Trick or Treat !!!

I have a ton of pictures to upload, but I just don't have the time. Brayden is sick. Earlier tonight he told me he thought he was getting the flu. I didn't think much of it. Then he was on the couch relaxing and threw up. Yuck. I put him in the shower and he proceeded to tell me "mommy, i told you i was getting the flu." Guess I should have listened to him. He doesn't have a fever. Maybe it was just something he ate. I really hope so. We definitely do not need Tyler getting sick.


Tyler's NICU friend Emory really needs your prayers. Poor lil guy has H1N1 and is back on the jet vent.

Wow. Didn't realize it has been a week since I posted. If you can't tell, I am very busy these days. it is crazy how much work one more child can add. I have a lot to update on....

Last Tuesday Tyler went to Riley per his pediatrician's recommendation to see a Pulmonary Doctor. She felt it was best just to get a second opinion and make sure everything was okay with his lungs. The appointment didn't go so well. The doctor wanted to take charge and change everything his NICU doctor had done. That didnt' sit well with me. He will not be going back.

Last Wednesday, Tyler went to Riley again to see a Pediatric Developmental doctor. Obviously, Tyler is going to be behind for awhile since he was born so early. The doctor was really nice, but I did not like what she had to say. I had mentioned to her that I would eventually like to breastfeed Tyler. Currently I am pumping and mixing the breast milk with Neosure and Simply Thick. He requires a special consistently (VERY THICK) so he can take a bottle. The doctor wanted to do a feeding study so she could tell me when he would be able to breastfeed. After doing the feeding study she preceded to tell me that Tyler was aspirating when just taking breast milk and also when he was on the nectar consistency. He is currently on the honey consistency. She felt simply thick is bad for babies and if he couldn't take a bottle with just breast milk, that he needed a feeding tube. That instantly upset me. That would be a HUGE setback. I listened to what she had to say disagreeing with her the whole time. As soon as I left the hospital, I contacted his NICU doctor. After talking with the Riley doctor and Tyler's pediatircian, Dr. Chua agreed with me. Tyler does not need a feeding tube. He is doing really well...eating well, gaining weight. Why fix something that isn't broken. I don't want you to think that I don't want him to get a feeding tube just b/c it would be a huge pain in the butt. I truely believe that he does not need a feeding tube. If he would get a feeding tube, that would be a huge setback for him. What if he had a feeding tube for a couple of months? Then he would need to learn how to take a bottle all over again. That was not fun the first time. I do not want to go through it again. If something changes and Tyler starts having more alarms or is having breathing problems, then of course this plan will need to be reevaluated. But as of now, the plan is for him to go back to the NICU end of this month (as long as they have room) to have a oxygen check. She will keep him overnight and see if he is ready to get rid of his oxygen. At that time if she feels he needs it, I'm sure Dr. Chua would do another feeding study. I'm sure Riley is a great hospital, but they just aren't for every baby. My sister said it best when she told me that Riley is treating Tyler like an average baby. Tyler is not an average baby. Dr. Chua treats Tyler like the individual baby he is. Tyler has fought so hard to be where he is now, and Dr. Chua was there with him pretty much the whole time. If you can't tell, we really love her. She is an amazing doctor :)

Tyler had a regular checkup with his pediatrician today. He weighed 6 lbs 8 oz. Everything is looking good. He also got his 2 month shots and his second synagis (RSV vaccine) shot. He won't go back to the pediatrician for a month! It is going to kill me not knowing how much he weighs.

Now on to the other two boys......

Jake is going to be FIVE in less than a month! Wow. Where has the time gone? It does not feel like it has been five years already. It makes me sad. My first born cannot be five already. Next year he will be in Kindergarten. :(

Brayden has had a major growth spurt the last couple of weeks. He is getting so tall. Changing every day. Still a major daddy's boy.

