The Fischer 5

Finally!!!!!!

2009-11-10T18:37:00.005-07:00

GREAT NEWS!!!

Alex and Grant are coming home on 11-11-09!!!!!! TOMORROW!!!!
They are eating well and growing so there is nothing more for the NICU to do!!

Ethan will be a little farther behind. He has to have surgery tomorrow, but as long as he comes through that well, he should be coming home around the weekend or beginning of next week. Please pray that he goes through the surgery easily and heals quickly.

This past week and a half have been quite the roller-coaster ride. Monday of last week they took the feeding tubes out of all three of the boys. That was quite the emotional thing for me. I was scared they were going to starve but I trusted they would figure it out. It took a while longer than we expected and a couple of formula changes, but they are eating really well now. They finally "got it" this past weekend and really progessed fast.

They are now on Enfamil AR formula with a couple of added calories. Every ounce is 24 calories. It seems to be staying down a lot better. They are not having the projectile spit-ups that are painful for them. It is good. They aren't on any breastmilk, but hopefully we'll figure out how to get them back onto that soon. They will eventually grow out of the reflux, it might just take a while.

We took their carseats in for them to do their carseat test, and they all passed with flying colors! They all look so cute in their seats. My aunt and uncle in NM sent us some blankets embroidered with their names on them. They will be the boys' primary carseat blankets. They are cute!!

Grant

Ethan

Alex

Ethan is our TALKER. He loves to talk. We found out he even talks in his sleep. Oh, life is going to be fun with him. Check this video out of him in his carseat.

Last night, James and I stayed at the hospital with the boys. We did a stay-in with them. We got our own little room and the boys were moved in there with us. We got to take care of them all on our own. I am so tired from that. I tried to let James sleep as much as possible, but I had to get him up a few times. We theoretically could do all of this on our own when the boys get home, but I would prefer to be able to enjoy my boys and not be tired all the time.

So, if you feel the notion, we would love to have you come and help us with them. Just give me a call before you head this ways so we know you are on your way!! I can't wait for everyone to meet my babies! FINALLY!!!

Broncos Boys!!

2009-11-01T21:13:00.005-07:00

My cutie-patootie little broncos!!! :) We had some fun today taking pictures with all of them.

Happy Halloween!!

2009-10-31T22:46:00.003-06:00

Happy Halloween to you from the Fischer 5!

Weights tonight
Alex - 7lbs 6oz
Grant - 8lbs 4oz
Ethan - 5lbs 8oz

No Pyloric Stenosis

2009-10-30T16:11:00.002-06:00

So, Alex and Grant had upper GI tests today and it was conccluded that niether of them have pyloric stenosis. Alex does have a pylorus that spasms, but he should grow out of that.

So, now on to something else to figure out why they won't eat consistantly. Possibly Monday we will start something I am calling "controlled hunger." They will let Alex and Grant be babies and allow them to determine when they want to eat!

HA... who would have thought that they might just want to eat when they are hungry, and not be force fed!! **note the sarcasm!! They won't let them starve. If they won't demand to eat after so many hours they will make sure they wake them up to feed them. So, we'll see.

Thank you for the thoughts and prayers.

Pyloric Stenosis (PS)

2009-10-29T20:50:00.010-06:00

About 5 days ago all 3 of the boys started having feeding problems. It's very common for them to spit up a couple of ml's during a feeding. Suddenly they started projectile vomiting 15-20 ml's. After 3 days with no improvement Dr. R decided to order ultrasounds on each one of their stomachs. After reviewing the ultrasound he decided to do additional testing including an upper GI screening with the radiologist in an attempt to confirm or deny what is called Pyloric Stenosis.

Pyloric Stenosis (PS) is where the muscle between your stomach and intestines isn't developed properly. This restricts or prevents food from passing into the intestines and instead forces it back up the way it came in.

Before the upper GI screening Dr. R also showed the ultrasound results to the surgeon and the radiologist. Together they determined that Grant and Alex had problems and that it was better to perform the surgery and not waist time and the boy's energy with the upper GI screening. After discussing this with Jess and I, we decided to take their advice and move forward with surgery today for the two. At 12:45 this afternoon Grant went into lapriscopic surgery while the nurses preped Alex to follow right after.

