1+1= 2

Gavin is home!!

We went and picked him up this afternoon and spent some time with little Preston before we brought Gavin home. So far things are going OK. We will see how tonight goes but we are prepared for little sleep. Right now we have Gavin on a schedule about 30 minutes behind Kesleigh so hopefully we can keep that going. Gavin is way better at breast feeding than Kesleigh but that's OK. Right now we are doing breast milk one feeding (either by bottle or breast)and the next feeding is on Neosure which is a formula with high calories specifically for premature babies. They definitely like the breast milk better.

Kesleigh has her first pediatrician appointment tomorrow morning and I am going to call in the AM to see if I can just bring Gavin in at the same time.

Now for pics of Gavin's homecoming:




Mommy with her baby boys

all together
With his sister

Gavin's Getting Out

Gavin is getting out of the NICU tomorrow! We will call in the morning to see when he will be ready to go and then that's that, another baby home!

Kesleigh's first night was a little rough (on us, not her) but last night was much better after we did some tweaking she's now on a great schedule, let's hope Gavin will adopt a similar one.

Preston is doing great. He is gaining weight like crazy to get to be the 4 pounder he needs to be to get out of the NICU. It will probably be another week or so until he's home with us but that will give us time to get the other two on a schedule with each other.

It is so hard though to leave any of them in the NICU when you have one (or now two) home. I know they are getting the best care and are getting loved on all the time but it's still hard. Someone goes to visit them every day (sometimes more than once/day).

Look Who's Home

Kesleigh came home this morning. We roomed in last night at the hospital. It went pretty well but we didn't sleep much. She was pretty good but every little sound she made we were awake for which makes today a little rough but so worth it to see our little girl home and healthy. They boys should follow soon although it was VERY hard to leave them at the hospital this morning and take their sister home.

Going Home Outfit





little girl, big car seat

Looks like someone is already watching over

Bath Time

The boys had their first bath today! They didn't like it! Kesleigh didn't have a bath because her cord hasn't fallen off yet so she just gets a sponge bath until that happens (which should be soon).


Preston





All Clean



Gavin






Other Pics:

Daddy feeding Kesleigh



Mommy w/Preston & Kesleigh

Plan for the Week

Looks like Kesleigh will be coming home either Thursday or Friday. Gavin had to go back on the billi lights because his score went up again. This is completely normal and nothing to be concerned about, he just needs to poop out the billi that's in his belly and it will be gone for good. Because of this, Gavin will not be coming home with Kesleigh. It's probably for the best so we can learn how to take care of one baby before throwing two and three into the mix. Preston is truckin along and doing great, just a little guy. Our nurse last night said we should have all three babies home in 2-3 weeks (eeek). I brought in the bottles we will be using and it looks like the flow on them (even though they're preemie nipples) is a little too fast for them still so we will go home with bottles from the hospital that are super slow flow.

In order to bring Kesleigh home here's what we need to do this week:
1. Get car seats inspected at the fire station to make sure they are installed correctly.

2. Kesleigh needs to pass her THREE hour test in the car seat making sure her pulse stays within a normal range the entire time.

3. Room in with Kesleigh Wednesday or Thursday night.

4. Learn how to give a baby bath (will do this Wed. on one of the boys)

Here's our little man Preston and Daddy

Baby News

I have several things to report...

1. Preston is off his IV and his central line should be taken out by the end of the week. Preston's cord fell off (gross) this past weekend. He will probably remain in the NICU for 3 more weeks just because he's so small.

2. Kesleigh will probably be home by the end of the week! We need to bring in her car seat tonight (they need to put her in it a monitor her to make sure her heart rate etc. doesn't go off the charts.) We also have to bring in the bottles/nipples we are going to use so they can acclimate her to them.

3. Gavin is off the billi lights and into an open crib (AKA bin). Our nurse said there is a chance he could come home with Kesleigh. We will bring in his car seat as well this week.

