Savannah made it about a day on nasal cannula. She had a really bad apnea episode Saturday night and the nurses had to work very hard to resuscitate her so she is back on CPAP again.
They did a lot of blood work on her to see if there are any reasons for her continued struggles with apnea and bradys but they came up empty. All the tests say she should be fine, well, she isn't and although one of the Dr's said to not worry or be concerned, we are worried and concerned. Even her nurses seem a bit concerned. Please continue to pray for our little miracles and maybe a little prayer for Jen and I when you get the chance.

CJ finally hit his 4 lb milestone last night.

Savannah now weighs 4lbs 7.8 ounces.

CJ: The big news for CJ is that he is now in a crib in the intermediate nursery. He is doing very well with his bottles feedings and is currently taking 3/4 bottles a day. He will need to get up to 8 bottles a day. He is just a few ounces away from his 4 lb. milestone. Hopefully he will hit 4 lbs. tonight.

Savannah: They took her off the C.P.A.P on Friday to see how she would do. She is currently still off C.P.A.P, but is still having some significant Brady/Apnea episodes so we are not sure how long they will keep her on the Nasal Canula. It was nice to finally see her cute little face. The doctors are running some more blood tests in the morning to see if her blood count drop more and to see what the number is for her producing her own blood. Hopefully she will be able to stay on the Nasal Canula. They also moved Savannah into a crib like her brother. However, she is still in intensive care while CJ is in the intermediate nursery. Hopefully they will be together again soon.

Another good day for the babies.

I held Savannah for about 1 1/2 hours today and she did very well with no major desaturations. Hopefully she will continue on this path so she can graduate to Nasal Canula.

CJ also had a good day. He is doing very well with his bottle feedings and will hopefully be on full bottle feedings in the next week or so. He was taking sodium which they stopped today because they felt he no longer needed it.

He is very close to making his 4 lb. milestone.

They moved CJ into the intermediate nursery tonight because the doctors feel he is doing very well and they needed the room for new admissions. Unfortunately Savannah is still in the regular NICU, but hopefully will join up with her brother soon.

Everything else is status quo.

Both babies had a decent day.

CJ is doing well and still breathing on his own.

Savannah also had a good day. I did find out more about why she is having such major desaturations. Apparently her red blood cell count is low, which makes her very anemic. However, she is just starting to produce her own red blood cells so this will hopefully change in the near future. When their blood count is down they become week and it becomes a real chore for them to breath and eat, which explains the desaturations.

She weighed in tonight at 4 lbs 3.7 ounces.

I held CJ for about an hour today and besides a few minor desaturations he seemed to like it. As for Savannah, well I am starting to get the feeling she does not like to be held by mommy. She seemed very frustrated by the nose prongs for her C.P.A.P. today. I can't blame her because it really looked uncomfortable. She definitely put up a fight trying to pull them out, but in the meantime she got so exhausted trying to pull out the prongs that she was forgetting to breathe. Thankfully the nurses were not too far away and were able to bring her back in time. Needless to say my visit with her was cut short and she had to be put back in her isolette.

Savannah weighed in tonight at
4 lbs. 2 ounces.

CJ weighed in tonight at 3 lbs. 13 ounces.

Savannah weighed in a 4 lbs. tonight (YEAH). Hopefully they will move her to an open crib this week.

CJ only gained 5 grams, however, I expect him to hit 4 lbs. by the end of the week. Unfortunately CJ has started to have some desaturations today, which is not like him. The nurses are going to keep a close eye on him tonight.

They have increased the feedings for both babies. CJ is taking 34 mls and Savannah is taking 36 mls.

I had a nice visit with the babies early this morning because I needed to be back in time for Chuck to go to work. The advantage of being at the hospital in the early AM hours is that no one else is around.

I was only able to hold Savannah for about 15 minutes because she was having some major desaturations. Her primary care nurse is concerned with the volume of desaturations since she was getting better and now it is getting worse. They are going to run some blood work on her again in the morning to see what is going on.

She is now 3 lbs. 14.4 ounces (almost at her 4 lb. milestone)

I spent about an 1 1/2 hours holding CJ this morning and he was awake for must of our time together. He did very well with his breathing for the entire time I held him. The nurses also fed him a bottle today which he handled very well. Overall, CJ is doing very well. Much better than everyone expected him to do.