About an hour later Grant came back upstairs and the surgeon came to us with a puzzling look on her face. She informed us that when she got in there everything looked perfectly normal and fluids were passing freely as they should. To confirm she brought in another surgeon (who performed Ethan's NEC surgery) to take a look. Both decided that everything looked normal. She also called the radiologist to confirm what they saw in the ultrasound. With these findings they immediately cancelled Alex's surgery.

Alex will get the upper GI screen tomorrow and if they can confirm or not any issues with the pyloris muscle. If he does, then it probably will be into surgery for him (but we won't be sure if that will be Friday or next Monday).

One good thing did come from this. Grant's belly-button was herniated and looking quite odd (major outtie!!). Since she was accessing his stomach through his belly-button she fixed it when done with the surgery. He now has a very nice looking innie. I guess you could say he got his first plastic surgery. :)

So, back to the upper GI screening tomorrow, for both Alex and Grant, to find out if they can see what's happening. They will be looking to see if there is something else going on with Grant other than PS.

Your continuous prayers are greatly appreciated. We'll update as soon as we know something more. Right now everyone continues to look at the boys completely perplexed.

Here a a few pictures that we have taken over the past couple of days.
Video of Grant playing peek-a-boo with mommy!

Alex and Ethan, do you see the twins in them? Ethan still has high billiruben levels so he is a bit more yellow than Alex. He is also still almost 1.5lbs smaller than Alex.

Grant was wearing a new outfit that we got from our friends the Holland's and Faubions! They are such cute outfits.

New weights and lengths

2009-10-26T19:12:00.004-06:00

My cousin Barb, in California, crosstiched these blankets for the boys (on the back of their cribs). They are wonderful.

As of last night, 10/25, the boys' stats were:

Alex: 7lbs, 19 inches
Grant: 8lbs 3oz, 20 inches
Ethan: 5lbs 5oz, 17 inches

They are doing pretty well. They are still not quite ready to take everything by bottle. We think Ethan will be soon, but he still wears out after 2 straight feedings by bottle. We are going slow just to make sure he still gains weight and doesn't get too exhausted. Grant and Alex are doing every other feed by bottle. They are kind of doing well with that but they are still not consistant with taking the amounts they need to take. Hopefully they get it soon.

Please keep up the prayers for them and for James and I. Prayers for patience are always good! :) Thank you.

Pictures and videos of my babies

2009-10-24T05:26:00.005-06:00

A couple of pictures and videos of my babies!!
Ethan was just entertained as could be in his bouncy seat.

Alex fell asleep funny in his seat. It looked so uncomfortable, but he was sound asleep so we didn't disturb him.

Grant was trying to eat from a bottle. He is getting there on this, but isn't showing the signs that he wants the bottle. Who knows when he will "get it" and start demanding it. We'll see. When he does though, he can come home. Please pray that he "gets" it soon.

Oh... here is my other sleeping baby. :)

10.19.09 Happy Due Date Babies

2009-10-18T23:23:00.008-06:00

Today, October 19, is offically the boys' due date. They are 40 weeks gestationally today! In 2 more days (not counting today) they will be 10 weeks old. It has been a really long, hard, and fun 10 weeks. I hope that soon these boys will be out of the hospital. They are doing well though. Slowing down some on their growth, but hopefully that is a sign that they are starting to work a bit more on other things, such as learning the bottle.

I thought I would take some comparison pictures to so you how much the boys have grown. I forgot to get their lengths, but here are their weights.

Grant - 7lbs 8oz on 10.18

Grant 3lbs 6oz on 8.18

Ethan - 5lbs on 10.18 (yeah... no one left under 5lbs!!!)

Ethan - 1lb 9oz on 8.18

Alex - 6lbs 10oz on 10.18.

