While mommy's away...

Today, Annie went to a shower for her sister who is due in November. This gave me (Brian) the opportunity to spend quality time with our little miracles, all alone! This morning I was able to feed Kennedy my first bottle. She gulped it down and taught daddy how to do things her way. This was great, I know there will be many more bottles in my future...I should prepare myself now for those midnight feedings. After her bottle, she laid in my arms and we watched college football. Next up was Drake where I went from the special care nursery to the NICU. I held him for several hours while we watched movies on the iPad. He was fussy when I first got there and changed his diaper, but once we sat down the relaxation set in; we definitely spent some quality time together.

Drake is now down to 1/2 Liter flow of oxygen on his cannula. This is again another huge first down. It is literally within the next few days when he will be rejoined with his sister over in special care. Since Drake was intubated so long with the ventilator tubes, it seems to have taken a toll on his throat/vocal chords. When he gets upset, his facial expressions and emotions say "crying," but there is seldom any noise to go with it. They have called for an ENT (ear,nose,throat) specialist to come take a look. We are praying for good results that his vocal chords and throat are not damaged. If that's the case, it could cause problems with swallowing and an inability to bottle feed. In addition, we are longing to hear that little boy's cry.

Kennedy is doing great, as usual. The nurses and doctors say she is doing better than expected on her feeds. Bottle feeds are very difficult because it requires so much concentration from them; not only is she having to remember to breath, but she is also trying to time swallowing and sucking in there as well. She is still hovering around the 3-4 bottles per day out of 8 feedings. She is beginning to spend time in her bouncy chair after feedings as it helps with her digestion. We are continuing to progress with her bottle feeds and will allow her to do this as she likes...it needs to be at her pace so she doesn't get pushed too hard.

Pictures:
1) Giving Kennedy her bottle
2) Daddy giving his 1st bottle
3) Kennedy in her bouncy chair
4) Drake
5) Kennedy
6) Daddy & Kennedy
7) Drake & his favorite exercise
8) Kennedy
9) Mommy & Drake