86 days…..

and Kaden’s home!!  Our 1lb 14 oz preemie is now 6lbs 13oz!  He’s home on oxygen, but he’s home!!  We’re so glad to have him home and thank God every minute for this precious miracle!  So many prayers, so many tears, so many drives to the hospital!  One down, one to go!  I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

Getting dressed for my trip home!

All dressed and ready to go!  I know the socks are big…but SO cute!

let’s go guys!

bye guys! 

in the car…I finally broke free!

home at last….dad could you grab my bags?

big stretch from his big trip! 

first bottle at home

BIG BROTHER TIME!

my sweet boys! 

So happy his brudder is finally bigger and at home

kisses

diaper change!  Daddy’s helper!

Brady has done pretty well.  He held him for a while and was really interested and then it was “let’s put him in his bed now”!!  Oh well, slow transition!!    We’re having a blast and Nana and Granny are here to lend a helping hand!  A few prayers for our first night wouldn’t hurt!!

While we’re talking about prayers….Karsyn will have some spinal fluid taken from her head tomorrow morning so they can test and make sure the infection is completely gone.  As long as that comes back ok she will have surgery Tuesday morning at 7:30 to have a shunt put in her head.  The shunt will drain the spinal fluid down into her body.  We obviously hate it that she needs another surgery, but once this is done it should allow us to focus on getting her back on track and headed home sooner as opposed to later.  So pray for Karsyn and pray for her doctors.  And pray for us as we transition and adjust to two at home and one at the hospital.  Going back and forth is taking on a whole new look now!!!  But hopefully it won’t be for long!!!

Thank you for all your prayers….Kaden is home because we serve a gracious God and because we have so many people kneeling every minute of every day on behalf of our sweet babies!

Not the post I was hoping for…..

so much for my next post being Kaden’s homecoming.  When we got to the hospital this morning, with going home outfits and blankets in hand, we were met by our pedi and as soon as I saw her face I knew we wouldn’t be going home today.  Kaden had a pretty significant desat last night due to reflux.  It was very evident that he was refluxing during this desat so Dr. Isenhower is adjusting his meds and we’ll try again tomorrow!!  Hopefully this fixes the little man.  Needless to say we were very disappointed.  I hadn’t let myself get excited AT ALL until last night.  I would always preface any conversation about it with “anything could happen but….”  I guess it was my built in defense mechanism…a way to make myself not get excited.  Last night I finally let go and was so ready to bring my little boy home last night.  BUT as I have learned on numerous occasions, God has a plan!!  A great one at that and I know tomorrow or whenever each of these tiny miracles decides to come home will be perfect!!!  So, until next time keep those prayers coming!!!

new rules to live by

for the Brewer’s that is!!

As we prepare to bring Kaden home tomorrow….keep your fingers crossed everything is ready to go as long as there are no set backs tonight……we just wanted to share with our friends and family some of the new “rules” we will be following at our house!!!

Obviously we know a lot of you will be very excited to see these precious babies as they come home.  And we want everyone to see them, because if it weren’t for your prayers and support none of this would be happening.  But even though the babies are almost 3 months old they are obviously not “normal” 3 month olds.  Their immune systems are going to be very sensitive and any little infection/bug could be very serious for them.  So as much as we don’t want to, we will be limiting the number of visitors into our house.  If you do come to see the babies we ask that you follow a few rules…they may seem silly, but we don’t want to end up back in the hospital with our precious babies!

1.  You may not visit if you’ve had a fever over 99.0 in the last 7 days.

2.  You may not visit if you have any flu like symptoms…..nausea, vomiting, sore throat, cough, or runny nose (even if you think it’s just allergies) 

3.  No children under the age of 18 will be allowed in our house. 

4.  If you come to visit please wear fresh clothes and wash your hands or use purell before touching the babies at all times.

Normally we would follow these rules for a couple of months and then slowly introduce the twins to different situations and people.  But their few months will be up around October just in time for cold and flu season to begin.  Unfortunately these rules will be followed even more closely from October to April.  We will not be taking the babies into public except for doctors appointments.  It’s going to be a tough year, but Jeff and I feel strongly that we need to monitor the amount of germs they’re exposed to and do all that we can to protect them during their most fragile time. 