Alex 2lbs 10oz on 8.18

10.14.09 Update

2009-10-15T05:55:00.003-06:00

It has been a pretty busy week for the me, the boys, James, and James' parents. Larry and Peggy are now in town for 6 months to help with the boys. Since the boys aren't home yet, they are going to the NICU to do their care times when I can't go.

The boys have been growing by leaps and bounds this week. Alex hit the 6lb mark. Grant hit the 7lb mark. And Ethan is ever so close to that 5lb mark. Weights as of 10/14 are Alex 6lbs 2oz, Grant 7lbs 5oz, and Ethan 4lbs 14oz.

They are all doing well. We are just working on eating from the bottle. It seems to be like watching grass grow. They don't have many other things happening other than taking full feeds from the bottle once in a while.

Grant seems to be the one that is "getting" it the best right now. Almost every time he takes the bottle he takes a full feed. But if you try to do bottle feeds back to back, he doesn't take the whole bottle the second time. I'm not going to say something specific about when he should be coming home (I don't want to jinx it), but it should be soon!!

Alex has taken quite a few full feeds, but he still has issues taking them every time. He still gets very tired some times. They are also working on getting his reflux figured out. He seems very miserable, but they started him on some meds that should kick in any day and help him. We'll have to see if they help and then things should progress fairly quick for him and then he can come home.

Ethan is doing well with the bottle but usually can only take it once or twice a shift. He just doesn't have the stamina yet to take it any more than that. He does take full feeds once in a while too. And he wants the bottle a lot. We just have to be careful that he doesn't over-do it and use up lots of calories. He could still have issues gaining weight and we don't want that. Before he comes home he is going to have to have one more surgery. He has a hernia that is going to need fixing but they won't do that till right before discharge (which could possibly set back his discharge date, but we'll see.)

I have set a "realistic" goal of getting all the boys home by Thanksgiving. I know, I know! That seems so long away for some of you. But they have so many things that they need to do before they all get home. Now, it could be earlier than that, but Thanksgiving is 6 weeks away, and that seems reasonable to have everyone home. It is a long time for me to think about, but we have been at this 9 weeks and hopefully we won't have to be more than 6 more weeks!

I have been going to the NICU every day. I usually spend 6hours there during the day and once in a while go back for 3 more hours at night. It gets to be exhausting, but it is good practice for when they come home.

Well, here are a couple of pictures for you of the boys. They are 2 months old now! Oh how time flies.
Alex

Ethan and Mommy

Grant in his Halloween outfit from Aunt Donna! (I am eventually going to get a picture with all three of them in their outfits together.)

Weights from 10.9.09

2009-10-09T23:13:00.001-06:00

New weights as of tonight - Alex 5lbs 14oz, Grant 6lbs 12oz, Ethan 4lbs 11oz. They are growing like weeds. Grant graduated to newborn diapers today. Ethan got his broviac (sp?) out yesterday. Basicly they all have to learn how to eat and they can come home!! We'll see who learns the bottle first, but the nurses have their bets on Ethan! Haha... wouldn't that be funny if he is the first to come home. We'll just have to be patient and see. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

New pictures

2009-09-29T21:45:00.006-06:00

Our first family photo (left-right - Ethan, Alex, Grant)

Daddy's first time to hold all three together!!

Aren't they cute??!!??

Ethan was making faces at his brothers!! :)

Video of Alex

Video of Grant

After 1 month, 1 week and 6 days...

2009-09-25T22:07:00.006-06:00

...Mommy finally got to hold all three of her boys again!!!

(L-R: Alex, Ethan, Grant)

So, you wouldn't have believed it, but Alex and Ethan really really do look alike!!! Ethan's hair is starting to turn from blonde to brown. :)

Alex

Grant

Ethan

Milestones in weight and feeding

2009-09-23T23:59:00.002-06:00

Ethan passed the 4 lb mark tonight. He is now eating 6mls every 3 hours. Pray that he continues to tolerate this all and can start eating just breastmilk soon.

Alex ate a HUGE 25mls from the bottle tonight. Good progress, since he has only ever taken 14 or 11 from me! He is now weighing 4lbs 11oz.

