Bottles, BIG Cribs and Baby Steps!

The babies graduated Friday night into "Baby Steps" which is the nursery (still in the nicu) they go to when they're getting close to coming home :) The boys are still sleeping together and the girls now have their own crib too!


Baxlyn has hit 4lbs (4lbs 1oz to be exact)! She was the first one to bottle feed and shocked everyone when she gulped the whole thing down in 10 minutes. She is now up to 6 bottles a day... their goal before they come home...8... yeah pretty crazy progress, huh?! The others started feeding a day or two later than Baxlyn and are doing well still at 1-3 bottles a day.Kylee is no longer our smallest... she caught up to Korbin and weighs 3lbs 15oz. Korbin weighs in at 3lbs 13oz and Mr. Brody.... wow 4lbs 12oz!


Their little personalities are really coming through, especially the boys. I'm convinced Brody will be the one that needs me. He knows just the right way to cry to make me or any nurse nearby pick him up and snuggle a bit... and then he's fine. Spoiled? Maybe so... but he's here and I'm thankful for that :) and if a little love is all he needs, it's all his!

Korbin on the other hand... couldn't care less... about anything. He can be right next to Brody crying his head off and sleep right through it. It seems like nothing bothers him, feed him and he's good to go. Unlike Brody's low pitched "choppy" cry that I can recognize a mile away or over the phone, Korbin I wouldn't have a clue.

Kylee and Baxlyn are both pretty easy going most of the time, but can be VERY dramatic. Baxlyn has this high pitched squeaky little whimper thing that she can turn on and off faster than you can imagine.

I wish you all could see these little grey shorts they're wearing. Holding them you think they are so itty bitty yet they would fall right to the floor if you were to stand who's wearing them up!

34 Weeks

Yes, the babies are now at 34 weeks gestation... our goal date. It was a long shot that we would make it this far still pregnant and looking at the babies and how they have grown in the past 5 weeks, I totally see why my body couldn't hold out!

Everyone is doing great this week. They all got blood transfusions yesterday, due to being anemic. Brody and Baxlyn will have another transfusion today to get their levels up a little more. They all had their eye exams yesterday and they look great! They will be tested again in 2 weeks to see if there are any changes.

Kylee now weighs 3lbs 8.8oz

Brody as you can see 4lbs 4.1oz




Korbin 3lbs 10.5oz


Baxlyn 3lbs 12oz





As the babies do better at holding their temperature on their own, they're able to spend more time out of their isolettes. The nurses last night decided to let Brody and Korbin sleep together in a real crib. I called this morning and they did great and were nice and warm all through the night! Hopefully the girls will join them soon!

Brody's toxic diaper in a biohazard bag... yes it was that bad.

"Oh the life of a preemie..." - Baxlyn

Kylee

Baxlyn & Brody hangin' out.

Kylee and her hat with a death grip on her passy!

Road Trip For Brody!

Brody leaving for Children's

Before Surgery

Mommy and Brody before surgery

Brody and his wild hair after surgery.

Relaxin' in his bed with his "We Love You Brody" pic from the brother and sisters.

Just another battle scar :)

Meanwhile... everyone waiting for Brody to come back...

Korbin - Green Blanket

Baxlyn - Lavender

Kylee - Pink

sisters :)

Come back Brody, we miss you!

"Yeah, I am dang cute..."

Brody coming home!

"Whew, it's been a rough week and it's good to be back!"

The babies are all doing great! Everyone is off nasal cannula. Brody is feeling good, you wouldn't even know he had surgery, he doesn't show any signs of pain and is his happy little self!

Next Tuesday... eye exams :/

Keep Prayin'!

Thanks, Bret and Heather

Brody Update

Brody got out of surgery at about 10:30 this morning. We met with the surgeon, Dr. Honeycutt first thing this morning and felt very comfortable with him, he even prayed over Brody before things got started :) Everything went fairly well, they were able to drain 30ccs of fluid from Brody's brain and didn't have to shave any of his pretty blonde hair... YAY! The doctor said the only thing the he was concerned about was a milky fluid like substance found in Brody's abdomen he had never seen before. Another surgeon took a look and said it was called "kyle...kial...kile...?" (sorry we don't know anything about it yet or how to spell it) and said the body should absorb it. Brody is currently back on the vent until he wakes up and can breathe on his own. If all goes as planned he should be transported back to Plano on Friday. Korbin and the girls are doing great and are all breathing room air with no assistance from the nasal cannula!

