Happy Halloween

We won't be trick-or-treating, but we'll be handing candy out to the kiddos in the neighborhood tonight. It is pretty chilly out today, which is unfortunate because the past couple of days were gorgeous and warm. We took advantage of the warm days and took the babies on walks. Wilma is home too, so we let her join in the walks with us which I'm sure she enjoyed. She seems to be OK with the babies. She will walk up and sniff them out, but isn't overly interested. I can already see her becoming more interested once they are more active and alert. The 3 of them will be best of friends!

Jack and Maggie are continuing to grow and change each day. They are starting to play with their toys hanging off their play mat and we are getting more smiles as they learn to focus on our faces. They both saw the High Risk doctor at Children's this past week, and they couldn't be happier with how they are developing. Jack still has his feeding tube, and we are still working on his feeds. We were able to convince the doctor to back down 10ml on his volume...hopefully we can get to 100% soon. My guess is that once we get to 100% (or near that) we'll start backing down on the concentration and up on the volume until he can be on the low concentration (like Maggie). He is doing OK, pretty consistently at 50%, if not closer to 75%. It's a daily struggle that is stressful and keeps me forever anxious, but I know we'll get there. A day, a week, a month at a time.

I've been having some emotional roller coaster issues of my own, and fortunately I have great family and friends that have been able to help out. Thursday morning I took the kids to Grandma & Grandpa's in the morning after a rough, long night up with the kids. They let me get more sleep and then they kept the babies over night. It was good to get a full night's sleep. Friday afternoon I also got to visit with Jackie D, which was great. I think I've been trying to do too much, and I need to get my mind and body away from it all more. It will also help me appreciate when I am with the babies...they ARE the best babies ever!!

So right now the babies are both swaying away in their swings. Jack is wide awake, he hasn't really napped since after his first morning bottle. Maggie is completely out. Brian is raking up all the leaves that have fallen in the back yard and Wilma is snuggled up super close to me. Tonight Grandma and Grandpa are coming over to help hand out candy and spend time with the babies and I might hit the outlet mall with Grandma Charlotte tomorrow. Looks to be a great weekend! Uh-oh, Jack is crying...

3 Months!

The babies saw the pediatrician this past week. Jack weighed 10 pounds 4 ounces and Maggie weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces! They are getting so big, especially Jack. Maggie continues to be a petite little thing. It is amazing the difference when picking one baby up over the other. Both babies are healthy and strong. Jack has some more bumps in the road, but we'll get past it just like everything else. He is still on a feeding tube, until he can bottle feed on a more regular volume. It is going so, so. He finishes a bottle every now and then, what he doesn't finish goes down a nasal feeding tube. As if that wasn't enough, Jack also has a problem with his circumcision. I'm calling urology tomorrow to hopefully get it looked at soon...the pediatrician is pretty certain it will require surgery...of course! All in all though, Jack is a strong little man, and doing very well.

Having both babies home has been tiring, but wonderful. There is definitely a routine established and I've been successfully able to keep them on a pretty good schedule. Their nights are fantastic! They get a bottle at night, swaddled into their crib (they are co-cribbing) and they sleep 4-6 hours straight. They get a quick midnight feed and go right back to sleep. I couldn't ask for better babies! It's adorable too. I don't put them right next to one another, but it never fails when I go to check on them or when they wake up...they are right next to each other. They are going to be great friends! During the day, it's exhausting, but I'm managing. Grandpa Jeff has been a huge help and Aunt Lisa is going to start helping me out during the day as well. I tried to do the days alone...and let's just say I was quite overwhelmed. It is manageable, but it stresses me out hearing one cry (particularly miss kitty cat Maggie wail) while I'm trying to feed or gavage Jack.

This weekend was Brian's birthday. He is 29! To celebrate Grandma Charlotte watched the babies for us and we went to the movies and dinner, just the two of us. Getting away for 3 hours was awesome, and all thanks to Grandma Charlotte! We saw "Law Abiding Citizen" which was pretty good and ate at Abuelo's. Today we took the babies to the local farm where we were going to pick out their very first Halloween pumpkins, but with the great weather every one else in town had the same idea and the farm was packed. So we skipped the farm and got pumpkins from Walmart instead. Hopefully we can carve them this week.

