To Continue to Follow the Babies

Christine  has requested that once the babies come home that this blog be no longer updated since it is public.  If you are friends and/or family, we have a private FB group if you have FB and would like to join it.    If you do not have access to FB and would like to continue to follow the babies, I can email you updates.  Please email me at okiebookworm06 at yahoo dot com so I can add you to the list for updates and find you on FB.  This blog will continue to be updated until babies are transferred from NICU to home.

JANUARY 29 UPDATE

JANUARY 29 UPDATE (11 weeks, 1 day old)

38 WEEKS

The miracle babies are doing well.

Mackenzie is breathing on her own. They took her off her oxygen last Tuesday night and she has been breathing on her own since and has done very well for a week. She is taking her bottles very well and is being her sweet calm gentle self. The bottles are filled with Augmenten which is a thick liquid for the babies. They get their mother's milk through their feeding tube still. Mackenzie weighs five pounds, twelve ounces.

Madilynn is still having difficulty keeping her bottle down. She has very bad reflux and has aspirated it at times. She is still on her oxygen. Her bottom has healed up nicely. Madilynn has reached another milestone! She weighs SIX pounds, one ounce.

Mckayla is doing better taking her bottles and is still on her oxygen. She is on one liter and and doing well. Her bottom is still sore and a wound specialist is gong to check it out. They have been unable to get it to heal using different creams and lotions. She weighs five pounds, nine ounces.

Christine was able to hold all three darlings for the first time on Thursday. She has enjoyed that a few more times since then. She had not seen Jack in almost three weeks because of all us at the house fighting the flu so she was so happy to spend the weekend with Jackson and Michael. They took a trip to the aquarium in Springfield and had a wonderful time together. Jack was so glad to see his mommy.

Pray that McKayla's bottom will heal up without any infection and further difficulty. Pray that Madilynn's reflux will stop and she will be able to keep her liquid down. Pray for a smooth transition when the babies come home. Pray for Michael and Christine as they adapt to THREE newborns with a 2 year old in the house!!

Thank you for your continued support in prayer. We appreciate it greatly. You have all blessed us more than you will ever know by taking the time to intercede on our miracle babies' behalf.

JANUARY 22 UPDATE

JANUARY 22 UPDATE

(10 weeks,1 day)

37 weeks

The miracle babies are getting chubbier and chubbier. They are given 27 cal to fatten them up and help brain development but an unfortunate side effect is a horrible diaper rash. Two of their baby bums are so sore and are therefore, left to the air. They have changed baby wipes but have not yet found the right ointment to heal it quickly. They are all off CPAP and onto cannulas. McKayla is on 1.5 liter; Mackenzie is on 1 liter, and Madilynn is on 1.5 liter. All are in cribs but still propped up. None are ready yet to lay flat. 

 

Alarms go off here and there but nothing like it used to be. Mackenzie has had no bradies and no drop in heart rate in several days. She is staying awake longer and longer. The miracle babies started tummy time yesterday. The doctors are not too concerned about Madilynn's birthmarks. They will measure them and keep watch on them. Her liver scan was clear which means they are not internal. The angel babies are all off the caffeine shots now which had helped stimulate their breathing. They are now at the age where that is no longer necessary.

 

Christine says the twins are mini Michaels and that Mackenzie is her mini me. They all have Michael's eyebrows and attached earlobes. They love to be held by their daddy and are mesmerized by him according to mommy. 

 

McKayla weighs 5 lbs, 4 oz and is 16.7 inches long.

Madilynn weighs 5 lbs, 10 oz and is 16.9 inches long.

Mackenzie weighs 5 lbs, 3 oz and is 16.3 inches long.

 

It is truly amazing that McKayla is right there neck and neck with her sisters since she was diagnosed with intrauterine retarded growth syndrome because of her umbilical cord issues. God let her grow inside and outside keeping right up with her sisters. 

 

Michael and Christine took an infant CPR class on Sunday in preparation for them to be coming home in less than a month if all continues to progress well. 

 

Please keep our miracle babies in your prayers and Michael and Christine as a whole new journey is going to start when the babies come home. Pray for the little bottoms to heal quickly and not be such a discomfort to them. Pray that they will get to the point to be able to breathe on their own soon. Pray that mommy keeps healthy. Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers for our precious gifts from God!!

JANUARY 17 UPDATE

JANUARY 17 UPDATE (9 weeks, 3 days old)
36 WEEKS

On Sunday the girls had their two month vaccinations. Tis hard to believe the babes are two months already. Afterwards Madilynn and Mackenzie needed to increase their oxygen support which is fairly common after vaccinations. They also had eye exams which are very exhausting for the darlings. Fortunately they were feeling much better last night. These two miracle babies will be weaned back off their oxygen today. The dermatologist will be looking at Madilynn's birthmarks today. She has had multiple birthmarks pop out all over her body. They want to keep an eye on them. McKayla will be weaned lower on her CPAP. McKayla and Mackenzie weigh 4 pounds, 11.8 ounces and Madilynn weighs 5 pounds, 1 ounce. We often don't get an update when days are rough for the miracle babies because mommy is dealing with all the stress. Madilynn had multiple alarms go off in one hour a few days ago. Please pray for Christine. She has not been back to the house in ten days since we are fighting the flu here. She is at the hospital day after day and goes back to the Ron Mcd house every evening. Pray for confidence and peace for her when the babies come home. It is an overwhelming thought to come home with three babies potentially on oxygen and alarms. Thank you for your continued prayers. We stand in awe of God's amazing grace and miraculous works in the lives of these three miracle babies.

