Pizza Party!!

 

 

At the Banner Desert NICU, the doctors refer to a homecoming as a "pizza party," to avoid using the term "going home" and possibly putting a jinx on a baby soon to be released. After nearly four months in the NICU, Mckenna Ruth Burns has joined her twin brother at home! It was a long road for our sweet little girl, and we are truly blessed to have her alive and well. Mckenna was born on Dec. 12 2009, 3.5 months early, and came home on April 7, 2010, two days after her Connor. She showed a true fighting spirit throughout her stay at the NICU, overcoming more adversity and trials than any newborn baby should ever need to encounter. During a three week span in January, we wondered if we'd ever see this day, but our Heavenly Father has blessed our family to be able to bring both babies home, without oxygen support, feeding tubes, or any major problems. Mckenna had a couple occasions when her premature lungs collapsed, and the NICU's most aggressive ventilator machines were used to keep her alive.

Our miracle baby also overcame a heart surgery, four separate blood transfusions, 26 chest x-rays, a mild brain hemmorhage, pneumonia (Jan. 6 - the scariest day of the journey), two self-extabations when she pulled out her ventilator tube (requiring emergency surgery to place it back in her chest) and nearly three and a half months with oxygen support- mostly with the ventilator. Needless to say, she kept the doctors, nurses, and mom and dad very busy. There may be some sedatives, steroids, and drugs in the NICU that Mckenna didn't have, but we're not sure what they could possibly be! Due to excessive ventilation support, Mckenna's vocal chords are damaged and hardly audible, but we're confident that will also improve with time. That was the bad news.. the good news is that she is alive and healthy. All this was well worth it for Mckenna, and we are so happy to have her join Connor and mom and dad at home! We love you little girl, and are so happy to have you in our lives--Thanks for hanging in there!

Together Again!

 

 

 

 

Final NICU family picture

Homecoming Party!! (for Connor)

After 115 days in the NICU, we're finally taking Connor home! Born at 1 pound 10 ounces, he came into the world on December 12th, 3.5 months early. It wasn't easy, but he overcame an infection at birth, more than a dozen chest x-rays, two blood transfusions, feeding tubes, dozens or even hundreds of scary "brady's" (brief moments of passing out due to low heart rate-- most of the time while eating), and a lot of stress to be healthy enough to leave the NICU. He made it through frustrating times of ventilator tubes and C-paps to help him breathe, but now he's a perfectly breathing baby with good lungs and vital organs. His eyes and ears are functioning normally. He currently weighs 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and is a healthy little baby. He's gone through so much, and he makes mom and dad so proud-- Welcome home little buddy, we love you!!

Womb Mates

First Santa, now... the Easter Bunny!!

Quite possibly the only family in the Banner Desert NICU to spend enough time here to have pictures with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny!

Happy Easter!!

Three and a half months old!

The kids are now officially past their due date! They are a little more than three and a half months old, and their original due was last week, around March 25th. Connor currently weighs 6 pounds 13 ounces, and Mckenna weighs 6 pounds 8 ounces. They both look like real babies at this point, which is super exciting, considering where they came from.

Both babies are still in the NICU, and Mckenna is now off oxygen completely! She's been oxygen free now for about a week, and has been holding on just fine. She's no longer in critical condition, and we have little doubt that she'll be fine with everything. Her eye doctor said that even the eyes aren't too much of a concern, but she still gets regular check-ups on them. She still doesn't have much of a voice, because of the long experience with her ventilator tube. Her cries are hoarse, which makes us feel twice as bad when she cries! Connor definitely has a voice and he's not afraid to use it. Our little milkaholic no longer passes out while drinking the milk, but it does seem like he'll pass out from crying if we don't give him milk. We've found that he is only really happy when a) he's drinking milk, b) when he's cuddling with mom while drinking milk, or c) when he's sleeping with a full stomach of milk.

You have to be careful, because even under scenario a) he's given me (dad) strict rules to follow. If I go too fast, he gets frustrated. This can prolong the feeding, because he needs time to burp and rest a little at times. However, if I go too slow, he also gets frustrated, because he wants the right amount for his appetite. Since he eats so frequently, he's almost always eating because it takes about 45 minutes for one feeding. Sometimes he even goes on marathon feedings, where he will take a bottle for 30 minutes and then want to breastfeed with mommy. Once this starts, since he loves his mommy so much, it's almost impossible for him to quit until he falls asleep. I like to compare him to a fish, because if he could eat all day, he would. Then there's Mckenna...

Our little Mckenna has quite the opposite problem. We can't really get her to drink much at all. She still gets most of her milk through the feeding tube, but will drink a little bit herself some of the time. If only the two could merge appetites, things would be a lot easier for mom and dad!

Both kids are super fun, and we love them so much. At this time while we are preparing to bring them home, the doctors want us at the hospital as much as possible in order to take on as many of the duties as we can. I think sometimes the doctors and nurses must just sit back and laugh as we scramble around the room, grabbing bottles, pacifiers, diapers, wipes, blankets, etc.. while dodging and stepping over the wires and probes that are attached to the kids that monitor their oxygen levels and heart rates. It's a zoo in the NICU, but we feel extremely blessed to have two healthy kids that were born 3.5 months early.