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Well, the day finally came that we have all been praying so long for. We are a little late in posting the update, but Kambry came home on July 30th!

 

 

Kambry had been having an oxygen test twice a week to see how long she could keep her O2 sats up without having O2. For several weeks she had been going for 2-5 minutes. We couldn’t bring her home until she could go at least 20 minutes. We knew she was going to be staying at the FGH NICU for a while.

Reality set in and we began preparing.  We knew she would be coming home with O2 so we had to learn how to run all of the equipment and check the monitors. It isn’t hard at all…but was and is still scary sometimes.

Fast forward to today. Both girls are doing amazing and Kambry has settled in so well. She has finally decided that snuggles with mom and dad aren’t so bad. She and Brooklynn have tummy time together and then fight over who gets to nap with daddy.  Both girls sleep pretty well, and let us get a little rest at night. It is amazing to see them now, at home, and to realize that God is still in the business of performing miracles. These girls are a true testament to His power.

We still have a long way to go before her lungs are ready to work totally on their own. We see a pediatric pulmonologist in a couple of weeks, as well as a urologist to keep a watch on a small liver issue.

Thank you for every thought and prayer that you have all sent up. We would not have been able to complete this journey without them. Although our journey is really just beginning, we have come so far! Please keep us and the girls in your prayers as we continue to settle in to life at home with twins!

Well, it’s been a long 4 months, but the girls are back together again.  Kambry got to come back home to Forrest General on Thursday and we couldn’t be happier.  For the first time in since February, we’ve had the girls in the same place so that we could see them both together.  With Brooklynn being at home over the last month and a half, it’s made our traveling back and forth to Jackson a bit more difficult and also limited the number of times we got to go up there.  All of this has been resolved with Kambry being back home now and we can take Brooklynn to see her anytime we want.

Kambry still has a bit of time to spend in the hospital before we get to bring her home, but at least now she is close to us and we get to see her daily.  We continue to pray for both of our girls daily and hope that Kambry can get better soon so that we can have them both at home.

For those of you still keeping up here, we thank you for all of your continued thoughts and prayers for our little family.

So, just to fill you all in on some of challenges we have and to let every one know that we aren’t trying alienate ourselves or any of you, but this is a challenging time for us.

You can find more info here: Coming home from the NICU.

 

I know it’s been a while since we have updated you guys and for that we are sorry. We have had a lot of things going on since our last update and, honestly, we just haven’t thought about it in a while, or when we do think about it, we are busy with other things and just don’t take the time to write a post. With that being said, where to begin?

 

The Softball Tournament

Our Softball Tournament was a huge success. Many thanks to our church family and friends who helped with organizing the tournament, as well as the many others who helped with running it the day of to make sure everything was a success. We had more teams in the tournament than we had originally planned to have; we were shooting for a 10-team tournament and got 12. It was a very long day of softball for this old man, but well worth it.

 

The Girls

Brooklynn:

Brooklynn is HOME!!! She got to come home May 7, 2017 after 118 days in the NICU. We are so blessed and she is such a joyful baby. Though her journey through the NICU has come to an end, her journey through life is just beginning. We are so thankful for the many prayers from every one of you and for the many blessings from God Almighty! Please continue to keep our sweet Brooklynn in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to provide her care here at home.

 

Kambry:

Kambry has had some ups and downs. She is still in the NICU at UMC in Jackson, but we are hopeful to get her back to Forrest General soon. She had to have eye surgery May 3, 2017 because of the increased amounts of oxygen she has been on with the ventilator. They did a follow up on May 8 and said that her eyes were looking much better and they expected her to recover well after having the surgery. She will have another follow up on May 22. If all goes well on the 22^nd we will start to push for her to get transferred back to Hattiesburg so that she will be closer to home and we can get to see her more often. With Brooklynn being home now it is harder for us to get to Jackson to see her on a regular basis. She has been taken off the ventilator and is now back on High Flow nasal cannulas; she is doing very well with this and continues to get better each and every day.

 

We thank you all so much and please know that Amy and I could not have made it this far without your thoughts and prayers. It is the prayers that each of you send up that keep us strong and continue to push us forward in this seemingly futile journey, but by God’s grace and the continued efforts of each of you, He gives us the strength to forge ahead and has given us two miracles that will continue to bless us for the rest of our lives.

 

We love you all so much!

Our church is putting together a Softball Tournament as a benefit for our girls. If you live in the area please come out and enjoy a day at the ball field with us.  If you are interested in registering a team you can contact Scotty, his number is on the flyer.  There will be a home run derby on Friday night and an all day double elimination tournament on Saturday.

 

Brooklynn says she approves!  Looking forward to seeing y’all at the ball field!

