5 Months Old!

I think this is my favorite picture so far!

The boys turned 5 months old last Monday! (I know I'm a little late!) And they're finally almost big enough for their legwarmers. (Not really but I can pretend). Yay! We took our pictures a few days late too. But not because we didn't try. The first time I tried I got a few ok pics.  

Then Logan had a meltdown. 

No pictures Mom!

I also learned that they aren't quite big enough for chair pictures. 

Ha! Maybe next month!

Anyways, I can't believe it's been 5 months already! We are loving every minute with our whole family at home! (Well not every minute but most minutes!) I don't even mind all the poop and spit up. Brian might though because the boys seem to target him! Ha! That means they love me more right?! James has peed on me about every other day since he came home though!

The boys are pretty good babies overall. Most importantly, they sleep well at night. Right now, we feed them at 9, then they sleep until around 3. When one wakes up we get all 3 up to eat. Brian and I both get up for MOTN feeding time. One of us feeds Mason and Logan and the other one feeds James. We've gotten pretty good at it and can usually get them changed, fed, and back to bed in 30-45 minutes. Then they sleep until 6-7! Last night no one woke up until 4 am so hopefully they'll make it a few more hours soon! We take turns every night on who gets the monitor for paci duty!

Here's how we can feed all 3 at once:

If I'm by myself I just sit in front of them and keep bottles in, burp, and keep everyone happy. But I usually hold James because he's not a good eater (but he's getting better!) If you look closely, you'll see that James is NOT eating his bottle in this picture!

Here's an update on all 3 boys:

Mason:

In a surprising turn of events, Mason is now our happiest baby. Mason loves to play. Mason especially loves the play gym! He'll stay down there for an hour sometimes. And he's a talker! He babbles non stop! So cute! And he's discovered his hands and loves to put them in his mouth. He is also pretty friendly and he'll let anyone hold him. 

Mason usually has a meltdown between 7-9 pm. Then he's angry. So he joins us for dinner quite often. 

Mason is also our best sleeper. He usually sleeps for the entire nap time. And he's almost never the one who wakes up first in the middle of night. Yay Mason!

Mason still likes to be swaddled like a burrito. Especially during his meltdown time! But he can go to sleep without his hands wrapped up (but I still take his hands away because he sleeps better that way!)

Mason also likes bath time. 

Look at those cheeks! Ha!

Mason does not like tummy time. He almost always rolls over right away! We'll keep working on it though!

Here's a another picture of Mason:

He looks like he's up to no good doesn't he?!

Logan:

Logan is our sweet boy. He's probably the most laid back of all 3 too. He is still on his oxygen all the time. We saw Dr. Peeples about a week and a half ago in the newborn clinic again and we did a swallow study. Logan is not aspirating which made me super happy because that means he can still breast feed and get breast milk bottles. But just to be safe, we're thickening Logan's formula bottles to a nectar consistency (think tomato juice consistency). We also started caffeine and an inhaler to help open up his lungs and hopefully help him take deeper breaths. He hates the inhaler and acts like I'm literally trying to kill him every time we do it (which is twice a day!) I hope it works!

Logan also loves the play gym (not as much as Mason though!) And Logan loves the bouncy seat! 

Logan especially loves the lady bug that you can't see on the back

But Logan's favorite thing in the whole world is his swing! Sometimes he'd rather swing than be held. So he swings. A lot! And he holds onto his Sophie the Giraffe while he swings.

Logan has discovered his hands. He just stares at them. Ha! And he's learned how to stick out his tongue and blow spit bubbles. So he's usually a little drooly! 

Logan does not like bath time! Not at all! He usually screams the whole time! 

Logan also does not really appreciate tummy time. We usually do his tummy time with him laying on one of us. 

The funniest thing that Logan likes: pictures! He gets so happy whenever I start picture time! Ha! 

Logan (left), James (right), Mason (flying on top)

Here's one more picture of Logan:

This is serious Logan. In his skeleton sleeper.

James:

James is loving living at home. Or I think he is! He's just too sweet! He seems to be adjusting really well. He loves the play gym too. Almost as much as Mason! And he really loves the bouncy seat! He doesn't like it quite as much as he liked the mobile at the NICU but it's close.

