Updates!!

A lot has happened since my last post. . . sorry, I've been a little busy :)

Owen

First for the updates about Owen. He has been bouncing back great from having whooping cough. When he was released from Oakland Childen's, we were very worried about him. He still had a cough and he was pooping about 12 times a day (very runny poops). He slowly started acting like his old self which eased my mind. Last saturday he gave us a little scare. He was very lethargic, had a fever of 101 degrees, and was just not himself. We decided that we wouldn't take him to the hospital because the hospital up here knows nothing about his condition. Instead, I called Oakland Children's and was able to speak to a GI doctor. She agreed that the hospital up here would not be good for him. She told us that he was probably dehidrated because it was so hot, he was sweating, and he was pooping a lot. She had us put him on pedialite and up his feeds for 24 hrs. The very next day he was perking up - Thank God. Since then he has been getting better and better. He is no longer coughing and his poops have slowed down to 5-6 times a day. . . Yay!!! He is just awesome :)

His aunt Kassidy is teaching him how to clap . . . lol. Here is a picture of him clapping and laughing

Isaiah

So, I am not sure if I have mentioned this but, every other week I go in for a test called a fetal fibronectin test. This test lets the doctor know if there is a possibility of labor occurring in the next two weeks. Each test has come back negative, until now. This week I went in and the test was positive. My doctor is assuring me that a positive result does not mean I am going into labor in the next two weeks. However, it does mean that it is a possibility and we need to watch closely and prepare. So, yesterday (friday July 23rd) and today (saturday July 24th) I went into the hospital for steroid shots. I had four of them all together spread 12 hours apart. These shots are to help Isaiah's lungs to be strong and be ready for delivery. With Owen they were only able to give me one shot before I had to deliver. So, we are hoping these will help Isaiah if he does decide to come early. As of today I am 33 weeks and 5 days. This is so much better than 25 weeks but I would love to avoid any NICU time if it is possible. So, we are praying that we can make it to 35 weeks at least. 36 weeks would just be awesome!
Fun Family Times

Today I got to spend some time with my sister and my mom. We haven't been able to hang out, just us three, without the babies lol. Both Heath and Matt worked in the morning but they had the afternoon off. So, we had them watch the kids while we got pedicures!!! It was great fun. And, mom had never had a pedicure before today. . . I have no idea how that happened! lol Anyway, I tried to get them to branch out with the color but, for some reason, I am the only crazy one with weird colors on her toenails lol. Take a look :)

Our before picture. Mom is on the left, Kassidy is in the middle, and I am on the right

Our after picture. Mom is on the left, Kassidy is in the middle, and I am on the right.

All Too Familiar

On July 7th Owen was re-admitted into Oakland Children's Hospital at 2am. He has has a bad cough for about two weeks. I had taken him to the pediatrician three times in the last two weeks and the ER in Sonora twice. He began to have fevers, diarrhea, and vomiting. He couldn't handle his formula so we put him on pedialite. He was on pedialite for 3 days and lost 1lb. So, our pediatrician called the GI doctors and they said that he needed to come to Oakland to be checked on.
Since in Oakland: They have checked to see if he has some sort of bacterial infection in his stomach. So far there are no signs in the tests that indicate he does have a bacterial infection. They believe he just has a virus that he has to fight off himself. So, as for the cough, there isn't much they can do. The goal for now is to get him back on his normal feeding rate. When he can tolerate his normal feeding rate while maintaining his weight, we can go home. They think it will take at least a week, maybe two.
It is definitely difficult to be here again, especially since we are not in the same area of the hospital as before. However, we did get a visit from his night primary nurse last night. It was so great to see her. She was so happy to see him (not in the hospital of course). Today we are expecting another one of his primary nurses to come and visit him. I have missed them all so much. I only wish they could follow him while we are here.

a picture of Owen sleeping in his crib in the hospital. That big thing on his arm is a diaper wrapped around his IV. He kept trying to hit it against things so they had to wrap it all up. We call it his boxing glove. When they first put it on he was so confused. Now he tries to eat it all the time :)