Isaac's first airplane ride

We had 2 blissful days at home with all our babies. On Friday, Isaac started to have some respiratory distress so I took him in to the ER. They took great care of him here in Chester and got him on some oxygen. But they are obviously not set up for neonates so we took the evening flight to Great Falls and he is back in his cozy NICU bed. You probably didn't even know Chester had a direct flight to Great Falls. Poor little Isaac didn't even enjoy it-he screamed the whole way. He is negative for RSV (respiratory syncitial virus) and the regular flu. Test for H1N1 (swine flu) has to go to state lab and won't be back until at least Monday. So he will be in for at least a few days until those results are back. He is very stable with the oxygen and doesn't act sick. Dr. Duritz is on this week and he was the neonatologist who was there when the twins were born. He has twin grandsons himself so he told us that ours are the 2nd best looking twins he has ever seen:) This morning Dr. Duritz talked with us about Isaac's chest x-ray. It shows diffuse infiltrates (little patches of white on the lungs where a normal x-ray shows dark). He said if the baby has no other symptoms the x-ray would be considered insignificant. But since Isaac is seeming to need continuous oxygen the x-ray indicates bronchopulmonary dysplasia. His lungs are a little inflamed and irritable. The upshot is that he will come home on oxygen and be on it until he outgrows this. There will always be some dysplasia but as the lungs grow, the new tissue is healthy and eventually the diseased portion is a small percentage of the entire lung. One of Dr. Duritz's twin grandsons had the same issue as a neonate. He was home on oxygen for 6 months, and is now doing fine, playing sports, hiking in the mountains, etc. So he will outgrow this and for now just needs some "vitamin O" (oxygen:). It could be for a couple weeks to a few months. We feel so thankful for all that is available to us medically to help our little son:) We will also have to be careful at home to not use scented products or burn candles as these are all irritating to sensitive lungs. They emphasized the need to continue to keep our visitors to a bare minimum (we are allowing grandparents only at this time). He weighed in last night at 5# 11oz. Lance's parents and my Dad were both in Great Falls on other business but were able to stop by the hospital and offer their support so that was nice. Lance and I visited again this morning and fed our little man. He is doing very well on his oxygen. The NICU will move to their new unit in the new tower on Monday so he gets a new cushy room at the resort. His nurse gave us a quick tour and it is beautiful and state of the art. Lance and I came home to the other two boys and we all took a NAP:) Mom went back home for the rest of the weekend. I did take some pictures of the 3 boys so will get them on here soon but wanted to update while I had a few minutes. Ivan is awake now so those few minutes are up:)

3 sweet boys.

One of the benefits of having a NICU baby (or two) is that they are on this fantastic schedule. We are happily humming along here. Keeping these three clean and fed is a full time job. It is wonderful to have my Mom here for a few days. My dishes magically are washed and put away. I put laundry in the washer and next time I check it is neatly folded. Ivan is quite sweet with the babies-of course it helps to have Grama here giving him extra attention. He went out and played in the leaves this afternoon. Very cute to watch him jump around and enjoy them. We weren't sure whether to rake leaves or shovel snow today. The day started out with fog and turned to cold, blustery wind and swirling, dry snowflakes. Temp in the 20s. ZZzzbrr.

TWO Baby Eriks!!

We thought Ivan's reaction to meeting Isaac was priceless:) Isaac is home at last. Our hearts are full, our cups overflowing.

Isaac post op day 4

This blog is helping me from having the days run together quite so much. Lance and I each went to one care time with baby Isaac before heading back home to Chester today. He is improving bit by bit. His oxygen came off this morning, he is at full feedings and his IV is out. Now the game is maintaining the progress he has made. His cute little face is that much cuter without the oxygen tubing running across it.
Erik had several darling smiles for me today. Gas or not, they were adorable on his chubby little face.
Ivan and I went for a walk today. We ended up at the school and I thought he might want to play on the playground while I did a lap or two around the track but he trotted right along with me. He is working on his pronouns and mixes them up in the cutest way. He was looking at a family picture of Lance, me and him when he was a baby. He pointed out "Mommy, and Daddy, and Youuuuu!!!"
There is a hint of winter in the air. No snow here but chilly, windy and spatters of rain.

Isaac post op day 3

Just got done visiting and snuggling our sweet third son. He is doing well today and making some progress. His vital signs seem to be much more stable than they were presurgery. Of course, he is still on oxygen but he is slowly weaning off. He got to start his feedings again today. Started slowly with pedialyte this morning, then a 50/50 mixture, now tonight he is on straight breastmilk. The amount has slowly increased and he will be at 40cc during the night. He is hungry and sucks it right down. His weight is 5# 1 oz. tonight. He is a darling boy. He curled his little hand tightly around my finger while I was feeding him. Making sure I didn't leave too soon with that bottle:)

Ivan had fun playing outside today. There is a big pile of gravel dumped at the end of the backyard. To most people it would just be a pile of gravel. To Ivan it was a mountain of fun. We chased each other up and down it several times and he drove it around in his trucks. Doesn't take much to entertain a creative child.

Erik is just being his usual sweet little mild self. I'm keeping my eye on him, though. These twins seem to take turns giving me trouble. If it's not one, it's the other. Scientists keep studying and trying to figure out why people age. I don't wonder anymore:)

Isaac post op day 2

Isaac is doing much better today. He was extubated this morning and is now on nasal cannula oxygen. He is still not allowed any feedings by mouth so he is giving his pacifier a good workout. When I called earlier they said he was awake and looking around. Can't wait to see and snuggle him tomorrow.

Isaac post-op day 1

Isaac stayed on the ventilator through the night. This morning the nurses were still suctioning quite a bit of icky mucous from his lungs so they sent some off for culture and started him on an antibiotic. So that was hard news. Realistically, I suppose it's not unexpected. The whole point of doing the surgery was because he has been aspirating his feedings into his lungs so this just underlines the fact that the surgery was necessary. This evening he is doing much better. He is having less secretions and he is breathing some on his own so they turned the rate down on the ventilator to 20. It was originally 30 and it has been going down slowly as they wean him off. Hopefully they will be able to extubate in the morning. We are very aware at this point in our NICU experience that there is no script for this. It is Isaac's show and he is running it. So he calls the shots and we just take it one day at a time.
We are so encouraged by all those praying for our little one. I know that people we haven't even met are praying for him because they are friends of our friends or friends of our family members. We are touched by the thoughtfulness and love poured out on his behalf.