Just wanted to give a quick update since it’s been a couple of weeks.  Both the girls are now off of the ventilator and on non-invasive ventilation.  They were able to pull Kambry off the vent last week and she has been doing well with breathing semi on her own; the tube in the picture here is her feeding tube.  We are so thankful for both of our little girls and ask that you please continue to pray for them, as well as the two of us, as they continue their journey.  We are looking forward to possibly getting Kambry back to Hattiesburg with her sister soon.

 

Will update again with more pics as soon as we have them and we thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers through this time.

The Girls were 2 months old last thursday!!  Our prayers are being answered everyday.  We are so blessed to have these little angels and continue to pray for them often.

Brooklynn has been doing very well, she has been off the ventilator now for quite some time and we get to hold her frequently.  She has found her voice and uses it often to let us know when she’s not feeling well or not wanting to be messed with.  She is currently 3lbs 2ozs.

 

 

Kambry is still on the ventilator, but the Doctors are hopeful that we will get her off the vent in the next week.  They are also starting to consider sending her back to Hattiesburg to be with her sister! Kambry now weighs 2lbs 13ozs.

 

 

 

Both girls are doing very well considering the circumstances in which they entered the world and the progress they have made is an answered prayer each and every day.

 

 

 

Well, the girls are officially 8 weeks old today!  Brooklynn has been doing very well the past few weeks; Kambry has improved, but still has a little ways to go.

Brooklynn has been on the non-invasive vent for a little over 3 weeks now and is starting to get her voice about her.  Mom was holding her yesterday and when she got tired of it she was quick to let us know.  She is now crying!  A sound neither of us were sure we would ever hear and we are both rejoicing to hear it now!

Kambry has been up and down on her vent settings, but in truth she is doing very good with all the little problems she has had over the past few weeks.  We are still monitoring her PDA each and every day; it will continue to be in her plan of care until we get her to a place where it isn’t an issue.  She was not real happy when we got there Friday night to see her.  She dropped her O2 sats and her heart rate a few times in the course of an hour.  However, Saturday and Sunday she was doing very good.  They stopped her feedings Sunday afternoon and gave her a blood transfusion, but have since resumed her feedings and she is doing good today.

 

She has been enjoying her feeding times and showing it by sucking on a pacifier while feeding.  This will benefit her later when she no longer gets fed through the tube and can take a bottle as she will equate sucking on the bottle with the pacifier while feeding.  Every day is a new journey for both us and the girls.  With each new day we get another blessing, another miracle, and just realize that much more how much your prayers and thoughts are doing for our little family right now.  We thank you all and love you all so very much!  We hope that you will continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers, and we will continue to tell the girls story and post pictures and updates.

Brooklynn has been very busy this past week. She is now 2 lbs 5 oz.  She has had lots of cuddle time with mom and dad. She is awake and aware of her surroundings more and more. Her eyes are so wide and take in everything around her. Friday made 2 weeks that she has been on the non-invasive nasal cannula. We were prepared for her to only be on this for a short time before she got tired or her lungs needed more help, but the girl proved us wrong! She is still going strong.

We had a small scare last week when her doctor thought there may be an infection somewhere. After several tests, it was determined that she just needed a blood transfusion. They decided to stop feeds for a couple of days and let her belly rest. She started feedings again yesterday and is doing well. Even with all of that going on, she was able to stay on the nasal cannula.

 

 

Sister got her first bath last night. Her nurses sent us pictures and it was quite apparent that she was not at all happy about them caring for her in such a way. She has quite the personality already, and doesn’t mind letting you know if she is unhappy. It is such a blessing to have nurses that care for her so well and that take the time to share these moments with us.

 

We continue to pray that very soon Kambry and Brooklynn will be rejoined. Kambry is doing really well in Jackson. She is up to 12 cc’s of milk every 3 hours! This is huge for her, the most she has ever gotten.  Hopefully, this is helping to make her stronger and soon she will be on a nasal cannula like her sister. I spent a few hours wth her yesterday. She smiles at the nurses and keeps them on their toes.

 

It is so tough having them separated and even worse not being able to see Kambry every day. We covet your prayers and thank God daily for all our prayer warriors. These girls are a testimony to answered prayers!!

So, we are through 6 weeks, 45 days to be exact and Kambry is doing well other than her PDA issue.  I was at the hospital this morning for Rounds and

the physician is very proud of her improvements thus far.  She was on 21% oxygen when I got there this morning, which is essentially the same thing as we atmospheric oxygen volume.  She had her first poopy diaper this morning in a few days so we were really excited about that.

After getting her Ultrasound results back this afternoon, we are still a little concerned about the PDA, but the physician feels that there is no need to rush a decision on surgery.  He would like to give her a few days and see if she improves on her own.

She has gained a bit of weight, she is now 2lbs!  

As always, we thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers, and we ask that you continue to lift us up in prayer as we continue on to tomorrow.