Tired, but So Happy!

Taylor getting closer! We have more pics of Kamryn now, but we will get more of Taylor on the day she comes home :)

Believe it or not, almost 30 years ago Kerri came home in this outfit! Since Taylor is coming home later, we thought we'd let them both wear it home.



Hello all. Sorry it took so long to post again. Kamryn did get to come home Monday around 6:30 pm. We got to the room with her and sort of looked around like, "Okay, now what?" As I wrote before, we did get to room-in with her at the hospital the night before. That was fun, but completely tiresome as the room was not very quiet. Our first night home went well. Kamryn finally went to sleep around midnight, and slept until like 8 am, except of course to eat once. Last night she didn't hardly sleep at all, because we think her tummy was hurting, since she hadn't had a 'movement' in a couple of days. We gave her a suppository today, and she went almost immediately after. She is completely spoiled already, because she loves to be held. We have taken her to see Taylor both days since being home. We think the bonding is good for them, and they seem to enjoy it. Taylor should get to come home this weekend. Pray she can get off the canula first. If not, she will have to come home on oxygen. She is getting really close to getting off of it, and mostly requires it just when she's eating. We are ready for her to be with us here, because it is a little extra stressful and heartbreaking having to leave her there. We can't go to the hospital together as much now, either. Hopefully we only have a couple more days like this, though. Taylor will have to be on a monitor like Kamryn, and she will also have an additional monitor which tells us the oxygen saturation in her blood. Even though the monitors can be a burden, I have to admit it really helps us sleep soundly at night. It sounds loud enough to wake the dead if they stop breathing for 20 seconds, or their heart rate slows too much or increases too much. It is truly hard to believe that the time we have all been praying for for our girls is here.

COMING HOME!!!

The words we've been waiting so long to hear. We were told that if Kamryn remains on the tract she's on right now, she should go home Monday. She will be sent home on an apnea monitor, which we are actually excited about, because it should give us a little more peace of mind while we sleep. Taylor is still working on feeding from a bottle. She's doing well, but still has a little ways to go, and we're also trying to ween her off the cannula she's on. Hopefully she can be home soon as well. Pray that this would be so. Pray for wisdom for us as parents to be able to raise them to be the most Godly girls we can, and just be good all around parents. Thanks for all your prayers, for this day is one we have longed to see- if it weren't for your prayers, I'm not sure we would have ever seen this day!

3 months old!

August 1st Marks the girls' 3 month birthday. (August 5 marks our 8 yr. anniversary- we got two awesome gifts this year!) They've come a long way and been through some hard spots along the way. Not to say it's over, hopefully the rough spots are, but pray for their continued health. Taylor is back to herself now. She's still on IV fluids and antibiotics, but will hopefully be back up to full feeds and through with the antibiotics in the next few days. They turn 39 weeks gested today. All along they told us that they aim for the original due date as a time to send them home- that will be next tuesday, so it remains to be seen. They are both doing well. Taylor is still on the cannula, but is being weaned down slowly, and she's also taking bottles. Hopefully their release dates will be close to the same. Prayer requests now would be- 1)Ability for both to eat whole bottles at every feed without having their heart rates slow down much, 2)That Taylor's strep b is gone for good, 3)Kamryn to gain weight, 4)Reflux issues with both, 5)For them to be able to come home soon, 6)For Kerri and I to be ready- physically, spiritually, mentally. We cherrish all your prayers and encouragement. Thanks again so much to everyone. These girls are a testimony to how God answers the prayers of His saints!

True Miracle!

I had to write this down while it was fresh on my mind. Our doctor, who is a strong christian man, just called a little bit ago. After he told me what changes he was making with the girls today, he said, "let me ask you something. Who are your prayer warriors." I said, "well, I have to admit I don't even know them all." I did tell him about all our missionary friends, church family, our family's prayer chains, our friends... we had no idea really how many prayer warriors we had. He had told me before when Taylor had been sick that he knew we had some awesome prayer warriors. This is the part that brought tears to our eyes. After asking us that, he said he had never heard of a baby surviving a second bout with group b strep. I, of course, thanked him for not telling us that last week. He was going to do more research to see what he could find out about recurring strep b. We mentioned before that strep b can be fatal in infants, but hearing how fortunate she really is struck a chord on our heartstrings. Praise God Almighty!!We are overwhelmed with His mercy, grace and love. It shows us all the more that He is in complete control! We know God is already using these girls for His glory, which is what we prayed for their lives since before they were born. We know He has big plans in store for them. Taylor is doing much better, but still needs your prayers, since she's still not 100%. Another side effect of strep b can be brain damage, also. We can't know right now whether that's the case, but pray it's not. "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." James 5:16- Thank you prayer warriors!

Doing Better!

Taylor and Kamryn are back in the same room once again! Taylor is doing remarkably better, but still not quite 100%. She weighed 5lbs 12ozs tonight. Just to show how much she was swollen, last night's weight was 6lbs 4ozs, believe it or not, and some of the swelling had already gone down by then. The nurse told us the other day that she was fortunate to be in the hospital already, because she got sick so quickly and Strep b has a very high infant mortality rate. We know God has been taking care of these little girls, because they have been very fortunate with some of the things they've faced. Taylor also got put back on the nasal canula and is doing well as of tonight on it. We're praying that by in the morning, our sweet Taylor will be acting more herself. Kamryn is still a little peanut at 4lbs 10ozs, but she continues to do really well, taking full bottles when she eats one every other feeding. We put a couple more pics on so you can see how big they're getting. Please pray for Taylor's health to get continually better, and for Kamryn to not have any setbacks. Thanks you so much for praying. God bless!

Still Swollen

Thank you all for your prayers for Taylor. She is still struggling and her poor little face is swollen so badly, but her vitals are showing she is doing better. Her blood sugar is back down to normal, and her heart rate has slowed down, also. Her vent settings are lower than in the beginning, and she is breathing more on her own again. They did change her antibiotics up a little today, because her blood culture came back positive for strep b, which is her second bout with that. Almost a month earlier to the day, she was sick with srep b. The doctor said that is something that usually doesn't reoccur, so they were surprised to see that. She's having to go through a lot right now, as they are drawing blood pretty often to check things and even had to give her more blood today. It has been pretty hard these last two days. I think worse on us than usual, because we had started letting our guard down, thinking everything bad was behind us. Tonight, we do feel better and are more at peace. Even though we have given both our girls to God, it doesn't make it easy to see them suffer, but God has given us comfort and strength during this time. Kamryn continues to do well and took a whole bottle for the first time this morning, so it's only a matter of time before she's able to come home. We pray Taylor can catch up quickly after she gets well, so we can all be united again. As always, God is good and we praise and thank Him for all of you who are faithful to pray for our family.

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.