James loves the bouncy seat!

James doesn't talk much but he does smile quite a bit. Usually when he's playing by himself! And he gave Dr. O'Neill, our pediatrician, a huge grin the other day at his first appointment!

James is also a good sleeper at night time. Not as good at nap time! He does not like to be swaddled with his arms wrapped up. We wrap them up sometimes but he always gets at least one free. He sleeps ok that way though so I'm not too worried. 

James is probably the best about self soothing in his bed (not other places though). He loves to look at the stripes and letters on the wall. He usually lays in bed for a while then goes to sleep on his own. He has his giraffe wubbanub but he doesn't always have to have it in his mouth. Sometimes he just likes to hold it!

James is not a very good eater. I know you can't tell foe the pictures! But he fights us several times a day so we have to really work with him and stay patient to try and get him to take as much as possible at each feeding. He's doing much better the last few days. His reflux combined with the fact that he didn't eat by mouth for so long just make eating harder for Mr. James! But he'll get the hang of it!

James also doesn't like car rides or his carseat some days. Last week I had to take him back to the hospital for an appointment and he cried almost the whole way there. Then he was happy for the doctor. And then he cried from the minute I put him back in his carseat until we almost made it home! I hope he gets over this soon! He's going to be in the car and his car seat quite a bit!

Here's a few pictures of James:

Selfie for Daddy while we waited for the doctor

And a selfie of the best part of being a mommy. Baby snuggles!

Thanks everyone who has helped us get this far! We seriously could not have made it without each and every one of you!

James is Home!!

After 151 days in the NICU we finally got to bring James home on Friday!

I thought this day would never come! It's been surreal really. Like, Brian and I have looked at each other several times and just said "Wow. We have 3 babies." And they all live at our house!

The doctors and nurses - everyone really - warned us that the end is the most frustrating part of the NICU experience. That's because the babies start off so sick, then just when they seem healthy, they have to learn how to eat. No one really understood this. People asked us why James was still in the hospital every day. Everyone said "he's so big" and "he looks great" so he should be home, right? Logan and Mason just got it. James didn't. And it bought him an extra month in the NICU. I kept telling the doctors and nurses that he liked it there. Maybe he did. They spoiled him!

James finally made a major turnaround once we thickened his feeds. Like night and day really. Special thanks to Andrea, James's occupational therapist who worked with him every day, for noticing he was struggling and speaking up. That made all the difference in the world. We had 1 potential hiccup at the end. James wasn't gaining weight (actually he was losing weight for about a week!) so he HAD to gain weight. Luckily he turned it around and started gaining again.

James has done great at home! He seems happy (most of the time). And I hope this doesn't jinx it, but he's gone along with Mason and Logan's schedule, which allows us to sleep! I'll write about our schedule later this week. The boys turn 5 months on Monday September 29 (tomorrow for me, today for most people reading this), so I'm going to post again this week for that and I'll give a complete update! This post is just about James!

Here's some pics of James at home!!

Laying in his bed with his giraffe

Sleeping in his bed (that's right, he sleeps in his bed!!)

Playing with the bouncy seat

Sunday morning on the back porch with Dad

And a few of James with his brothers!

After church this morning. They did great!

Mason, Logan, James (Brian knows to put them in order for pics now!)

Mason, Logan, James

James and Mason

Mason and James

You know what's really weird? We haven't gone to the hospital the past 2 days. Yesterday I only left the house to go for a run (a slow run with some walking but still a run). And you know what's weirder than that? I miss it! The hospital was like our second home for the past 5 months (almost). We grew close to our doctors and nurses. And we miss them already! 

Here's a picture of us with Gwen, one if our primary nurses, right before we left with James! She was so awesome! 

Thanks Gwen! And thanks to our other primaries too! Thanks Audra, Sheila, Erin, Larissa, Lisa, and Lori (even though she left us to have her own baby!) We couldn't have made it without you! We'll miss seeing you every week!

2 Less Cannulas!!

Big day! Mason and James came off oxygen today! We can see their faces finally!

Mason without his cannula!

