9 Days Old

Our babies are 9 days old today and still doing great! Here's a quick update on each one -

Taerik - His IV was taken out and he is now feeding entirely from a bottle. He has been spitting up a bit, so we are still trying to figure out how much he should be eating. His isolette is heated to 29 degrees Celsius. In order to come home, this temperature must get down to 27 degrees, while still maintaining his body temperature. He is dressed in preemie clothes, making him all the cuter. He has blonde hair and enjoys making weird expressions with his eyebrows. Taerik is definitely the most alert of the three.

 The two boys...guess which one is Taerik.

Brothers

Drake - He is certainly starting to fill out, especially in his face. At birth, there just wasn't anything to him, however, his cheeks are quite kissable now. He has regained his birth weight and then some. Drake still has some minor issues with his heart. The doctor noticed a murmur the other day and so an echocardiogram was ordered. They discovered that he has Patent Ductus Arteriosus, a condition in which a certain duct in the aorta does not close off at birth as it should. They stopped feeding him by bottle several days ago, in order to give him some medications. A second echocardiogram was performed today. The duct has gotten smaller, but still has a ways to go. So he will get medications for a couple more days, in the hopes that it will close up like it needs to.

Keira - Little Miss K almost came home several days ago. She was feeding entirely from a bottle and maintaining a good body temperature. In order to come home, each baby must hold a consistent temperature for 24 hours. About half way through, she dropped a little low and so her isolette temperature had to be raised. She is doing fabulous and just needs to pass this one final test before her release. Of all the babies, Keira is definitely the one with the loudest opinion. She is really the only one that we have heard cry with any sort of conviction. We're thinking she'll be just fine handling herself with four brothers.

Griffen and Rhys finally got to meet their new siblings. We warned them profusely that there was to be absolutely no coughing, sneezing, or getting germs on the babies. You have never seen two boys wash their hands more in your entire life. They scrubbed down about 20 times. I caught Griffen washing his arms AND legs. Not sure what he was thinking there, but he sure was clean. Rhys kept asking me if he was allowed to breathe yet.

Griffen meets Taerik. 

Rhys meets Taerik. 

 Griffen holding Keira for the first time.

Rhys feeding Taerik 

Boys help feed Taerik a bottle. 

 Griffen holding Drake

Rhys with Keira

Sometimes the hospital stay can get a little long. And then we get something like this...

We certainly do feel very blessed and cannot wait to bring these precious babies home! Our family tries to go up to the hospital every day now. We are usually able to help feed, change diapers, and check temperatures. After that we like to hold them and sing to them. At about 7:30 PM, we kiss each one good-night. You can usually hear Rhys poking his head into an isolette and saying, "This is your big brudder. I love you."