He now weighs 3 lbs. 13.2 ounces. Pretty soon he is going to pass Savannah in weight.

Please keep Savannah in your prayers.
She really needs for her lungs to heal and to remember to breathe.

CJ weighed in last night at 3 lbs. 9.5 ounces.

Savannah weighed in last night at 3 lbs. 12.4 ounces.

CJ had another apnea episode last night after we left, but seems to be doing ok today.

Savannah is still having some major desaturations which has required major stimulation. The doctors have increased her caffeine intake and increased the pressure going through the C.P.A.P. Hopefully she will do better throughout the day. They did an x-ray of her lungs and ran some other tests to see what was going on, but all seemed good.

The babies were not well behaved for Chuck and I today.

CJ had one of his little not breathing episodes while Chuck was holding him. However, it may just have been a positioning issue which may have caused his airway to be blocked. The nurses didn't seem too concerned. I on the other hand was a nervous wreck, but still managed to get up the guts to hold him. Unfortunately he was still having a tough time with breathing so we decided to put him back in the isolette.

Savannah also kept the nurses very busy during our visit today. She had many more desaturations than she has had in the last week or so. We think that it may be caused by her feeding schedule being changed. Unfortunately we were not able to hold Savannah today. Hopefully they will have a better night.

CJ now weighs 3lbs 7.9 ounces and Savannah weighs 3 lbs. 12 ounces. Hopefully they will both hit 4lbs. next week.

The babies had another good day.
Both babies did well with their immunization shots and did not have any adverse reactions.

CJ is still doing well on room air.

In addition his feedings have been changed to 1/2 hour of a three hour period. It use to be a continuous feed over 3 hours.

Savannah is being weened down on her feedings as well and she is at 1 1/2 hours in a three hour period.

The babies have not been weighed yet tonight but we will get an update tomorrow when we get to the hospital.

Everything else is status quo.

We just got home at midnight from spending an action packed day with the babies.

When we arrived at the hospital earlier today we were shocked to find CJ without his Nasal Canula. That's right...he is breathing on his own and doing a great job.

Chuck celebrated his Father's Day with the babies today and was quite spoiled. Lets see..he got to hold Savannah and Charlton twice today for at least an hour each time. Normally they will only let us hold each baby once in a day, but today they made an exception. I also was able to hold CJ for an hour as well.

Chuck also gave Savannah a little sponge bath.

Chuck also got to feed CJ for the first time....his first bottle feeding. He did wonderful and drank the entire bottle which shocked everyone including me.

Ashley also had the opportunity to spend a little time with her brother and sister and was extremely excited about it. She even touched CJ's little foot.

We also had the chance to see the babies weighed for the first time.

Savannah is now 3lbs 10 ounces and CJ is 3 lbs 6 ounces.

Both babies were given their first round of immunization shots today.

I will be posting pictures soon of the days events.

CJ: He was on a 2 liter Nasal Canula and went down to 1 liter yesterday and did very well. Hopefully soon he will no longer require oxygen. The doctors also stopped his caffeine, pulmacort and the MCT oil. The doctors feel that he is doing fairly well and no longer needs these things. The only medication that he is still on is a sodium supplement. However, the doctors feel that his salt may be off due to the MCT oil so they hope he will no longer need the sodium in a few days. Hopefully all of these changes will still allow him to gain weight or else they will need to change it again.

Savannah: She is still on C.P.A.P and will be for a while. The doctors have decided to give her a few more weeks on C.P.A.P before trying to switch her over to the Nasal Canula. Hopefully her lungs will grow in the next few weeks so she can finally handle the change. She still has a lot of Apnea and Brady episodes. We are hoping with in time this will soon change.

Both babies had their eye exam yesterday and both still look ok. They will continue to check their eyes every few weeks to see if they develop a condition call Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). Unfortunately this is very common with the little preemies.

You may be wondering what else is in store for our little ones.

