today. He finally got to give breastfeeding a try, and he was pretty darn good at it. If he could talk he would have said, "Finally!!! This is what I've been looking for!" I'll spare everyone the details and let it suffice to say that the first attempt went very well and everyone was happy. We're also happy that our boys are growing like weeds. Hays is up to 2 lbs. 9 oz. and Will is a big ol' boy at a whopping 3 lbs. 12 oz!! If that kid could just get his breathing straight, he'd be almost ready to come home. Will also went off of his IV fluids today and is getting all of his nutrition from breastmilk, just like Hays.
There was a little bit of craziness at the hospital today when we were under a tornado warning. The nurses had to batten down the hatches and prepare to evacuate the babies to the hallway. Thank goodness the danger passed and they didn't have to move them. They can't move Will because of the ventilator, so they had to cover his isolette with blankets and his nurse just had to stay there with him. (Just one more reason that we love his nurse, Lisa. I have no doubts that she would have protected him until the end- that's just how awesome she is)
P.S. Just wanted to let everyone know that Mason is funk-free! The pinkeye and ear infections have cleared up, and he is no longer an oozing pile of germs. Yay for healthy preschoolers!!!!!

March 14

Poor little Will had a crappy day today. He had a really great night last night, so they decided to try to extubate him this morning. We all hoped that this would be the day, but his little airways just can't stay open yet, so they had to put him right back on the vent. Next, his umbilical IV wasn't working like it should so his doctor was going to put in an arterial line. Unfortunately, they just couldn't get the line to thread in properly, so that was a no go. Luckily, they were able to reposition his umbilical IV so they can still get blood from it for tests rather than having to stick him every time they need a few drops. But all in all, that little guy has had a rough day. He handled it well and he's sleeping comfortably tonight, so he's not in any pain, but he's sure as heck worn out. we'll give him another week or so to grow and get stronger before trying to extubate again. So everyone please pray as hard as you can that his airways will strengthen and he won't have to go through this again.
Hays is still going up and down a little on his blood sugar. We're not too concerned, but we hope he'll regulate it quickly so we can get his IV out. I'm also hoping that we'll be able to start "non-nutritive breastfeeding" with him soon. This is basically practice breastfeeding so he can learn to do it, but he'll still get all of his nutrition from his feeding tube. I think he'll be a happy boy because that child immediately starts looking for the groceries the second I start holding him! What can I say, Hays is obviously a boob man!!!

March 13

Here's Hays sucking his thumb!

The boys are good today. Hays got his pickline out since he's not requiring IV fluids anymore, except for a little bit of glucose over the next day or so to keep his blood sugar up. Now he just has an IV in his hand which will hopefully come out tomorrow. His nurse originally put it in his foot, but the little stinker managed to pull it out! We can't wait to get him off the IV completely. Fewer wires- yay!!! He's now getting all his nutrition from breastmilk and he's up to 20 cc on his feedings. Will better look out, because Hays is going to be catching up to him soon! Will's back up to 15 cc on his feedings and he's digesting them well. His doctor had to change his antibiotics today because his infection wasn't responding quite as well as we wanted it to with the previous combination of meds. So they started a new antibiotic today and he seems to be responding really well. We should know in 24 hours if it's kicking that infection's butt like it's supposed to!

Oh Happy Day!!!!!!

Mommy and Will!!!!! (finally)

I finally got to hold my sweet little Will today. He did great! His vent tube stayed right where it was supposed to, so we didn't have any blue babies. He loved snuggle time and so did I. It's funny how much heavier and more solid he seems than Hays. Of course, he does weigh a pound more, and that's a good bit when you're talking about two and three pound babies! But holding him feels like holding a newborn, whereas holding Hays feels like holding a little kitten or something! But it was so amazingly wonderful to finally hold my little sweetie pie and kiss his little head!

