Saturday, August 30, 2008
Update
Laynie is getting so big. She's now in a open crib and doing well with holding her own temp! That's one thing she needs to be able to do before coming home. She's also doing really well with bottle feeding and getting better with breast feeding. 2 other things she needs to be doing to come home. Doc says she's about 2 weeks from coming home! We are SO very excited to have her all to ourselves! We will be keeping her over at the guest housing as Taylor still has a pretty long road. Doc said today it's looking like about 5 more weeks in the NICU for him.
There are several pros and cons to Laynie getting out before Taylor. They won't be together, so that will probably be harder for me than them. Laynie won't be allowed to go into the NICU with us. Once babies have been exposed to the outside world, they can't go back for visits. It will also be difficult for Josh and I as we won't be able to go to see Taylor together anymore. One of us will have to stay behind with Laynie and then take turns to go to see him. We will be relying more on our parents to be here to help babysit! Hint!! Hint!! The other bummer is just that we can't officially take her HOME! We will still be in the guest housing until Taylor is released. Of course, the BEST side to all of this is we will have our little princess with us. She will be the joy and light that keeps us going until Taylor can join us and we can all learn to be a family at HOME!!!!
Laynie weighed exactly 4 lbs last night!!!! Taylor weighed 2lbs, 14.8 ounces. Both are doing really well. Taylor continues to surprise all of us with his progress. Stay tuned for Monday's news regarding his intestine issue.
We love you!
Josh and Ang
There are several pros and cons to Laynie getting out before Taylor. They won't be together, so that will probably be harder for me than them. Laynie won't be allowed to go into the NICU with us. Once babies have been exposed to the outside world, they can't go back for visits. It will also be difficult for Josh and I as we won't be able to go to see Taylor together anymore. One of us will have to stay behind with Laynie and then take turns to go to see him. We will be relying more on our parents to be here to help babysit! Hint!! Hint!! The other bummer is just that we can't officially take her HOME! We will still be in the guest housing until Taylor is released. Of course, the BEST side to all of this is we will have our little princess with us. She will be the joy and light that keeps us going until Taylor can join us and we can all learn to be a family at HOME!!!!
Laynie weighed exactly 4 lbs last night!!!! Taylor weighed 2lbs, 14.8 ounces. Both are doing really well. Taylor continues to surprise all of us with his progress. Stay tuned for Monday's news regarding his intestine issue.
We love you!
Josh and Ang
Thursday, August 28, 2008
GREAT News!
Laynie and Taylor have graduated to level 2!!! This is SO amazing! We've been in level 3 of the NICU since they were born. Level 3 is the highest, most critical level of the NICU unit. Laynie would have graduated a while ago, but they didn't want to separate our babies (thank goodness for that). We are excited to get to know the nurses in this area and get used to our new space in the unit. Doc is very impressed with Taylor's progress since his surgery. The only pending issue is his intestines. We found out we won't know much until early next week. The surgeon is out of town. It's sounding like it may all be ok. Taylor is digesting his feedings well and has regular poo's. We'll see what the surgeon has to say, but the NICU doc seems to think it might all we ok. They are slowly reducing Taylor's oxygen. He seems to be tolerating this well. They will go down again tomorrow. If he continues to do well, he might be breathing on his own in the next week or two. Then, he just needs to GROW so we can get him on the road to coming home!!!
We've been very blessed with Taylor's progress and Laynie's too! It's a sigh of RELIEF for Josh and I to see them in level 2 today. What a huge step and it's another step closer to coming home!
Laynie weighed 3lbs, 14.4 ounces last night and Taylor weighed 2lbs, 11.6 ounces.
Love,
Angie and Josh
We've been very blessed with Taylor's progress and Laynie's too! It's a sigh of RELIEF for Josh and I to see them in level 2 today. What a huge step and it's another step closer to coming home!
Laynie weighed 3lbs, 14.4 ounces last night and Taylor weighed 2lbs, 11.6 ounces.
Love,
Angie and Josh
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Cute Pics From Today
Laynie weighed 3lbs, 12.8 oz and Taylor weighed 2lbs, 9.4 oz. The nurses surprised us this morning and let Laynie "visit" Taylor in his bed. I cried!!! It was amazing to see them together again. Laynie had a bath this morning and also took a bottle for the first time this evening. She's a BIG GIRL now!!! All is going really well with both of them.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Weigh In
All is going really well with Taylor and Laynie. Taylor is very stable and making progress hour by hour. We are amazed at how well he is doing now that he has recovered from his surgery. They increased his feedings today so he's getting a little more breast milk. He seems to be digesting it well. He still has a small issue with his intestines, so we are waiting to hear what the surgeon has to say. Not sure if he will need another surgery or not. Hopefully by end of week we will know more.
Laynie weighed 3 lbs, 12 ounces and Taylor weighed 2 lbs, 8.3 ounces. He has lost most of his fluid build-up so this weight should be pretty accurate. We are SOOOO happy to see him growing!!!! We've been able to hold him the past 2 days, so that has been AWESOME. I really missed him and it was driving me crazy to go in everyday and not be able to hold my own baby. We are having lots of fun bonding now! Nurse says we should be able to give him a bath soon. Can't wait for that!
We are very blessed to have such wonderful support. There are a lot of ups and downs and thank the Lord we are on the up side right now. We just want everyone to know how much we appreciate your dedication in following our journey with us. We need you regardless if things are going well or not so good. We feel like we are living in another world. This blog is our outlet and our connection to the real world and we SO appreciate all who is reading this each and every day.
We love you,
Josh and Ang
Laynie weighed 3 lbs, 12 ounces and Taylor weighed 2 lbs, 8.3 ounces. He has lost most of his fluid build-up so this weight should be pretty accurate. We are SOOOO happy to see him growing!!!! We've been able to hold him the past 2 days, so that has been AWESOME. I really missed him and it was driving me crazy to go in everyday and not be able to hold my own baby. We are having lots of fun bonding now! Nurse says we should be able to give him a bath soon. Can't wait for that!
