We go together like pb&j

The babies turned one on June 27th! We had their birthday party on the Sunday after. We just had a small family and a few friends party! It was just right! The babies loved their pb&j cake and all of the presents! Needless to say, we had some whooped babies when we got home!!

17 month update!!

Holy moly! Sorry y'all! This mama has been pretty busy the last few months!! Didn't mean to leave ya hanging!! Where to begin...the babies are now almost 17 months old! It's so crazy to try to remember our days in the NICU, and we actually would rather not!! They are growing like crazy! Both weigh about 20 lbs and love to eat. Clayre just started really crawling and is getting soooo fast! Cache has been crawling for a while now,  but is now standing up and cruising furniture. I have a feeling that Clayre is not far behind!

We celebrated our second Halloween! The babies got to dress up for the school fall festival! They looked precious! Overall, life is going well! We are in the process of getting RSV shots, to protect us throughout the winter months! This will hopefully allow us to spend a little time with family this holiday season! We are so excited to spend this Christmas at home having a great time with out sweet little ones! 

I have been officially back at work since mid August! I have a sweet group of kinders and love my job! I miss the babies during the day, but I know that they're always in great hands! We also have a great babysitter and Aunt who can watch the babies when daddy is working also. They do get to stay home with Curtis when he's off, and they love it!!

Again, we can't thank you enough for all that everyone has done for us over the months!! Until next time (hopefully not 8 months) ... Have a great week!!

Taryn

Week 32 & 33

31 weeks

Cache and Clayre are 7 months old!

Cache

Cache is still our smiley boy.  He's got a big personality stuck inside that little body! Boy oh boy, is he also a momma's boy! Of course, I love every second of that! I think that little bit of time we had at RMH while Clayre was still in the NICU, has a lot to do with that!

Weight

Cache weighs 12 lbs! He has outgrown some of his 0-3 and we still don't have many 3-6 and bigger, so I guess it's time to start really stocking up!! Thanks to the people who have sent some hand me downs, I love them! Right now, he mostly just wears pjs until we can start getting out and about, so I guess it's not too big of a deal!

Eat

Little fatty takes 4.5 oz 7 times a day. We started solids 1x per day last week. So far he's had oatmeal cereal, squash, and carrots. We are going to start two times a day today with oatmeal cereal in the morning and a veg at lunch! He's doing so well with them! 

Play

We are slowly beginning to be interested in toys, he tolerates tummy time long enought to reach out and touch/grab them sometimes. He's become the roll over king tho, so as out 3 minutes into tummy time, he's done! He's also beginning to sit up (with help) really well! We have a a therapist that comes out twice a month to work with them, and last week, she said that she really didn't know what to work on, because wears doing great and they're right on track! She said, that if they evaluated them right now as opposed to whe they did a few months ago, they wouldn't even qualify because of where they are at  physically! We are going to have her continue to come out tho, just to make sure that we are staying on track, especially when we really start crawling and walking.

Sleep

He still takes short 15 minute catnaps after his bottles!! He usually does this in his swing during the day. About 8:00, we lay the in their cribs, and let them sleep in their before their dream feed at 10:30 or so. They are still sleeping in our room in rock n plays, they have started sleeping 10:45-7:30. Since he's started solids, he doesn't even do his hungry scream! It's pretty amazing!

Well. I guess that about it for little man!

Clayre

Weight

Little miss Priss is weighing in at 11 lbs still. This is mostly due to some feeding issues, but I think they are getting better! She is still wearing 0-3 month clothes! They fit pretty well!! She's growing so fast:)

Feeding

Like I mentioned above, she had some feeding issues, so we had to start decreasing the amount she got in her bottles daily. She's gone back up to 3.5 oz every 3 hours without too much screaming. The Dr isn't sure what the issue is, maybe she just has a small appetite! In def not sure where she got that! She hasn't started solids yet, she's a few weeks behind, so maybe next week or so we can give it a shot!

Play

Clayre has really begun to play with toys! She loves to grab the rattles and shake them, or grab the teething ring and check like crazy!! During tummy time, if we put a toy in front of her, it helps peak her interest for a few minutes longer, so she forgets she's on her tummy!! She has more issues rolling over because of her oxygen tubes, but when she's had enough tt, she knows what to do!!