The babies are starting to show a little more personality and are definitely learning to coo and smile. I got huge smiles from each of them this morning, which was awesome. I've not been able to have a camera ready for any of it though. They like to play together on their activity mat, hitting the hanging toys and yelling for attention. Maggie is rolling over somewhat when doing tummy time and Jack likes tummy time, but has no desire to roll over. Both have great neck strength though and developmentally seem to be right on track.

And finally pictures from the their first week home together.

4 Generations of Keller Men


Jack enjoying some tummy time


"Hey mom, we love this play gym thing!"


"Hi mom"


Maggie just chillin'


Nap time


Swinging along together

Back together again, right where we belong

We are officially a family, all together at home. Friday night we picked Maggie up from being with her Grandpa Jeff and reintroduced the babies to one another. They acted like they'd never been apart.

The weekend was long, tiring and at times a bit stressful...but we managed to make it through with our sanity in tack. Brian is working from home today, so I still have one more day with an extra pair of hands. I think I'll be able to do this MoM (Mother of Multiples) thing on my own, but I won't kid myself; it is going to be work.

Maggie has started to adjust to having another little person that requires attention. And Jack is starting to adjust to life outside the hospital. Every 3 hours is a lot of work...but I've got it down to a good routine. Right now the babies are playing together on their activity mat. They are starting to become aware of the toys hanging down and learning how to smack at them and get them to move. Maggie has started to get the rolling over thing, but I don't think she "knows" what she is doing when she does it. Jack loves tummy time, and he is starting to loosen his tight muscles.

They have a pediatrician visit Thursday and I'll get their 3 month stats. They are growing and getting super strong every day. I love having them home and healthy with me...finally!

"All my bags are packed...

I'm ready to go."

Preparing for departure

We've been given the green light, Jack comes home Friday! Finally our little family will all be together. I'm looking forward to staying in PJ's with the kids and learning how to settle into life as a Mommy with twins- at home! Jack has had all sorts of stuff going on in preparation for going home. Yesterday he became a man, IE: circumcision. It went OK, but the poor man was not happy afterward. It took quite a while to calm him down, which is unusual for the little guy. His bottle feeding also took a hit after the weekend. They changed his reflux medicine, so we think that might have something to do with it. Hopefully now that it has been changed back he'll be better about the bottle. Fortunately he is continuing to grow big and strong, he is now 9lbs! He is going home with his NG feeding tube. I'll learn all the fun stuff about that in the next couple of days. Otherwise, he is doing great and just the happiest little guy ever! It is amazing the difference in his and Maggie's personalities. Over the weekend we got great shots of him playing on my shoulder. He is so animated and loves to look around at everything and everyone.

Little miss Maggie is growing big and strong too. We weighed her last night at Grandma and Grandpa's house and she is just about 8lbs. She still isn't consistent with her bottles or sleeping patterns, but I'm hoping once Jack is home and we can settle into more of a routine, she'll even out. The last couple of nights with her have been rough. I haven't brought her into bed with me, and she's been sleeping in her crib, but she can't seem to stay asleep. I don't know what makes her wake up. I think I'm going to buy those swaddleme outfits and see if that helps her keep swaddled. No matter how tight I wrap her she seems to always come free. Normally she is OK after she falls asleep, but for some reason at night (maybe because it is dark and quiet) it causes her to wake up crying. And man can she cry.

This weekend we will be an entire family at home. We're almost done with the hospital part of our journey...just a few more days!

Jack is Back!

Little man Jack is back in action. When I walked into his room yesterday he was bright eyed and awake, just looking around. He remained in a good mood all day, and is the same again today. He has been doing his fun growling while pushing up on my chest and we've got some fun smiles out of him. Yesterday he was re-introduced to the bottle and did OK. This afternoon he did even better...took an entire ounce in one fast sitting. He is completely off all oxygen and they are weaning him off the feeding pump so he can start bottle feeding exclusively. All we have left is for him to get the feeding thing going and he'll be ready to come home. We're hoping by Halloween! :) Today he got a much needed bath in the big kid bath tub...and he loved it. Soon he will be splashing away with Maggie in the real big kid bath tub.

Speaking of little miss kitten, she has become quite the vocal little lady. She has also started to settle into a routine. She still doesn't want to go back into her crib after her midnight bottle, but she is now sleeping 6 hours pretty much every night...so no complaints right now. Hopefully sleeping next to Jack will give her a warm body for comfort and she'll be OK in her crib.

