At the Stock Show

Well we made it to the Ft Worth Stock Show....parking lot:-) Yes, we arrived at 1:00 pm. (It takes awhile to pack for 5 kids and 2 adults:-/ ) It's now almost 5:00 pm and we are probably at least an hour from getting into the barn. Luckily we came prepared, but it doesn't make waiting in the suburban with 5 kids any easier. We have computers, DVD players, food, drinks, pillows, phones, toys, books (Rachel is now on the 2nd book in the Chronicles of the Kings series), ipods and Rebekah is dutifully working on her homework, Ms Ali:-) She's such a good student! Rebekah has been taking pictures of all the stock trailers in the parking lot because this is a "you must see it to believe it" moment/hour. So MAYBE we'll get to our hotel before 10:00, we'll see. I called about the boys this morning and Josiah was getting a new "convertible" bed. He will be in the open crib now. AND the nurse told me I could bring them some clothes because they are having to regulate their own temp!!! I can't tell you how excited this made me. I really don't know why, other than it seems like such a big step and less things will be attached to them. Oh my! The reality that they will be coming home soon is beginning to sink in! We are probably still a month away, but STILL! I know I've had twin babies at home before but that was before "Advanced Maternal Age" was present. Can I do this? Will I be able to stay awake during the middle of the night feedings and not drop them????? What if they have problems? What if THEY won't stay awake during their feedings?? (We used to put ice on Rachel's foot to wake her up because she would fall asleep) Oh My Word!! OK, panic attack is over. I know I can do these things and more with God right beside me holding my hand (and my head when I get sleepy) for he hasn't given me a spirit of fear! Philippians 4:13! So hopefully we will get to go see them tomorrow and get the results of Gideon's neuro scan straight from the doctor himself. I'll let you know. And, yes, we're still in the parking lot:-)

BIG Boys!!

Gideon finally hit 3 lbs 1 oz!! He is such a big boy! He is also no longer on the "Darth Vader" mask, he is on the canula! Woo-Hoo! He is doing great too, only at 25-30% oxygen. Josiah is a little piggy. They increased his feeds to 32 cc's and he now weighs 3 lbs 11 ozs! They also increased his caffeine! Seriously?? I don't think he needs any more:-) He'll be hooked on coffee before he comes home from the hospital! In my mind, I think I know what the caffeine is for, but not sure I can explain it right, so I'll get back to you on that. When we got to the hospital Saturday, the nurse wanted us to come look at Josiah. He has rolled up blankets all around him and it looks like he's in a boat. He was flopped out hanging over the side of his boat with his leg hanging out the bottom. When I held Josiah, he stayed awake most of the time and began rooting when he got hungry and loved his pacifier! The nurse said those are all signs he is beginning to get ready to eat from a bottle. She also said it could take up to a month for them to master eating from the bottle and continuing to gain weight. They will be 7 weeks old tomorrow, so maybe we are halfway to bringing them home!

Great Expectations

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." Yeah, that was as far as I got in THAT book (and I may have it backwards). Anyway, that pretty much sums up life around here. The BEST is that I finally got to hold my Gideon!!!! He loved it too. He went right to sleep:-) I have that effect on people:-) The nurse put a heated blanket on him to keep him warm and the alarm on his bed went off, "Baby Too Hot". So we took that one off and put on a non-heated blanket- his temperature went up again. So we just let him hang out in his diaper! Guess I put off too much heat...that's why I'm always freezing.  Then Josiah's nurse wrapped him up and gave him to me. I got to hold them both at the same time!! Finally, reunited after 6 1/2 weeks! They truly have red hair. How does THAT happen??? Their great-grandfathers influence! So funny! Gideon did not have a brain scan this week. The doctors put it off until next week. The nurse and I agreed this was a good sign. Gideon weighs 2 lbs 15 ozs. He is down to 30% on his oxygen so he's finally getting the hang of the mask. Josiah is doing amazing on his canula. He weighs 3 lbs 8 ozs. They both look so much bigger already! The other BEST is that the suburban has been running for 3 days straight! Woo-Hoo!!! It even got us to Dallas and back last night.
The WORST is that Snoopy (the dog) is no longer with us. He figured out how to get the "cone of shame" off and no matter how many plastic sacks I put around his splint, he got them off. SO his leg got infected. It was not pretty. I took him to the vet for them to look at it and I'm afraid I was blubbering like an idiot when I left. I'm not even an animal person. I'm allergic to cats, I don't really get attached to dogs and the steers....well we know where they end up:-) So I think it was just one of those days. Anyway, I won't be showing my face in there for a while. They probably think I'm a little unstable!
I am thankful for the gift of everyday our boys have, because they get stronger each day. Thank you everyone for your prayers!