And Hays was super-cute today as well. He's starting to focus his eyes and I am convinced he knows his mama. I came in to see him after holding Will and I swear on my life that that little guy was really happy to see me! He was wide awake and he was holding on to my hands looking up at me and smiling. Now, I know he can't smile on purpose, I know it's just a reflex. But I don't care, because that is one cute grin!! Then tonight when I went to get my snuggle time with Hays, he kept leaning his head back as far as he could to look up at me, and he would just stare at my face until his eyes crossed or rolled back into his head. It was really neat to feel like he fully recognized me and was glad to be with his mommy. All in all a stellar day!!!!

March 11

All is well in twinland today. Will's doing much better on the larger vent tube. No little episodes today, thank goodness. Now we're just waiting for him to get big and strong so we can get the tube out and he can breathe on his own. And tomorrow, if all goes as planned, I'll finally get to hold him!!! It'll be a little scary since he's still on the vent and we sure as heck don't want to dislodge that tube. But he's doing well otherwise and he's almost three weeks old, so he needs some snuggle time with his mommy (well, his mommy needs it!!) In other good news, Will's up to 3 lbs. 8 oz. and they moved his feedings back up to 11 cc. As for Hays, he's still just being my sweet ol' boy. No news is good news for him. He did try to escape from his isolette today by scrunching up right by the little porthole, but his nurse foiled his attempt! Y'all keep your fingers crossed that I'll finally get to hold that little monkey Will, and pray that no one else in the family comes down with Mason's funk- diagnosed today as double pinkeye, double ear infections. He's pretty gross and cruddy, but we love him anyway (though I'm a little afraid of hugging that walking ball of infection!).

March 10, 2008

pictures:
Hays in his big boy diaper
Sleepy Will

Will's doctor had to put a larger vent tube in him today. He kept having these little episodes where his floppy little airways would shut down, so he had to go to a larger tube that has more pressure to keep his airway open until it gets strong enough to stay open on his lungs. The bad news is that time and maturity are the only things that will strengthen his airway, but the good news is that his lungs seem to be functioning fine. He was madder than a wet hen today, and that caused him to clamp down and stop breathing, but he settled down and felt much better after they got the larger tube in. (Imagine that, he feels better when he can breathe. Go figure) It's a little discouraging because we so want him to get off that vent, and it's tough on him to be re-intubated. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, and breathing is pretty darn essential. So we'll just wait until he's ready to do it on his own (which will hopefully be soon).
Hays is now wearing a big boy diaper!! He outgrew his tiny one and had to upgrade to a regular preemie diaper. But as you can see from the picture, it goes down to his knees and halfway up his back!! But the tiny ones could no longer contain his massive amounts of pee! He should be completely off his IV fluids soon and then they can take the pickline out- one less wire, yay!!!! He's up to 1/2 oz. on his feedings, which is about 1/4 of what a normal sized baby eats during a feeding, but he's about 1/4 the size of a regular baby so that makes sense.
Thanks for everyone's continued prayers and good thoughts. Our boys are growing bigger and stronger every day and we know it's because they have so much love being sent to them!

March 9

Things are good today. Will is responding really well to his antibiotics, and that infection should be gone in no time flat. He did have a nasty little bronchial spasm this morning, but he recovered and got his airways open again quickly. After a stern talking to from both me and his nurse, he decided to behave himself for the rest of the day. He was awake a lot of the morning, so he was sleeping like a log this afternoon.
Hays is awesome as usual (thank goodness, I can only take one giving me fits at a time!) He's eating, sleeping, pooping, growing, all the things babies are supposed to do, and I'm counting on him to keep it up. So, on to another week!