Grant ate a whooping 35mls from the bottle tonight. That is the most he has taken so far!! He is now 5lbs 6oz. They are all getting close to eachother!

Mommy and Daddy are doing well and happy to see their boys growing and changing everyday. We want them home soon, but all in God's time. Your prayers are still much appreciated!! Thank you so very much.

One Month, One Week, 3 Day update

2009-09-22T13:53:00.007-06:00

I know it has been a while since I have posted. We have been really busy going back and forth between hospital and home.

The boys are making great strides in their journey toward home. Alex and Grant are both in "cribs" now. They are also taking food from a bottle trying to learn how to bottle feed. Grant takes about 25ml once a shift right now.

Alex is having a bit more of a hard time. They are thinking his reflux is coming back and he really doesn't like the bottle if he is refluxing. Hopefully he will grow out of it, but we'll just have to see.

Ethan is doing good right now too. He has gained so much weight these past couple of weeks. He is now 3lbs 14oz. Almost 4 lbs!!! They just started him back on breastmilk this past weekend and so far he is tolerating it pretty well. He we just upped today to 3ml every 3 hours. Hopefully he does well and can get out of the level 3 NICU and move up with his brothers to the Graduate NICU!

Grant is weighing 5lbs 6oz now. Alex is weighing 4lbs 9oz now.

Here is a video of Ethan and Mommy "playing" the other day. I'll have a video of Grant and one of Alex here pretty soon. My camera batteries died and I haven't charged them yet. (doing so now, but it takes a while.)

One month old (2 days ago)

2009-09-14T05:22:00.002-06:00

My baby boys are a month old! Can you believe it?? I can't. It is hard to believe that they have been out in this world for this long, yet it seems like so much longer. The NICU is becoming a place that I don't want to ever have to go back to when this is all said and done!

Well, here are the one month pictures and stats.

Alex - (We didn't get a good picture because he had the CPAP still on) 3lb 12oz (he hasn't been gaining a lot, but they finally upped his food intake so he will start gaining again) 16 1/2 inches long.

Grant - 4lbs 12oz, 17 inches long. He is now taking some of one feeding a day by bottle. He just has to get the suck-swallow-breath thing down still.

Ethan - He had a major week last week, so he is semi-swollen this week, but you won't believe how he's grown... 3lbs 7oz (minus 4 or 5oz for swelling... so 3lbs 2oz)!!!!! 15 inches long (up from the 12 at birth!!) I was so happy to hear he is still doing well considering he isn't eating breastmilk yet. Hopefully midweek he will be able to start feeding again.

We also had a shower at our church on Saturday. (Thank you Brenda for the wonderful job of setting it up and hosting!) We had a wonderful time getting out of the house and hospital (even though the boys couldn't) and got a bunch of WONDERFUL gifts from our church family!!! Thank you everyone, for everything, and for the prayers. If that was all we got this whole time, it would be totally worth it because these boys need all the prayers they can get.

Surgery update

2009-09-13T08:04:00.002-06:00

Ethan made it through the surgery just fine. They did not find anything so that is a good thing. It is also a bad thing because we don't know what was causing his issues in the first place. Hopefully he was just premie and needs to just grow a bit more and be healthy. He is recovering now and hopefully will be back to himself in a few days. Thank you for all the prayers!

I'll put up pictures from our shower yesterday and their 1 MONTH pictures later today. Can you believe that they are a month old already??

Prayers for Ethan please

2009-09-11T00:01:00.003-06:00

Ethan will be going into surgery Friday afternoon. It is an exploratory surgery to see if there is something wrong with his bowel since he hasn't been able to tolerate feedings, he had that infection, and he has the swollen belly. We hope there is nothing wrong, but if there is something, they will be able to fix it then. Please keep him in your prayers. We want him to get well and start being able to eat and tolerate food.

I'll update as soon as I can here. Thank you.

I suppose it's time for an update...

