HAPPY VALENTINES DAY, MOM & DAD!!!

Kian and Ethan's Valentines Day card to Mom and Dad. They are absolutely adorable!!



After seeing them together, do you still think they look alike???

...and growing...

We're showing off our TU hats! Go TU!! Remember how big they were on us before????




We weigh 6lbs 3oz and 5lbs 12.5oz. Ethan is bottle feeding all of his feeds and even breastfeeding like a champ. His next step is to decrease the amount of calories in his formula from 24kcal/oz to 22kcal/oz and see if he continues to gain weight accordingly.

Here's Dad- he's feeding his first bottle ever to his boys! Go DAD!




Kian is working on nippling 6 bottles per day and only 2 tube feeds. He still has an uncoordinated suck and it takes him more than the allotted amount of time (30 minutes) to get down 2oz of milk. Therefore, he stays at that step until he masters it. Mom & Dad are getting severely anxious and our patients are wearing thin, but we keep being reminded that "they would still be in utero" and wouldn't be doing these things anyway.


We would be 36wks 3days today


instead today we are 2mo old.

We've had our 2 month shots already and we took them like champs. Only a few whimpers and then all smiles!

Still- a discharge is in sight for Ethan. No date given yet. We will let you know when that happens.

We're still growing!

That's right...we're still growing! Mom and Dad are so impressed by our huge steps we're making. Not only are we almost 6lbs- yes Kian is 5lbs 14oz and Ethan is 5lbs 8oz- but we're making huge strides in our development.


Ethan was taken off his nasal cannula Saturday. He is now completely breathing on his own.


Kian still has his on, but is on room air mostly. He's having more difficulty breathing and doc has ordered some tests in the next few days to figure out why. We're hoping and praying its just "growing pains" and nothing anatomically wrong. Ethan and Kian are eating from a bottle 3-4x's per day and both are allowed to breastfeed 3-4x's per day. The other feedings are still through the feeding tube. Kian, because of his breathing, is struggling a bit with his eating but is still doing okay.


There may be an end in sight...Dr. has discontinued their caffeine. That's a good sign! That means we're on the home stretch. Caffeine helps stimulate their bodies and reminds them to breathe, so she's thinking it's time they do it on their own. Their caffeine levels must be below a certain level before they think about sending them home and it takes days to get out of their system. There has even been discussion about possible discharge soon- especially for Ethan- but no specific date. We have no idea when. It will be the next most difficult thing to do if have to take the boys home 1 at a time. That means either Mom or Dad have to stay at home with one and the other can go to the hospital.

We've already discovered Ethan is a Momma's boy. Dad was holding both boys, Mom left the room and when she came back and Ethan heard her voice he squealed and squirmed until Mom picked him up. This could be interesting!!




We'll keep you updated. We pray that Kian continues to make progress on his breathing/eating & Ethan just continues to eat, sleep and grow.

We're growing up before Mom & Dad's eyes!

We've done a lot of growing up in the last few days. Since taking off the CPAP, both Kian and Ethan have behaved. They are still on their nasal cannulas, Ethan is on room air (21%) and Kian is being weaned from 25% to room air. Both are tolerating it really well.





Mom has been able to do some some non-nutritive feeding where Mom pumps first then attempts to get the boys latched on and the episodes ended up to be nutritive. Both boys stole some milk when they weren't supposed to. BAD BOYS!!

Because they did so well with that, the doctor decided it was time to introduce a nipple/bottle feed them. They are allowed one bottle feeding per day, one breastfeeding per day and the rest through the tube. The first day that the physical therapist worked with them, both Kian and Ethan had horribly uncoordinated sucks. The second day, the boys sucked like champs! Yay for Kian and Ethan. We're hoping that tomorrow doc increases the amount of times they can nipple(bottle) feed. Doc's worry is that she doesn't want to tire them out and they end up struggling to breath later in the day. Slow and steady wins the race but Mom is impatient!




CAN YOU GUESS WHO IS WHO IN THE PICTURES?? THEY'RE PERSONALITIES MATCH THEIR SHIRTS! Kian will always be blaming his brother for things (he's the laid back one) and Ethan will always think twins rock because he can get away with things by blaming it on his brother!! Wait til you meet them and you will agree!



Uncle Steve... Kian and Ethan told Dad they are ready for the big game. They're waiting for all your pointers!!! They said, "Put me in, coach!"





