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Baby and Casey Update

5 Comments 22 January 2009

I’m going to try to make this relatively quick because it’s late and I’ve had a crazy busy day, but I wanted everyone to have an update on things. In general, the babies continue to do very well with everything though they all still have their little issues. Lila’s leg sore is looking much better as are the Ryan and Jack’s belly buttons. Brooklyn, Jack, and Ryan are no longer on the Billy light (the light that helps them get rid of their jaundice).

We got a bit of GREAT news today when the doctors sonogrammed the babies’ brains. They do this to determine if there were any “brain bleeds”. These brain bleeds are known to cause cerebral palsy and are common in premature babies. Click here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy) for more information on Cerebral Palsy. Evidence of a few brain bleeds in each of the babies would not have been surprising, though would not guarantee that they would have CP. The bleeds usually occur in the first 4 or 5 days of life and after that, the risk is greatly reduced. Well, the GREAT news is that none of the babies had any brain bleeds!!

There is one issue that I would like to ask for everyone to add to their prayer list. They have picked up a faint heart murmur on little Lila which means that one of her valves is leaking. Again, this is something that is common in premies, but can develop into something very serious, including heart surgery. Click here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_murmur) for more info on heart murmurs. Please pray for Lila’s heart to heal up on its own, without intervention from the doctors!!

Casey is still dealing with high blood pressure, swollen calves, and a lot of soreness from her incision though she continues to make good improvements every day. She spent most of the day at the hospital and got to hold Jack again. She got to hold Lila last night for the first time while Eliot was there – pictures coming soon – and tomorrow she should get to hold Brooklyn. Ryan and Britton should get their turn by the end of the weekend!!

I know I’ve said this a lot, but I’m going to keep on saying it – we can’t believe how blessed we have been through this process. Yes, having five babies all at once is incredibly stressful and at times overwhelming. However, there are so many things that could have happened along the way to make this journey exponentially more difficult. We are continually in awe of God’s work in our lives through these five little miracles!

More info and pics to come sometime this weekend!

God Bless,

Ethan

http://www.joneslife.net/

The Fab Five

First Contact – Jack William

4 Comments 21 January 2009

Casey got to hold one of the babies for the first time last night and guess who the lucky baby was? My main man, Jack William…what an experience! They took him out of his isolette and placed him on Casey’s chest, skin-to-skin, for about 30 minutes of good cuddle time. He just settled right in and stayed perfectly content for the entire time. As you can imagine, Casey had a hard time giving him back!!

The nurses call this kind of contact “kangaroo care” and once all of the babies are healthy enough, they will all get the same treatment. Jack is the healthiest so far with Lila and Brooklyn in competition for the next spot. The goal is to hold each baby for 30 minutes to an hour every day as it has been proven to be beneficial to both baby and mama’s health. I know, shocking news, right? Thank God they did a study to tell us that it is healthy for a mom to hold her baby!!

There will be a few more pictures uploaded to the media tab of the website later today.

God Bless,

Ethan

www.JonesLife.net

The Fab Five

Update on the Babies…and oh yeah, Casey, too!!

5 Comments 19 January 2009

Babies, babies, babies!!! Did I mention we have lots of babies?? Wow! That’s all I can say to sum up the last couple of days…WOW!!!

Alright, so here are some updates on the Fab Five:

– Brooklyn has been the most relaxed of the five…she’s just totally chill everytime we go up. She was moved to an isolette (incubator) to help her maintain her fluids and heat. Eventually, all of the babies will make this move and will stay in their isolette for several weeks.

– Britton is going to be our little beach bum – you can tell she has really enjoyed freedom from the womb! Several times when I’ve been up to the NICU, she’s been completely stretched out like she’s laying out at the beach…too funny! She has a little issue that popped up today that they are watching pretty closely. She has a raw spot on the inside of her right leg that was probably caused by some urine getting between her legs. With her skin being so sensitive, it caused a really nasty looking sore to develop. They are trying to keep her legs open so it can heal up and not get infected. She has also been in competition for the loudest and has already been awarded the most high maintenance award. The instant she has a wet diaper, this girl is letting the nurses know!!

– Jack is also a little chill bug. Everytime I’m up there, he is perfectly content and chilled out! He doesn’t fuss, he doesn’t squirm, he just lays back and takes it all in. He is probably doing the best of all of the babies which is surprising because usually the premie boys don’t do as well as the girls. He is the only one so far to take a feeding and actually digest the milk. That’s my Jack!! Did I mention how big his hands are…HUGE!! ;-)

– Lila Addison is also pretty relaxed. She doesn’t make much of a fuss and doesn’t seem to be bothered by much. Her jaundice has been worse than the other babies so they have had her under special blue lights to keep it under control.

– Ryan is in competition with Britton for the loudest one of all. She is the only baby who was making noise in the operating room and she hasn’t stopped yet! They are keeping a close watch on her belly button as it appears to be developing an infection. The doctors have put her on IV antibiotics and are keeping the area moist with some triple antibiotic cream. They are not too concerned at this point, but are really monitoring her closely.

In general, all of the babies are doing really well for their age and weights. They all have little issues that they are watching, but the doctors are very happy with how they are handling everything. Everytime we go up to the NICU, the nurses give us a full report on each baby – they really throw a lot at you! By the time this is all over with, Casey and I are going to be able to take over…yeah, right! The babies are expected to remain in the NICU until we near their original due date, March 27th. It’s a long time, but they are in really good hands so we are not complaining. There is no question that these babies would not survive if it weren’t for all of the amazing care they are receiving!

