The Girls' Room

Kelby's hiccups...

Pics

Kelby Grace


Mallory Kate


Mallory - on her way home...


Kelby - on her way home...

We're HOME!!!

Well, we made it home this afternoon. The girls are both doing great. Kelby is on an apnea monitor, but so far it hasn't gone off once. We made it through the night with them last night and it wasn't too bad. They were really quiet, and very sleepy - the hardest part of the night was trying to get them to wake up to eat at 3:30 in the morning. We left the hospital at about 12:30 pm this afternoon. We are now here at the house, the girls are resting comfortably in their new home. Just had a quiet moment - we've got to feed them again here in a little bit. Thank you all for your prayers and support over the last few months. Oh - and we got the results from Kelby's MRI and it looks GREAT! They said there is only one very small portion of her brain that was affected by it and their doctor said she could barely find it on the pictures. She said she was very pleasantly surprised - she expected it to be a lot worse. We'll post some more pics later of the homecoming and the girls room.

We're going HOME!!!!

Well, after 103 days in the NICU, we're going home!

There are a few things that have to get done before the girls get released. Kelby has to have an MRI done today so that we can see in more detail the effects of the brain bleed she had. We will have to go up to the hospital tomorrow for "monitor training". Because Kelby is still taking Theophylline, she will have to stay on a monitor for a while. We will room in with them at the hospital tomorrow night and if all goes well, we will bring them home Thursday morning!

More pics...

Kelby in the bouncy seat...


Mallory in the bouncy seat...


Mallory singing herself to sleep... she does this all the time :)

100 Days!

Well, we've been here 100 days and we're ready to go home!!!

We talked to Dr. Lynn yesterday and she gave us some better news. They are both now taking all of their feedings by bottle, and they have both been put back on regular formula. She thinks they were just spitting up for the same reason we did - they're babies! She said that they obviously haven't been spitting up too much, because they're gaining weight like crazy. She said "Well, you can tell from across the room that Mallory is having no problem gaining weight."

So, she thinks they are "very close to going home." They did put Kelby back on Theophylline and she's been doing great. She was back on oxygen for about a day, but they took her back off today and she's been doing great so far. As long as she can stay off of the oxygen, she'll be ready to come home soon, she may have to stay on the Theophylline, but we can give that to her at home.

We've been trying to figure out which bottles the girls like and what they can take at home. Of course they only like the most expensive ones - our girls have been high maintenance so far - why would that change now. ;)

We took some pictures yesterday - they're 100 days old! We love them so much and can't wait to have them home! It could be soon...

Kelby - Just hanging out with Dad...


Mallory - Hanging out in Mom's lap...

Four Steps Forward, Three Steps Back

Well we were getting very excited about the girls coming home possibly in the next week. Looks like it will be a little longer. Mallory is back eating every three hours. Every third feeding is by feeding tube. She was spitting up quite a bit and not finishing her feeds, so they wanted to back up and see what was causing that. Kelby was taken off of Theophylline (stimulates the airways) and her oxygen, but they put her back on both of those today. Her lungs are not quite strong enough just yet. Kelby is still taking all of her feedings by bottle every three hours. There is talk of changing their formula to Soy formula to see if that will sit better with their stomachs. Guess we just got reminded of the roller coaster of the NICU.

Kelby weighs 6lbs 4oz and Mallory weighs 6lbs 12oz

Saturday the girls will be 100 days old! We will try and get some new pictures posted soon.

How much longer, Doc???

The girls' doctor made a few changes today. They are both still doing great. They are going to try Mallory on a four hour feeding schedule - she has been so sleepy during her bottle feedings - we can't wake her up to eat, no matter what we do (but of course as soon as we lay her down when she's finally done eating - she's WIDE awake, 'Hey, What's going on guys, where ya been?') So, they're hoping the extra hour will make her more hungry so she'll take the entire bottle - and she'll be getting all of those by bottle, as long as she can do it. She's doing great though and gaining weight like crazy. Kelby is being switched over to the same thing that Mallory has been doing - she's getting 6 a day, she'll get two bottles, then one tube feeding, she's been taking bottles like a champ - twenty minutes flat. Mallory is now 6 lb 6 oz and Kelby is 5 lb 13 oz. They're getting so big (of course that's a relative term)...

Not Much Longer...

Well, we spoke to the girls' primary doctor yesterday and he told us that they are both looking great. He actually said "I hope their room is ready."

They are both doing great with the bottle feeding - Mallory is getting 6 a day and Kelby is getting 4. Kelby came off of her oxygen yesterday and she has been doing great so far.

We talked to him again today and he said he would guess - as long as we keep progressing like we have been - about another week to ten days. He said they would like to get them home at the same time - he said that they would probably go home on oxygen monitors, but we'll see. Their room is ready - except for a few things Jen is working on. We'll post some pics soon.

Mallory in her Valentine's Day Hat - Look at those cheeks!


Kelby in Her Valentine's Day Hat


No More Tubes!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The girls are both doing really well. Mallory is still getting 6 bottles a day. Kelby is now getting three bottle feedings a day. Mallory is currently 6 lb 1 oz and Kelby is 5 lb 6 oz. They're both getting so big. Looking back at their first pictures we're amazed at how much they've grown and how much progress they have made.

We spoke to the doctor yesterday for a while about their progress. She thinks they are both doing really well. No definite word on when we might get to bring them home - we may get Mallory before Kelby, but we're not sure how all that is going to work out just yet.

She talked to us a little more about Kelby's brain bleed. She had a Grade 3 on the right side and a Grade 4 on the left side. The grade 3 has apparently resolved itself and the grade 4 has also resolved, but there was a small portion of her brain that was affected by it. They're not sure what effect that will have just yet, if any. With babies' brains being so small and not yet developed, their brains can work around any obstacles. They're going to do an MRI before she comes home that will tell them where exactly it is and what that part of the brain is used for. They have said; however, that she hasn't shown any signs of any problems at all yet, which is a very good sign. So, we're still praying that there are no effects from the bleed, but we are very optimistic that she won't have any trouble at all.

First Round of Shots - OUCH!!

The girls both got their first round of shots yesterday. We were up there when they got them, I could barely watch, but Jen held their little hands while they got the 3 shots. They did pretty well - they've been through a lot worse. We thought Mallory was going to be the screamer, and she did a little bit, more of a loud squeal for a few seconds after each one and then she sucked on her pacifier. Not too bad. Kelby was second - Man, if her lungs were underdeveloped at first, she's made some definite progress. She can belt it out with the best of 'em. She let out a couple of screams that were verging on ear piercing. So sad... but it was over pretty quickly and they were fine, of course. Their nurse, Tammy, who has had them during the week for the last few months was hoping she wouldn't be the one who had to do it, but she did a good job and I'm sure they'll forgive her eventually - just kidding, Tammy.

They are both doing really well. Mallory is now getting 6 bottles a day, she gets two in a row and then has one with a tube. Kelby is still getting one bottle a day, she's going a little bit slower, but she's getting better at it. Kelby is now 5 lb 4 oz. She's catching up to her sister. We took the picture below on Sunday as we were leaving. We had just tucked them back in and they looked so cute.

Update

Not many changes this week. Mallory is still getting three bottles a day and Kelby is still getting one a day. Mallory is 5 lb 10 oz and Kelby is 4 lb 15 oz. Kelby's on the left and Mallory on the right.

Update

The girls are doing really well. Kelby had her first bottle on Thursday. She did really good, she took almost all of it. She has had one a day since then and has been doing great. Mallory is now getting three bottles a day. Not much else to report - Mallory is now 5 lb 6 oz and Kelby is 4 lb 6 oz.