Time Passes

It has been 188 days since Drake and Kennedy have been born. Brian and I have been steadfast at our daily duty to fulfilling our blog post. We have not missed a day and even on our roughest moments, we have written multiple updates. As they are settling in, we are settling in...this comes with hard decision that we have decided to decrease our daily blogging to bi-weekly updates (Tuesdays and Fridays). However, Drake and Kennedy have their own Facebook page (Team Drake and Kennedy) that we will provide pictures and videos on a regular basis.

Brief update on today...Drake's congestion is much better. Both Drake and Kennedy have taken an interest in toys. Each of them grabbed a pink ball toy and tried to eat/chew on it. Kennedy did this while Drake was napping and Drake did this while Kennedy was napping. I'm thinking we may need to get a second pink ball for when they are both awake and wanting it at the same time or we can learn about sharing really early. This is good because it shows that they are on track developmentally with discovering and becoming aware of the world around them.

Roller Baby

We love both of our twins dearly, but today was little Miss Kennedy's day! Our usual routine was playing out...diaper, bottle, playtime, tummy time, nap time, repeat...Brian was working from home & even with the door closed to his study while he was on a conference call, it couldn't muffle the cheers Drake's nurse & I were shouting for her major accomplishment. After months of building muscle tone, she succeeded in a major milestone today...she rolled herself over from her tummy to her back! Way to go Kennedy!!!

I love watching them grow and progress! I know Drake will be right behind her with his milestone. You know girls tend to be a little faster than boys with these developments. He is making progress with his congestion! We have weaned him down to breathing treatments every 6hrs as opposed to every 4hrs.

To see a quick video of Kennedy's fist roll over, please visit:

https://www.facebook.com/TeamDrakeAndKennedy

https://www.facebook.com/TeamDrakeAndKennedy

A Little Light Reading

We've been reading to Drake and Kennedy since the beginning while they were in their issolettes in the NICU. Now they are beginning to actually show a bit of interest and they look at the brightly colored pages. Yesterday they opened two books from their Uncle Mikey and we spent some time today reading them along with some other short picture books they already had. It was so much fun watching their faces as they were looking at the pages of each book. My heart was warmed by thoughts of them one day being able to read the stories to me.

Merry Christmas!

Brian, Drake, Kennedy & I have enjoyed our first family Christmas snuggled in at home together! We began our morning with a huge Christmas breakfast prepared by Brian. Yum! I started cooking stew and jalapeño cornbread early in the day so that it would be ready for dinner; a perfect meal on a cold Christmas night. I wish we could say a white Christmas night, but we did not experience the snow that so many other Texas friends and family did. Still...with so much to be thankful for...we honestly cannot complain about anything.

Since being "home bound" for our first Christmas together, having a wet and soggy day was the perfect setting. We had fun experiencing our family Christmas's on FaceTime with Drake and Kennedy. We are already looking forward to next Christmas when they will be old enough to really experience this family holiday.

Christmas Eve

Compared to our traditional Christmas Eves of years past with houses bustling with family, this year has been quiet with just the four of us. Thank goodness for FaceTime, which has allowed us to visit and interact with both my family and Brian's family. We have had fun putting Drake and Kennedy in their 1st Christmas outfits from their Aunt Gigi; however, it is difficult to get them to cooperate in pictures.

Tomorrow will be a different type of Christmas morning for us. It will be the 1st time in 30+ years that we have not woken up to a Christmas morning with one of our families. It will be different, but we finally have a family of our own! Would we like to spend Christmas with our family members, of course. Being in isolation for the holidays is not a forever thing, but it is necessary to protect our babies from potential illness due to their lack of an immune system.

Face-timing with our families tomorrow will be a fun way to remain a part of the festivities. It is also going to beat our typical 5hr car ride from one family Christmas to the next.

From Drake, Kennedy, Annie, and Brian...we wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!!!

6 Months Old!

Wow! It's hard to believe I'm even surprised that Drake and Kennedy are 6 months old considering how long we lived within the walls of the NICU in Dallas. Of course they are not your typical 6 month olds...their adjusted age is just over 2 months. For the most part they do act like 2 month old babies; however, in some areas they are farther along. This will be our reality for the next 3 years as they play catch up to their full gestation counterparts. I don't even bother reading what a 6 month old "should" be doing because that is not relevant to our lives.

Way to go, Daddy! He took care of Drake and Kennedy today so that I could go to the grocery store. The funny part is that we made a grocery list together and knew that one of us needed to go while the other remained home to care of the babies. I eagerly volunteered to go, as this was a chance for me to get out of the house and enter the "real" world which I rarely see. I ran into two of my former teaching colleagues at the store and I very much enjoyed catching up with them.

Looking back at pictures, it is amazing to see just how far they have come. I can't wait to see what the next 6 months have in store for us!

The first set of pictures are Drake and the second are Kennedy.

Dinner & A Movie

Best laid plans...Brian and I really thought we would be able to enjoy dinner and a movie here at home while Drake and Kennedy were resting. Yeah, right...Our lives completely revolve around these little darlings and they had different plans for us. Still, we wouldn't change a thing. We paused for feeds, we paused for diaper changes, we paused for holding and for rocking. In the end, we have two babies tucked in for the night and 5 & half hours later we completed an hour and a half movie.

Compared to yesterday, Drake's congestion has improved greatly. Last night and today I have suctioned out quite a bit of crud. We're so glad that he is starting to feel better and his coughing/choking incidences are fewer.

All in all...it doesn't matter whether our evening outcome goes according to our plan. We'll take being home as a family any way we can get it!

