Leap Day Update

Gideon weighs 5 lbs now!!! The eye surgeon came by last night while I was there, to check Gideon's eyes. He said they look great! He will continue to monitor him because the vessels are still developing and  he could develop problems at any time. I cuddled with them last night. They are getting so big! I'm amazed at how far they've come. Josiah weighs 5 lbs 8 ozs. He had another brady (dip in his heart rate) yesterday. He is supposed to go 7 days without one in order for us to bring him home without a heart monitor. I think it had been 5 days since he had one. Josiah no longer has a feeding tube so all feeds are by bottle and he's taking about 60 cc's every 4 hours. Gideon was taking a bottle today and got a little choked up so they stopped and gave him the rest in his tube. Rob has an appointment to get 2 bench seats put in the suburban, making it a 9 passenger vehicle. The fun never ends!

Disappointment

Well we don't get to bring Josiah home Wednesday. The doctor called today and said the eye doctor had looked at his eyes and he is showing signs of Stage 3 Retinopothy of Prematurity (RoP), which is what Gideon had. The eye doctor will check him again Monday and then determine if Josiah needs the same eye procedure that Gideon had to have. So he told us we could go ahead and take him home Wednesday, but we would have to go to Plano to see the eye doctor Monday and if he needs the eye procedure, we would have to re-admit him to the hospital. We both agreed it was best for Josiah to stay put until the doctor determined what needed to be done. So while we're disappointed that he won't be coming home this week, we continue to trust that God has a plan. Who knows? That increases the chances of them coming home together. Gideon is on 1 liter of oxygen and doing very well. He has taken 2 bottles so far today. Gideon weighs 4 lbs 14 ozs and Josiah is 5 lbs 7 ozs. Please pray that all goes well with Josiah's eyes.

Hopkins County Steer Show

What a week!!!! We've survived a milestone birthday AND a steer show....and did it with style:-) But first, the best news of all....Josiah should be coming home Wednesday!!!!! He is doing well and if he has no major issues between now and then, we'll go pick him up and bring him home that day! He no longer has the feeding tube! I am excited and a little nervous too. WHY? It's not like I haven't ever done this before. He's about the size Samuel was when we brought him and Rachel home and yet I feel like I'm bringing home a baby for the first time. Maybe it's just because of how early they were and what problems they have had and could have, but I have to realize that fear and anxiety is not from God. I must remind myself to rest in Him and trust Him for the outcome. I mean, hasn't He proven that over and over with these boys? So I will remind myself what He has brought us through so far and know that He doesn't leave us just because we are bringing the boys home. The nurse last night seemed to think Gideon could possibly come home the next Wednesday. He is doing better on his oxygen and hopefully they will lower that again this week. He has taken a bottle the past two days. The kids are getting excited about meeting their brothers for the first time!!

The kids (Aaron, Rachel and Samuel) showed their steers last night at our county show. This is what they work all year to prepare for. Aaron got 4th in his class, out of 6. Rachel was in the same class and got 2nd. Samuel was in a different class and got 1st place! Then he made Reserve Champion!!!! (This is the 2nd best steer of the 24 steers that were there) He was SO excited!! Rachel won this award last year, so he had already declared it was his turn! So now they both have a championship belt buckle. I guess next year will be Aaron's turn to get a buckle. Rachel also won Intermediate Showmanship for the 2nd year in a row. This is where the judge is looking at the kids and not the animals. It still surprises me a little when Rachel walks in the ring. She is so calm, no matter what her animal does. She has an air of confidence about her and...oh yeah.... and then she smiles! Seriously....what judge wouldn't pick her! Her whole face lights up and her eyes sparkle and suddenly I see what a mature and beautiful young lady she has become! It's an awesome thing to see. Aaron did really well in showmanship as well. He and Rachel and another young man we have shown with for years were the top 3 in showmanship. I think all 3 bring out the best in each other! That's what I love about showing. They are all very competitive but when they step out of the ring they slap hands and congratulate each other for doing so well. Oh, and all 3 Stanley's made the SALE!!! Woo-Hoo! That's what they've been working for all year. So today we go for the sale and awards. Rachel will get a blanket for winning showmanship and Samuel will get his belt buckle! I'll go see the babies tomorrow since I can't breathe today, after being in the barn all day yesterday! Good times!

