Update on Taylor

Taylor's blood culture came back positive for infection, it turned out to be MRSA staph. It started as a red place on her cheek and before we knew it, had made her really sick. This morning her whole face was swollen, so she didn't look good when we saw her. However, her white blood count looked much better this morning and her heart rate had gone down into the 150's to 160's. She also had to go down for a ct scan this afternoon, which was hard to go through and probably wore her out. The results came back showing cellulitis(sp?), or a swelling of the tissue, on her face, which is what was suspected, and which is among the best of possible scenarios. She is still pretty lethargic today and obviously not feeling well, but hopefully the antibiotics are working and we'll see results soon. Even if they aren't, we know your prayers are, so thanks again so much.

Praises and Prayer Requests

We do have praises. The girls have both tried bottle feeding and did well with it. Kamryn is taking two bottles a day right now, and Taylor was taking one a day. Kamryn also took her own nasal canula off the other day, and they kept it off because she did so well. She is now requiring no breathing help! Praise the Lord!
The reason I say Taylor was taking one a day, is because she got sick suddenly today. She was fine this morning, then all the sudden this afternoon her heart rate jumped over 200, she was lethargic, and she started having spells of apnea. A red spot on her cheek started swelling, so the Dr. suspected infection in her cheek, he called it cellulitis(sp?). By later this afternoon, she had to have her breathing tube put back in and was put back into the critical unit, where they were when they were first born. She's on strong antibiotics and received blood today, so hopefully she will improve soon. She went down so quickly it was scary. Please keep her in your prayers, as well as Kamryn, who is without her sis again. Pray she can stay well, also. Thanks so much to all of you for your encouraging comments and prayers.

Together Again

Together for the first time since they were born, Kamryn and Taylor are now in the same crib! It's pretty sweet. They just lay there and look at each other. The nurse said they were fussy at one point, and she turned them toward each other, and when they looked at each other they just both calmed down. She got a picture of them holding hands today. Can't wait to see that developed. Anyway, They are both over 4 pounds now, Kamryn at 4lbs 2ozs and Taylor at 4lbs 14ozs. Taylor's MRI went okay the other day. She had a pretty hard time with it, as they are loud and the room is freezing. It took over two hours from the time they took her, so she was worn out. The report said that everything basically looks the same as what they had seen from the ultrasounds. The good news is that it's not worse. Of course, we hope to see progress, but hopefully that will happen with time. Please continue to pray for that. Everything definitely could have been a lot worse, so we've already seen God's hand in this, just as in so many other ways. Thanks so much for all your prayers! Kamryn is doing well on the nasal canula, and they have turned down her air flow twice already. Taylor is doing well, also, but is progressing on her own schedule, as always. Hopefully both of them will be able to try bottle feeding soon. Pray they will catch on to that quickly, because the sooner they can do that, the sooner they can come home! Thanks again to each of you for being a part of their lives in such a special way by praying!

Awesome Praises!

Kamryn looking at mom

Taylor holding my ring- remember when it was on her arm when she was born?

Taylor putting up her dukes

Mom enjoying a little Kamryn time


Dad and Taylor dancing

Kamryn is now also on the Canula and doing great. She's requiring only room air levels of oxygen and breathing well. Pray she continues on this good tract. She has also finally started gaining weight, after staying the same and even losing a few ounces, and is now 3lbs 14 ozs. Taylor has continued to gain weight, now at 4 1/2 lbs, and is also continuing to do great on the canula. She is requiring only a little oxygen, also. Taylor is also in an open crib, and should start trying a bottle by the end of next week. Kamryn will hopefully follow soon after on these milestones. We are blessed to have my (Ted) parents in town visiting, also. We had a great time tonight with the girls. We were able to hold them to help calm them down since they were restless. I was kind of dancing a little with Taylor and as I was doing so, we had some music on in the background, and Steven Curtis Chapman's song, "I will dance with Cinderella" came on. It was pretty special. Kerri had a great time with Kamryn, and we caught a really cute picture (above) of her just enjoying her mom, and vice versa. Their eye exams this past week were good, still showing immature eyes, but there is no damage as of yet. Pray this will continue to be the case. Also pray that both have good results from their head scans on Monday. Taylor will have an MRI, and Kamryn will have another ultrasound. Please also continue to pray for them to stay healthy and well.

Over 4 lbs!

That's right, we have a baby now over 4 lbs. Taylor is 4 lbs 2ozs. Kamryn had a little setback and plateaued there for a little while, but she has started gaining weight again it looks like. She is now 3 lbs 7ozs. She is doing well on the vent, but really needs to put on some weight, so keep her in your prayers. She has some ground to make up this week, as hopefully she will be taken off the tube later in the week. We think she's ready, as she has already taken it out herself a couple of times. Taylor is doing well on the nasal canula, and will hopefully be weened off it soon as well. They are both looking great and are feisty. Also pray for Taylor this week, as she will begin the process of compressing her feeds, as she has been on continuous feeds, in order to get her ready for bottle feeding. Thanks to all of you again for your prayers and encouragement.

2 months old and making progress

Taylor got moved to a nasal canula today, which is the last step before completely breathing on her own. She seems to be doing great at it. She is weighing 3 lbs 14 ozs, and Kamryn is 3 lbs 4 ozs. Kamryn lost about 6 ozs on the CPAP, because she was working so hard at it. She's doing well back on the tube, and is on the lowest settings she can be on, so hopefully she will be ready soon. Please pray for her weight gain and lung development, as well as Taylor's continued progress. They are now 34 weeks gested as of Monday, and will be 9 weeks old tomorrow. They got their first tub baths today, and we got to help. That was really cool, and they seemed to enjoy it. Please remember the docs and nurses in your prayers as well, and thanks again to everyone for all the encouraging comments and of course all the prayers.

Kamryn Reintubated

Kamryn got completely worn out on the cpap late last night, so she had to be taken off and have her breathing tube put back in. Taylor is still doing good, and both their blood-gasses looked good this morning. We are so proud of them both, because they go through so much each day. Kamryn weighs 3 lbs 4ozs, and Taylor is 3 lbs 11ozs. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. It is getting harder to be patient, so pray for that for us, also. Each time we have a new nurse it's stressful, because she doesn't know our babies. Some are not as gentle as we like, also. There are great nurses here, but it would be easier if we could stick with our favorite few. Pray for them both to continue to gain weight and get stronger. Pray also for Kamryn to be able to be ready for cpap again soon. We are planning a meeting with some parents at the Ronald Mcdonald house this week in hopes of reaching out to them and sharing the love of our Savior. Keep that in your prayers, too. Thank you all so much again.