We are very blessed to have such wonderful support. There are a lot of ups and downs and thank the Lord we are on the up side right now. We just want everyone to know how much we appreciate your dedication in following our journey with us. We need you regardless if things are going well or not so good. We feel like we are living in another world. This blog is our outlet and our connection to the real world and we SO appreciate all who is reading this each and every day.
We love you,
Josh and Ang
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Amazing Day!!!!
I've been at the NICU ALL DAY today and it's been so worth it! Today, Taylor came off of the ventilator....praise God! They put him on the high flow nose tube as his oxygen level is amazing. We got to see what our little precious boy looks like. He's adorable! Pictures will be posted right after this message. Josh got to kangaroo with him (hold him skin on skin). I cried! He's still a little horse from the tubes being between his vocal cords for so long, but by tomorrow I will be able to hear his cry for the first time. I just can't wait! Who would have thought that we would be SO excited to hear our baby cry?
Taylor's recovery from surgery is going really well. He's getting rid of all of his extra fluid so we are looking forward to tonight's weigh-in to see how much he's up to. He got another blood transfusion yesterday which has helped him a lot with recovery. He has a lot more energy and you can just see that he's feeling better today. The only hurdle left is his intestines. The dye test was completed and the dye made it through! That's a wonderful sign, although it took 17 hours when it should have only taken 7-8 hours. Doc thinks there's a small obstruction. Could be scar tissue from when his intestines healed the small hole. The doc decided to move forward with giving him a little breast milk to see how he digests that. Things seem to be going well so far. In a few days another dye test will be done to see if it goes through quicker and to really confirm if there's an obstruction or not. If so, then he will have to have surgery to fix it. I'm not as concerned with this as he will be much stronger and should be able to handle another surgery in a week or two if needed.
Laynie is doing amazing as well. Other than a small eye infection, she's just sailing. Last night she weighed 3 lbs, 9.4 ounces. We have a lot of fun with her. Lots of times we just sit and watch her as she's very active and just LOVES to stretch as far as she can go.
The docs and nurses reminded us that preemies are famous for having GREAT days and then having set backs another day. They shared in our joy today and we are all remaining hopeful that Taylor will not have any set backs from here on out.
We love you!
Josh and Ang
Taylor's recovery from surgery is going really well. He's getting rid of all of his extra fluid so we are looking forward to tonight's weigh-in to see how much he's up to. He got another blood transfusion yesterday which has helped him a lot with recovery. He has a lot more energy and you can just see that he's feeling better today. The only hurdle left is his intestines. The dye test was completed and the dye made it through! That's a wonderful sign, although it took 17 hours when it should have only taken 7-8 hours. Doc thinks there's a small obstruction. Could be scar tissue from when his intestines healed the small hole. The doc decided to move forward with giving him a little breast milk to see how he digests that. Things seem to be going well so far. In a few days another dye test will be done to see if it goes through quicker and to really confirm if there's an obstruction or not. If so, then he will have to have surgery to fix it. I'm not as concerned with this as he will be much stronger and should be able to handle another surgery in a week or two if needed.
Laynie is doing amazing as well. Other than a small eye infection, she's just sailing. Last night she weighed 3 lbs, 9.4 ounces. We have a lot of fun with her. Lots of times we just sit and watch her as she's very active and just LOVES to stretch as far as she can go.
The docs and nurses reminded us that preemies are famous for having GREAT days and then having set backs another day. They shared in our joy today and we are all remaining hopeful that Taylor will not have any set backs from here on out.
We love you!
Josh and Ang
Friday, August 22, 2008
Laynie and Taylor Update
Wow! Our precious little girl is growing SOOO fast. She's now 3 lbs, 8.4 ounces. We are amazed at how well she is progressing. They are talking about putting her in a crib soon. We're still working with breast feeding and it will be a week or 2 before she learns this. It's harder with preemies as they don't have the suck, breathe and swallow down. It's a slow process, which includes a lot of trial and error.
Our strong little Peanut is still fighting. His recovery is going well, but he's in a lot of pain. It's really hard to see him this way. He has a silent cry as he can't make noise with the ventilator tube. It breaks my heart that I can't do anything to help him. Holding him is my first instinct and that's not possible right now. He did not get weighed as he's very puffy. Due to his surgery he's retaining a lot of fluids. They did the dye test today, but the results are not in yet. He did poo several times through-out the day so that's a GREAT sign. We'll get the results first thing in the morning tomorrow. IF his intestines are healed, then he can come off that ventilator!!!! I will celebrate as soon as that happens. We will then be able to see what Taylor looks like.
Today, I had to take some time away. I needed to do something "normal", so my mom and sister took me to lunch and we shopped around a bit. It was hard to be away from the babies, but I really needed a "break"! Josh went golfing, so that was a nice break for him as well. We are both being tested to the limit with all of this. I'm amazed at how well we both are handling all of this. We pray A LOT for strength and guidance.