5 pounds!

Josiah hit 5 pounds last night! He's doing good on his bottles, but still not able to do only bottles. So it will be at least next week, but hopefully it will be next week, when he gets to come home. He's doing really well! Gideon was finally lowered to 1 1/2 liters on his oxygen and he's doing well at that level. He weighs 4 lbs 7 ozs. They have put him on 2 new meds, both to try and help get his oxygen levels down. I went to see them last night and we just snuggled! Nothing else new....so tired....going to bed:-)

Bath Time

I went to see the boys last night and gave them their first tub bath!!! So exciting! They were wide awake the whole time and seemed to enjoy it. They weren't fussy about it at all. They were sound asleep when I got there because they had been loved on by Mimi and Papa and Aunt Bethany and Aunt Blair, so they had a big day. Gideon wasn't happy with me for waking him up but he got over it pretty quick. It only took me 2 HOURS to bathe both of them!! Really????? I'm thinking we may adopt the hillbilly method of only bathing on Saturdays! WOW! We were all exhausted when it was over. Gideon took his pacifier and went fast asleep. I started giving Josiah his bottle, but he was really getting tired. I had to leave before he finished just to get home before I went to sleep! Gideon had another brain scan yesterday and the nurse told me the ventricles in his brain are shrinking (which is what we want). They have reduced from .75 to .5 and they are looking much better. That is an overwhelming answer to prayer!!! His head size is looking normal now and his eyes seem to focus better since the procedure they did. He looks so good! Gideon weighed 4 lbs 6 ozs and Josiah weighed 4 lbs 12 ozs. Josiah looks great too! The nurse felt like Josiah might be coming home next weekend, but I don't know. He took 3 bottles in a row yesterday, but didn't get very far on the third one. He has to be taking all his feeds by bottle and he doesn't always want to wake up to do that. She said if not next weekend, she felt like for sure the first weekend in March. Woo-Hoo! BUT not little Gideon. After I gave him his bottle the other night, the nurse had to raise his oxygen to 60%. She was afraid he had aspirated, but after running tests they said he didn't. So we can't give him any more bottles until he's come down on his oxygen. He knows what to do, so hopefully after he gets off the oxygen he'll take off with the bottle-feeding. So will Josiah get to come home for my birthday????? (That would be Thursday and a bittersweet, significant, monumental, historical, SAY WHAT?? day that lines up with my "Advanced Maternal Age"!) SIGH..... OR Will it be the day of the county show where we are showing 4 steers and will be busy all day Friday and Saturday????? Stay tuned.....