Here's Dad, another relaxing day, snuggling with the boys! oh...by the way... Kian has reached 5lbs. As of Monday night Kian weighed 5lbs4oz and Ethan weighed 4lbs13oz. We're getting fatter! Thank God for another blessed day!

WE DID IT!!! WE'RE BIG BOYS NOW!

Yesterday it happened! The doctor called mom at work to brief her and let her know that it was time. Time to try Ethan and Kian off CPAP! Yay!!! The plan was to put both boys on a nasal cannula- Ethan on room air and Kian on 25% O2 and see how they did. If they were good, they could stay on it. If they were bad, they'd have to go back on CPAP. Mom checked in all day- and all day they stayed on the nasal cannula. She was waiting for the "honeymoon" period to wear off but Dad called to check on the boys early this morning and they were still doing well.






Kian is on the left, Ethan is on the right. They don't look alike at all.


``````````````````````````Ethan```````````````````````````

``````````````````````````Kian`````````````````````````````

They're growing up before our eyes. We've reached our mini goal. Our next goal is to start eating from a bottle. The first step toward that goal is working with the physical therapist on our suck/swallow coordination. Should be interesting since neither know how to suck on a pacifier yet. We'll keep you updated!

We're growing and getting older!

A NIGHT OUT WITH FRIENDS!


Some of my old colleagues threw a mini suprise shower for Kian & Ethan Friday night. I went for a good ol' fashion girls night out and meet up with some long lost nurses and they surprised me.


These cookies are made by one of my friends. They are too beautiful to eat- but when you do munch on them- they are DELICIOUS! She makes different styles and personalized for you. If you're interested in buying some for a special occasion, I can give you her contact information!



Saturday afternoon our boys were displaying their love for daddy by announcing they would help him around the house. Are you laughing yet??? We all know Daddy doesn't do the home repairs. That's Mom's job. But, Dad does all the cooking/cleaning/laundry and we're all thankful for that!


----------------------------KIAN---------------------------------



We found Ethan trying to climb out of his crib. He's stuffed so far down in the corner that his feeding tube is pulling out of his mouth. These boys are travelers- movers- shakers!



---------------------------ETHAN-------------------------------------




Mom is holding Kian & Dad is holding Ethan on a Saturday afternoon. We snuggled for about 2.5 hours together!



We'd be 34 weekers if we were inside Mom today. Instead, we're getting baths and hanging out in the NICU. Time is flying by- but not fast enough. We can't wait until we all get home together.


Kian after a bath Mom gave him. WE ARE OFFICIALLY OUT OF PREEMIE CLOTHES- atleast those with feet!! Mom can't believe it. She went to put on his sleeper and couldn't extend his legs in the outfit. We're on to newborn sleepers!

Bath time with Ethan! For those of you who are asking- there is a sticky material called duoderm on their noses and above their mouth. It's used as a barrier for where their CPAP masks hit their face so it doesn't cause skin breakdown. The strip above their lip is for protecting the skin that the feeding tube is taped to so they don't have to have tape stuck and unstuck to their face atleast 2times per day.





This tongue is for you, Grandma Leuer! Kian knows how much you like it!


We're doing well. Just eating, breathing and growing. We do not have a "home by" date. We're just concentrating on doing the right things. The doctors and nurses say they have til Mom's due date- March 9th- to get them ready. So, Mom & Dad patiently wait. Our next mini-goal is to get that CPAP off. Getting that off will mean our cheeks, eyes and heads will go back to normal. Hopefully it will be sometime in the next 2 weeks. Our lungs are slow to develop, but Kian & Ethan are working at it.

They truely are blessings and we're thanking God again for another wonderful day!

Twins are amazing!

Today was another very special day for Mom. She was able to hold, at the same time, both boys. Wow, was she ever proud??!





They're growing up so fast! We're almost out of preemie clothes. Their arms are too long and shortly they won't be able to straighten their legs in the sleepers! Were has time gone?


Can you tell who is who??? Ethan's on the right and Kian is on the left. It's amazing how similar they are but yet so different. Kian- no doubt - looks like Daddy and Ethan looks like Mommy. Kian has Daddy's personality- he's very laid back and lets Ethan be the wiggler and have it his way. And, needless to say- Ethan's personality resembles his mothers!!



Here's a close up of Ethan. Can you see Mom in him?


Here's a close up of Kian. Can you see Dad in him?




Dad has already held the two boys together at the same time, but unfortunately he didn't have the camera with him. We'll get a picture of him next time, we promise. It's a beautiful sight to see a proud dad holding both of his sons.

Until next time...