PLEASE keep Taylor and Laynie in your prayers. Of course, especially Taylor! There's a lot that could go wrong when they start taking him off all of the assistance/medications/etc. he's been on. There's a lot the doc has to balance, taking things slow and steady. The biggest decision is once he's off the ventilator is what breathing assistance to put him on. No matter which option they choose, each will have it's own consequences. The sea pap seems to be the route they will go. The only problem with that is that's what worked against Taylor in the first few days of his life. The sea pap could have been part of the reason for his intestine issue. The air flow causes a lot of pressure in the stomach/intestines. The doc is hoping that his intestines (if healed) will be able to handle the pressure. We can't keep him on the ventilator, as that opens up for a lot of complications. It's not good for his lungs and it makes him more prone to infection which would have devastating consequences. There's one other option which is the oxygen tube in his nose, but Taylor has to be breathing better to be on that. Right now, he's not fully able to handle that. SO....there are even more things to be concerned with after they figure his breathing out. They have to decide when and how much to start feeding him and his body will need to digest properly, is just one example. What I'm saying is there is a LONG road ahead for Taylor. Every night when I lay my head down to go to sleep, I worry about him and hope and pray that no phone calls come during the night. I'm not at all saying things are bad right now. I'm very happy with how he's coming out of all of this. I just get really concerned thinking about all of the stuff ahead for him. I really just have to fall to my knees in front of God and give this all to him. It's just too overwhelming for me to take on.
Our strong little Peanut is still fighting. His recovery is going well, but he's in a lot of pain. It's really hard to see him this way. He has a silent cry as he can't make noise with the ventilator tube. It breaks my heart that I can't do anything to help him. Holding him is my first instinct and that's not possible right now. He did not get weighed as he's very puffy. Due to his surgery he's retaining a lot of fluids. They did the dye test today, but the results are not in yet. He did poo several times through-out the day so that's a GREAT sign. We'll get the results first thing in the morning tomorrow. IF his intestines are healed, then he can come off that ventilator!!!! I will celebrate as soon as that happens. We will then be able to see what Taylor looks like.
Today, I had to take some time away. I needed to do something "normal", so my mom and sister took me to lunch and we shopped around a bit. It was hard to be away from the babies, but I really needed a "break"! Josh went golfing, so that was a nice break for him as well. We are both being tested to the limit with all of this. I'm amazed at how well we both are handling all of this. We pray A LOT for strength and guidance.
PLEASE keep Taylor and Laynie in your prayers. Of course, especially Taylor! There's a lot that could go wrong when they start taking him off all of the assistance/medications/etc. he's been on. There's a lot the doc has to balance, taking things slow and steady. The biggest decision is once he's off the ventilator is what breathing assistance to put him on. No matter which option they choose, each will have it's own consequences. The sea pap seems to be the route they will go. The only problem with that is that's what worked against Taylor in the first few days of his life. The sea pap could have been part of the reason for his intestine issue. The air flow causes a lot of pressure in the stomach/intestines. The doc is hoping that his intestines (if healed) will be able to handle the pressure. We can't keep him on the ventilator, as that opens up for a lot of complications. It's not good for his lungs and it makes him more prone to infection which would have devastating consequences. There's one other option which is the oxygen tube in his nose, but Taylor has to be breathing better to be on that. Right now, he's not fully able to handle that. SO....there are even more things to be concerned with after they figure his breathing out. They have to decide when and how much to start feeding him and his body will need to digest properly, is just one example. What I'm saying is there is a LONG road ahead for Taylor. Every night when I lay my head down to go to sleep, I worry about him and hope and pray that no phone calls come during the night. I'm not at all saying things are bad right now. I'm very happy with how he's coming out of all of this. I just get really concerned thinking about all of the stuff ahead for him. I really just have to fall to my knees in front of God and give this all to him. It's just too overwhelming for me to take on.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Taylor Update
Taylor was not alert at all today. He's very medicated and needs his rest. The nurse said he's doing really well, his vitals look good and it will take him some time to recover. We are hoping to see him awake and alert tomorrow. I know he has to be on all of the machines and medications, but I just CAN'T wait for the day he gets off all of it. It's so hard to see him like this and not being able to hold him, know his personality or even what he looks like is killing me. We must continue to pray for his health and strength as he recovers from his surgery. Taylor weighed 2 lbs, 10.7 ounces, but once again this is probably not very accurate as he is retaining a lot of fluids.
Laynie is doing wonderful!! She's learning to breast feed and doing an excellent job. That has been a lot of fun. She's such a joy! She weighed 3lbs, 4.3 ounces.
Josh and I are very blessed for each day that passes. Both Laynie and Taylor are growing and getting stronger. We are still on the roller coaster especially with Taylor. He can have really good days and then the next day can be really bad until he recovers from the surgery and his intestine issue. We are hoping and praying the end will come soon and we can celebrate the hurdles he has overcome.
Laynie is doing wonderful!! She's learning to breast feed and doing an excellent job. That has been a lot of fun. She's such a joy! She weighed 3lbs, 4.3 ounces.
Josh and I are very blessed for each day that passes. Both Laynie and Taylor are growing and getting stronger. We are still on the roller coaster especially with Taylor. He can have really good days and then the next day can be really bad until he recovers from the surgery and his intestine issue. We are hoping and praying the end will come soon and we can celebrate the hurdles he has overcome.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Update
Taylor is still very sleeping and all his vitals looked good at our 8:00 visit. His scar is HUGE! I wasn't really expecting it to be as big as it is, but it had to be done. That scar will always remind us of God's miracle work. Nurse said Taylor should be awake for us in the morning. We're excited to see him move around again. His oxygen level was amazing, even the nurse was shocked and said that's a very positive sign that his surgery worked!!!! Thank you Lord!
We had fun giving Laynie her first bath tonight. She didn't even make a peep. She loved it! Josh got to hold her for a long time. It was so sweet to see her fall asleep on daddy. She weighed 3 lbs, 4.3 ounces. Yippee....she's growing and won't stop at this point. If she continues to do this well, we can take her home soon. Maybe within the next month. I'm sure Taylor will stay longer, so we will keep Laynie with us at the guest housing until they both can come home.
We are extremely relieved and ready to get some long awaited rest! I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and visit with Taylor and our little princess. We can't forget about her! She won't let us! : )
We love you all. Ang and Josh
Praise GOD!!!!