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I updated. Hope your honey is being sweet to you today. I went to see the boys by myself last night and didn't get home until 10:30. When I woke up this morning I had a dozen pink roses on the table and homemade cards from all the kids with a list of things they are going to help me do this week! So sweet! I especially loved Aaron's card (my 12 year old) who drew a picture of me and him, where he is much taller than me:-) I am beginning to have to look up at him, but not THAT much! At least Rachel didn't draw a picture of me wearing her shoes (since  I borrowed her boots Sunday):-\ The boys are doing really well. Dr. Spencer, the eye dr, was supposed to see Gideon today, but haven't heard if he could tell anything yet from the medicine. Gideon weighs 4 lbs 1 oz now!!! Josiah is 4 lbs 8 ozs!! Such big boys! They are on straight formula now and they increased both boys feeds today. Josiah is doing great eating from the bottle. I got to feed Gideon his first bottle last night!!! Yay! He only took about 12 cc's, but for his first one, he did great! Gideon is back into his open crib now. He is doing much better on his oxygen. He's still at 2 liters but holding pretty steady at 30%. BIG NEWS: Josiah is off the caffeine. He has to be off it for 7 days before he can come home! This is the first test. He has to also be taking all feeds by bottle and he has to pass the car seat test. I took his car seat to the hospital. They will put him in it for 2 hours (since that's how far away we live) and he has to not have any major breathing or heart episodes while he's in it. OH MY! To think he could be home by the end of the month is very surreal. He just has to keep doing good on his feeding! I'll keep you updated. I'm loving getting to hold and snuggle with them. I held both of them together last night. Of course, even at 4 lbs your arms go to sleep! Rachel and Samuel are both sick with high fever and headaches. Flu test was negative. Doctor thinks it's viral:-( Just praying I don't share that with the babies AND that no one else here gets it. Gotta go.....my sweetie is taking me out on a date. Don't know where we are eating, I think he's going to surprise me. Whatever will we talk about, just the two of us??? THE KIDS, I'm sure:-)
UPDATE: I just spoke with Gideon's nurse and she said the eye doctor said Gideon's eyes look better and he believes the disease is regressing!!!! Thank You Lord for answered prayers! He isn't going to check him again for 2 weeks! Did I mention that we serve an AWESOME GOD??? Just sayin'......:-)

Update

Gideon's procedure went well. It only took a couple of minutes. They numbed his eyes so he didn't feel a thing. He just sucked on his pacifier the whole time and handled it like a champ! It will be a couple of weeks before we know if it worked. The doctor said he would check on Gideon again next week. Thank you everyone for your prayers. While I was a little anxious since I couldn't be there, I felt at peace about it because I knew so many people were praying and that God was in control!

Prayer Request

Gideon's eye exam did not go well. His eyes had gotten worse. So at 10:00 in the morning, the eye doctor will be performing a quick procedure where he injects medicine into Gideon's eyes. This medicine should keep the retinas from detaching. If it doesn't work, there is a laser treatment that they can try as well, but the doctor said this medicine is very effective. We got to see them tonight and I held both boys. Gideon was wide awake and alert and looking around the whole time. He's very serious, whereas, Josiah will smile a lot more. They are both continuing to gain weight and will be weaned to formula this week. Gideon is still continuing to have drops in his oxygen and breathing rates. It is suspected these might be caused by reflux so the nurses are going to try laying him on his left side and slowing down his feedings. Hopefully that will work. Thank you everyone for your prayers!

One step forward, two steps back

The boys seem to be enjoying their new room. Josiah is doing great, continuing to work on mastering the bottle. Gideon has had to go back into his box, though. They also had to go back up on his oxygen from 1 liter to 2 liters. He was just having to work too hard with the lower oxygen level and keeping his temp up. They said he had done much better since making the changes. They both had another eye exam Monday. Josiah's was great. Of course, Gideon is going to be our difficult child:-) His was not so good. The vessels are larger than they should be and there is some concern that the retina could detach. There is a procedure they can do to keep this from happening, so, the eye doctor is supposed to check on him again this week to see how he is progressing and determine if he needs to do that procedure. So that is our prayer request for this week. Of course, we are praying for complete healing of Gideon's eyes, but also for wisdom for the doctors as they determine what to do.

Movin' on up

The boys are getting so big!! Josiah weighs 3 lbs 15 ozs and Gideon weighs 3 lbs 7 ozs! Gideon is moving to an open crib today and a low-flow canula AND they are moving to the feeding and growing hall!!! WOW!!!! Josiah is still doing great drinking from a bottle. He only does this every other feeding because it tires him out. Gideon hasn't started that yet. They are both wearing clothes and maintaining their temps very well. They will be 8 weeks old tomorrow! Hard to believe!