JANUARY 12 UPDATE

JANUARY 12 (eight weeks, five days old )
36 WEEKS

This week the doctors met with Michael and Christine for the babies' 60 day checkup! McKayla has now graduated to cpap. This is the first step to getting her breathing completely on her own. She is doing well. Today Madilynn took 30 ml by bottle and Mackenzie took 16 ml. They are getting the knack of sucking wonderfully well. They are all out of the isolettes now. A specific prayer request is for the miracle babies' eyes. Preemies are at risk for damage to their eyes from being on oxygen for so long. Pray that their eyes will not sustain long term damage. Alarms still go off occassionally and each baby takes 2 steps forward and one step back every now and then.  McKayla  weighs four pounds, six ounces.  Madilynn is four pounds, fourteen ounces.  Mackenzie now weighs four pounds, nine ounces.  She has finally started gaining weight regularly.    Thank you for your prayers!!

JANUARY 5 UPDATE

Note:  For those of you who have Facebook, I have started a FB group also for updates.  It is called Mcubed Miracle Babies.  Please request to join if you would like to follow on FB.

JANUARY 5 (7 weeks, 5 days)
(35 weeks)

Mckayla weighs three pounds, fourteen ounces. She is doing better and gaining weight and keeping her food down. She still needs her bed elevated since she is still on breathing support. She is not ready to be laying flat. She will be transferred eventually to a crib that can still be elevated. Mommy asked if she could hold Mckayla and Madilynn together. Mckayla has not been held with her sisters yet. That was approved and both babies loved to be together. Mckayla has a staph in one eye that they are treating with antibiotic cream and it is healing well.

Madilynn weighs four pounds, three ounces. She has been transitioned to a crib and is laying flat. She is learning to suck and will be ready to try a bottle in the next week or so. Her feeds have been reduced to thirty minutes which is the goal. Now that Madilynn is in a crib, Christine can pick her up and dress her and not have to ask permission.

Mackenzie weighs four pounds even. She had her bed lowered today as a test. She did well until the evening. She had a problem with her nasal cannula. They elevated her again and changed her cannula out. They cleaned out her nasal cavity removing a very large "booger". They cultured it to make sure it was ok. She was doing much better today. When she was flat she had two episodes of throwing up so she is not quite ready for that transition. Her blood count is low but she has been holding steady so that means she is making her own red blood cells so they will not do a transfusion unless absolutely necessary.

All the babies can be dressed now. The twins seem to have different shaped heads right now so they can be told apart. They are all starting to get the chunky cheeks like their big brother. All have attached earlobes....they get that from their Daddy. Their breast milk intake is increased regularly and the goal is to get from a 90 minute feeding session to a thirty minute session. Madilynn has been at thirty minutes for a few weeks. The other two are on course to reach that goal soon.

Christine said the doctors and nurses are wonderful and are like family. Because of that her experience with NICU has been very positive through all the ups and downs.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

JANUARY 3 UPDATE

JANUARY 3, 2018 (7 weeks, three days)
34 WEEKS

Two of our miracle babies are progressing very well.  Madilynn is now on CPAP being weaned to the nasal cannula and then to breathing on her own.  She reached a milestone by weighing in at four pounds, one ounce.  She needs to learn to suck so her mommy and daddy can feed her.

Mackenzie is now off her CPAP and being weaned off the nasal canulla so she will be able to breathe all by herself.  She has had no more issues with vomiting and her alarms rarely go off now.  She too needs to learn to suck so she can be fed by her parents.

Mckayla is having a difficult time. Her small and difficult beginning is probably contributing to her being just a tad behind her sisters.   She has had several bradys and had a very bad one after her daddy held her.  Four or five nurses and even the doctor were there trying to get her to breathe.  Her oxygen saturation dropped to zero and her heart rate dropped to fifty.  Even those these are fairly common in preemies, we would like to see her outgrow these soon.

We appreciate your prayers and ask that you continue to remember them as they come to mind.  We know that they are not out of the woods yet.  Since they were born thirteen weeks early their baby hood milestones will be delayed by at least three months.  An average baby sits at six months; they won't be expected to sit until at least nine months.  An average baby walks at twelve months; Mckayla, Madilynn, and Mackenzie will not be able to walk until at least fifteen months.

Their immune system will be weaker until they are at least two years of age and this will contribute to a bit more difficult time for them and their parents.  Things that other parents take for granted or don't even consider will be much more important and even critical for these three little miracle babies.

Thank you so much for all your prayers!!