Taylor's surgery went great!!! He is recovering and is very sleepy. Nothing but good news from the doctor, all went perfectly! Thank you to everyone for your prayers and continued support.
We love you.
Josh & Angie
We love you.
Josh & Angie
Monday, August 18, 2008
Amen!!!
Taylor had a little bit of poo in his diaper tonight. This is a very good sign that his intestines may have healed on their own. We won't know for sure until they do an x-ray and the dye test, but chances are they've healed. The x-ray and dye test have been postponed until he recovers from the heart surgery. Maybe by this weekend they will do it. It will be SO nice to have his heart functioning properly. He's so very stressed right now. I'm scared for tomorrow, but God has given me some peace and comfort. I know He will take care of Taylor, Josh and I.
Taylor weighed 2 lbs, 4 ounces so it looks like that's pretty accurate now that most of his fluid is gone. Laynie weighed 3 lbs, 2.3 ounces. We love you and we will keep you updated on tomorrow's progress. Ang and Josh
Taylor weighed 2 lbs, 4 ounces so it looks like that's pretty accurate now that most of his fluid is gone. Laynie weighed 3 lbs, 2.3 ounces. We love you and we will keep you updated on tomorrow's progress. Ang and Josh
Taylor
We just found out that Taylor will need heart surgery. It's scheduled for tomorrow, between 1-3 p.m. I'm scared to death about this. I know God is with us and I know he will comfort Josh and I as we sit in the waiting room. The surgery should only take about 20-30 minutes, but those will be the longest minutes of my life!! Please pray that Taylor is strong enough to make it through this. He's so tiny and fragile and I would feel much better if he didn't have these other issues that he's trying to fight too. I just don't know how much he can take. All we can do is pray and trust God's plan for our son. Love, Josh and Angie
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Hardest Day Yet!
Today they had to give Taylor a blood transfusion. He's loosing blood due to his heart condition. In my earlier post I was a little off when explaining his heart issue. When the babies are in the womb there's an extra valve that's open in the heart. When they are born around term that valve should have closed on it's own. In preemie babies, it's still open and should close on it's own after a few weeks. Laynie's closed already and Taylor's hasn't, which is causing all kinds of problems for him. The doc is 99% certain that he'll need surgery to fix it. The echo tomorrow will confirm this and then we'll have to decide how to proceed. We are pretty up-set today as the doc didn't sound very encouraging. As a matter of fact, he said the if he were us, he'd be very nervous about this surgery. Taylor is very small and putting him under is risky. We know things are not looking good for Taylor right now, but the last thing we needed today was to hear that! We will never give up on our little boy. We know he can fight!
Taylor also has a bunch of fluid in his lungs, so they are doing an X-ray now to see how much. They are planning to give him something to help flush out some of the fluid.
Emotions are extremely high today and probably will be through-out this next week. It's going to be scary to make some of the decisions we have to make. I know if Taylor has to have surgery I'm going to be a WRECK!!!!! Today is the first day that I've seen Josh up-set. He's been the rock and I know he thinks he has to stay strong for me. All I can say over and over is that I WON'T give up on my precious little boy. He's soooo tiny, but he's strong. I just can't imagine God taking him this soon. I know I can't change His Plan, but I really wish I could see it. PLEASE, PLEASE, send your prayers and your energy our way. We are already exhausted and this is just the beginning of a very long, long, emotionally draining road. Love, Josh and Ang
Taylor also has a bunch of fluid in his lungs, so they are doing an X-ray now to see how much. They are planning to give him something to help flush out some of the fluid.
Emotions are extremely high today and probably will be through-out this next week. It's going to be scary to make some of the decisions we have to make. I know if Taylor has to have surgery I'm going to be a WRECK!!!!! Today is the first day that I've seen Josh up-set. He's been the rock and I know he thinks he has to stay strong for me. All I can say over and over is that I WON'T give up on my precious little boy. He's soooo tiny, but he's strong. I just can't imagine God taking him this soon. I know I can't change His Plan, but I really wish I could see it. PLEASE, PLEASE, send your prayers and your energy our way. We are already exhausted and this is just the beginning of a very long, long, emotionally draining road. Love, Josh and Ang
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Weigh In
Laynie is going back up. She's now at 3 lbs, 1 oz. She's doing GREAT!! Taylor weighed 2 lbs, 4 oz. This reading isn't exactly accurate as he has more fluid today. The nurses guess he's probably at the 2 lb mark.
The x-ray for his intestines won't be until next week sometime. Doc said the tube needs to fall out and then the incisions need time to heal. Once that happens, they will do a dye test and x-ray. Doc also said there's only a 25% chance that his intestines would heal on their own. This is the first we've heard this percentage, so that was a little disappointing to learn. We are not giving up hope that they will heal. We know Taylor is strong and we'll take 25% at this point. Our babies are miracles and we don't doubt God and his healing power and HIS miracles. Monday we will talk to the Cardiologist about his heart and the options ahead. They are planning to do an Echo on Monday to look at his heart. We should know more after that. After talking more with one of the nurses tonight, it sounds like we would probably go the surgery route if what they are saying about his heart is true. The medication seems to be a bad options because of the side effects I talked about in my earlier post and the fact that most of the time it doesn't even work and you have to do surgery anyway. I don't want to risk using the medication, having it not work and then we've bothered yet another organ (kidneys).