Josh is in a wedding this weekend. My mom is going to watch the boys so I can go and enjoy myself. Oh how nice it is going to be. I am really looking forward to it. There will be friends there I don't get to see often. I'm sure after an hour I will be ready to come home to the boys.

I have new pictures, I just need to find time to post them.

I better get to bed, everyone else is sleeping already.

Look how big Tyler is getting !






Jake just loves his little brother! He is a GREAT big help during the day.



We LOVE Mimi's molasses cookies!!! :)

Josh - home from a dirty day at work!



Craft time with the boys! We do this a lot during the day to keep them busy :)

Tyler went to see his pediatrician on Tuesday. I had discussed with her my concerns about Tyler having 5 low heart rate alarms. A couple of them he had turned that awful color. She contacted Tyler's NICU doctor and they decided it would be best to increase Tyler's oxygen from 1/8 liter to 1/4 liter. It has worked so far. He has only had one low heart rate alarm since. He does have thrush. Nothing major. Just gave him some meds to clear it up. His tongue looks horrible with all those yucky white spots on it. He weighed in at 6 lbs 1 oz. Hard to believe he started out at 2 lbs. He is going to Riley next week to see a Pulmonologist (lung doctor). The doctor isn't concerned about anything, just wants to have a specialist confirm that everything is okay. In a couple more weeks a physical therapis and developmental therapist will come to the house to evaluate him to see what kind of therapy he will need. Hoping he doesn't need a lot, but obviously he will need some therapy being born so premature.

Two of the best BIG brothers around......

Jake and Brayden absolutely love their lil brother and can't get enough of him!! I wonder if that will change when they have to share their toys with him?






And when Tyler gets a lil bigger, I am sure these two are going to have him laughing all the time!!! They can't wait and neither can I :)

Hello all :) Just thought I would let you know how things are going now that Tyler is home! He has been home for a week as of yesterday. Things are very busy so far, but going great. Having one child is easy, having two is a lil harder but when you have three children...OH MY! I hardly have any spare time. I feel like I am constantly changing a diaper, breaking up a fight between Jake and Brayden, getting the boys something to drink, feeding Tyler, picking up toys, doing dishes, folding laundry, etc. Thank goodness for DVR or I would never get to watch my shows. Jake & Brayden are doing great with Tyler. They love to hold him, kiss him, or just plain love on him :) They are going to be very protective of him.

Tyler had an appointment with his pediatrician last Tuesday. He weighed 5 lbs 13 oz and was 18 inches long. Dr. Reyes will see him quite regularly to keep an eye on his weight gain. He has to have neosure added to the breast milk for the extra calories and simply thick to make it extra thick so he can handle taking a bottle. Otherwise it comes out to fast and he chokes and turns that awful color. It is a HUGE pain to not be able to nurse him. It takes a lot of my time to pump so he can have the milk to drink out of a bottle mixed with the neosure and simply thick, but I will continue to do it b/c it is what is best for him. Hopefully in a month or so he will be able to nurse. That would really help free up some of my time. He had an appt with Dr. Francis last Wednesday. Dr. Francis is the doctor who did his hernia surgery. it was just a quick appointment to make sure everything looks good. It does, so he will not have to see Dr. Francis for 6 more weeks. He will go back to the NICU in a couple of weeks to hopefully get weaned off of the oxygen! That will help a bunch. It stinks having to wheel his oxygen around the house just to move him to another room. But I do it without complaining. Least I can do. This lil guy is a figher. It is truly a miracle he is here with us today! :)

I am soooo glad to have him home with us. It feels so good to have all of my boys under the same roof. I am not used to being home all the time. As you know I went back to work after both Jake and Brayden were born. I had planned before Tyler was born that I would not go back to work. After paying daycare for three children, I wouldn't be making any money. So, it has been quite an adjustment for all of us. It is really nice to have this extra time with Jake and Brayden also. They have been through a lot the last 11 weeks and they definitely needed this time at home with me.

Thanks for readings. Hope you enjoy the new pics!!