I know you all understand and that no one would ever do anything to harm the babies but we just wanted to put this out there to cover all our bases.  Please, please, please do not be offended if we ask you to leave, change clothes, or not to come for the next few months.  It’s nothing personal!!! 

So keep those prayers coming that Kaden has a great night and that the next post you see will be of his homecoming!!  Little Karsyn is holding strong.  She’s eating well and is doing great with her oxygen.  We’re still monitoring her head and will know in the next few days whether or not they will need to put the reservoir back in.  Please remember her and her doctors in your prayers as they use their knowledge and judgement to do what it best for our little princess.  Once a decision is made on her head we will have a better idea how long it will be before we can expect her home!!!

Brady time

We’ve had a fun few days with Brady!!!  On Sunday Brady and I went to the zoo while daddy was at the hospital!

hanging with the giraffes!

Baylor the new baby elephant!  So cute! riding the elephant!

popcorn and water break

train tickets!!

pure bliss on the train!

ending our day with a train sucker!! This is also about the time I lost my phone :(

And this afternoon Jeff and I took Brady to see Shrek….his first movie!! He was excited and did great…for a while!!!  We didn’t make it through the whole movie, but it was fun to see him experience the big screen!!

popcorn

stylin in the 3d glasses!

Obviously we always love doing fun things with Brady, but why all these activities right now you might ask???  WELL that’s because we wanted to optimize our last few days with Brady as the only child in our house!  That’s right!  Kaden is set to come home on Thursday!! Of course we know things can happen but as of right now all the orders are in and things are in line for the little man to make his trip home!!  We’re beyond excited! 

Karsyn shouldn’t be too far behind him…however her head seems to be swelling a little more so she’s back on surgery watch.  There’s a pretty good chance they will have to put the reservoir back in.  SO we’ll wait, watch and see over the next few days.  Keep both munchkins in your prayers and keep Jeff, Brady and I in your prayers as well.  We’re hoping for a smooth transition and hoping Brady reacts well to Kaden being home. 

Thank you

I have several thoughts running around in my head about our “journey” the past few months.  I’ve been writing them down and am in the process of organizing them into a readable “story”, but one theme that runs throughout my thoughts deserves a post of it’s own. 

I know we’ve said thank you and noted how thankful we are many, many times to several different groups of people.  But until you experience the things Jeff and I have over the past 3 months you really don’t realize how unworthy those two little words sound.  Until you’ve been completely covered in prayer from people you don’t even know; until you’ve had cash anonymously show up in your mail box, until you’ve received cards and letters and gifts from all over the united states, until you’ve had people donate and show up to walk in honor of your babies in march of dimes, and until you’ve felt God’s presence through every text message and kind word you’ve heard, you have no idea how completely unworthy you feel and how completely inadequate the words thank you really are. 

This past weekend the soccer booster club along with many other organizations at Clear Brook organized a “Double Bubble Car Wash” to benefit the brewer babies.  Countless hours went into the planning of this carwash.  There were hundreds of students, parents, and faculty members that showed up to wash cars and sell hot dogs for our babies.  And hundreds of people, most of which we don’t know, came to get their car washed and raised over $3500.00 for our family.  We are completely overwhelmed and blown away.  And are so very, very thankful for all those involved.  We can never thank you enough. 

The money is obviously tremendously helpful with Karsyn and Kaden’s medical bills, but more than anything to know you are loved and to feel that much support from so many people is amazing.  The past 3 months have been the most difficult days of my life.  Days I know without a shadow of a doubt we would not have made it through with out God’s amazing orchestration of His willing servants he placed in our path. 

Again, a post is coming that I’m sure no one is completely interested in, but it’s something I definitely want documented for the years ahead.  BUT thank you.  For all the time, energy, money, love and compassion.  There is no way to thank everyone individually but you know who you are and please know what a difference your selflessness has made in our lives. 

What feeding tube?