James (aka Superman) without his cannula

I can't stop staring at them! They're so cute! But we knew that already!

So let me back up. We've had a pretty busy week. James is still in NICU . . . But . . . We have a plan and we're making major progress! Mason and Logan had their first appointment in the High Risk Newborn Clinic today so we have updates for them too!

Current stats:

Mason - 9 lbs. 8 oz. (10th percentile)

Logan - 8 lbs. 4 oz. (under 3rd percentile)

James - 9 lbs 8 oz. (also 10th percentile)

So like I said above, Mason and Logan had their first follow up in the High Risk Newborn Clinic this morning. I don't know if all hospitals have this or not but the clinic follows up with NICU patients to make sure they stay on track. I'm pretty excited that we get to do this. And we got to see Dr. Peeples too! I know I've said it before but we love Dr. Peeples! (Side note: I found out recently that she would call the NICU to check on the boys when she wasn't on service. So sweet!) 

Anyways, this appointment was basically just to make sure everything still looks good and to check on our oxygen. Mason and Logan did great! And they seemed to like the exam table. 

Logan looks tiny without clothes on!

We had to wait a while but they were so good! They both slept some:

Mason waiting for the doctor

Logan waiting for the doctor

No major issues today. We will get developmental screening done in another few months to see if we need any type of therapy. Right now their adjusted age is less than 2 months so they really shouldn't be doing much. Which means they can't really be much behind if at all. 

Biggest news from clinic is that Mason gets to lose the cannula!! We're starting with no oxygen during the daytime then in a few weeks we'll try no oxygen at night too. We get to keep the pulse ox monitor so we'll know if he really needs it. I hope not! I love seeing his sweet face!

Here's a few pictures from earlier this week:

And I got one of Mason and Addison with Mason smiling!

Logan is doing well too but he still needs his oxygen. In fact Dr. Peeples checked his blood gas today and it wasn't great. So we're going back to see her again Monday to make sure he's ok. I think he probably is. He was acting up this morning and his o2 was all over the place around the time they drew the blood. So positive thoughts for Monday!

Logan has been a character this week. Here's a few pictures:

James had had a great week! We're finally going somewhere! Dr. Ross is back this week for a guest appearance at ACH and he decided it's time to do something. James was doing ok with his feeds but he just wasn't progressing like he should. And he would not take his entire bottle! And Andrea, James's occupational therapist, noticed that he was coughing while taking his bottle so she recommended a swallow study. (Side note: we love Andrea too! And she's leaving next week and we'll miss her!) The swallow study is done in radiology. They put barium in the bottle and try different levels of thickness while they watch on X-ray. James didn't fuss at all and he was very cooperative. I think he liked the chair! 

The swallow study showed that James aspirated on every thickness except "stiff honey," which is really thick! That means he was getting milk into his airway when he swallowed. Not good. Kind of like when you drink something and it goes down the wrong pipe. Over time this can cause pneumonia or otherwise make his chronic lung disease worse.We were pretty disappointed that he didn't do better. But it's good that we know! James is a "silent aspirator" so we would have never known until it was too late.  So James will be drinking super thick (almost pudding like consistency) bottles. We'll do a follow up swallow study in 3-6 months. The good news is that James seems to like his bottles super thick. He's taken every single one in record time since we started the thickened feeds!

In other James news, I walked in this afternoon and found him without his cannula! (I know I said this before so it's not that exciting a second time but it is to me). I've been asking to try him without it and Dr. Ross went for it! Thanks Dr. Ross! So far James is doing pretty well without it! Let's hope it continues! Once he gets to full feeds by bottle, he'll be tube free!

We haven't heard the "h word" officially yet but it may be soon! James just needs to get to where he takes all 8 bottles and tolerates that much thickener (it can cause belly issues like constipation or diarrhea) then we should be good to go! Fingers crossed super tight!!

Here's a few pictures of James. He's a cutie!

Sitting up (and sleeping) in the Boppy

Oh and I'm a little sad this week because the boys are starting to outgrow their newborn clothes! I've had to retire a few things! So they're starting to wear 3 month clothes. And size 1 diapers! So big!!

Hopefully James comes home soon! We miss him here!