1. They need to gain weight
2. They need to learn how to bottle feed. CJ will probably start learning this week or next. Unfortunately it does take a long time for the little ones to get the hang of this.
Savannah won't be able to start learning until she is off C.P.A.P.
3. They need to have the much dreaded corrective intestine surgery.
Since they will have to go back on the ventillator for the surgery they will have to accomplish everything above and heal before they will be able to coming home.

My 40 week due date would have been July 29th so they probably won't be home until after that date. Most likely they will not both come home at the same time.

Happy Father's Day

Unfortunately Chuck was not able to see the babies in person today, however, we had a nice surprise for him. The nurses had both CJ and Savannah out late last night doing a little model shoot for their Father's Day present. They cleaned them up really nice and put on some fancy onesies. The best part was them being put next to each other for the first time since they have been born. From what the nurses say CJ was really excited about it, but Savannah being the typical little girl wanted her own space and the spot light. We also put together a little video for daddy so all in all he had a nice day.

Both babies are really putting on the weight now and CJ weighed in tonight at 3 lbs 2.8 oz. Savannah weighed in at 3 lbs. 8.4 oz. They may be hitting their 4 lb milestone sooner than we expect.

Savannah was put on the Nasal Canula yesterday, but it only lasted about two hours before having to be put back on C.P.A.P. The doctors feel that she will soon graduate to Nasal Canula and will keep trying in the upcoming weeks.

Everything else is status quo.

CJ - 3lbs. 1.2 ounces!!!!!
Savannah - 3 lbs. 6.2 ounces

From Great Aunt Sue: Jen and I had a delightful visit with the twins on Saturday. I had the chance to hold CJ for 1.5 hours before his nurse made me give him back! Jen and Savannah also had a nice cuddle time. The twins have grown and changed so much since my visit last month. Each is starting to develop a unique personality. CJ is inquisitive and interested in everything happening around him while Savannah is pretty mellow and laid back.

We have celebrated Father's Day this morning and now Chuck is headed to work, Ashley to swim with friends and Jen and I are going to visit the twins.

CJ is now at 2 lbs. 14 ounces (Only 2 more ounces until he hits his 3 lb. milestone)

Savannah lost a few grams last night. She weighs 3 lbs. 2 + ounces. They increased her MT Oil (Fats) today, which will hopefully help her gain some more weight.

Both babies were well behaved during my visit today so I was able to hold both of them.

I am amazed every day how well our little miracle babies are doing and how far they have come. God is definitely watching over us and the babies. We are very thankful for everyone's prayers because they are definitely being heard.

CJ weighed in last night at 2 lbs. 13.2 ounces.

Savannah weighed in at 3 lbs. 2.8 ounces.

This is great news and shows that they have consistently gained weight over the last few days.

I was surprised to see both babies wearing t-shirts today. At first glance I knew something had changed and then realized they had clothes on for the first time. YEAH

Ironically, we actually brought some clothes with us with the hope that they soon would be able to wear them.

Check out the picture of CJ's new socks. I found them at Babies R'Us. I couldn't believe they sold socks that small. Well needless to say, little CJ didn't think they were as cute as I thought and managed to kick them off with in seconds of me putting them on. The same goes for Savannah. The socks seemed soft and cuddly to me, but I guess the babies didn't think so. (It must be a twin thing)

Since we can only hold each baby once in a day, Chuck held CJ and I held Savannah. Both babies were very well behaved and neither had any major desaturations.

CJ is now up to 2 lbs. 11 1/2 ounces and Savannah is still slightly above 3 lbs.

The doctor informed us that he spoke with the surgeon in regard to the corrective surgery for the babies intestines. The surgeon informed the doctor that he would not perform this surgery until the babies are much bigger, 4 lbs or more. Chuck and I were relieved to hear this because we didn't think the babies would be able to survive the surgery at this point. They are still very small and fragile. As long as they are gaining weight the surgery can wait.

Chuck had a nice visit with the babies today and was able to hold both of them.

CJ weighed in tonight at 2 lbs. 11 ounces (finally he is starting to gain some weight)

Savannah didn't gain any weight today. However, she is doing much better with her saturations and has been at 21-22% oxygen, which is very good. She has some desaturations, but is able to bring herself out of them without having to be stimulated. They will probably try her again on the Nasal Canula by the end of the week.