March 8

Of course the inevitable has happened- Will has an infection. Luckily, it's pretty common and responds well to a combination of antibiotics, one of which he was already on. His doctor added the second antibiotic and we should see improvement in his labwork tomorrow. So everybody pray that we can knock this thing out quickly and easily. His doctor and nurses aren't too worried, so I'm not going to be either. My rule is, don't panic until the doctor does. And since one sick child was apparently not enough, Mason cam down with some kind of cold funk complete with eye ooze!! Yeah, we're like the plague family- don't you all want to come hang out at our house?
Hays is still trucking along, funk-free, thank goodness! His feedings are up to 13 cc and he's doing really well with them. They moved Will down to 8 cc because he wasn't digesting all of his 11 cc feedings, but they upped his calories with milk fortifier and safflower oil, so he should still gain weight just fine. Hays also has safflower oil added to his feedings which adds a lot of calories so we can get some meat on those little bones!
One cool thing today is that Will really likes his recorded "storytime." His oxygen saturation levels tend to rise a lot when he hears my voice (which is a good thing) and when we played the tape for him his levels stayed really high the whole time! So now he can listen to mommy and hear lots of great stories and be a happy little guy even when I'm not there. Yay for technology!!!

March 7- Venting!

I'm starting to think that Will may go to kindergarten on the vent!!! Tomorrow was supposed to be extubation day, but now we're waiting some more. His doctor consulted a pediatric pulmonologist and her recommendation was to wait a while longer. So we're watching him and waiting. The doctor says maybe Monday, but who knows. I'm getting FRUSTRATED!!!!!!! I trust his doctor completely and I'm not doubting his decision. I know we need to wait for the right time, but I want that time to be now. I keep wondering how he'll know how much I love him if I can't hold him and show him how adored he is. It's hard to feel like a good mommy when you spend maybe ten minutes a day interacting with your child. The rational part of me knows that we're doing what we need to do, and that the baby doesn't feel unloved or neglected, but try telling that to the emotional side!!!
But I know that it's all going to be okay, and that before we know it those babies will be home and we can give them all the love and snuggles they can stand. I just want that time to get here soon!! Matt bought a little digital voice recorder today so we could talk to the boys and read them stories and their sweet nurses will play it for them. They both know mommy's voice and Will in particular responds really well to it. It's a way that I can kind of be with them when I'm not there. It will have to do until I figure out how to either clone myself or be in two places at once!

March 6

Tomorrow was supposed to be the next attempt at getting Will off the vent, but we've been postponed another day. There's some bacteria in the vent tube, luckily, it's not in the baby. But that combined with the secretions in his lungs put him at risk of developing an infection. So the doctor is starting him on antibiotics tonight and we're planning to extubate Saturday. Everyone pray as hard as you can that it works. I want that tube out of my little guy because the longer he's on it, the more at risk he is for infection. Plus, I want to hold him!!! He's two weeks old today and seriously overdue for some mommy cuddles. Other than that, he's doing well. They increased his feedings to 14cc, but then put it back to 11 because he wasn't digesting it all. He proved that tonight by puking all over his arm! And as if that wasn't enough, while I was changing his poopy diaper, he peed all over himself!!! Crazy little monkey. But he is the cutest darn thing. Every day he looks more like a baby and less like a skinned cat. Give that kid a couple of months and he's going to be too good looking for words!
Hays is still doing great. I'm so proud of my little sweetie. He's up to 9 cc on his feedings and he gained another ounce- 2 lbs. 7 oz!!! He's doing really well on the nasal canula, and hopefully we'll never see the CPAP again. Now if he would just stop peeing on his monkey blanket!

March 5

Pictures:
Will's feet
Hays off the CPAP!!
Mason for those who haven't seen him in a while


Today was supposed to be the third attempt at extubating Will, but his doctor decided not to try. He believes that Will is having trouble breathing off the vent because the cartilidge in his airway is still soft and collapses when he's off the vent. There's no miracle remedy for this except getting bigger and stronger. So they are going to wait until Friday to try again. I was actually really glad that they didn't try today because i just didn't have a good feeling about it. Not sure if it was mother's intuition or if I'm just a scaredy cat, but either way I was right!


Other than that, it's been a pretty uneventful day (in a good way!!) I got to hold Hays for a very long time today and loved every minute of it. Both boys increased their feedings, Hays is up to 7 cc and Will is at a whopping 11 cc! Will still weighs 3 lbs, but Hays is up to 2 lb. 6 oz. Grow, boys, grow!!!

