Here are a few shots taken during our Christmas gift exchange in Tekonsha. Just think, next year we'll have three kids opening too many presents. It will be fun. Mark and Jessie are doing well. They have both moved upstairs to the pediatric floor which means they are no longer in the NICU. They are sleeping in cribs now and look even smaller in their big cribs. They are both starting to show some promise on bottle feeding, but there is still lots of work to do to get them to actually feed that way. Until next time...
Mark and Jessie continue to do well. Both have tried bottle feeding but without much luck. Below find a video taken last Saturday when Cathy tried to get Mark to bottle feed. Neither one of them has an IV anymore, and Mark has even "popped his top" which means that the top of his isolette is no longer closed and he is living in a "real world" environment. This means he is able to regulate his body temperature which is a good sign. Jessie is still lagging Mark somewhat but she is coming along as well as expected. Cathy has been spending more time with them now that her incision is healing well and she has bathed both of them several times.
We received some really great blankets this week - 2 from Barb Northrup and 2 from Jackie Schwartz. You guys have no idea how much we used the blankets you made for Arthur and how much we appreciate the time and effort you have put into all of these blankets - Thank you, thank you and thank you. We also got some nice things from Bob and Karen Murphy (our friends from Sunday breakfast). In case you happen to see this Bob and Karen - Thank you. Until next time...
Jessie has progressed to the point that Cathy has spent more time holding her. This video was shot on Sunday the 11th when Cathy got to do some "kangeroo care" with Jessie - skin to skin contact which is considered very helpful for the development of babies. As of December 13, neither Mark nor Jessie has an IV and both are getting all their nutrition through their nasal tubes which go straight into their stomach. And they are both pooping - they keep ticking through milestones which is making us happy. Until next time...
Arthur had another chance to spend time with Mark and Jessie, and Grandma and Grandpa Sherwood & Aunt Jane came along too. Grammi Bonnie was also there so the kids got to be with a good chunk of the family. This is a rather long video, so sit back and relax. Mark and Jessie are doing well - Mark opened his eyes and looked around several times during this visit. Jessie is still asleep most of the time, but she sure is cute. Until next time....
Here are a few pics of Mark taken today as Cathy held him. Also included is a very similar photo taken of Cathy and Arthur during Arthur's first couple of days. Notice how much larger Arthur was than Mark is. The other pic shows Arthur just before going to school and wearing his daddy's cap which he thought was really fun. He is also wearing his new underwear from Aunt Jane. By the way, Jessie is doing well too but we weren't able to hold her so I only shot Cathy and Mark.
Here are a couple of vids showing Cathy holding Jessie and Mark. Mark will probably be moved off of his IV on Tuesday 12/6/11. That means that all of his nutrition will come via his stomach and digestive system which is big news. Jessie is still having some trouble getting her digestive system in working order. As a result, she will stay on IV for the time being. Ironically, Jessie is now above her birth weight while Mark remains slightly below his. They have both been moved into the new Mott Hospital so they each have their own room (across the hall from each other) and we have much more space to spread out and stay out of the nurse's way. The new hospital is really, really nice and will make it much easier to spend more time with them. Until next time...
I also took a few photos during my visit. You can finally see Jessie's face and doesn't she look peaceful. Mark is also doing very well - another day without help breathing and no more lights.
This time I was the lucky one. Jessie is out from under the lights and she no longer is getting any assistance breathing. I was able to hold her for 30 minutes or so - a very fast 30 minutes. Here's a quick video.
Here are a few photos taken on day 2. Jessie was under the bilirubin lights, hence the blue tint. I tried to edit it out but the originals were really blue.
Mark is doing really well. He has moved from being intubated, to a c-pap, and now using nothing more than a nasal cannula which supplies a little oxygen but no help breathing. So he is breathing on his own!!! Cathy got to hold Mark for the 1st time on November 30 - Mark is 2 days old. You will see him open his eyes and appear to look at Cathy. This is a long video but I couldn't find anything that I was willing to edit out. Jessie is doing well too. She has also moved off the c-pap and is breathing on her own with a nasal cannula. She spent the 30th under the lights to ward off jaundice. As a result, we were not able to hold her but we hope to do so today, the 1st of December.