I get pretty emotional when I visit Taylor now. He just looks so uncomfortable. He's also struggling with breathing and that keeps me awake at night. I just wish so bad that I could crawl into bed with him and hold him. I want to make everything better for him! It's so hard to leave him each time I go and visit. We pray with him at every visit and read to him. I get to hold his hand, but that's it. As we've done since day one of this journey, we need everyone to pray hard for him. I KNOW God can heal him. I KNOW God picked us to raise Taylor and there's no doubt in my mind that we'll be taking him home one day. We just need to get passed these bumps in the road. We can't say enough how much we appreciate everyones support. This is the hardest thing we've ever done (and I thought going through the process to get pregnant was the hardest). I realize now, that was just preparing us and making us stronger for this. Your continued prayers and support truly keeps us going each day. Knowing we're not alone is comforting. Thank you so much! Love, Ang and Josh
The x-ray for his intestines won't be until next week sometime. Doc said the tube needs to fall out and then the incisions need time to heal. Once that happens, they will do a dye test and x-ray. Doc also said there's only a 25% chance that his intestines would heal on their own. This is the first we've heard this percentage, so that was a little disappointing to learn. We are not giving up hope that they will heal. We know Taylor is strong and we'll take 25% at this point. Our babies are miracles and we don't doubt God and his healing power and HIS miracles. Monday we will talk to the Cardiologist about his heart and the options ahead. They are planning to do an Echo on Monday to look at his heart. We should know more after that. After talking more with one of the nurses tonight, it sounds like we would probably go the surgery route if what they are saying about his heart is true. The medication seems to be a bad options because of the side effects I talked about in my earlier post and the fact that most of the time it doesn't even work and you have to do surgery anyway. I don't want to risk using the medication, having it not work and then we've bothered yet another organ (kidneys).
I get pretty emotional when I visit Taylor now. He just looks so uncomfortable. He's also struggling with breathing and that keeps me awake at night. I just wish so bad that I could crawl into bed with him and hold him. I want to make everything better for him! It's so hard to leave him each time I go and visit. We pray with him at every visit and read to him. I get to hold his hand, but that's it. As we've done since day one of this journey, we need everyone to pray hard for him. I KNOW God can heal him. I KNOW God picked us to raise Taylor and there's no doubt in my mind that we'll be taking him home one day. We just need to get passed these bumps in the road. We can't say enough how much we appreciate everyones support. This is the hardest thing we've ever done (and I thought going through the process to get pregnant was the hardest). I realize now, that was just preparing us and making us stronger for this. Your continued prayers and support truly keeps us going each day. Knowing we're not alone is comforting. Thank you so much! Love, Ang and Josh
Prayers for Taylor
This morning the doc called and said that there are some concerns with Taylor's oxygen level and his heart. They think it's due to a heart murmur (which is a hole in the heart). He's had a little bit of blood come up when they clean out his lungs, throat and mouth. We went over this morning to talk to doc directly. He said there are several things we can do. The first is to just wait and see if it heals on it's own. Of course, we would have to balance his breathing with that and make sure that was ok as well. The second, would be to give him medication. The medication has several side effects, one that would affect his kidney's temporarily (not sure we want to be messing with his kidneys at this point). Also, the meds only work 60% of the time. The third, would be surgery. They would go into his side closest to the heart and repair the hole. Laynie had a heart murmur as well, but it has healed on it's own. With Taylor being so small and having other issues he's trying to fight, it may not heal on it's own. We can only wait. The cardiologist is coming on Monday to discuss options with us.
As far as his intestines go, I think I posted yesterday that both tubes were out. Only 1 is out and the other they took the stitches out and now they are waiting for the tube to fall out on it's own. They don't want to pull it out. We believe the X-ray is still scheduled for tomorrow. We should know more this afternoon.
Laynie is doing wonderful. No worries regarding her. We are very blessed to only have 1 sick child at this point. I don't think we'd be able to emotionally handle 2 being sick. Please continue your prayers for our babies and especially for Taylor. He's strong and we know he will pull through this with God's helping hand.
Also, at this point we are going to slow down on visitors. Josh and I really need our rest and so do the babies. Emotions are high right now, especially for me. Please be patient with us during this time. Soon enough we'll be inviting people again.
One last thing, I no longer have access to my comcast email. Not sure what's wrong. I'm going to try and set-up a yahoo account later today. I will let you know the address as soon as I can.
Love,
Josh and Ang
As far as his intestines go, I think I posted yesterday that both tubes were out. Only 1 is out and the other they took the stitches out and now they are waiting for the tube to fall out on it's own. They don't want to pull it out. We believe the X-ray is still scheduled for tomorrow. We should know more this afternoon.
Laynie is doing wonderful. No worries regarding her. We are very blessed to only have 1 sick child at this point. I don't think we'd be able to emotionally handle 2 being sick. Please continue your prayers for our babies and especially for Taylor. He's strong and we know he will pull through this with God's helping hand.
Also, at this point we are going to slow down on visitors. Josh and I really need our rest and so do the babies. Emotions are high right now, especially for me. Please be patient with us during this time. Soon enough we'll be inviting people again.
One last thing, I no longer have access to my comcast email. Not sure what's wrong. I'm going to try and set-up a yahoo account later today. I will let you know the address as soon as I can.
Love,
Josh and Ang
Friday, August 15, 2008
Weigh In
Laynie went down in weight again. She's now back to her birth weight; 2 lbs, 15 oz. Nurse says this is normal because she's been taken off the IV and she has lots of fluids still in her. She should start going back up soon. Taylor gained more weight, but nurse says it's not really accurate as he has lots of fluids as well. He weighed; 2 lbs, 2 oz. They took the drain tubes out of Taylor this evening and will do an X-ray on Sunday to see if his intestines are healing. We need to pray that they are healed so we can get him off the venelator and morphin. I miss holding him and he's not real responsive since he's medicated. We are longing to know who our son is. We want to see his personality and we want to interact with him. I know God is healing him and we just need to be patient. It's hard sometimes, as we want to bond with him as we have with Laynie. We love you! J & A
Weigh In
Now that Laynie has been taken off of her IV, she lost a few ounces last night. I'm sure by tonight she'll have gained it back if not surpassed where she was. She's now back to 3 lbs. Great news on Taylor....HE MADE IT TO THE 2 LB MARK!!!! Yippee, we are so excited to see him grow. He's still just very stable. Waiting for those intestines to heal up. Not sure yet which day they are planning to pull his drains to see how he does. Hopefully it will happen over the weekend as they've been telling us all week. We'll keep you updated.
