Still Growing...

It's official! Yesterday's weigh-in brought Kayla in at a little over 5 lbs, and brought TJ in at a little over 3 lbs! That means Kayla has gained 1 lb 1 oz since birth, and TJ gained 11 oz since birth. We are so proud of them! Kayla even made the big jump from Preemie to Newborn diapers. Some of her Preemie clothes are even getting too small for her. Thankfully, she got to wear them in the hospital!

TJ is doing well...as usual. Not much to report, thank God! We aren't giving him too many bottles, as we still just want to focus on his weight gain. Mommy has been doing some Kangaroo Care with TJ to promote growth, good breathing and eating techniques, and to bond with me. Kangaroo Care is a method of care where Mom & baby spend some time with full-on skin to skin contact. I wear a button down or zipper shirt with nothing else underneath it. TJ just wears his diaper and lays on my chest. We cover him with a blanket over his back and put him in my shirt. My body heat keeps him warm, and he benefits by hearing & feeling my heartbeat, breathing patterns, and by my scent. The same things he would primarily feel if he was still inside of me. It helps him to grow, to be comfortable, to breathe better, and to regulate his temperature better. He loves it! He can be squirmy and crying, but the minute we put him down on my chest...he quiets right down and takes a long, comfy nap!





Kayla is still trying her best to be released, but is continuing to have some problems with Apnea. It means that during sleeping and eating, she occasionally stops breathing and her heartrate drops. Smitty and I went in to be trained on her monitor yesterday, so we are all ready for her to come home, but want her to stay in the NICU until they are 100% sure she is ready to be home. The doctors want to see her be episode-free for 24-48 hours before they will release her, and so far she continues to have a few episodes per day. Apnea is very common in preemies, as babies born before 35 weeks are born before their central nervous systems are mature enough to promote continuous breathing. There are not any long-term effects, and it usually resolves itself about a month or 2 after their full-term date (Oct 16th for our babies). We expect she might need to be on the monitor for 2-3 months. TJ will most likely need to have a monitor too when he comes home, as he was even smaller than Kayla at birth. So we'll be pros by then!

Kayla still is as pretty and as big as ever! She enjoys feeding and sleeping in Daddy's arms, and Peeing and Pooping all over Mommy! 3 days in a row she has had an accident on Mommy. She PeePeed twice while Mommy gave her a bath. Then, yesterday Mommy was changing her Poopy diaper and asked nicely "Kayla, please do not peepee on Mommy while she changes your diaper." Kayla behaved by NOT peepeeing on Mommy, but instead having a Poopy explosion while Mommy was wiping her hiney! Ohhh, Kayla....how Mommy has grown to love cleaning all of your dirty blankets...



Here she is taking a little nap...how does she bend her arm/hand that way???