Care Conference, birthdays, and the kindness of strangers

Let's see, we have lots to report today so here goes....Today was a rough day for our sweet little Dylan. He was circumcised at 8 a.m. this morning. They tell me he didn't even cry. What a tough guy! He'll need about two weeks to heal but he should be good to go. He's one step closer to being discharged and we're getting anxious to get him home. His ticket out the door is to go 5 days without any bradys....he had a couple today so we'll reset the clock each day until he goes the five days. (NICU vocabulary refresher: A brady is when the heart rate drops really low and they stop breathing).

We also had a "care conference" today with the doctors. When you have a baby (or babies) in the NICU for more than about six weeks, the doctors and team working with your kids will meet with the parents to talk about where we've been, where we're going and what to expect long term with premature babies. The meeting was surprisingly optimistic. As expected, the doctors are very happy with Dylan's progress. He's still working on some of those important little things like BREATHING, but he's doing great for his age. Kaylan is well on her way too. They expect her to maybe go a few more days on CPAP, then on to the nasal canula. She's starting to show some consistent growth and she's also showing readiness signs of nipple feeding. While she's obviously still small, they don't want to hinder her from doing things that a 37 week baby should be doing. Assuming she shows consistent growth, takes all feeds via a bottle, maintains her temp and doesn't have bradys, she'll be headed home too. It sounds like a long list of things for her to accomplish, but she's already maintaining her temperature, not really having any bradys and is starting to gain weight. Basically, the doctor indicated to us that she might come home sooner than we might think. Of course, we will not be getting our hopes up, because as we know all too clearly, we just have to take it day by day and not get ahead of ourselves. They talked to us briefly about long term possible issues with extreme premature babies....one of them being developmental delays. Once they get home, we'll work with Early Childhood Intervention specialists to help us with their development, nutrition, etc. It's a little overwhelming to think about all that right now...so we'll focus on one thing at a time.

On another note, tomorrow is Landon's birthday...the big 3-1. My how things change in one year. Last year, we were getting ready to go on vacation to Cabo. It was one of the greatest vacations we've ever had and I hope we get to go again some day (hey, I said someday, not someday soon....) Now, as I type this blog, Landon is putting together a chest for the nursery. I should also say that this is one of those pieces of furniture that comes with about 10,000 screws, shelves and pieces with no written directions, just pictures. He's having a LOT of fun right now, let me tell you! ;-) The nursery is just about complete - the only thing missing is a couple of babies! Tomorrow, we'll head to the hospital to hang with K and D. I think he'd tell you he wouldn't rather do anything else for his birthday. I'm so thankful for him. He's such a great husband and loving dad. Kaylan, Dylan and I are lucky to have him! 

One final note...the doctor said that the only reason that Kaylan is here today is because she was carried to 29 weeks. She was the size of a 22 week baby at birth and 22 week babies rarely survive. In fact, there's usually less than a 10% chance of survial for babies under 500 grams. Kaylan was 460 grams at birth. We know that Kaylan and Dylan are here because God has a mighty plan for their lives. We are honored to be their parents and see what God will do! We also know that they have been prayed for continuously and continue to be. What a sweet blessing they are. Each time we leave them, I just can't wait to see them again! We expect Dylan to be at 6 pounds tomorrow and Kaylan to be at 3. :)

Today we received a gift from a complete stranger - someone who is following our blog and is a friend of Landon's brother gave us money for meals. We don't even know him! Unbelievable. We are moved beyond words by the generosity and compassion that has been poured out over us as people hear about Kaylan and Dylan.

Well that about sums it up for tonight! Gotta run now...I think Landon might be getting ready to throw the screwdriver at the wall! Eeek! ;-)