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.

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!