Before we take any baby home we are allowed to "room in" the night before. This is where we take the baby(ies) and go to a make-shift bedroom down the hall from where the babies are staying now. They are off all monitors etc. but we stay the night there and that way if we have any questions (freak outs) we can go two doors down and ask our nurse.

Here's some pics from the last couple days:
Mommy, Daddy, & Kesleigh



















Kesleigh


















Gavin
































Preston (it's hard to get pics of him because he's been on the billi lights in his isolette)

One Week Old

Happy One Week birthday Kesleigh, Preston, & Gavin!!

I can't belive how much they have changed in one week. Their personalities are really starting to show. Kesleigh really is a diva, Preston is ready to be big like everyone else, and Gavin is so laid back.

I went in this morning with my brother and the nurse had made us a Halloween present and I had to share, soo cute!




















Here's pics of my brother (Uncle Michael) and Kesleigh

6 Days Old

Kesleigh:
Current Weight: 5lbs, 9 oz.
Birth Weight: 5lbs. 8 oz.
Took two full feedings today via bottle.














Preston:
Current Weight: 3lbs, 8 oz.
Birth Weight: 3lbs. 7 oz.
Passed his birth weight
Back on billi lights (called a billi rebound, very common) will be re-checked Saturday morning and will hopefully come off for good).
Latched on to the breast for first time tonight, did a great job and was able to get a little milk.















Gavin:
Current Weight: 4lbs, 9 oz.
Birth Weight: 4lbs. 14 oz.
Took to the breast well yesterday.
Still on billi lights, will be checked Friday morning.














Other Photos:

Kesleigh














Daddy & Kesleigh



















Mommy & Gavin














Grandma Mary Ann & Kesleigh

Updates

Meghan & Barton: Meghan is home from the hospital and resting as much as possible. She is still really sore from the c section but every day seems to get a little better. She is pumping every 4-5 hours and bringing in what she gets to the NICU daily for the babies. Barton is doing amazing for working full time and still taking care of Meghan, coaching high school football, and being a daddy. We go to the NICU every night at 8pm to feed the babies, take their temps, and change diapers. We tend to not get home until 10:30 or 11pm every night so that makes getting up and going to work even harder.

The babies are gestationally 35 weeks.

Kesleigh: Off the billi lights and in an open crib (looks more like a Rubbermaid bin if you ask me). She can bottle feed about 10 cc's before she is exhausted and can't do anymore. She is a veracious eater and has the breast feeding concept down. She loves to be swaddled and is very good about letting you know when she's not happy with something. Last night we were at the NICU and were trying to give her a bottle, she did not want it and stuck out her bottom lip to let us know. She will definitely be the first one to come home but we still aren't sure when.

Preston: Is off the billi lights but still in an isolette because he cannot hold his body temperature. He doesn't have the suck, swallow, breathe concept down so when we bottle feed him we let him take about five little sips and then pull out the bottle some so he will breathe. This is very common since he is so small. He is gaining weight like a champ.

Gavin: Still on the billi lights. His billi score was 10.2 this morning and they like to see it under 10 so he's very close. The doc decided to put him on for a few more days to hopefully have him be done. He is not very interested in breast feeding but can also get about 10 cc's of bottle before he's just too tired to do anything else but sleep.

In order to come home each baby needs to be regulating their own body temp, eating and pooping on their own (no issues here), and be able to take every meal through a bottle (working on this but they are too exhausted right now).

It's still a little hard to tell but we think that Gavin and Preston might be identical. We will have more of an idea when they are both out of isolettes and we can compare them side by side. Even though they had their own sac and placenta there is a 30% chance that the embryo split right after it implanted. We got our first glance at both of them side by side when we took the family photo when they were in the NICU.

Now for some pics:
Gavin

Kesleigh

Preston

Grammy Barb & Kesleigh


Daddy feeding Preston

Grandpa Steve & Gavin