Suburban STILL for sale (or a bad country song)

Today we took the oldest four kids with us to Dallas for Rachel's labwork and to see the babies (or for 3 of them, the waiting room). We stopped in Rockwall to eat lunch at El Chico and we had the best time. I laughed more than I have laughed in the past 3 months! My kids are pretty amazing (at least I think so) and funny. I'm sure the folks around us weren't too happy that we laughed and giggled all through lunch, but that's okay. I couldn't help but just study them and thank God for the blessing of each one of them and for the stage that they are at right now. I know too well how quickly it will go by. Anyway, by the time we did Rachel's bloodwork at Scottish Rite and got over to Baylor, we didn't have a lot of time, but I did get to hold Josiah for a few minutes. He is on the canula. Yea!!! I can see his whole face and head. He smiled at me too:-) Sweet baby boy! He weighs 3 lbs 3 ozs. They are beginning to talk about feeding him with a bottle and once he masters that, we will talk about bringing him home. WOW! Gideon is still on the mask. He is doing much better. His oxygen levels were staying between 30-35%. Much better! He still weighs 2 lbs 12 ozs. Both eye exams were fine for now and will be repeated in 2 weeks. On the way back to town, we swung by the house to pick up the suburban because Rob wanted to get the alternator replaced. He was getting warning signs that it might be about to go out. He and Rebekah hopped in the suburban and I headed to town to take Aaron to his basketball game and pick up Isaac. I got almost into town before Rob called and said they were on the side of Hwy 11:-) Really??? Three strikes and you're gone, suburban!! This is 2! Even though, it always manages to get us off the road and to a safe place. Thank you, Lord! Our guardian angels are earning some overtime! All we could do is laugh when I told Rob it's like a country song: my babies are in the hospital, my dog's got a broke leg and my car left me on the side of the road! Laughter is like a medicine;-)

So far, so good

Well, I did not get to hold Gideon yet. He is still off the vent, but he is having to work very hard and his settings are at the max they can be. The doctor is trying to keep him off the vent so he tweaked the settings a little. SO for now we are off. Our prayer is that he will be able to stay off...we shall see. They will let me hold him when he is more stable. Just talked to the nurse and she said he is doing okay. It's still a possibility that he might have to go back on the vent, but he's holding his own right now. They did a chest Xray this morning and it looked good. Josiah is up to 28 cc's with his feeds and his nurse for tonight is not happy with him AT ALL.  He has pulled out his feeding tube 3 times since 6:00 pm. I think once was when the feed was taking place and made a mess in his bed:-) She said she can't keep his hands away from everything. That boy is going to wear us out! I can already picture the trouble that he and Isaac will get into! Good news for Josiah: the nurse said he might get to move to an oxygen canula (prongs in his nose) tomorrow! He has done so good on the mask. Both boys have eye exams tomorrow and Gideon will have a brain scan Wednesday. Please continue to pray for Gideon that his lungs get stronger and he can stay off the vent and that the brain scan goes well and shows improvement. I go back to the doctor tomorrow to be released to go back to work :-( and Rachel has blood work at Scottish Rite. Busy day and we'll swing by to see the boys too!

Off the vent...

Great answer to prayer: Gideon is off the vent!! However, please continue to pray for him that he can stay off of it. He is currently having to have 56% oxygen whereas Josiah is at room air which is 21%. The nurses have prepared us to have the vent put back on, just in case. Hopefully I can hold him tomorrow, no matter what happens. If they put him back on the vent it will be a different one and I should still get to hold him. He will have another brain scan on Wednesday. Josiah is doing great. He hit 3 lbs 1 oz today!!! He is doing great on his oxygen levels. Hopefully we will get to go see them tomorrow after Samuel's basketball game. The suburban is fixed and back at home. Yea!!! The dog is hobbling around in his cast and his "cone of shame." This is what Rebekah called the thing around his head - from the movie "Up". I thought she made it up and cracked up! So of course that is what we call it now. Poor Snoopy! He is very smart. If he can't reach his food bowl, he will pick it up and move it closer to his mouth inside the "cone of shame."

Answers

Answer to prayer!!! Gideon's brain scan was slightly improved. This is good news! Thank you Lord! Now the doctor will keep track of his head circumference to decide when to do the next scan. If his head size remains normal, he will wait 2 weeks. This is all to determine that the fluid in his brain is draining as it should. Josiah's scan was fine. They will continue to move Gideon towards coming off the vent and are moving Josiah towards getting off his mask. The doctor is very pleased with their progress and once again they went up on their feeds. Gideon is at 24 cc's and Josiah is at 25 cc's. Today was the last day for Gideon to receive antibiotic and the nurse said he has had very little secretions when she suctions him. So he got his IV out (again). Hopefully we will get to go see them tomorrow night!

Another answered prayer: The suburban is fixed! Yea!

A third answered prayer: The dog's leg can be saved! I was really surprised when the vet said he could set it and splint it and he should regain use of it. Wow! Normally we wouldn't have taken it to the vet, but I wanted to see what they would tell me. I really thought they would have to amputate it, but it wasn't as bad as it looked. Snoopy was hard to get in the car but once I did he rode to town well because he had his buddy Isaac. Isaac (my 3 year old) insisted on sitting beside Snoopy and petting him all the way to town. Snoopy just laid his head in Isaac's lap. At one point I looked back and they were nose to nose. I'm sure there was some deep conversation taking place:-)

So a better end to a week that started pretty bad! Just a reminder that God takes care of us through everything from babies to vehicles to pets. He is an awesome God!