4 months old

It has been the longest and the shortest four months we have probably ever experienced. It feels like forever since CJ and Keagan were born and we started this blog. Yet, it is hard to believe that it has been four months already...weird :)

Updates:

• CJ and Keagan finally surpassed their due date of June 30th! We had a home health nurse visiting that day so that we could have a weight check...they never would have gotten this big in the womb but it is fun to know that the potential was there.
• Keagan: 7 lb 2 oz and 19 1/2 in.
• CJ: 9 lb 9 oz and 20 1/2 in. 
• Can you imagine Kendra carrying over 16 1/2 lbs of babies?!?  
• The last we blogged, the kids had just recently gotten off of their oxygen and monitors and we are happy to say that they are officially gone for good! 
• All doctors appointments have gone well and we are happily getting used to having pretty "normal" babies where our main concerns are about poop and spit up :) 
• Keagan did have to have laser surgery on her right eye last week because her ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) had progressed. It was done right in the office and the doctor said it went well. We'll know more next week but it seems that she is going to be just fine. 

CJ is showing off his muscles while Keagan cheers him on! 

These blanket dolls were the first things that were in the incubator with the kids. When CJ and Keagan were first born, the dolls were bigger than they were! 

Totally obnoxious but fun-we had to put on the tutu and headband since they have been fan favorites! 

At our 4-month doctor's appt. last week, Keagan weighed 8 lb. 4 oz-she is really finally getting some chub on her little cheeks.

Still the happy, carefree guy that he has pretty much been since birth-he is pretty easy to please...we just don't let him get too hungry! He weighed 10 lb 14 oz last week :) The kid seriously likes to eat...just take a look at his belly below! 

We had professional pictures taken last week and the whole gallery is up online (they are pretty amazing pictures!).

• If you want to see more Hutch Nuggets here is how you get there:
  To access your gallery, please go to the website:
  http://www.stephkelleyphotography.com
  • In the upper right-hand corner, click on "Client Lounge"
  • Enter your username in the space provided: Hutchinson
  • Enter your password in the space provided: Twins
  • *** Both your username and password are case-sensitive***
  • Click on "Submit"

Lastly, we know that we haven't been keeping up with the blog very well so the new goal (just so you all know) is to update every month around their birthday with pictures and how we are doing. As always, thanks for all the thoughts, prayers, kind words and support!!

Three Months Old

Yesterday Keagan and CJ were THREE MONTHS OLD!! Things at home have been going really well and both kids have been thriving as promised by the NICU doctors and nurses-WooHoo! 

We are both doing a fantastic job of sticking to our schedule: diaper, EAT, snuggle, sleep every three hours. Mom and Dad are extremely thankful for this :) 

Keagan weighed 5 lb 15 oz this past Friday, so she is probably way over 6 pounds now. Her hair looks pretty red in this pic and yes, both her and her bro have a definite strawberry blond thing happening! 

Working on his dance moves...the hands and arms are always moving when he's awake. 

Both kids are now consistently off their oxygen making for all these great photo ops.   In the last 24 hours, neither baby has needed the oxygen at all. We are now just doing spot checks with the pulse ox to check oxygen saturation. We went for a walk today and didn't bring ANY machines or oxygen-it was very exciting.  

Fat and happy :)
This guy weighed 8 lb 1 oz last week-his average gain right now is 2 ounces a day-it is great "catch up" weight. 

PRETTY IN PINK
Auntie Stef made me my first tutu so we had to have a mini photo shoot on Sunday!


One week from Thursday will be our "actual" due date-June 30th.
We'll post again then or shortly thereafter with their weights that day-it continues to be amazing to see how far they've come in 3 months.

HOME!

The family made it safe and sound to Palatine on Thursday. The babies did so well on the car ride and slept the whole way. We made it through our first two nights at home and are only slightly exhausted :) I know we promised pictures so I wanted to get those posted today!

We also wanted to take a moment to share with all of our friends and family that the doctors gave us strict orders this week in regards to going home:

1. Keagan and CJ are not allowed out in public for 2 months (we'll be going for A LOT of walks)
2. Visitors are going to be extremely limited-the doctor said 2 people at a time and that might be all in a day. The two primary reasons for this are exposure to germs and energy. The germs are an easy one to understand-they've been in limited contact with the outside world since birth. The energy one is a little different than most full term infants-our kids basically get to be held for a half hour after their bottles and then need to lay down to get 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep. If that doesn't happen, we are risking them burning more energy than they have coming in with calories consumed. With people over-it is hard to make that happen. 

We wish we could visit with and see all of you who have been such huge supporters of our family but for now, we are going to let these kiddos grow a little stronger. We will continue with the blog and post lots of pictures so you can continue to watch these awesome kids grow! Thanks for all your love and support and prayers-we are so lucky to have so many amazing friends and family in our lives!

HOORAY!! It is finally time to go home...82 days in the NICU  was enough for me (but loved meeting all the wonderful people along the way)!

BIG brother CJ (tipped the scales today at 7 lb 1 oz :)) getting some good
cuddling from  Keagan (5 lb 5 oz)

The kids were rocking in their new matching car seats-this is pretty much what they looked like the whole way home!

I think he's trying to make a duck face after his first bath at home-I don't know what a duck face would look like but I think this works?!?

A perfect princess

**Be looking for a post shortly that will feature pictures of the REMOVAL of Daddy's beard in ridiculous facial hair stages!! 

The road ahead...

Thursday is a BIG day for our little family.  Keagan will be discharged Thursday morning and we will finally hit the road for the long trek north to Palatine!!! 

Keagan's progress over the last few days has been remarkable and she has joined the ranks of the NICU "graduates."