Love,
Ang and Josh
Love,
Ang and Josh
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Weigh In
Tonight Laynie weighed 3 lbs, 1.7 oz. It's crazy how fast she's putting on the weight. She's doing wonderful breathing on her own and has now been taken off her IV. She's on breast milk only now. What a BIG girl!
Taylor is gaining as well. Thank goodness! He weighed 1 lb, 15 oz. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day he will reach he 3 lb mark. He's staying stable and sleeping a lot. We can't wait for this weekend to find out how his intestines are healing.
I will post more pics from today. We just LOVE taking pictures of our sweet babies!
Love ya!
Taylor is gaining as well. Thank goodness! He weighed 1 lb, 15 oz. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day he will reach he 3 lb mark. He's staying stable and sleeping a lot. We can't wait for this weekend to find out how his intestines are healing.
I will post more pics from today. We just LOVE taking pictures of our sweet babies!
Love ya!
It's a GREAT day!
Laynie now weighs 3 lbs!!! She's off the oxygen and breathing on her own now. All she has is a tiny feeding tube in her mouth. She's SO beautiful with all that equipment gone. Later today they are going to take her off the IV and she'll be on breast milk only. She's just progressing in leaps and bounds. I will be able to start breast feeding her in the next week or two. I'm SOOOO excited!!!!! I'm so ready to bond with her.
Taylor is very stable and comfortable. We are just waiting as each day passes hoping and praying that his intestines will heal on their own. The surgeon looked at his tubes yesterday and said she was very happy with the way everything looked. They are going to do an x-ray this weekend and they are pretty hopeful that his intestines will heal on their own and so he may be off the breathing assistance, morphine and can take the tubes out. We can't wait for this. We haven't had a chance to see Taylor's personality and with him being on the morphin he really doesn't open his eyes much.
We took some great pictures over the past few days, so we will get those posted soon. Josh and I are doing great! We are all settled in and have a schedule for each day. It does seem as though days are going by fast, although most of the time we don't remember what day it is.
We love you all!
Taylor is very stable and comfortable. We are just waiting as each day passes hoping and praying that his intestines will heal on their own. The surgeon looked at his tubes yesterday and said she was very happy with the way everything looked. They are going to do an x-ray this weekend and they are pretty hopeful that his intestines will heal on their own and so he may be off the breathing assistance, morphine and can take the tubes out. We can't wait for this. We haven't had a chance to see Taylor's personality and with him being on the morphin he really doesn't open his eyes much.
We took some great pictures over the past few days, so we will get those posted soon. Josh and I are doing great! We are all settled in and have a schedule for each day. It does seem as though days are going by fast, although most of the time we don't remember what day it is.
We love you all!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Precious Moments
Laynie and daddy got to Kangaroo together today. This is a time where we can hold the babies skin on skin. I took some really cute pics so we will try and get those posted soon. She's a daddy's girl...I can already tell. She slept on his chest the whole time and didn't make a peep. She's now weighing 2 lbs, 14.9 oz. She's up to 8 cc's of my milk every 4 hours. Nurse said she's already turning herself in her bed. It's SO amazing how she is progressing. We really want to see Taylor do the same very soon. He weighed 1 lb, 12 oz. This is great news! He's actually more than his birth weight now. He's not getting any of my milk, but will once his intestines are healed. Both babies had a great day today. We are looking forward to more days like this.
Josh and I are settled into our room across from the hospital. I'm starting to walk over to the hospital each day and doing well with my recovery. We are SO blessed to be able to stay so close to our babies. I'm really not sure what we would have done without this option.
Josh and I are settled into our room across from the hospital. I'm starting to walk over to the hospital each day and doing well with my recovery. We are SO blessed to be able to stay so close to our babies. I'm really not sure what we would have done without this option.
Looking Much Better Today!
It has been a roller coaster ride since my last post. On our way to the apartment on Saturday we got another call from the docs. Taylor wasn't going pee and hadn't for quite some time. The docs were very worried about his kidneys. They let us know that they were going to do an ultrasound to look at his kidneys and wanted us to come in as soon as we got there to talk with the docs. This was probably one of the most scariest moments. Josh and I walked into the NICU and 4 docs were standing around Taylor's bed. I FREAKED! It just didn't look good. One of the docs explained their concern and said all we can do is wait for the ultrasound results. We were supposed to get the results by 3 in the afternoon and the ultrasound tech ended up getting called into the ER. SO....we waited and waited. Talking and praying with Taylor. Finally, the ultrasound was done and the results came in. Everything was FINE with his kidney's. The docs were stumped at this point. Why wasn't Taylor going pee??? Thanks to my hubby for asking a lot of questions they decided to put a new catheter in to see if maybe that was put in wrong the first time. Guess what! That was the problem. With a new catheter, Taylor was peeing. Talk about a lot of stress! We believe everything happens for a reason so maybe that error helped something else.
Taylor is still fighting through this intestine issue. He's doing so good. Fighting with every breath. They have him on morphine, but took him off a few other drugs last night and this morning he was alert. Josh and I read to him and spent some solid quality time talking and praying with him. He opened his eyes and kept looking over to me and then back to Josh. It was the most beautiful time with him. Seeing him a little more alert and moving a bit has given us the hope we need to continue to fight with him. Doc says Taylor is on the right track and everyone is very hopeful that his intestines will heal on their own. It will take about a week to 2 weeks before we will know if it heals on it's own or if he'll need surgery.