2009-09-07T21:30:00.003-06:00

I am wondering how to start this posting, so I gues I will just update you on each one of the boys.
Alex - Alex has been having quite the bouts of reflux lately. So, the other day the started him on a continuous feed. That means that he gets food constantly into his feeding tube and that keeps his stomach full. It should help his reflux. So far it is working pretty well. He has had a few spit-ups, but not nearly as bad as he used to have.

He was also having some pretty good de-sats (oxygen level drops). They checked his red blood cell count and it was very low. He had a blood transfusion to help with that. It also seems to be helping, but we won't know for sure for the next couple of days.

Otherwise, he is doing really well. He is weighs 3lbs 12oz tonight.

Grant - Grant had a big day today. The nurse said that he is big enough now that he can come out of the isolette. That means he will be going to a crib. He will still be staying with the other two boys in this NICU. They like to keep multiples together until they go home. So he will move to the crib probably tomorrow.

We also tried the bottle with him today. He sort of got the suck-swallow-breath job down. Out of the 38ml he gets for each feeding, he ate about 10ml of it by bottle. The nurse said that was really good for the first time bottle feeding! He did so good and gave us a big burp afterwords. :) Last night he weighed 4lbs 5oz.

Ethan - Ethan also had a big day, but not a nice one like Grant. :-( We got a phone call this morning (I really am starting to hate weekends) and he had to go into surgery today. He needed to get a line put in to a vein because the IV lines they have had in him keep infiltrating. That means that they keep leaking into his body. He has had two in his arms that infiltrated and caused a bunch of blisters. The surgery went well and he continues to recover. The doctors are pleased with the line placement and how he is doing. (The line is like the central line he had in before, but this one goes in through his neck).

He also had to have a blood transfusion after his surgery. His red blood cell count was low too. So, hopefully he will start to get better and be able to get healthy and grow. Not that he isn't growing though. He was at 2lb 14oz last night!

Like I said, I really have been dreading the weekends cause things always happen to them on the weekends, especially Ethan. Hopefully next weekend will be better. It should be, we have our first baby shower!!!

On other news, I want to say Congrats to our pastor and his wife, Brain and Tara, on the birth of their new son, Joel! Congrats!

Pics & Weights

2009-09-03T22:35:00.008-06:00

Patience Please!!!

Jess and I have decided that we will only do night time cares every other night to allow us to rest so that we don't get ourselves exhausted and possibly sick. Tonight was our night off so I stopped by on my way home from work and spent about an hour with the boys and got the opportunity to hold Grant for a little while.

Since we didn't go to night time cares I JUST got off the phone with the two nurses caring for them tonight and here's what they said...

Overall everyone has had a very good couple of days and nights.

Ethan is doing very well. He's down to 27% on his oxygen concentration. He's also up on his weight to 2 lbs 9 1/2 ozs.

Alex is also doing very well. He hasn't had an oxygen desat since earlier in the day. Even when he had that one he only dropped mildly and recovered on his own. The nurses had an admitance flown in via Life Flight Denver so she hadn't gotten his weight done yet. Last night he was at 3 lbs 7 1/2 ozs so hopefully he's up a little tonight.

Grant had to get another IV put in. Poor boy can't keep an IV in more than a day or two. I guess it was a difficult process and then ended up putting it in his head again. He weighed in tonight at 3 lbs 14 1/2 ozs. Almost 4 lbs!!! Keep it up little man!!!

Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers. Mimi has been handing out blue paper clips to her everyone she knows asking them to put it somewhere they see it often and say a little prayer everytime they see it. I think she's given away over 60 clips so far!

Here are a few pics for you...

Alex and Dad

Ethan

Grant being held by Mom

Ups and Downs

2009-09-02T04:17:00.002-06:00

The boys did not have a good weekend, and therefore neither did we. It all started with a 7 am phone call saying that Ethan was back on the ventilator and that he might have an infection. Turns out he does have an infection, but they are treating it really agressively and he is getting better. He should be off his vent today.

We then found out that Grant has a urinary tract infection. He was put on antibiotics. You can tell the antibiotics are working because he is back to his feisty self as of yesterday.