For her part, Casey is still dealing with a lot of pain and discomfort. Her belly is extremely sore, her legs are still swollen, and it is still really difficult for her to do just about anything. It is a team effort to get her up out of bed and then back in again. It is frustrating for her because she isn’t able to stay on her feet for long which means she can not go up to see the babies very often. We made it up twice today for a total of about an hour and a half. Ladies, can you imagine only being able to see your newborn for an hour and a half every day? And not being able to hold them?? Not cool…

The good news, however, is that Casey will get to hold a couple of the babies starting tomorrow. They will do skin-to-skin holding with the two healthiest babies for about 30 minutes each. Studies have shown that this contact helps the babies grow better and helps Casey’s milk to come in better. It also allows Casey to come into contact with the germs that the babies are exposed to which will cause her body to build up antibodies to fight these germs. Casey will then pass these antibodies to the babies through her milk…AMAZING! Unfortunately, since there is no medical benefit to the babies, I won’t get to hold them for a few more days.

All in all, life is very good being a father of six! The days have been hectic and stressful, but it feels really good to know we’ve got five healthy babies working overtime to enhance the quality of our lives for years to come. It’s only been 3+ days and these five have us hooked!

Please continue to pray for Casey’s quick recovery, the babies’ health, and the well-being of the NICU doctors and nurses!

God Bless,

Ethan

http://www.joneslife.net/

Faith

Advice You Don’t Normally Get From a Doctor

5 Comments 18 January 2009

We got some prayer advice from an unexpected source yesterday afternoon…the neonatologist, Dr. Hodges, who was in the operating room and was responsible for the babies’ care for their first two days. What a blessing to have a Christian man making decisions for our babies when their lives were in such critical need! He gave us a few things that we should be specifically praying for and so we invite you to join us in lifting up the following:

– Development of the babies’ ability to eat well and process foods on their own. The sooner they can do this, the sooner they can pull out the IV’s.
– Protection from infection. This is one of the greatest dangers to the babies’ health. The more IV’s they have and the longer they have them, the higher the risk of infection.
– Clarity in decision making and general well-being of the NICU doctors and nurses…please don’t forget about these amazing people who have provided their love and expertise to keeping our babies healthy and growing!

Thank you all so much for your love, prayers, and support throughout this journey! The babies are all doing very well!!

God Bless,
Ethan
www.JonesLife.net

Eliot

Mama and Big Sis Visit the NICU

5 Comments 18 January 2009

Casey and Eliot finally got to meet the new additions yesterday afternoon. Eliot got to go first – I took her up mid-afternoon for her visit. She didn’t have a whole lot to say, but you could see the wheels spinning in her mind. She was excited, for sure, but not certain what to think about these five little things -they don’t quite look like babies she’s used to seeing! It will be very interesting to watch as she processes everything that happens over the coming days, weeks, and months.

Casey and I went up around 7:00 last night for Casey’s first visit. She was pretty emotional when she saw the first one, Baby A. As she went around to each of the bedsides and talked to them all, the tears were replaced with smiles as the nurses debriefed her on their condition. She was a little scared to touch them (as was I at first) because they just appear so fragile and tiny!

Here’s one quick story about the day of delivery I haven’t yet had a chance to share. After the babies were born and I had gone up to the NICU to see them for the first time, I went back down to the recovery room to check in on Casey. At that point, I hadn’t seen her since I left the operating room with Jack to make the transfer upstairs to the NICU. When I walked into where Casey was, with tears in her eyes, she asked if the babies were ok. With adrenaline still coursing through my veins I exclaimed, “yes, they’re doing great!” She responded with the pleading emotion I think any mother would have in her heart given what she’d just been through, “Really? You’re not just saying that? They’re really OK??” By that time, both of us were a mess of emotions and the tears were rolling as I told her, “yes, sweetheart, they’re all ok.”

God Bless,

Ethan

http://www.joneslife.net/

The Fab Five

We Have Names!!

1 Comment 18 January 2009

We finally had a chance to get the names figured out. We’ve known the names for quite a while, but didn’t know who was to get which. Now that Casey had a chance to visit the NICU, we have it figured out. So, here they are:

Baby A – Brooklyn Faith
Baby B – Britton Grace
Baby C – Jack William
Baby D – Lila Addison
Baby E – Ryan Elizabeth

All day yesterday we tried to find a reason to attach one of the names to one of the babies. Baby B and Baby E were making the most noise in the NICU so we were trying to give them the names were the feistiest. Baby A meanwhile was the most relaxed so we were trying to give her the daintiest of the names. In the end, however, it became apparent that we were really stretching to do this so we decided to go completely random with it.

Other than Lila and Jack, here’s how we did it. We put the three remaining names on different slips of paper, put them in a cup, and pulled one out at a time. At the same time, I had different cards with the babies’ letters and weights on it. As Casey pulled a name from the cup, I pulled a card from the stack. We matched them up and made it official!

Lila is a different story. As I was taking Eliot around to see them all for the first time, she didn’t have much to say about any of them. I think it was all a bit overwhelming for her because she was uncharacteristically quiet. However, when we got to Baby D, Eliot blurted out, “this one is Lila!” The reason she gave: because she is the wildest one! Throughout the pregnancy, whenever Casey was having a problem with one of the babies being in a painful position, Eliot would say that it was Lila that was causing all the trouble. Other than that, we have no idea where that came from or what she meant by it, but we decided it should stick.

I haven’t gone up to the NICU since then to officially “christen” each of the babies – that will happen this morning -but the nurses will be very excited to drop the letters! It will be a lot of fun to watch how each one “grows into” their new names!

God Bless,
Ethan
http://www.joneslife.net/

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Baby and Casey Update

First Contact – Jack William

Update on the Babies…and oh yeah, Casey, too!!

Advice You Don’t Normally Get From a Doctor

Mama and Big Sis Visit the NICU

We Have Names!!

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