8 weeks old!

We made it to the 2 month mark!!! A lot has happened since the last time I sent out an e-mail. The twins got moved to Visalia!!! They were moved on Wednesday from Valley Childrens to Kaweah Delta because two babies needed to be transported to Children's Hospital from Visalia. They are doing well. They finally co-bedded them and are doing well together. Emily now weighs 3 pounds 15 ounces and is taking in 34 ML's. Wyatt weighs 4 pounds 5 ounces and is taking 38 ML's. They are both very low on their oxygen settings and I'm hopeful they will be off completely by the end of next week. I have also started breastfeeding them twice a day and bottle feeding twice a day. They are both doing very well at both of those things but get tired after each feeding very quickly. I think within the next week they will both be in a crib. The doctors say they are moving along quite well. It feels good to finally have the STABLE babies in the NICU. Doctors still say to not expect any less than 6 more weeks, because that is their due date. I am hopeful. These last 8 weeks have tested me as a mother, wife, and person, but I can see that light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for all the encouragement and thoughts for our family. Hope you enjoy the pics for this week.

7 weeks or 51 days old!

Slowly but surely I think they are getting there. Wyatt & Emily have been taking 1 bottle feeding per shift for a week now. They have been having a hard time sucking, swallowing, and breathing so they called in a specialist to work with them 3-5 times a week. I am hopeful. Wyatt weighs 4 pounds!!! He will be moved to a crib in just a few days and is taking in 33 ML's of breast milk every three hours. He still is breathing on the nasal canula, and I think he looks just like Mitchell! Emily weighs 3 pounds 9 ounces and is eating 30 MLs. She is the fiesty one of the two. They attempted to take her off the canula today so we will see how it goes. I got to dress her for the first time yesterday. So they are both maintaining their own temps. She has fair skin and looks like Andrew, I think. Both have moved down to the final level where they will stay till they go home. We have a TV, bed, and restroom facilities in our own room, but are not allowed to stay till a week before they come home. I have attached several pics for this week. Emily is in the pink, Wyatt in the doggie outfit. Also, there is a pic of how much milk I produce in just 1 week(the bags in the back are the equivalent of 3 of those bottles) and a cute pic of Mitch. Thanks to all who have helped keep us going, pray now that their homecoming will be soon. :) We love you all lots!

6 weeks old

This has been the longest 6 weeks of my life, but we made it this far. They have done so well this past week. They have been stepped down to the family care room where they put more stable babies. Emily got taken off the nasal canula today and is breathing on her own, when I left the hospital she looked like she was having a hard time breathing so she may have to be put back on it. She weighs in at 3 pounds 4 ounces and is taking in 23 ML's of breast milk every 3 hours. She has a major widows peak like Andrew, with dark black hair and brown eyes. Her skin color is fair. Wyatt is still breathing on low settings on the nasal canula. He weighs 3 pounds 12 ounces and is taking in 30 ML's every three hours ( 1 ounce). He has no widows peak, light brown hair, and appears to be blue eyed. He has dark skin. He is at air temperature in his isolete which means that that he is maintaining his own temperature well. He will be moved to a crib when he reaches 4 pounds. He also gets to wear clothes now that he is not getting humidity in his isolete. He also started taking two bottles in 24 hours. The rest of the feedings will be done through his feeding tube. I gave him his bottle this afternoon and it was so hard to see him struggle to suck, swallow, and breath at the same time. His heart rate kept dropping and eventually he had to be fed the rest through his tube. It was a start and he will continue to learn how to do it as the days go by. I have got to do more with them holding them, changing their diapers, taking their temperature, and bottle feeding Wyatt. Andrew is staying busy with going to school full time, working 36 hours, and running his own business. We just celebrated Mitchell's 2nd birthday almost a month and half later, and he really enjoyed it. I am hanging in there, getting tired of the drive, gas prices, and continuing to not have my whole family together. Things will get better I know. Attached are pics of Wyatt in his clothes and Emily breathing on her own. Thanks again to all who keep us in their thoughts and prayers. We love you all.

5 weeks old!

5 weeks old today! I can't believe it. They have come so far in just one week. They have both done so well breathing wise since after their vessel surgeries. Wyatt weighs in at 3 and half pounds and as of yesterday was taken off the nasal canula completely and breathing on his own! He only lasted 3 hours then they put him back on it last night, but the nurse today assured me that it was only because he needs just the extra stimulation. He isn't really using the canula to breathe. He is mostly doing it on his own, so they are confident he will ween himself off it anytime. He has got orders to be stepped down into the family care room. Where he will stay till he comes home. They want to keep him with his sister as long as possible though. Emily is not too far behind. She weighs 3 pounds finally! She got excabated yesterday and is on the nasal canula as well. She is breathing at 3 Liters with it and he is breathing at 2 liters. So not too far behind him. She is taking in 9 ML's of breathmilk and he is taking in 15 ML's. I got to hold not only Emily for the first time today but both at the same time!!! It was so exciting. It feels like for the first time since they were born that things are moving forward. The nurses tell me that when they reach 4 pounds that they will be put into a crib and hopefully they will be put into one together. Here are some attached pics. Check out our blogspot to see more. Thanks again to everyone! We love you guys so much!

Wyatt Andrew Dean

Everyone's thoughts and prayers have carried us through today. Emily had her PDA ligation surgery today, and all is well. She was sleeping easily as we left the hospital today. Andrew and I also got to hold Wyatt for the first time today. What a huge thing this was for us. Almost five weeks later and we finally got to hold our baby boy. Wyatt is doing well after recovering from his surgery and he is still completely off the ventilator on the nasal canula on the lowest settings that he has ever been on. Here are some pics from today. Thanks to all again for your love and support.

Juicing Oranges

I thought I should start to include some pics of Mitchell. We got home from the hospital on Saturday night and Andrew had brought home some oranges from his parents house and decided to do some juicing right before bedtime for Mitchell. Mitchell is wearing his Thomas the train pajamas and is doing the juicing all by himself. He kept saying, "No I do it!" Which is his phrase of the month might I add.

Week Four

Wow, I don't really know what to say about week 4. It has been a rough one for me. I had shown Mitchell one of the pictures of Wyatt from the last e-mail sent out and he said "Ouchies on MY babies?" And all I could do was hold him close and through tears say, "Yes honey, ouchies on our babies." Four weeks has felt like four years but we made it through month one. Most of you know already that Wyatt had his surgery yesterday. Everything went well, I guess you just don't think after four weeks that you would have to watch them prep and wheel your baby into an operating room. He spent today recovering and is back on the ventilator. He will be set back a couple of days. We saw him today and he still looked pretty out of it and pretty swollen, but the nurses assured me that he was comfortable after his doses of morphine. Wyatt is still weighing in at about 3 pounds 1 once and Emily is at 2 pounds 13 onces. Emily is doing well, she looked good today. She has failed to come off the ventilator for the fourth time now and the doctor just wants to give her more time. She no longer has to be fed lipids and fats anymore so that is 4 more machines that are no longer hooked up to her. The nurse today told me that if all goes well I should be able to hold at least one of them by their 8 week old mark. Here are some pictures of them that we took today. Emily is on her stomach and Wyatt on his side. We got a new camera yesterday so hopefully we will be better in the weeks to come on posting pics. Thanks again for all your hope, prayers, and thoughts for our family.

Love,