Then yesterday, we found out that Alex also has a urinary traact infection. He is now on antibiotics also. He also has a low red blood cell count so he is having issues holding his oxygen count up. But, since he is on the antibiotics, he is doing much better with that.

The poor babies just had a hard weekend, and so did we. It is hard to hear that your baby is sick and needs help. Let's just say that James' birthday was not what we were anticipating. I thought it would be nice and quiet, but the boys made sure that we never have that expectation again! :)

Well, even though they are fighting infections, they are still growing. As of last night they weigh...
Alex - 3lb 7oz
Grant - 3lb 13oz
Ethan - 2lb 6oz

They are growing and eating great. Alex is now eating 18ml of fortified breastmilk every 3 hours. Grant is eating 16ml of fortified breastmilk every 3 hours. Ethan is eating 1ml of breastmilk every 6 hours. Ethan will eventually get there, but they are just taking their time, especially since he is still on the vent.

So, that was our weekend and week up to yesterday. I'll try and get some pictures today. Sometimes I just don't have the time when I get in the NICU to take pictures, but I know you all want to see them, so I will try.

Love,
Jessica

2 week 3 day update

2009-08-29T21:18:00.004-06:00

Here is Grant now without his oxygen tube!!

He looks so much more comfortable. He is now getting 7ml of breastmilk every 3 hours! Oh, and that is an IV in his head. That is about the only place they could find to put it the other day. He likes to pull the IV's out if they are anywhere else.

We got a phone call bright and early this morning from the NICU doctor about Ethan. Overnight they discovered that the IV going into his arm and to his chest started leaking fluid into his chest cavity and he was having a really hard time breathing. They had to take out the "central line" as the call it, and put him back on the ventilator because he had some fluid seap into his lungs. Poor baby can't get a break!!

I'm sure he's thinking "why can't I just have all these tubes and wires off me????" They don't anticipate him having to be on the vent longer than over the weekend, but we'll just have to wait and see. I think he just doesn't like the weekends! :)

Alex has been pretty good lately. He hasn't had a bowel movement in a while, so we are hoping he goes soon!

"Check it out Mommy. What is this thing on my arm? It is really annoying me!" His IV had to be taped and padded down because he pulls them out A LOT!

We didn't make it to their care time tonight because we went out to dinner with James' parents before they go home, and for James' birthday. I'll update more tomorrow after I get weights and measurements!! Tata for now.
Love,
Jessica

Good Progress Today

2009-08-27T22:10:00.006-06:00

So, I'll start with some pictures. Yesterday, Great Grandpa Dickey got to go and visit the boys for a while. He was absolutely thrilled. This was also their 2 week birthday! I introduced him to Alex first.

We then went to meet Ethan. I had to rotate Ethan so Grandpa could see his face so I just got him up and let Grandpa hold him for a few minutes. It's hard to hold in the isolette, but we didn't really have time to get him out, and it wasn't his care time.

We then went to Grant. Grandpa got to help do his care time. As he was changing Grant's diaper, he peed all over. We went through an extra diaper and had to change some of his bedding! It was quite funny to watch, but Grandpa said he had been through 5 children of his own so it wasn't his first time being peed on! I laughed.

As for the boys today, we had an eventful day.

Alex's feeding has been increased. He went from 2ml of breastmilk to 4ml today. He was also cut down on his oxygen that he was needing. Yeah Alex!!! As of last night, he weighed 2lbs 12oz.

Grant was taken off the oxygen all together today!!! He is now just breathing room air. That is exciting! His feeding has not been increased yet, but they might increase it tomorrow. Last night he weighed 3lbs 10oz.

Ethan started "eating" again today. He gets 1ml per feeding. They are going to keep a close eye on this and see if his bowels react the same as last time or if they actually start working correctly with the breastmilk. I hope and pray that he stays well and can actually "eat" now. Over the past couple of days he has been retaining fluid for some reason. He gained quite a bit of "water weight" over the 2 days and looked pretty puffy this morning. They gave him some medicine to help him yesterday and today and he is peeing a lot more now. That is helping him lose the puffiness.

