New Head Gear

Saturday brought more changes. Christopher swapped out the oscillating ventilator for a biphasic CPAP Friday evening. Wazzat you say? How about a different type of breathing apparatus. It means that Christopher is trying to breathe by himself with less assistance from machines. Baby steps!

Christopher shows off his Vader helmet


Kyle seemed a little quiet today. His O2 level dropped dangerously low or "desatted" while I was watching. Temporarily turning up his incoming oxygen resolved this fairly common problem.

Happy 3 weeks!

The boys popped into this world 3 weeks ago Thursday. This makes them 27.5 weeks gestational age. Both Kyle and Christopher are at full feeds of 9 ml of mother's precious milk every 2 hours. Both boys weigh in at 830 g. So now it's an even race to the finish as they bulk up before they come home.

Christopher tackles Daddy's finger



Kyle Rests (For a Change)


The spotted white bean bags leaning against the boys are lovingly called "frogs". They are used to support little body parts and also help to control flailing which consumes precious calories.

NICU Daily News

We've spent the past 6 days in the NICU watching the boys sleeping, eating, being changed and sleeping some more. Here's how we pass the time.......

Sleepy Boys
Taking advantage of breaks in between periods of holding, the boys assume their favourite positions.


Busy hands in the NICU
Christine giving her first sponge bath while nurse Tori assists.


Daddy changing his first diaper in the incubator
Come on - this is tough! You must remember to put one hand in each door or the nurses will laugh at you. And you have to fold the preemie diapers to make them smaller so that they fit the little guys properly. Mommy's already a pro. :)

Oh Jake......

Early Wednesday morning Jake passed away.

He was our smallest baby but he was our biggest fighter. Jake was also the biggest troublemaker. He was always keeping the nurses on their toes. And his brothers would follow his lead. He was the first to pull out his breathing tube. When Jake got switched over to a high-frequency oscillator ventilator, his brothers followed suit.
He also started this whole ball of wax rolling. When the doctor examined Christine she felt Jake's knee and that was the tipping point that resulted in a C-section.

Mommy and Daddy love you Jake.
We will miss you forever.
Goodbye

NICU Babies

Last night I touched the boys' hands for the first time. Their skin was so soft compared to my hands that I almost wasn't sure I could feel it.
I read to them so that they will get used to my voice. I had just begun to read to them in the womb. For their first book I choose The Hobbit. Adam has a copy and I thought if it was good enough for Tolkien's children it should be good enough for mine.

Today is their birthday! At least it's their 1st week birthday........

Christopher and Kyle have been bumped up to 1 ml of mother's milk every 4 hours now. Jake was having some issues so he remains on 1 ml every 6 hours. The great news is they are slowly gaining some weight back.
Our little boys are troublemakers too. Christopher liked pulling off his sensors so often they've placed him in preemie confinement.


Kyle is the best behaved right now. He just likes to wave his arms and legs around. He's sleeping peacefully here.


And good old Jake! He's on a different ventilating system now because he pulled his first breathing tube out. I'm sure that caused a bit of work for the nurses. Jake's bruises caused by his early jailbreak into this world are slowly healing.

Love & Hope

Sorry for the large gap between posts. I intend to backfill over the next week or so.

Our boys made a surprise appearance early Thursday morning at 24 1/2 weeks. Christopher John (710 g), Kyle Joseph (700 g) and Jake Mortimer (640 g) were born at 3:11, 3:12 and 3:13 AM July 16th.

Today marks their week 25 milestone. We hope that they will be able to come home with us by their expected due date of November 1st. Christine and I have been spending much of our time in the Mount Sinai NICU where Christopher, Kyle and Jake are closely monitored by their guardian angels, the nurses of the NICU.

And they are so small! I've been afraid to touch them because their skin is not yet ready for the real world and the possibility of infection is so likely. But today I will touch their hands - hands that are the size of my fingernail. And I will read to them, a task of love that I had just started the week before they were born. I had asked Adam yesterday to pick out some books for his brothers from the store at Mount Sinai. I remember reading the same books that he chose when Adam was a baby. Excellent choice Big Brother!

Hang in there boys. We love you. Happy 25 weeks!