I’ve been getting some ugly phone calls and emails because I haven’t updated the blog so here it goes!!!  It’s been a busy few days (considering it’s only been 4 since I updated!!)!  The babies are still doing great.  Karsyn’s infection is gone and she is done with the antibiotic.  She is up to 4 bottles a day and doing great!  She actually took a bottle yesterday in 5 minutes!!!  It took her a while to get the whole bottle thing down, but now that she has it I expect her to cruise to 8 bottles pretty quickly!!  Mr. Kaden is now taking 8 bottles!! NO MORE FEEDING TUBE!  He’s doing great and we are hoping to have him home by the end of the week.  We definitely know that things change quickly in the NICU so please pray that he continues to do well and that he can come home with us this week!!  He will more than likely come home on oxygen because of his reflux.  He still has a few desats during and after his bottles.  We’re fine with the oxygen because it means he also gets to come home on a pulse ox monitor!! I think mommy and daddy will sleep a little better with that!!  We’re excited to have Kaden home but will be even more excited when Karsyn get’s to join us!!!!  Hopefully she’ll speed through the bottles and join us in a week or two! 

When they took Kaden’s feeding tube out they changed out his cannula tubing so I took the opportunity to snap a few tube free pictures!!  It’s funny because he looks like someone that usually wears glasses and has taken them off to me!!  Looks like something’s missing!

Karsyn snoozing!  Check out those cheeks!  She’s catching up with Kaden for sure!

Sweet kisses from Daddy!

playtime

These will probably only be interesting to the grandparents but the twins “played” in their bouncy seats this afternoon.  I pulled them together so I could sit by both of them!  I thought it was fun to have them close together!!!

You are only allowed to view these videos if you promise to completely disregard the silly mommy voice in the background!!! 

bouncy chairs

 

Not much new to report.  Babies are holding steady.  Kaden is having some issues with reflux again and we hope to have them fixed soon so we can increase the number of bottles he’s taking.  Miss priss is still having a few issues finishing 2 bottles so keep those prayers coming!  We’re anxious to have these babies home!!!

We did however get to try out the bouncy seats yesterday!!  They did great!!!  Enjoy the pics!

You can’t try a new activity without a bow on can you?

Karsyn slept through it…..

and Kaden was wide eyed!!!

Productive weekend

We got a lot accomplished this weekend!!  Jeff and I went to the hospital on Saturday to hang out with the K’s while Brady went to play with the Cole Clan.  We went to pick B up, hung out for a while and headed home about 4:30.  We got home and decided it was time to do something about our flower beds.  We pretty much lost everything in our front beds because of the freeze last winter and… well…. we had babies unexpectedly in March so the yard has been completely neglected!  Jeff went to buy dirt while I “tilled” up the existing dirt and pulled all the weeds.  And today while Daddy went to spend time with the K’s, Brady, Grandma and I planted flowers and finished up the work!  They look great!  I haven’t taken a picture yet but I will!

The babies are doing great.  Kaden hit the 6 lb mark last night!!!  Karsyn has lost a little weight this week and is still hanging out around 5 lbs 4 oz.  Dr. Steinkuller came by yesterday and said Kaden’s eyes still looked the same which was good.  He said they’re getting very close to the “safe zone” and he doubts he will have to have the surgery, but will check them again on Wednesday just to make sure.  Kaden is taking 4 bottles a day and will move to 5 tomorrow.  Karsyn is doing 2 bottles a day and completely finishes one of them and does all but a few cc’s of the other one.  She will move to 3 bottles tomorrow.  The occupational therapist came by today and suggested that we start putting the babies in swings and bouncy seats!!! Can’t wait to get a few pics of them out of their beds for play time!!!!  Here are a few pics from yesterday.  Karsyn is SO alert these days.  She loves to look up at her mobile and is definitely beginning to tell us when she’s hungry.  She’s definitely the vocal one of the two!!!

I love this pic because it looks like Kaden is smiling!!

This kid likes to sleep!  It’s tiring to keep cheeks that chunky I guess!!

the diva herself!!

checking out her mobile  

Sweet little girl!  And we’ve officially outgrown all our preemie clothes!!  Moving on up to newborn!!

