Three days old already!

It's Friday morning, and it's hard to believe three days have already passed since the arrival of our boys.

Colby continues to do well, and is even lifting and turning his head! We are all quite impressed - we even got it on video. He's such a strong baby, and we hope his brother Gavin has just as much fight, and stubbornness in him. Colby is a bit jaundiced, so is now working on his tan with his cool shades. He continues to get IV nutrition, but is also getting breast milk through a tube. We will work on nursing over the next couple of weeks as he is a bit young to be able to nurse really well. Steve spent some kangaroo time with him on Wednesday, and I took my turn yesterday. He is not supposed to be away from the bilirubin light for very long so we "hold" him in the incubator more than anything. We are very pleased with how well he is doing, and look forward to taking him home in a few weeks.

Gavin's status is a bit more complicated. His first 24 hours were very scary for us, so scary that we had him baptized early in the morning on the 13th. There is a very dramatic difference between the health of the two babies, and it really baffles the doctors. He started out with a hole in his lung that required a chest tube, but that was resolved yesterday. He has also had fluid in his lungs, but that has been treated too. His liver function was questionable in the beginning, but he is not jaundiced so that indicates that his liver is working. He is not urinating so that indicates a problem with his kidneys. His heart, brain, and bowels seem to all be working, at least as best as they can tell. He is on a ventilator, but can breathe some on his own. He also has trouble maintaining his blood pressure and was on three medications to help him keep it up. This is important so that all of his tissues can receive the proper amount of oxygen. Last night he was weaned off of one of the medications, and he is still stable this morning - good news! Basically, the doctors can not figure out what is wrong with him. At first they thought he was suffering from the infection that sent me into labor, then they looked at metabolic disorders, genetic disorders, viral infections and the list goes on. The best news is that he is still with us, and is fighting hard to stay here. He is on a lot of medication, receives lots of red blood cells, and is very closely monitored. We have lots of hope for him, but at the same time are very worried about his condition. We know the doctors are doing all they can, and they keep us up to date concerning his treatments, but it's hard for them too since they can not pin-point what the exact problem is. He is such a little trooper, and we feel that he will continue to fight to stay here with us, and his brother.

We have had all of our family members here with us over the last couple of days, and we know that has helped Gavin too. I will be discharged tomorrow, but hope to stay an extra two nights if they have the room.

Please continue to keep Colby and Gavin in your thoughts and prayers, and their doctors and nurses too. They are doing such a good job, but we feel their frustration at not knowing exactly how to treat Gavin. We are worried, but hopeful, and every 24 hours that Gavin is stable is huge!

We appreciate all the calls, emails, and offers of help! Right now we are taking things hour by hour and trying to spend a lot of time in the nursery with the boys. Visitation with the boys is very restricted so unfortunately Colby and Gavin may not be able to meet very many people until they come home.

Please, please, please continue to pray for Gavin (Colby too, but he's just doing so well right now!). I think they both know how much they are loved, but every little bit helps, and we want Gavin to know how much we want him to stay here with us!