Fussy Friday

Poor little Drake is still dealing with congestion and drainage. It breaks my heart to see him feeling so crummy; however, it is still a positive sign that he is not running a fever and his drainage is remaining clear. He is beginning to cough up some of this drainage which seems to be helping. It helps...and it is also very scary because it causes him to choke. This requires some quick action and assistance from us to relieve his distress. We are willing to try anything to help bring him some relief. First we tried the cool humidifier, now we have the warm humidifier going. I take him into the bathroom when I take a hot shower so the steam can help break up his congestion. I'm still giving him breathing treatments every 4 hours, and I am eagerly awaiting him breathing free and clear again.

Even our happy-go-lucky Kennedy has had a bit of a fussy day today. It was difficult to pinpoint what was causing her to be upset until she produced a dirty diaper. Apparently that had been causing her discomfort because she was back to all smiles after her diaper change. I have contacted the pediatrician about her bathroom difficulties previously (she goes for up to 5 days between bowel movements) and we know it has to do with the "added rice" to her formula that is mixed with breast milk. To our surprise, the long stretches between bowel movements is not a concern with any of the doctors we have consulted. Still it is an issue we are watching closely.

After this Fussy Friday, we are very much in need of a Sensational Saturday. Actually, I will settle for just a nice Simple Saturday as a family.

ECI

Drake and Kennedy had their evaluations with ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) this morning here at home. They both did a great job and really seemed to enjoy meeting new people. Since we aren't allowed visitors, having the two ladies from ECI was a nice treat. Kennedy is doing so well with her development that she does not qualify for ECI services at this time. They were really amazed with both Drake and Kennedy considering they were 25 week twins.

The Occupational Therapist will begin working with Drake every Monday starting in January, and twice a month an ECI worker with Specialized Skills Training will be coming to work with Drake, too. His nurse and I are looking forward to learning new techniques and watching Drake progress through these services. I know he will continue to amaze these ladies once they begin working with him!

I'm continuing to give Drake his breathing treatments every 4 hours until he is able to clear this congestion. Even though he is still dealing with stuffiness and drainage, we are thankful that he has remained fever free.

One Week 'til Christmas!

It is hard to believe that it will be Christmas Day in exactly one week. The house is very festive, the stockings are hanging by the fireplace, and we are awaiting Santa's first visit to Drake and Kennedy. This year will be very different from those Brian and I have shared in the past. We will be sharing Christmas as a family of four. We must keep the twins away from our extended families and Christmas Eve services this year. But as we reflect on the past 6 months, we can do so with thankful hearts for the blessings we share this season--our two precious miracles. Before we know it, they will be full of excitement awaiting everything about Christmas in the years ahead.

Today, I managed to leave the babies with Drake's nurse and Gran and get out of the house to do a little shopping. Then I had a fun filled visit to the vet with Ella. Now we are one day closer to Daddy coming home and being here until after Christmas--the best present of all!

We will begin our own family traditions this year and focus on our true joy.

Ahh...Button Out!

We started out today like any other and we were thankful that Drake is still fever free and seems to be responding to the breathing treatments. His congestion seems to be so much better, and we were encouraged that he slept so well last night.

This afternoon, just after Drake's nurse said that her daily written reports on him were so repetitious, she discovered that his Mickey Button had come out in mid-feed mode! We were so apprehensive as to what to do, but our nurse jumped right into action and replaced it with ease. What a relief!! He weathered this excitement very well. After talking to his pediatrician, we were so relieved that everything we had done was right. We just need to keep an eye on it and hope it doesn't happen again. The worst case would be having to take him to the E. R. for it to be replaced. We do NOT want to have to go there! Too many germs!

In the early evening, Drake had a messy diaper. As I started to change him and opened his diaper, Kennedy smelled it immediately and made the funniest stinky face! It was hysterical! Obviously her sense of smell is working quite well!

Breathing Treatments

I called our pediatrician 1st thing this morning to fill her in on Drake's symptoms and find out our next step. She told me to start his breathing treatments with the albuterol every 4 hours and to monitor him closely. She does not want us to bring him in unless he starts running a fever, which thankfully he has not. The breathing treatments do seem to be helping, and he is coughing much less than he was before. It breaks my heart to see him feeling bad, and it broke his nurse's heart today, too.

He has been resting today and getting lots of snuggle time in with his nurse, Gran and me. Don't worry, Kennedy has not been left out...she has been getting her snuggle time in, too. I'm so glad that we have Drake's nurse here during the day to help monitor and check his vital signs. At one point, I put her on the phone with our nurse at the pediatrician's office.

I really do think that Drake showed some improvement today and I pray that with more rest and continued breathing treatments he will be back to himself soon.

Resting

Our Sunday can be summed up with one word, rest. Brian needed rest from his long work week, I needed rest from just being a mom, Drake needed rest to help clear up his nasal congestion and Kennedy needed rest because the family needed it.

Through his rest, saline drops and humidifier, Drake is breathing a little clearer. This helps with his bottle attempts too. Although he has developed a cough which is highly concerning to us. I will be contacting the pediatrician first thing in the morning to see if there is anything else we need to be doing for Drake. I really hope we don't have to take him into the office where there are more germs. So far he has not run a fever and the the congestion seems to be in his nose and not his lungs, which we are thankful for. We pray this is not the beginning of an infection and that he will be feeling back to himself soon.

Splash!

No, we have not been swimming yet, but Drake and Kennedy sure do love a warm bath! Kennedy, who is all smiles these days, loves to splash the water and make a big smile while she is taking her bath. Every time she smiles it makes both Brian and me laugh and smile too.

Drake has given is a few scares today. He has had some nasal congestion for a few days and he seems to have some drainage now. He doesn't know how to handle the drainage and it has caused him to choke several times today. We swoop in and suction out the drainage causing problems, but it still scares us every time. We will be watching him closely throughout the night.