I've got Jack-osouras in my arms as I type this and we're going to try another bottle if he is awake in another 40 minutes. It's been a great weekend so far.

Chunky Monkeys

Maggie weighs 7lbs 10oz and Jack weighs 8lbs 4oz. My little ones are getting SO big.

I stayed home with Maggie for most of the day while Grandma Charlotte stayed with Jack at the hospital. We all had a good day. Maggie napped great and I was able to clean the bathroom and vacuum. Jack is sleeping soundly. He was a bit fussy when I got here, but after his nurse did her assessment and I changed his rather disgusting diaper, he got wrapped up like a burrito and settled in for the night. He has been moved down to 2 liters, still on room air. Slowly but surely we'll get him weaned off the oxygen and before we know it he will be starting to bottle feed again.

We're completely turning the bend, and I'm just about ready to take a final sigh of relief. I don't think I'll breath easy until he is off the oxygen...soon, very soon!

Extubation success!

We are now 28 hours post extubation, and Jack is doing great! He went straight to 5 liters of room hair on a high flow nasal cannula, and he was weaned to 4 liters this morning. He has been keeping all his stats up and everything looks very, very promising! He's been a bit cranky on and off, but this afternoon when he woke up he was bright eyed and happy. I held him for some time and then he was wide awake and happy again for physical therapy. Right now he is settled into his bed and fighting an afternoon nap. His voice is still really scratchy and he has the most pitiful cry...but it's OK because his voice will come back and he doesn't have a tube down his throat.



Maggie and I didn't sleep much last night. She was pretty fussy and for some reason I couldn't get settled down with her very well. I'm exhausted today, but that is kind of the normal Mommy thing. I was able to grab a quick nap before Jack woke up this morning and now, as I look across the room into his bed I see he is sleeping soundly. So I'm going to try and get another quick nap in before Brian gets off work.

I can't believe Halloween is just around the corner, as well as Brian's birthday. The weather officially turned about a week ago, the air is crisp and the temperature is down. Gone are the days of capris and tank tops. Here comes pants and jackets...soon Winter and Christmas!

Member of the club

This morning Maggie had her follow up eye exam, and this time around there are no signs of prematurity in her eye development. So she and Jack can follow up in a year as normal, healthy babies. While sitting in the waiting room for her dilating drops to take effect a mom with two girls and a son came up to me. She sat down and said, "So how early was she?". She saw Maggie's monitor and said her son went home on something similar. I responded and she told me her son was born at 24 weeks. He is now 2 and you'd never know! She told me her story and I told her mine. It's great to know that we aren't alone in this, and getting to talk to other parents who have gone through the struggles is so helpful. I'm a member of the NICU survivors club for life!

Today is the big EXTUBATION day! Jack did great throughout the weekend. His air leak is even louder, when he sleeps he sounds like he is saying "Yeah" or "Hi" through his tube, so I keep asking him silly questions. :) He looks great and has been a lot less agitated, all really good signs. I just have a good feeling about today. We'll get started in the next 30 minutes, so for now I'm just going to sit with him and think happy thoughts.

ML&B success!

Jack just finished up with his exploratory scope surgery. It went very well and we are waiting for him to get settled back into his room. There is no appearance of scarring or long-term damage. There is swelling around his vocal cords, which is what is causing the trouble with extubation. They replaced his tube with a smaller size, to allow room around the area for swelling to go down. The plan is to continue steroids and extubate Monday. If he extubates well, the tube will remain out and we'll move forward. Should he not successfully extubate, there will be two options, depending on how he fails. The major option is a trachoeostomy, which is extremely invasive and he would come home with it for months. The other option is to cut the cartilage around his vocal cords to open the airway up more. There is a technical name for the procedure, but I don't remember it now. So...we are going to hope that all goes well Monday and he can be tube free! At least we now know what to expect come Monday and we also know that there will be some final decision made, rather than another wait and see game. I think our 5 minute wait is up...so we're going to go say hi to our little man. :)

Update:
Jack is continuing to rest from his big trip. I just finished rounds with the doctors and it is agreed upon that they will attempt to extubate Monday. The less invasive procedure we discussed with ENT this morning is http://www.tracheostomy.com/resources/surgery/cricoid.htm. For today and through the weekend the best we can do is just keep him calm and the tube in place. Happy thoughts for Monday!

He now has a nasal tube, which will give his little mouth a break


He has been in this same position since he got settled back in from the OR