Sneak Peek

I got the twins bedding in today and I LOVE it!!  Wanted to share a sneak peek with you guys!  We still have some work to do on the walls but the first step is done!  Please excuse the mattress without a sheet!!!  Picture chocolate brown if you will!!

The K’s cribs!

Karsyn’s

Kaden’s

Their curtain

and their dresser loitered with some of the things that will eventually end up on the walls!

Their bedding turned out better than I could have ever expected!  Thank you so much Ruth!  If anyone is in need of custom bedding I highly recommend Ruth!!!

Stay tuned for more pictures when and if I ever get my act together and get stuff on the walls!!!

Moving on up

It’s official…we have 2 level II babies!!!!  The K’s made their big move on Thursday.  All went well and they seem to be adjusting well to their new home.  However, they’ve asked several times for Ms. Rita, Ms. Carmeisha, Ms. Linda, and Ms. Katie….their favorite nurses they had to leave behind!!  It’s just not the same without them!  Here are a few pics from the move.  And keep the prayers coming for Kaden’s eye exam tomorrow morning.

Kaden on the move…that’s Ms. Rita peeking over the end of his bed!!

 

Miss Karsyn moving on up!  Ms Carmeisha escorting her on the right!

all tucked in and ready for a nap!

all cozy and ready to talk to everyone!

and just because it’s cute!  Check out those socks!!  And notice they match the alligator on his onesie!

Brady’s special Day

First of all the babies are doing great!  Karsyn has rebounded like a champ!  She’s back on cannula and is going to try her first bottle feed tonight!  Keep your fingers crossed for this one!  They’re monitoring her infection and as soon as they have a negative culture she’ll be on antibiotics for 10 days and hopefully that will be the end of that.  Kaden is doing great as well.  He’s doing bottles/nursing every other feeding….so 4 out of 8 times.  He should increase these in the next day or two. He had his eyes checked again today and the dr. is a little concerned that his ROP is getting worse so he’s going to check them again on Saturday.  We’re praying he doesn’t need the same surgery Karsyn had. 

The word on the street in the NICU is that both babies are moving to level II tomorrow!  Sorry Katie!!  It’s very bittersweet because we’re going to miss our nurses and doctors in level III.  I’ve asked several times if I can take our nurses with us.  They just kind of laugh and smile….do they not realize I’m serious??!?!  BUT we’re excited to be one step closer to coming home and we’re excited to have Dr. Isenhower taking care of the babies.  Dr. Isenhower is our pedi and has been absolutely amazing through this whole process.  She has been there every step of the way…comes by almost every day to check on the little guys and in the beginning called us at home after hours to see if we had any questions about what was going on.  Not many pediatricians give you their personal cell numbers.  We feel truly blessed to have her in our lives!

Yesterday afternoon was Brady’s special day!!  Poor little guy has drawn the short end of the stick a lot lately with us being gone for Karsyn’s surgeries.  He’s been so good at going with the flow and being happy with being passed around that we decided to reward him with a trip to Kemah boardwalk!!  He got to ride a few of the rides by himself…don’t worry they were kid sized, and of course we rode the train which we thought would be a huge hit.  His response to the train was “Dis not the big train”.  Hmmmm I’m thinking Grandpa and Grandma Nan might have spoiled him with one too many trips on the actual train downtown!!  Mommy and Daddy we’re hyping up the silly “little” train in Kemah…what were we thinking?!??!??  Even though he was disappointed with the train he had a blast and we finished our night with Mexican food out by the water!  A great night with our little man!!!

The Carousel!

He kept telling Jeff  “howd on tight wike diss daddy” and he would show him how to put his hands!  Very cute!! 

his first big boy ride by himself.  I didn’t cry, but I wanted too!  When did he get so big?!?!

He loved it!!

The mini ferris wheel

look at that face…do you think he liked it?!?

Mommy and Brady on the silly “little” train!

Chips by the bay…doesn’t get much better than this!

Evidently Brady took a few pictures of his own on the way home!

 

and I’ll leave you with a few of the kids from the weekend!

Brady patting his brudder

mommy and the princess again!  I just love how peaceful she looks!

Daddy feeding Kaden a bottle for the first time!