Laynie is doing amazing! She's gaining her weight back. Last night she weighed 2 lbs 13 oz. She was born 2 lbs 15 oz so she's on the right track. She's up to 7 cc's of my milk every 4 hours now. She's going to be packing on the pounds! The docs are planning to take her completely off oxygen in the next few days, so she'll be breathing without assistance. What a huge accomplishment. She now looks like a baby. She hardly has any equipment on her head and as soon as the oxygen goes all she will have is her feeding tube. She's also sucking on a binky and letting all the nurses know when she wants something. She has quite the personality. I'm pretty sure she's my girl. She's really funny. When we go and visit, most nurses tell us she just got done throwing a fit.....BUT she's always sleeping when we arrive. I try and try to wake her up and I'm pretty sure she's pretending to be sleeping. I figured out her game though. I told the nurse yesterday that all I have to do is go over to Taylor's bed and WOW she's awake! I look over and she's throwing her arms up and kicking her legs up and starting to fuss. Of course, mommy runs over to be by her side and hold her binky in! She's such a JOY!
We are SO blessed and see God everyday in our babies! We know he is working wonders and have no doubt that he will heal Taylor and then he'll be on the road to recovery and will quickly progress as Laynie is. Today is a GREAT day! What we've learned is that we have to take this day by day if not hour by hour. Things can change in a heart beat. We are thankful for each day and look forward to the day we can go home with our precious babies. We love you! Josh, Angie, Laynie and Taylor
Taylor is still fighting through this intestine issue. He's doing so good. Fighting with every breath. They have him on morphine, but took him off a few other drugs last night and this morning he was alert. Josh and I read to him and spent some solid quality time talking and praying with him. He opened his eyes and kept looking over to me and then back to Josh. It was the most beautiful time with him. Seeing him a little more alert and moving a bit has given us the hope we need to continue to fight with him. Doc says Taylor is on the right track and everyone is very hopeful that his intestines will heal on their own. It will take about a week to 2 weeks before we will know if it heals on it's own or if he'll need surgery.
Laynie is doing amazing! She's gaining her weight back. Last night she weighed 2 lbs 13 oz. She was born 2 lbs 15 oz so she's on the right track. She's up to 7 cc's of my milk every 4 hours now. She's going to be packing on the pounds! The docs are planning to take her completely off oxygen in the next few days, so she'll be breathing without assistance. What a huge accomplishment. She now looks like a baby. She hardly has any equipment on her head and as soon as the oxygen goes all she will have is her feeding tube. She's also sucking on a binky and letting all the nurses know when she wants something. She has quite the personality. I'm pretty sure she's my girl. She's really funny. When we go and visit, most nurses tell us she just got done throwing a fit.....BUT she's always sleeping when we arrive. I try and try to wake her up and I'm pretty sure she's pretending to be sleeping. I figured out her game though. I told the nurse yesterday that all I have to do is go over to Taylor's bed and WOW she's awake! I look over and she's throwing her arms up and kicking her legs up and starting to fuss. Of course, mommy runs over to be by her side and hold her binky in! She's such a JOY!
We are SO blessed and see God everyday in our babies! We know he is working wonders and have no doubt that he will heal Taylor and then he'll be on the road to recovery and will quickly progress as Laynie is. Today is a GREAT day! What we've learned is that we have to take this day by day if not hour by hour. Things can change in a heart beat. We are thankful for each day and look forward to the day we can go home with our precious babies. We love you! Josh, Angie, Laynie and Taylor
Saturday, August 9, 2008
3 AM Phone Call from NICU
A parents worst nightmare....getting a call at 3 AM is never good news. Last night they found a small hole in Taylor's intestine. If it were not for another procedure he had earlier in the day which required an X-Ray the docs may not have found this and with him being so small an infection would only take hours to form and he's too small to fight that off. They put him under last night and put 2 tubes in his tummy for drainage. He's now in the incubator and we can't touch him. The docs want to make sure he doesn't have and won't get an infection! We ask for your continued prayers and support. The docs truly believe that angels were watching over Taylor last night.
We are heading off on a new adventure. We check into our apartment across from the hospital today at 4:00. We will be right across from our babies 24/7. It just killed us last night not being able to be there with him. I'm SOOO glad I had a chance to hold him yesterday during Kangaroo Care. It may be a while before we can do that again. It has been a very emotional night and day, especially without much sleep. We would LOVE to see our friends at this point, but I think we need more time now that Taylor is not doing as well. We know that God and the angels are with him all of the time. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we head down a very scary and emotional road with our baby boy.
We love you all SOOOO much! You keep us strong!
Josh, Angie, Taylor, Laynie and Hunter
We are heading off on a new adventure. We check into our apartment across from the hospital today at 4:00. We will be right across from our babies 24/7. It just killed us last night not being able to be there with him. I'm SOOO glad I had a chance to hold him yesterday during Kangaroo Care. It may be a while before we can do that again. It has been a very emotional night and day, especially without much sleep. We would LOVE to see our friends at this point, but I think we need more time now that Taylor is not doing as well. We know that God and the angels are with him all of the time. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we head down a very scary and emotional road with our baby boy.
We love you all SOOOO much! You keep us strong!
Josh, Angie, Taylor, Laynie and Hunter
Friday, August 8, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Day 4 Update
A lot has happened since the birth of our precious babies. We are happy to report that both Taylor and Laynie are progressing faster than we all had expected. We still have a long road ahead, of course, but they are surprising us as each day passes. Josh and I, although exhausted, are keeping up with the demands of the NICU. Tomorrow I will be released from the hospital in the early afternoon. Our plan is to head home for a day and get things organized at home and then we pack up for a new adventure. We will be checking in to the specialty housing right across from the hospital where we will stay until the babies get to come home, or close to that time. This will allow us direct access to the babies since we will be on a schedule with the NICU for caring for and feeding our babies. As the babies continue to progress and the weeks go by, we may be able to schedule some times for friends to visit the babies. We will keep you updated as days go by...
