June's Nolan Says the Darndest Things!

• I told Nolan he had to go potty one morning and he said, "Mom, I can't go potty everyday. I'll run out of pee!"
• Nolan and I were going to see his Uncle Jack at the fire station. I asked Nolan what he wanted to be when he grew up, thinking I knew exactly what he would say. His answer, "A good big brother."
• Brian was helping Nolan brush his teeth after his bath and Nolan lifted up his pajama shirt and said "I need to check to see if my nipples are still there. Yep they are still there!"
• Pa Pa gave Nolan a t-shirt with a picture of an F-4 on it (a fighter jet Grandpa worked on when he was in the Missouri Air Guard). We told Nolan this is one of the planes Pa Pa fixed when it was broke. Nolan asked "How did Pa Pa get way up in the air, does he fly?"
• I couldn't wait to see Nolan after having the babies, I missed him alot and just wanted to see how he was doing. He climbed into my lap on the bed at the hospital and the first question he asked me was, "now that the babies are out of your belly can you pull me in the green wagon?" (I had told him MONTHS ago that when the babies come out I can do this!)

Together At Last

We don't have very much time to post too many pictures, but hopefully these will hold you all over and explain why have little to no time...Daniel has been discharged and is with us! We were told it could be mid-week, but didn't really believe it and then while Brian was visiting yesterday they said, "Are you ready to take him home?" Crazy! So here we are! Daniel still has a feeding tube, so we have to offer him a bottle at each feeding for 20-30 minutes. He usually takes between 5 and 15 ml. After 30 minutes, we give the rest of the milk into his tube. We are praying his strength will grow and his ability to suck will take off. We are praying also he puts on weight after his surgery (remember, he didn't have milk for over 5 days of his new little life, poor guy)! Joseph is doing great and eats ALL THE TIME. I call him my chunka chunka! Nolan never ate this much, so its really bizarre to me, but I don't mind at all! Nolan is very excited, maybe too excited and wants to be involved with everything. This afternoon he came running into the kitchen to gleefully tell me, "Mommy, Jofes peed on me! And he peed on Daddy, too! That's so funny!" Brian and I are a tired pair, but feel blessed beyond words and continue to be grateful for your thoughts, prayers, and love.

Re-united after 12 days: Our three boys! Joseph, Nolan and Daniel. Doesn't it look like Joseph and Daniel are waving?

They'll find a way!

The twins are doing great, but unfortunately as of Saturday afternoon they are both at Children's hospital. That's right Joseph missed his brother so much he decided he wanted to be close to him. They are both on the same floor and about 4 doors down from each other.

After Joseph's 2 day check-up (2 days out of the hospital) his Bilirubin level (Jaundice) was 13.8 and his 4 day check up it was 16. This alone was not huge deal, but in addition he was very lethargic for an entire day and did not want to wake up to eat and would even sleep through diaper changes. We along with the Doc were very worried so he wanted us to go to the ER at Children's to get him checked out and also try to get his numbers back down. Full term babies are considered high anywhere between 12-18, but since he was born at 36 weeks it is even more of a concern.

They ran a lot of tests for infections and so far they have all came back negative. They started an IV with some antibiotics to be safe and flushed his system with fluids. His number is now 12 and so far we have not had to put him under the lights. We will have the remaining test results back on Monday (22 Jun) and if everything looks good, Joseph (and Sam who has stayed with him) will get to leave the hospital.

Daniel is almost completely off of oxygen. They removed his breathing machine on Friday and gave him a feeding tube so he can start getting breast milk. He has most of his tubes and wires off and they expect him to transfer out of the ICU on Monday. His Jaundice levels are also high and they have put him in the lighted blanket to bring them down. If he continues to improve, we are told he might be released within the next 7 days.