Here are the latest photos of Mark & Jessie. These were taken on November 29 so they are one day old. Forgive the quality - the lighting is low in the NICU. Mark is no longer intubated (thanks to Mike for giving me the proper spelling of that word...I guess it makes sense that "tube" would be in there somewhere). Both babies remain on c-pap. Cathy will probably return home today, and Arthur is looking forward to having mommy back at home.
Our little bundles of joy decided that they had had enough of sharing mommy's tummy so they have joined the rest of us on the outside. Jessie Leigh Sherwood was born at 10:04am, weighing in at 2 lb 10 oz. Mark Christopher Sherwood was born at 10:06am, weighing in at 3 lb 12 oz.
It all started this way, as I explained in an email to family & friends.....Unfortunately, Cathy's water broke on Saturday evening at around 5pm. She has just finished week 30, with 40 being full term. Clearly, this is too early. The good news is that she has not yet gone into labor. The bad news is that she could at any time. She will remain at the hospital for the duration of the pregnancy.
The best case scenario is that she is there for another 4-5 weeks at which time they will schedule a c-section and remove the babies. Apparently, studies have shown that in situations like this, there is no real benefit to leaving the babies in for longer than 34 weeks. In this case (the best case scenario), the babies will almost certainly spend several days, perhaps longer in the NICU prior to coming home.
The worst case scenario is that the babies come any day. In that case, they will certainly spend many weeks in the NICU prior to coming home.
For now, there is not much that can be done. They are giving Cathy a steroid in hopes of hurrying the babies' lung development, and they are giving her antibiotics to ward off infections that are common once the water breaks. They are also giving her a drug to calm her uterus in hopes of warding off labor. No NICU is as good as a mother's womb, so the goal is to keep the babies where they are for as long as possible.
I hope that explains everything well enough. The babies vitals are good and they appear to be fine. That's everything that I know (the doctors have no idea why the water sometimes breaks so early) so I can't shed any more light on anything.
Sunday the 27th passed without incident, but Cathy had a bad night as we moved on to Monday. Contractions started at around 2:30am and they administered various drugs in hopes of warding off full labor. I dropped Arthur off at pre-school and went to work on Monday morning as usual. Cathy and I spoke on the phone at around 8:15am and everything seemed to be calmed down. However, only 10 minutes later Cathy texted me and told me that I should get to the hospital as the babies were coming. Only 90 minutes later our family had grown considerably.
This first video shows what I was able to capture of their birth. Don't watch if you're worried about getting queasy.
I wish the video was more glamorous. The anesthesiologist emptying Cathy's catheter bag assured me that the glamour is only for television. This next video shows both babies shortly after birth as they were being weighed and fitted with their necessary breathing devices. Mark is intebated and continues to be so but they hope to move him to a c-pap soon. You will see Jessie before her c-pap is even fitted. Both babies are breathing OK on their own most of the time. However, both occasionally stop now and then. We're assured that this is normal at this point. We created quite a stir - there were about 15-20 doctors and nurses involved in the O.R. and nearly as many in the post-O.R. weighing room (whatever it might be called). And being a teaching hospital, there were instructions flying left and right as the long-time doctors instructed the new ones on what to do. It's really pretty cool and amazing and helped me understand (a little) about what was going on.
After things had calmed down and Cathy and I had visited the babies for the first time - at around 4pm by the way. It's very strange to see your babies born at 10am then not lay eyes on them again until 4pm. I at least had seen them. Cathy didn't lay eyes on either one until 4pm. We were able to touch each baby, briefly, on the foot and leg. We have not held either one yet and may not for quite some time. Anyway, back to the story, after our visit I picked up Arthur from school and brought him to the hospital to see mommy and to meet his new siblings. The next video shows Arthur meeting them for the first time. It's pretty good, I think anyway. The doctor (nurse?) did a great job of recording for us.
Well, sorry it's such a long post and sorry for the communications issues on their birthday. We'll be in touch as we move forward. Until next time....