We want to thank you for all the text messages, postings, email, and flowers but especially for the prayers and ongoing love and support from all of our friends and family.
We are very proud parents and can't wait to be able to show off our precious miracles.
We love you!!!
Josh, Angie, Taylor and Laynie
We want to thank you for all the text messages, postings, email, and flowers but especially for the prayers and ongoing love and support from all of our friends and family.
We are very proud parents and can't wait to be able to show off our precious miracles.
We love you!!!
Josh, Angie, Taylor and Laynie
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Welcome to the World!!!!
Laynie Jane Currie arrived on August 4th at 1:40pm. She weighed 2 lbs 15 oz and is 15 1/2 inches long. Taylor David Currie arrived at 1:41pm and he weighed 1 lb 10 oz and is 13 1/2 inches long. Both babies are doing great and breathing on their own with a little help from a C-pap. I'm a little sore from the C-section but other than that I'm feeling good. I'm tired and feeling some separation anxiety, but I'm up and walking a little so I can see my babies at any time. Daddy is SO proud and visits the babies often. Proud Daddy is very protective of his new babies, but is enjoying telling family and friends of the story of Laynie and Taylor's birth.
Thank you ALL SO MUCH for your thoughts and prayers.
Angie, Josh, Laynie and Taylor...and Hunter too.
Love you all.
Thank you ALL SO MUCH for your thoughts and prayers.
Angie, Josh, Laynie and Taylor...and Hunter too.
Love you all.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Day 3
Lots of major changes to report. Last night at 3 AM the nurses rushed into my room as Taylor's heart rate dropped again. This time it was done for 11 mins which is NOT good. They rushed me down for an emergency C-section. I didn't feel right about it at all. It was very scary, Josh wasn't here and I just knew the emergency C-section was not the best way for Taylor as he was so far in distress. I prayed and prayed and talked to the babies all the way down to the operating room. The anesthesiologist was about 2 seconds away from giving me meds to put me under and Taylor got his heart rate back to normal on his own. Everyone was screaming....stop! Stop! He's back on. So they monitored me in the operating room for a half hour to make sure he was stable and then took me back to my room. I was also having lots of contractions during all of this and my cervix is now shortened to 1 cm. This is also an indication that we need to move forward with getting these babies out.
SO, today will be their birthday! We are very scared, but know that God is leading us down this path and he stopped that emergency C-section for a reason. Having the C-section planned so that everyone can be prepared to take care of our little ones is the best way to go. The doc hasn't confirmed the time yet, but it will be later this afternoon. I know I'm leaving out lots of details, but needed you all to know that today is the day. PLEASE, we need your prayers more than ever before. Josh and I cried and cried this morning as it was a hard decision to say let's take them today vs keeping them in longer and taking the risk of the emergency route. After talking with our doc, nurse and the neonatalogist we know that we are making the right decision, but we are truly worried about our babies health and their survival in the NICU. Please feel free to share our blog. The more prayers and support we can get the better. We love you all and can't wait for you to see our precious miracles down the road. I will try and post the time when we find out so you can send extra prayers during that time. Josh, Angie, Laynie and Taylor
SO, today will be their birthday! We are very scared, but know that God is leading us down this path and he stopped that emergency C-section for a reason. Having the C-section planned so that everyone can be prepared to take care of our little ones is the best way to go. The doc hasn't confirmed the time yet, but it will be later this afternoon. I know I'm leaving out lots of details, but needed you all to know that today is the day. PLEASE, we need your prayers more than ever before. Josh and I cried and cried this morning as it was a hard decision to say let's take them today vs keeping them in longer and taking the risk of the emergency route. After talking with our doc, nurse and the neonatalogist we know that we are making the right decision, but we are truly worried about our babies health and their survival in the NICU. Please feel free to share our blog. The more prayers and support we can get the better. We love you all and can't wait for you to see our precious miracles down the road. I will try and post the time when we find out so you can send extra prayers during that time. Josh, Angie, Laynie and Taylor
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Day 2/Morning
God is with us. Taylor made it through the night! His heartrate dropped a few more times, but nothing that made the doc and nurse run in to wheel me to surgery. Thank goodness!!! The positive side of this is Taylor is able to recover fairly quickly on his own. There was one time early on yesterday that it dropped and it took him over 2 mins to recover. That's what got everyone in a frenzy. He hasn't done anything that drastic since. Doc came in this morning and said our next milestone is to get to 24 hours after my second steroid shot this evening...I think around 7, so 7 Monday night. Then a new milestone will be set. We have to just take this day by day, sometimes hour by hour. I will post again today IF anything drastically changes. Love ya!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Day 1
Well, sorry it took so long to post. It's been some what of a roller coaster since we arrived. Taylor's heart rate keeps on dropping and it's got everyone around here getting prepared for a possible emergency C-Section. They are monitoring me continuously and I can only get up to go to the bathroom. I haven't eaten since lunch and they won't let me eat in case they have to do the C-Section...they want me to have an empty stomach just with any surgery. They gave me the first steriod shot and the second will come tomorrow afternoon. We are praying that Taylor hangs on for that second shot. Well, 24 hours after the second shot as that's when it's most effective. I'm assuming I won't sleep much tonight with the monitors on and the fact that I'm STARVING!!!! Everyone here is wonderful and I know we're in good hands. Josh and my mom are here helping me as well! My room # is 307 and the phone # is 503-216-7307. I'm located in labor and delivery in the West Pavillion. As mentioned before, please call before planning to visit. We want to make sure there are not too many people at one time and if circumstances are like they have been today, it's best to just have family members here. Please, Please pray that Taylor hangs on. It's been a scary afternoon and we hope tonight brings some peace. We love you!
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