Every so often it pays to take a look over your shoulder to see the road you've just traveled and the hurdles you've just crossed.  Being born at 25 weeks will not define Keagan or CJ, and it will likely end up just a footnote in their biographies....but it will be a pretty big footnote. 

CJ and Keagan have endured, and overcome, immense challenges. 

The first, and most obvious, they were born extremely premature, 102 days before their "due date."  A random Clayton fact: In 102 days the crew of the sailing yacht Groupama 3 could sail AROUND THE WORLD....TWICE.

We’ve seen dozens of children come and go from the NICU who were in “worse” shape than CJ and Keagan.  Our kids have seemingly avoided the most common causes of concern/medical issues for preemies: serious brain bleeding (CJ's final head scan showed "complete resolution" of his original bleeds and all clots are gone. Keagan's infarction is no longer there!), retina damage/blindness, heart/PDA surgery (Keagan's PDA is still open but still not an issue), gastrointestinal issues and physical deformities (other than the "toaster" heads!!) They will each have their own struggles and the lasting health effects from their battles won't be known for a very long time, but for the most part they’re healthy little kids. 

The reality is that the “odds” were not in CJ and Keagan’s favor 3 months ago.  The road they’ve traveled has not been smooth.  However, along the way, they’ve battled everything that’s been thrown at them and they are THRIVING. 

We will post an update on Friday with some pictures, but keep us in your thoughts and prayers for a safe trip home!

CJ is out of the NICU!

This is coming a bit after the fact and those of you who are on Facebook may know this, but the good news to share today is that CJ was released from the NICU on Saturday evening! He is currently hanging out at Clayton Eric's mom's house close to the hospital until Keagan is able to eat all of her feedings from bottles. 

CJ getting all settled in to his car seat for the trip. 

**Yes-you do hear our neonatologist discussing the Bulls loss (the important stuff) the night before in the background... 

CJ is doing great and went for a stroll with mommy & daddy in the nice warm weather on Monday.  The stroller was definitely empty without Keagan :( 

We keep getting asked when Keagan will be coming home and we don't have a good answer for that unfortunately. They keep telling is that CJ was the exception to the rule with how early how was able to leave and that Keags is more the norm. We hope that it isn't too much longer but our children continue to teach us PATIENCE daily. 

Two months old!

CJ and Keagan celebrated another milestone yesterday-two months old! We had a pretty uneventful day  but did get some good "eyes open" pictures after bath time so, of course, we had to share.

On Thursday, they were 34 weeks gestational age and we keep hearing that 36 weeks seems to be the "magic number" for going home-we can't wait! CJ is still kicking butt at his bottle feedings and is up to 6 bottles a day! Keagan is trying to keep up and can take 4 bottles a day! The difference between the two is that because CJ is so much bigger, he seems to have the energy to finish most of his, where Keagan peters out after about half. We are very proud of both of them and the doctors tell us that they are right on track.

Oh my...two months old already!?!

Both CJ and Keagan now have their feedings tubes in their noses. Two benefits to this: 1) It makes bottle feeding easier and 2) the tape gives them super sweet mustaches!!

BIG BOY!!!!

Who clipped a baby to that bow?

Keagan got her hair done for her b-day picture.  (Not really. It always looks like this.  The Mommy/Daddy day salon uses "extra body" shampoo)

"Why do we keep having these picture sessions?"

The reason we keep having picture session little lady is because we love to torture our children with goofy outfits and flashing cameras....no, not really.  Two months is a pretty big deal.  

In two months both CJ and Keagan have doubled their weight.  They've come off their ventilators, learned how to eat from bottles, gotten out of their isolettes/incubators and into open cribs, learned to cry (yay, crying is fun!) and turned from patients into little babies.  

For comparison:

March 25, 2010

Keagan

CJ

The long path home...

CJ and Keagan continue on their path to get home to Palatine but they aren't traveling as quickly as their Mommy and Daddy would like them to! 

There really isn't a whole lot of news to report but it has been a good couple of weeks of growing and CJ is up to 5 pounds already and Keagan is 3 and a half pounds (yes, for those of you paying attention, CJ gained a pound and Keagan gained a half pound in the same amount of time-he is a TANK). They are continuing to learn how to eat from a bottle. CJ can finish two whole bottles a day and most of a third, while Keagan daintily sips about half of her two bottles a day. This is really the only thing that they need to figure out before getting the all clear to go home. If we refer back to the check-list that was discussed in the very beginning of the blog, you can see that we are close:

• Hold own temperature between 97.4-99.0 (doing it)
• No apnea (stop breathing) or bradycardia (severe decrease in heart rate) that requires stimulation 24 hours before they leave (they rarely have "bradys" and don't have apnea-so this we can check this one off the list)
• Pass the car seat test-they have to sit in their car seat or car bed for 90 min. without have the above issues (we won't know until the time we're actually getting ready to leave but normally they figure this one out pretty quickly).
• Eat 100% (8 feedings a day) from a bottle for 2-3 days (we're working on it :)) 

If they were to be competing (which of course they're not-we don't like to compete at things in this family :)) CJ would be winning at eating but Keagan is winning at breathing!! For a kid with "chronic lung disease" she is doing much better than most would expect (and definitely better than her brother).

Last weekend, my wish for Mother's Day was to get my two babies together again and get some photos. Here is a sampling of them for your viewing pleasure! 

A huge thank you to Nurse Kristin who made these adorable coordinating outfits-they looked so cute!

You can see they are both getting a little chub on their cheeks! 

Sooo...holding two preemies at the same time wasn't as easy or as cute as I thought it would be but I promise-they were much more comfortable than they look and it was amazing to get to hold my two nuggets at the same time. 

To end the blog with a fun surprise-Keagan is in her own BIG GIRL BED now. It was my Mother's Day gift from Nurse Laura! It has been a great week of getting to pick her up and cuddle with her much more often.