The Weekend

We have had a busy but great weekend. On Friday Logan got the perfect toy. Preston and I got him the PlayMobil Take Along Construction, which is a large garage door. He loves to play with this toy and even likes to try and sleep with it.
On Saturday Logan spent some time with my sister, brother-in-law and parents. He had a great time playing with them. Preston and I were able to spend a lot of time up at the hospital holding the boys. Both Nathan and Owen seem to really love their times of holding. I must say, I do too!!! The boys are growing well. Nathan is up to 1180 grams and Owen is 1330 grams.

We would love to be able to come out of the NICU on March 2nd. This is the boys original due date. Please pray with us this will be possible. We still have lots of things that need to be waited upon. Please pray specifically for Nathan: normal brain ultrasound, his hand would completely heal, continue to progress on his breathing, and he would continue to grow. Please pray for Owen. Please ask he would be completely healed; would grow big and strong and work to no longer being on his nasal canula.

Big Eating Men

Nathan and Owen are doing well. Yesterday they took Nathan off his continual feeds and started feeding him in larger amounts, getting him to regular feeds. First they did 7ml when they saw he tolerated that they waited 2 hours and did 14ml. When it was obvious he was doing well there they moved him up to 21ml every 3 hours. He did well with that feed so now is on a normal feeding schedule of 21ml every three hours. Owen right now is at 22ml every three hours so they are both doing well with their feedings. Both boys are also gaining weight very well. Nathan is at 1165 grams and Owen is at 1270 grams, 2lb 8oz and 2lb 13oz. Nathan grabbing his paci.Nathan's big feeding.Nathan with his CPAP machine.
Nathan without all his CPAP on.
Owen sleeping and loving his paci.
Owen sleeping and STILL loving his paci.
Owen just being really cute.

Short Update

I know many of you check the blog as part of your morning routine. I thought I would post a quick update. We have some great praises to report. Nathan is doing much better with his breathing spells. Once he moved to Brookwood he was put on CPAP (for a little extra pressure) and was given breathing treatments. He has not had any bad spells in the last 3 days!!! Owen had a follow-up appointment on his eyes and all of the "bad blood vessels" are gone!! It is amazing to see God working so amazingly in the boys.
Here are a few prayer request you can lift up.
Nathan: continued good breathing / be able to advance off CPAP
full recovery of his hand
great response when the switch his food from continual to every 3 hours
Owen: continued good breathing / be able to advance off his nasal canula
weight gain
does well enough in his two bottle feedings to advance to more
Thanks so much for lifting up the boys. You are truly making a difference in their lives.

A Budding Artist

Today after school Logan painted pictures for his brothers. He did a wonderful job painting and chose his colors very carefully. Logan loves to paint and was excited to take these up to the hospital this afternoon. The pictures really enhance Nathan's and Owen's spaces.

Big Boys

Nathan and Owen are getting better. Both of them gained a lot of weight last night. Nathan gained 15 grams and is up to 1175 grams. Owen gained 60 grams so he is up to 1150. They are both getting so big. Once they make it to 1250 grams they will be able to wear clothes. At this weight they figure they can maintain their body temperature. Nathan took a small step back from his nasal canula to a CPAP machine. This just gives him a little more forced pressure behind his oxygen. He is doing well on low settings but is still forgetting to breath at times. Please pray his brain would develop and he would remember to breath all the time. I was able to hold him for about 45 minutes today and we both loved our time together. Owen is doing well with his breathing. His biggest concerns are gaining weight (which he made a pretty good dent in last night) and his eyes. The retna specialist will come back tomorrow for a 1 week follow-up appointment. We should know at that time how last weeks treatment worked. Owen is now up to 2 bottles a day!! He is doing well on his feedings. Some times it takes him some time to get the hang of the bottle, but he quickly gets it and loves it. Preston and I are loving having them at the same hospital. We are able to spend so much more quality time with each of them. Thank you so much for all of your prayers for them. God is literally using you to change their lives through asking him to intervene.

Saturday

Preston and I spent a lot of time up at the hospital today. Logan was able to go with my parents to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Enterprise. He loves going to her house and had the best time. It is hard to let Logan go, but for one day we were able to manage. Nathan and Owen are doing well. Nathan is now up to 7ml every hour for feedings. He is still having some breathing spells but is now being given breathing treatments, which we think will help him. Owen is getting 20 ml every 3 hours for feedings. He is doing well and gaining weight slowly. We love having our boys right next to each other.Nathan and Owen together. (Owen is in the bed behind Nathan) Owen is enjoying being held and is busy make faces and hand gestures at everyone. Nathan's cute little feet. Nathan sleeping very sound.

Reunited

Owen and Nathan are back together again at Brookwood. Both seem to be enjoying being in the same hospital. Preston and I really enjoy it because we are able to give both Nathan and Owen more quality time. Logan did a great job at the visit playing with his Lightning McQueen sticker book.