Thanks so so much for all of the prayers and support!

Bret and Heather

Brody's Surgery

Brody was transferred to Cook Children's hospital this morning by ambulance. Bret and I followed and are staying at least one night, depending on how everything goes. The plan as of tonight is to have the surgery at 9am tom morning. The neurosurgeon thinks Brody is big enough and stable enough to go ahead and get the permanent VP shunt which will go from the brain to the abdomen. If all goes as planned he will HOPEFULLY be transferred back to his Robin, his favorite nurse :) at the other hospital with his brother and sisters within a few days. Bret and I are doing fine, we just ask once again for more prayers. It's hard being here so far from the other babies and knowing Brody is "alone" in this new, unfamiliar NICU. Here is a link you can look at that explains the shunt: http://www.preemies.org/buckwal/shunt.htm

We will keep you posted! Oh, and I left my phone at home, so those of you who have called... I'll get your message later. We do have Bret's phone with us.

Rub a Dub Dub, Korbin in the Tub!

Korbin had his first "real" swaddled bath! He has no IVs so he can be under water. His nurse kept him tightly swaddled because most babies freak out their first time in the water... not Korbin, he loved it and cried when we took him out!

Brody is doing good and handling his feeds well, however his brain is still swelling. He has had a total of 3 lumbar punctures/spinal taps which have not been very successful. In an LP, a needle is put into the spinal canal in the lower back and fluid is withdrawn. Two of the three times they got about 2 ccs of fluid to drain, which wasn't enough to relieve the pressure on his brain. He will be transported any day now, no later than Sunday, to have his brain surgery. We're not sure yet whether the surgeon will do a temporary reservoir or a permanent shunt. The temporary shunt connects the fluid from the ventricles to the space under the scalp where it will drain and absorb. The permanent shunt would drain down into his abdomen. He will most likely be transferred the day before surgery and hopefully come back to Plano Medical the day after, assuming everything goes well. We will keep you updated on his condition and the plans as far as surgery. Please keep him (and the rest of us) in your thoughts and prayers.

Bret and Brody

Little Miss Kylee is doing well and is as cute as can be! Unfortunately the doctor found that she has a level one brain bleed in her other ventricle. It is extremely rare to find a new bleed after 7-10 days of life... rare... that's us :/ I immediately expressed my concerns to the doctor on how I thought Baxlyn and Korbin (the two without any bleeds on their first scan) should be tested again just in case this "rare" thing happened to them too. Dr. Lucena ordered it immediately (thank you :) ) and thank goodness the scans came back normal. Kylee will have another scan this week to follow up. On a brighter note, she has been off her nasal cannula for over 24 hours now, no breathing assistance what so ever! She still bradys every so often, but no more than she was with her cannula.

Go Kylee!

Kylee getting weighed on the BIG scale (before she got off her cannula)

My Sweet Baxlyn.... oh where do I begin?! I love this picture below of her snuggling with her little pillow. She is doing good as usual... causing a little bit of trouble (brady here brady there), solely for attention we believe! She's not spitting up near as much as she was and is now taking 18ccs of milk over 2 hours every 3 hours.

Korbin, like Kylee is off his nasal cannula and doing well! He's the only baby so far whose cheeks are not getting chubbier by the day!

Mr. Chill himself

His first socks his Aunt Banan and Uncle Mace got him. I thought I needed to hurry and get him in them before he "grew out" of them. As you can see by his left ankle, he's got some room to grow :)



Their Current Weights:
Brody 3lbs 11oz
Baxlyn 3lbs 4oz
Kylee 2lbs 15oz (she's almost there!)
Korbin 3lbs 4oz


Mommy Daddy Kylee & Brody


My first time to hold them all (in my arms at least)! We will get a pic of Bret with them all soon... the thought of it and watching me balance them all scared him half to death... ha!

L-R Baxlyn Kylee Brody & Korbin
LOVE THEM!

A Few Pics!

Thought we would share a few pics!

Korbin checking out Dad's (too long) beard!

A close up of Kylee.

Kylee and her BIG yawn!

Baxlyn striking a pose!

"Next best thing to being in Mom's tummy... chillin' in the NICU getting my hair washed by a cute nurse...." -Korbin

All done and ready to go... back to bed that is.


Look out girls, he's a slick one with his mohawk ;)

They each have their own little personalized tub to warm their milk... love it!

Hope you enjoyed!

Bret & Heather