As for me, I had my 2 week post-partum doctors appointment on Wednesday and everything is healing well. They said the incesion looks pretty good for having triplets!! I guess, if a big ol' scar can look pretty good.

James (of course we can't forget Daddy) is doing well. He is working and maintaining our household and helping with the boys. I don't know how he does it without totally wearing out. (Actually, I know it's partly cause his mom is here, but I'll talk about that in a second.) He gets up and goes to see the boys before he goes to work. He works, then possibly goes back to the hospital, or comes home and gets me to go back to the hospital. He is hardly at home lately. But he is wonderful!!!

James' mom, Peggy, has been a WONDERFUL help around here!! She came in before the boys were born and has been here ever since. I am sure she has run herself ragged. She has been going to see the boys twice a day also. She goes to the care times that James and/or I cannot make. She has also been doing our laundry, cooking dinner, and cleaning the house. She has been such a good person to have around. I don't know how James and I will do it when she leaves, but we'll make it. James' parents both will be back in October anyway to help us with boys.

Well, I suppose that is all for now. I'll try to get more pictures tomorrow (especially since you can see Grant without the oxygen tube). Ta ta for now.

Love,
Jessica

Kangaroo Time

2009-08-24T16:05:00.005-06:00

About a week ago Ethan's belly started swelling. He had been fed a couple of times of 1ml of breastmilk, and got an infection in his bowels. They stopped moving and he got a build up of gas. The poor baby was in so much pain and he look very uncomfortable. They started him on antibiotics and took x-rays to see his bowels. They were incredibly swollen and filled with gas.

He did not seem to be getting better, and then I asked the nurse on Saturday if I would be able to hold him and do a kangaroo time with him. I believed that it would help him more than anything else. Look how tiny he is!

Boy was my thinking good. He had a bowel movement Saturday night, Sunday night, and a nice big one for me today! That means his bowels are moving again. I never thought I would be so excited about poop! I am sure he feels much better today.

James finally got to hold one of the boys too. He did a kangaroo time with Alex. James loved it and Alex was the most comfortable he has ever looked laying on his daddy's chest.

Here is Alex with his huge eyes. He is so curious about everything and loves to look at things.

I didn't get a picture of Grant So, we have now done kangaroo time with each of the boys. James gets to finally do one with Grant tonight. I have done time twice with each of the boys. I really believe it is helping them. It helps me to feel more like their mother too. So far it has been hard for me to feel like their mother since we can only touch them a couple of times a day and I am not providing for them entirely.

I know they are where they need to be, and I am not complaining, but I do with that they were healthy and able to be home. It will come soon though, I know. We just need to keep praying that they all stay healthy and grow. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. We appreciate everything.
Love-
Jessica
PS - My boss asked me to write a devotional about this past couple of weeks and it was posted today. You can read it at http://www.abcrm.org/devotional.htm.

One Week Old pictures

2009-08-21T23:19:00.003-06:00

Grant William - 3lbs 6oz

Alexander Timothy - 2lbs 10oz

Ethan Mark- 1lb 9oz

Mommy's first time holding Grant-kangaroo time (skin to skin contact)He did very very well with this time. I was so happy to get to hold one of my boys outside the isolette.

Please continue prayers for the boys to gain strength and weight. We especially need prayers for Ethan right now. He has a build up of gas in his bowels and they aren't working to get it out. He has an infection in the bowels and that is why they have stopoed. He is on antibiotics to try and get the infection to go away. We just need him to get healthy now so he can start eating again to gain weight. Thank you for all your support.

Love,
Jessica

Pictures of the boys with their new teddy bears

2009-08-18T21:27:00.002-06:00

Alex today with a bear from Grandma Rigsby

Grant with his bear from Grandma Rigsby

Ethan with his bear from Grandma Rigsby

Alex

Grant(he got off the vent today!!)

It's hard to get pictures of Ethan because he is in the isolette. It is hard form him to keep his temperature up so we can't open the isolette a lot.

I didn't get any weights today, but I will try and get their stats tomorrow. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers! We appreciate everything.
Love,
Jessica