Hair Cuts

Both Preston and I got our haircut last week. We feel much better with our new styles.

Logan gets a haircut

After another bowling date with Gracie we headed to Vestavia Barber Shop for Logan to get a hair cut. He did a great job and sat very still while they cut his hair. Both Preston and I got our hair cut too but not at the same time or place as Logan. Now are family is looking well groomed again.

Great Day

We had a great day with all three boys. Logan went to school and then went over to CiCi's house to play for a little while in the afternoon. We were able to hold Nathan again today and he was doing well. He is now on full feeds, 6ml/hour continuous and is tolerating them well. We got some good news that Nathan will be moving back to Brookwood in the morning. We have really appreciated the care the staff at Children's has given to Nathan but it will be great to have him back with his brother. I was able to give Owen his bottle today for the first time. It was a little slow going at first, but once we both got a little more comfortable he was able to drink it all. He is looking forward to his brother joining him tomorrow.

Making progress

The boys are making progress. Nathan is up to 5ml every hour of milk for his feeds. He goes up .5ml every day and when he gets to 6ml he will be at full feeds. The doctors plan to keep him at full feeds a few days and then switch him to feeds every 3 hours. He will get a larger amount every three hours, just maybe not 18ml to start. Once he is proving that he can handle the large amount Children's will release him and he will be able to go back to Brookwood. Please continue to pray that he will do well on his feeds, that he will have less and less bradicardiac spells (the breathing/heart rate drops) and for full restoration on his hand. Owen is doing well. He is now getting 20ml every 3 hours of milk for his feeds. He has been upgraded and has moved out of his position in the center row (which means he is not one of the sickest in there any more). He also received an upgrade bed today. Someone else sicker needed his old bed, so he was able to move up to the next stage in a bedroom suite. Please pray for Owen to gain some weight. He has not gained anything in the past several days. He needs to gain weight to grow, have better lung function and to be able to eat larger amounts of food. They would like him to work his way up to 30 ml before going home. Please also continue to pray for his eyes. He had a procedure done yesterday (an injection in his eyes) that should allow him to have good vision and stop him from the possibility of going blind. Please pray that everything goes well and God would use this medication to completely heal Owen's eyes. Logan is doing well. He has started painting and is loving it.

Our precious boys

Today we spent about 7 hours visiting the boys at their hospitals. Logan is spending the night with my parents, so he did not have to spend 7 hours at the hospitals with us. He is starting to get really tired of going to the hospital, but that is quite understandable. Nathan is doing well on his feedings. He is now up to 4ml every hour and is no longer on his TPN iv fluid. He is getting some maintenance fluids to supplement his milk, but that is all. With Nathan progressing so well on his feeds, we are hoping he will be able to join Owen at Brookwood sometime late this week. Please continue to pray for his breathing spells. Today I watched Nathan turn blueish and the nurse and nurse practitioner had to spend about five minutes puffing air into his lungs to get him to start breathing well. It is normal for a preemie to forget to breath and have these spells, but it still would be nice for him to start growing out of them. Once he had recovered he just kept looking at me and smiling. He is very expressive and cute.Owen is doing well today. He got his second bottle today. He really seemed to enjoy it. Yesterday he did better at sucking and swallowing. Today he was just interested in gulping, so his nurse, Tanna, had to stop a few times to let him breath. Preston and I love watching Owen eat from the bottle.

Friday night update

Both Nathan and Owen had a good day. Nathan is now up to 3.5 ml of milk every hour. Preston was able to hold him for about 30 minutes today. Both Nathan and Preston really loved it. Please continue to pray for Nathan's breathing spells. Owen is becoming a big boy and was able to take a bottle for the first time today. He did a great job and drank all 19 ml!! He will now be able to get a bottle once a day. Owen had several visitors today: my Mom, Logan, Preston's Dad and step-mom. Today was Preston's Dad's birthday so we were glad to be able to celebrate with him. We had lunch in the Brookwood cafeteria (I would imagine he loved being able to eat at such a fine place) and then headed to Edgewood Creamery for dessert. All of us enjoyed our ice cream.

Holding Owen and an Update

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Both Nathan and Owen had good days yesterday. Nathan is now up to 3ml of milk every hour. His breathing / cardio spells are getting better. Last night when I was holding him he just kept smiling at Preston and I. It was the cutest thing. Nathan is very alert and happy. Please continue to pray for his feedings, his breathing / cardio spells, and the restoration of his hand. Owen is holding his own at 17ml of food every 3 hours. The doctors have added some mirolipids (fat) to Owen's milk to get him to gain weight better than he is right now. Logan loves to say hi to Owen every day. Please continue to pray for Owen to do well on his feedings and gain weight, for his breathing to continue as well as it is right now, and for his eyes to heal well (he is at high risk of having some issues because he was so premature). Please also pray that Nathan will be able to move back to Brookwood soon. We would really love to have them in the same hospital.

Holding Nathan Wednesday Night