Both CJ and Savannah are doing well.

CJ is now 2 lbs. 10.2 ounces. It looks like he is finally gaining some weight. He has also surpassed his sister in length. He is 16 1/2 inches long.

Savannah is 3 lbs .03 ounces. She is 15 1/4 inches long. They also started her on some steroids to help her lungs, which seems to be helping since she is not having as many desaturations. CJ has been on this medicine for about 2 weeks already and it has helped him tremendously. Ashley has been taking these steroids since she has been 1 years old for her Asthma so we are very familiar with it.

Chuck is with the babies today and I am home with Ashley because she is sick. (Just a cold)

I just returned from seeing the babies and it amazes me how much they change every day. (They are sooo cute)

Charlton: I am starting to think he doesn't like to be held by mommy because he had two major not breathing episodes while I was holding him.

Savannah: She also had an episode of not breathing while I was holding her, but not as bad as CJ's.

Both babies continue to have a problem with weight gain. Even though they are starting to gain some weight the doctors are concerned. I heard tonight for the first time that they may have to do their intestine correction surgery sooner then later due to their weight issue. I was shocked to her this and don't feel very comfortable with this surgery since they are still so small. They are going to see how they do over the next few days and also consult with the surgeon.

Yeah....Savannah hit her 3lbs milestone. She now weighs 3lbs. .06 ounces.

Charlton is also gaining weight and now weighs 2 lbs. 8.2 ounces.

Everything else is status quo

Both babies were very well behaved today. Everything is pretty much status quo. Savannah was also put on formula today for half her feedings with the other half still being milk. They are hoping this will help her with weight gain. She also had her head ultrasound done and the bleed is starting to resolve itself and there is no signs of water on the brain. Very good news.

What a day.....My birthday...I spent the morning/afternoon with the babies and then celebrated later with Chuck and Ashley.

I must say there is never a dull moment at the NICU. Unfortunately today will be a day that I will never forget. While I was holding little Charlton "Kangaroo Therapy" he stopped breathing and turned blue. Thank god the Respiratory Therapist was not too far away and was able to revive him fairly quickly. I hope I never have to experience that again.

The good news is he did not have any further episodes today and is finally starting to gain some weight. He is now at 2 lbs 6.6 ounces.

Savannah: She also had her share of desaturations while I was holding her, but thankfully they did not get to the point where she needed to be revived. She also gained some weight and is now at 2 lbs. 14.6 ounces.

They both had eye exams today and Savannah is having another Head Ultrasound tomorrow.

Charlton: The doctors are very concerned about his lack of weight gain. They took him off the milk today and he is now just getting special formula with the MT oil (fats). They are hoping this will do the trick. We are anxiously awaiting to see if he gained any weight. They are waiting to weigh him until the early AM hours so we will have to wait until then.

He is still doing well with the Nasal Canula.

Savannah: Her weight gain has been fairly steady. She is also doing a bit better with the C.P.A.P and having less major desaturation episodes.

They will be getting another eye exam in the next few days. Hopefully it will be good news.

We had another nice visit with the babies. Chuck held little Charlton and I held Savannah.

Charlton: He is still doing well on his Nasal Canula, but is still having a problem with his weight. He lost a few more grams last night which is not good since he is at his maximum liquid intake. The doctors are going to evaluate him again in a few more days to see what the next course of action will be.

Savannah: She is doing better this week on her C.P.A.P, but is still having a lot of desaturations. Her weight gain is very good and is now at 2 lbs. 12 1/2 ounce

Both babies are doing well.

Charlton: He is still doing well with the Nasal Canula and is on room air. He lost a few grams last night, but he did gain a lot the night before so they are not concerned. They increased his feedings today to 24 ml over 2 1/2 hours which will add some additional calories to his diet. He weights 2.5 lbs.

Savannah: She is still on C.P.A.P and is doing a little bit better with the saturations and has not required any baggings in the last few days. They do occasionally have to stimulate her to remind her to breathe, but she is making progress. They also changed her feedings to be 24 ml every 2 1/2 hours. She now weighs 2 lbs. 11 1/2 ounces.

Everything else is status quo.