March 4

Hays is off the CPAP!!!!! We can finally see all of that cute little face since he just has the nasal canula in. And he looks so much more comfortable, so that makes everyone happy. He had the longest awake period that I've seen tonight. He was so alert, just looking around and checking everything out. It was so neat to talk to him and have him turn to look at me (though I know I was just a big hazy mom-blob to his unfocused eyes!) He seems to be doing well off the CPAP so far. His nurse had to raise his oxygen level a tiny bit, but he hasn't had any apnea. Let's hope he keeps it up so he can stay off that thing!
Tomorrow is another big day for Will. They're planning to try to extubate him for the third (and hopefully final) time. I'm nervous and excited. I so want him to get off that vent, but I'm also scared that he'll have to go through the trauma of being extubated and re-intubated all over again. But his doctors and nurses feel that he's ready. His breath sounds are good, and while his chest is still kind of rattley, he sounds much better than he did. Everybody pray that the steroids have worked their magic and that my sweet little boy will be breathing (mostly) on his own tomorrow!! In another big step for Will, his doctor increased his feedings to 8cc!! He's going to be a big old boy in no time if he keeps eating like this!

March 3- Will's Message to the World!

Pictures:

Best. Picture. Ever. (check out the left hand!)

Will without his tubes when he was (briefly) extubated

Daddy holding Hays for the first time

Both boys are still looking good. Will moved into an isolette today, which is a graduation from the warming bed he's been in, so yeah Will!!!! As you can tell from the top picture, he's quite the little stinker! (Will Austin, for whom he is named, would be proud!) He's up to 3 lbs. 1 oz. and his feedings increased from 2cc to 5cc. Hays is weighing in at 2 lb. 4 oz. and he's now on 4cc feedings. They're both starting to look more like real babies than kittens! Their skin looks like baby skin instead of the paper thin preemie skin, and they're not quite as furry. And they both have incredibly long eyelashes. Matt and I are really proud of how well they're progressing and we're just praying that they keep on doing so well!

March 2

Well, we tried to get Will off the vent today, but he wasn't quite ready. He just had too much irritation and inflamation in his upper airway to breath on his own. Luckily, his lungs look good, so when the inflamation goes down he should be fine without the vent. The steroids should help with the inflamation and they put him on a smaller vent tube which will hopefully lessen the irritation. The plan is to try again on Wednesday. I'm praying that it will work because extubating and then re-intubating is really hard on him. He spent the rest of the day sleeping off his rough morning! But my Will is a tough little guy and he's going to get off that vent soon!

Hays is still doing great. He's gaining weight and they've increased his feeds. He started off at 1cc and now he's up to 3. We've got to get some meat on those little bones!! His doctor said he might come off the c-pap tomorrow. I hope he will because I miss seeing all of his sweet little face, but everything in due time! He is such a funny baby. He hates when his nurses have to mess with him and he'll get so mad, but as soon as they're done he stops crying immediately and he's just happy as a clam! Hopefully he'll be that easy to settle when he comes home!

March 1- Thanks Everybody!!!

Pictures:

Hays with his monkey blanket- Thanks Chris, Jane, Charlotte and Henry!

Mommy, Daddy and Hays

Will with his monkey blanket- Thanks Chris, Jane, Charlotte and Henry!

Sweet baby Will

To morrow is the big day for Will- they're taking out his vent tube!!! His meds are working and his lungs sound much better. So everyone keep your fingers, toes, eyes, etc. crossed that he does well off the vent. They also started feeding him today, so our little guy is doing great all the way around.
Hays is doing well, but still on the c-pap. I hope he gets off of that soon because his poor little nose looks pitiful! The c-pap puts a good bit of pressure on it and it looks really uncomfortable, so the sooner he gets back on the nasal canula, the better.

today was also my baby shower, and it was great!! The boys got a fabulous wardrobe of the cutest little clothes I have ever seen. And we got TONS of diapers- at least enough for several weeks! So many thanks to Patsy, my mom and sisters, Pat, Alyssa, Katie, Miriam and LeAnne- You girls rock!!! And to Matt's dad for all his manual labor and walkway laying skills- we love you, Julio the yardman!