Groundhog Day

Happy Groundhog Day, everyone! I haven't heard if he saw his shadow or not, but we aren't celebrating that day. We are celebrating Rebekah's 7th birthday!!! Hard to believe my baby girl is 7 years old today. I think she's enjoyed her day: no school, swimming, lunch out, calls and texts from friends and family and an afternoon nap (oh, maybe that one was for me;-) This has been an eventful 3 days. We finally made it into the barn Tuesday around 7:00pm. We quickly unloaded, left the kids to tend to the steer and Rob and I left to park the trailer. We had to drive about 2 miles away to a special lot the Stock Show has for parking trailers. Then we went back and got the kids. We checked into the hotel around 9:30 (see, I wasn't too far off), they got to swim a little while mom ordered pizza and had some lovely time alone! I actually laid out everyone's pajamas and toothbrushes! That never happens at home! We were up and at the barn by 7:30 Wednesday. Buddy, the steer, had to be weighed and classified. Now, I must explain this process, as we've only been through it 2 other times and we usually go as a Misc./ Crossbred animal so they just let you through. But THIS time we had a Hereford and he has to go through and let them declare that he is a Hereford or not. Aaron had to walk the steer through a tunnel that leads to the arena. Then he turns in his weight card to one set of gentlemen. Then he walks across the arena to another set of gentlemen who are there to decide your fate. We all went with him so we looked like his entourage tagging along behind him.  Here's how it works: 3 men all have on a utility apron with pockets (my dad used to keep nails in it). Inside those pockets are black and white chips or marbles (I think). Anyway, it's something that indicates their vote is yes or no. I'm not sure what they have, but for now I will assume it's a chip or marble. They look over your animal and determine if it is truly the breed you say it is. We watched this with the Angus breed. The men decide, then reach in their little apron, pull out a "marble" and drop it in a coffee can that a 4th man is holding. They do this in such a way that we can't tell how they are voting. The coffee-can-man looks and if at least 2/3 are yes, he shakes his head yes and waves you through. HOWEVER, if he walks up to the exhibitor and shows him inside the coffee can.... this is BAD! He tells you basically "sorry 'bout your bad luck, have a nice day" Then a 5th man chases you down, basically says "sorry 'bout your bad luck, have a nice day..... oh and by the way give me your exhibitor number!"At one point they did this to 5 kids in a row! This was worse than watching a movie on the Lifetime channel!! It was killing me! I actually had tears in my eyes. I thought, "This can NOT happen to Aaron. I'm not sure I could handle it." Because then you are done! You don't get to show and you can't leave yet because they don't release the steers until Friday! But Aaron got through! The good thing about this process is, it does prevent some from cheating and trying to pass off an animal for one breed when they know it isn't. We were up at 4 am today to head to the barn and get Buddy ready to show. Aaron didn't make the sale. That's okay. He did an excellent job showing his steer! There were about 30 steers in his class and only the top 10 make the sale. So it was a  good day, a little disappointing, but we learned a lot and it's been a good experience for all of us AND we did have a little bit of fun:-)
OK-----quick update on the boys. They are doing so good!!!! Keep the prayers coming because they are working. Gideon is doing really well on his canula. He was awake a little last night. His brain scan went very well. We met with the doctor last night and he said the ventricles in Gideon's brain were getting smaller, which is what they want them to do. The larger they are, the more the risk for hydrocephalus. He would have been concerned if the fluid had built up causing the sutures of his head to separate, but that is not the case for Gideon. Praise the Lord!! He is now trying to fatten Gideon up. Josiah is doing awesome! He is not on any oxygen at all!!!! and hasn't been since yesterday! He is doing very good. I got to put him in a cute brown outfit AND I got to feed him a bottle!!! Woo-Hoo! That little turkey ate 20 ml's of milk. He was awake and alert, looking around and trying to hold his head up. The nurse tonight said she fed him 29 ml's by bottle---that's almost his whole feeding!! WOW! I better stock up on formula now! God has truly blessed us! Hopefully it won't be long before I'm giving Gideon a bottle.