My New Job

I finished my job at the hotel on Friday and now I start my most challenging and most rewarding job so far – being a stay-at-home dad. I’m very excited, as well as nervous and exhausted thinking about caring for the boys all day everyday.

Luke did well coming home last Sunday. He is exactly like Jack was when he came home – same looks, size and weight. Jack has been home over two months now and just when we were getting used to things and he was getting easier to take care of, now we start all over with feedings every three hours and very little sleep at night. Luke is on the same formula as Jack, but a higher concentration for more calories. He also will need to have his feeds thickened for 6-9 months, so that adds another step to the double feeds every few hours.

My mom flew in from South Carolina for the week and was a HUGE help. My last week at work was a long one (as usual), so it was great to have her stay with us and help us get through the first week.

Its been 4months and 1 day...................

and Luke is finally home!!!! He got home around 3 today and we are so excited. We are once again going to be sleep deprived and it is going to be VERY different with 2 babies to tend to but we are welcoming it with open arms. Luke is on thickened feeds, a 1/4 liter of oxygen, a calcium supplement, a multivitamin, and that is it!! Oh and Prevacid for his reflux but no other medications! I just want to praise God for everything that He has done for us and the boys. He has truly blessed us and given us a great outcome of a bad situation. Every time I think of everything we have been through over the past 4 months I get teary eyed and just pray to God and thank Him for getting us all through it! It has been the longest 4 months that I have lived through and glad that part of this journey is OVER. Please continue to pray for the boys growth and development. Right now they are meeting their corrected gestational developmental goals and doing great. Luke still is having some issues putting weight on but we are hoping being home helps him thrive and he will get chubby very fast---and grow some hair!! I only had enough ETA to take one day off from work :( but I am off until Friday. Friday is also Ken's last day of work as he quit his job to be a stay at home dad. I think he is getting a little nervous because now that Luke is home he is seeing that it is going to be very demanding. Ken's mom is flying in tomorrow night to help us out until Sunday. We are glad that she is able to come help us out. Here are a couple pictures from today:

Pictures

Jack sitting up in his Bumbo seat




Luke looks just like Jack did when he came home




Lily is ready to meet her other brother

Luke should be home soon!

Luke has made a lot of progress this past week. He had a swallow study to see why he was having so much trouble with bottle feeding. They have thickened his feeds and now he is doing great! He is almost 5 pounds, but has been there for a while.

If he continues to do well, Luke will be coming home on Sunday! We can't wait to have him home and the timing is great. About two weeks ago, Rachel and I decided that I should leave my job and stay home to care for the boys full time. I have one more week of work and then will not have to worry about working nights, weekends and being away from home so much.

Jack is doing great. He is off his oxygen, should be off his monitor this week, and hopefully will be happy to meet his little brother. It will be interesting to see how they do since they have only been together a couple hours since being born almost 4 months ago.

Update on Luke

Yesterday Luke had a swallow test to find out why he is having problems swallowing and not doing well with bottles. He tried a few different consistencies and they determined that he will do best if his bottle feeds are the consistency of honey. They will need to add some thickener to his bottles and are trying to determine whether milk will give him enough calories or if he needs to be switched to formula. Today Luke took all of his bottle in 10 minutes! That's great news and a very good sign. The last few weeks have been tiring and depressing because Luke was not making any progress. Hopefully this will bring continued improvement and get him closer to coming home.

Several prayer requests

1. Ken has been sick the last two days...please pray for his health and that he gets over this fast and does not pass this on to Jack.
2. Today I am starting to feel under the weather also. My throat is hurting and I have been exhausted. Pray that this doesn't turn into anything and again help us keep Jack healthy!
3. Luke has a swallow study tomorrow to determine if he can still do bottle feedings, if we need to thicken his feeds and the study will help us make some long term decisons about his care. He is not growing fast enough and when he gains some weight the next day he will lose it right back. Pray that the new mix of breastmilk/formula will be the trick that gets him to gain consistently! Pray that the swallow study goes well-- even if we have to thicken his feeds. If he can start taking bottles we would be alot closer to going home!
4. Pray for Jack because he is off his oxygen and has been doing good these last couple days!! Pray that he will keep doing good, stay healthy, and not require to be put back on oxygen.
5. Pray for my dad as he is going to have shoulder surgery on Friday!

I am not going to promise to post a update tomorrow but I will try!! Thank for the prayers!
--R

Baby boys update!

Ken has been doing the updates because I have been back to work and it has been busy. I am working nights and days so my schedule is different every week. This week I worked almost all nights because several people had been sick and nights were short staffed. My typical schedule is 2 days during the week and Saturday night. That allows me to be home with Jack most of the week and only need a babysitter 2 days a week. The other days I have spent taking Jack to his multiple dr appointments and resting and snuggling! Jack is growing so big and chubby. We have an appointment on Friday and hopefully we can get his oxygen off. Jack and Luke have both been cleared by the eye doctor and don't have to be seen again for 6 months. Both boys have passed their hearing tests and had normal head ultrasounds! Luke is doing great and slowly growing. He is down to 1/4 liter on his oxygen and the APN said his chest x-ray was the best he has ever had and his lungs look really good. Luke is up around 4 and 1/2 pounds but still growing very slow. He is still trying to learn to eat but doing okay on that. He is being fed by a therapist once a day and is taking about 20 mls of his 35 ml bottle. He is still having issues with swallowing and breathing. He sucks really good and loves his paci but when a bottle is in his mouth he doesn't know what to do with the milk! Several weeks ago the doctors did and echocardiogram on his hear and it was NORMAL!!! no pulmonary hypertension was seen!! That is a major improvement. He is having slight elevations in his liver blood test but they are giving him meds to help with that and a medication that helps prevent gallstones. He still needs to get his heria repaired but they won't do that until he is bigger. Ken and I are so ready for him to be home. We know life will be extra rough and busy but we are ready for that! We are so thankful that our boys have done so well and haven't had anymore complications than they have had. Luke has had a rough beginning and I am ready for his life to get a little easier. Thanks for all the prayers that have been sent up for our boys. God has blessed us and we are so thankful. I am sure there are going to be many obstacles that the boys will need to overcome but I feel that the major ones have been overcome and the boys have been victorious!! Keep praying for the boys and especially for Luke that he will learn to eat and that he will be able to come home very soon! Pray that Ken and I can figure out our finances so we can be with our boys as much as possible. Thanks to all our friends and the support and love you have given us.

Luke:


Jack:

Jack The Giant

In the time that Jack has been home (around 7 weeks) he has doubled his weight. He is eating all the time and when we was weighed at an appointment last week Jack was over 9 pounds! He is doing well at home and sees a doctor at the hospital's high-risk newborn clinic on Friday. We are hoping to be done with his oxygen and monitor so that we can get a little break before Luke comes home.

Luke is doing very well - he just needs to master bottle feeding and he will be ready to come home. He is sucking well but still learning to swallow and keep things down. We hope to have him home by February.