PICTURES!!!

First time together at home

Giving it another try...

Mmmwah! I love you, brother!

Playing on the floor.

Together Again....FINALLY!!

Hooray! We have our family together again for the first time since December 21st (when Carson came home).

Mike and I brought Majkin home from OPRMC NICU (like all those letters?) on Thursday, January 14th. She came home with a monitor so that we can tell when she is having trouble with her heart rate (oxygen level) increasing or decreasing, and so we can tell when she isn't breathing enough per minute. When her heart rate increases or decreases too much, or she doesn't take a breath for over 20 seconds, the monitor alarms with a LOUD beeping sound- which stops once her levels have regulated. (We ALL can tell when her heart rate goes up because she grunts and turns red in the face- we don't need the monitor for that!) We're more concerned about the times that her heart rate decreases or she isn't breathing enough per minute. There have been a few alarms for the breathing issue- all of them when she is sleeping and looking a little "too comfortable"- but the alarm we hear most is when her heart rate increases because she is mad! ;) She wears the monitor at all times right now- but we're considering taking it off more during the day when we're watching her closely. We hope she only needs to wear the monitor for a month or so.


Overall- she is doing extremely well here at home. She LOVES to be held and LOVES to be near her brother. Majkin likes it best when Carson is laying next to her. She gets mad when he is picked up and she is left laying alone. When she fusses- Carson gets fussy. When Carson fusses- Majkin almost smiles! :) Silly girl!


It is so fun to watch the babies interact. They look at each other and "swing" their arms around- sometimes looking like they are holding hands! So sweet! Sadly- they don't seem to be on the same "awake" schedule yet so it is hard to catch them "playing" together. We are anxious for that time to increase so that we can watch these kids interact even more!


Speaking of schedules- we are still working on getting the babies on OUR schedule. They eat 30 minutes apart right now- which is great when we have more than one set of hands. However, when I go back to work and the grandma's are watching the babies alone- the schedule might not be so ideal. Carson is still nursing- and Majkin is taking a bottle of breast milk. Since being home- we have tried to put her on the breast a few times. She has done a good job- but is not efficient enough at this point to do it exclusively. We'll keep trying!! I'd love to get them both to nurse at the same time! (Nights would be so much easier!!!)


I will try to post again soon with more updates- but seeing as this post is just now being written and we've had Majkin home over a week and a half....that just might not happen!! I promise I'll try!!


Thank you all so much for your sweet cards, prayers, and thoughts!! We appreciate them all so much! We would not be where we are without the love and support from friends and family.

The Little-Big Man...

Carson thinks he is so big!!! He is moving his head from side to side and is trying hard to hold it up on his own. When we put him up on our shoulder- he lifts his head to look around and them PLOPS back onto us! It's hard not to laugh! (Unless he bonks his nose- which makes him so mad- and us so sad!) He is eating every 3 or 4 hours and growing big!

The only time Carson is fussy is when he is wet, dirty, hungry or sleepy. (Pretty normal for a baby!) It is fun to see him so alert during the day (not so much fun to see him alert in the middle of the night)! He loves to be held, rocked, read to, and sung to. He loves music. (Just like his mommy.) He has a musical sea horse thanks to my good friend Kate's mom (Thank you Vicki!!!) that he LOVES!! He will watch and listen to that all day! (We just have to keep pressing the sea horses tummy so that the music doesn't stop!)

We started giving him baths every other night. Sometimes he LOVES it- and sometimes he HATES it! :) He does not like to be cold- and well- that is part of taking a bath! Worst part: having is upper body washed. Best part: having his hair washed! His little personality is so funny! We love having him here!

A Step in the Right Direction!!

On Tuesday afternoon, I spoke with the neo-natal dr about Majkin. We wanted to do more than just wait for her to spell again, so the dr. ordered an upper GI scan to look at her tummy, her esophagus, and her ability to swallow. The scan showed that she has significant reflux (poor thing!) which is coming all the way up into her throat- and could be causing the choking spells. It could also be to blame for the spontaneous spells she has in her crib after feedings. The dr ordered for her to take Prilosec (what a big girl!) once a day to help with the reflux. Unfortunately- the medicine doesn't take away the reflux- but it does help to relieve the pain she may feel with it. She started taking the medicine on Tuesday evening. We were told that it takes about a week to see the medication work- but we could start to notice a difference by the 3rd or 4th day. Well- fingers crossed- Majkin did not have any spells yesterday- and so far today has been spell free! :) Thank you all for the prayers you are sending up- as we can tell they are working!

Pictures!!

Here are some updated pictures of the kiddos! We can't wait to have them in the same place at once! :) We're still waiting for Majkin to be ready to come home. We don"t know exactly what is going on in her little body, so the doctors are trying to find some answers for us. Thank you all for your continued prayers. We appreciate them so much!

Happy New Year!!!

Carson

Majkin

Happy New Year!!!!

It has been awhile since I sent an update on the babies- so here goes! At our last Dr. appt Carson weighed 5 lbs 8.9 ozs. He is now able to sit in his real car seat! :) Yay! (Not that we go anywhere besides the dr!) He is eating every 3 hours and is awake more now during the day. We have so much fun watching his expressions and listening to his noises. He is so funny! :) Sleeping at night is hit or miss. Some nights he sleeps really well- and other nights he is more fussy. He loves to be held (I can't wait for you all to meet him and hold him!!!) which just pains grandma! :) She can be found most minutes of the day rocking him, singing to him, or walking him around the house and introducing him to all of the rooms! We are adjusting to having one baby at home...but wonder how our world will flip when we get both of them here!

While we have Carson home- Majkin is still in the NICU- which means I am up at the hospital during the day with her- and mom is home babysitting Carson. We thought we were going to bring her home after Christmas- but she needs some more time to grow in the NICU. At last weigh in- Majkin was 5 lbs. 7.1 oz! She is really growing and filling out! (She is also "taller" than her brother!) Majkin has had some "spells" where the oxygen saturation in her blood drops to a low number. Usually the spells are associated with feedings and it is like she is choking on her food. Typically with feedings- she is able to recover on her own with some light stimulation (like patting her on the back- or rubbing her tummy), however she has had a few spontaneous spells (lying in her crib after a feed) and the nurses have needed to give her oxygen to recover. So now we are on a "spell watch" with her. When she can make it 5-7 days without needing oxygen to recover from a spell- we will get to bring her home. There is a chance she will come home on a monitor- which scares Mike and I to death- but we will be trained to use the monitor- and trained on how to handle any spells here at home. We are so anxious to have both of the kids home with us- but not anxious enough to bring Majkin home before she is really ready to be here! The spell issue we are told is very typical for preemies. We keep reminding ourselves that the babies aren't supposed to be in this world for a few more days! They need more time to get things figured out!