Sleep

Daddy's girl would be an understatement, this girl loves her beauty sleep! She takes 20-30 minutes naps throughout the day, then sleeps 11-7:30, then 8-10:30 or 11! She wakes up happy as can be, so I guess she really needs her sleep! Sometimes Cache and I get up and hang out and leave Curtis and Clayre asleep in the bedroom! 

Oxygen

Unfortunately, as you can see, Clayre is still depending on supplemental oxygen. She is still being weaned, and as this point she's depending on about 1/32 L when awake and 1/16 when sleeping. We take it off daily while monitoring, and she can go anywhere from 30 min to 3 hours without it. Usually we only have to turn it back up during a nap! We are still crossing our fingers to be done with it soon!!!!!!

Once again, I can't believe that these babies have grown so much and made so many strides! I've seen too many stories lately about babies that were not so lucky, and it makes me hold them a little tighter everyday! I remember sitting at Clayre's bedside for a few days just praying for her to make it thru her illness, and I thank God that he has a great plan for her! I'm so lucky to be able to spend this crucial time with them, and thanks to the people who have made it possible!!! Thanks again for donations, MEALS, love, and prayers!!! Countdown to the end of house arrest: 2.5 months:))

Week 30!!

Doctor updates

Happy Sunday night!!

 I just thought I'd check in and give you and update on our last few doctor appointments, thanks for the prayers you have continued to send up! 

First off, we went to the cardiologist on the 8th for Clayre's PDA. I mentioned before that both babies had PDAs, luckily Cache's closed before he was released, yet Clayre's hadn't. Our neonatologist from the NICU wanted us to go ahead and follow up with it. Unfortunately it's still open, small, but open. For those of you not familiar with a PDA, here's a definition I found online, 

PDA is a type of congenital (kon-JEN-ih-tal) heart defect. A congenital heart defect is any type of heart problem that's present at birth.

If your baby has a PDA but an otherwise normal heart, the PDA may shrink and go away. However, some children need treatment to close their PDAs.

Some children who have PDAs are given medicine to keep the ductus arteriosus open. For example, this may be done if a child is born with another heart defect that decreases blood flow to the lungs or the rest of the body.

Keeping the PDA open helps maintain blood flow and oxygen levels until doctors can do surgery to correct the other heart defect.

Outlook

PDA is a fairly common congenital heart defect in the United States. Although the condition can affect full-term infants, it's more common in premature infants.

On average, PDA occurs in about 8 out of every 1,000 premature babies, compared with 2 out of every 1,000 full-term babies. Premature babies also are more vulnerable to the effects of PDA.

PDA is twice as common in girls as it is in boys.

Doctors treat the condition with medicines, catheter-based procedures, and surgery. Most children who have PDAs live healthy, normal lives after treatment.

Sorry that may have been a little wordy:) Anyways, the doctor said that she doesn't think that Clayre's PDA is affecting her, and doesn't expect it to ever be a bother to her! Thanks goodness!! She does want to see us again in 6 months and then yearly thereafter to keep an eye on it!!! 

Clayre also had an opthamologist appointment. We got good news at it too, her ROP has just about resolved itself!! He said at this point, it will never get worse, and can only get better. He was very pleased with it, and she won't have to go back until their birthday when Cache goes, and that will just be a yearly eye exam!! 

Both babies also got their flu and RSV shots this past week! The flu "epidemic" is getting pretty out of hand and scares the ever living daylights out of me. I get such bad anxiety at the doctors office when I hear people cough! We are doing all we can to protect these babies, and the last thing we want is for them to catch something at the doctor's office!! 

I've been asked the last few times people see me out anywhere, when the babies will get to come out. Right now, our hopes are by mid March, we will be able to be out for a couple of baseball games, and activities. That is, if the flu has calmed down. We are still taking every precaution to keep them well. We are not taking a lot of visitors (mostly family and no school age kids except Brody), sanitizing like crazy, and keeping them inside. Hopefully these next two months will fly by!!

Well, I guess that enough of my rambling for today! Thanks for taking the time to check up on our angels! Also, thanks for all the prayers, donations (which help pay for Dr appointments:), food, and love that you continue to give us. Y'all make taking care of these babies even easier;) Have a great week, STAY WELL, and I will be back soon!