Apology... Three Weeks Home!

We want to apologize for not keeping up with the girls. We have been so busy and so crazy since we've been home. It is a lot of work, especially when both of us are working full time.

We are home and doing good. It's been three weeks home now and it's finally getting into a routine! They are gaining weight and eating really well. We are being over-cautious about germs, so we are really not having visitors or going anywhere. We've had help, which has come in really handy. Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers and for help. Once this flu and RSV season is over with, things will be different and we will be back to doing things and having people come visit.

The girls are 4 1/2 months now, which makes them slightly over 1 month gestation. The oxygen has been weaned down to 1/32 of a liter and might be coming off completely in the The next couple weeks. A nurse is coming to our house twice a week and making sure all is well with their O2 levels and weighing them to make sure the right amount of weight is gained. Kandis bypassed her sister in weight for one weigh in, but Kenedi caught right back up. Kandis is sitting at 8 lbs 9 oz and Kenedi is 8 lbs 10 oz. They are eating really good, sticking with the 2 1/2 to 3 hrs in between feedings during the day and then letting us sleep a little at night and going 4 to 4 1/2 hrs. It's very nice.

Because we are busy, we will updating when we can. Thanks for keeping up with us and please keep us posted on what is going on in the outside world!!!

1st Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! So we took a couple pictures at the Hospital before we leave, so the nurses could see the Halloween shirts! They are a little blurry, but here are a couple of them in the onzies!

When we got home, we put them in their costumes. Kandis is a Giraffe and Kenedi is a Zebra. They did not like taking pictures, but they did look so cute.

Going Home!

We are home! Picture above is in the hospital as we are getting them ready to leave. The girls all of a sudden started eating really well and intern they pulled the feeding tubes. They had to go three days without the feeding tube and still gain wait, which they did. We were staying at our house more and more, so we were home one day and the nurses called and said that we were needed to come in and stay overnight for two nights and we are able to go home. So, we had our own hospital room and we had to take care of them completely, with a nurse there as a "just in case". We did our two nights and then we were able to go home. Though we will miss the nurses, we are so excited to go home. We packed them up with all our stuff and put them in their new car seats and we drove home. It was so crazy having them home with us.

Kandis Taylor weighed 7 lbs 6 ounces when we headed home!

Kenedi Rhyan weighed 7 lbs 10 ounces when she went home!

This is when we stayed in the overnight room. They were in two small beds and we ended up staying on one small twin bed. It was two crazy days, but totally worth it!

Fourteen Weeks!

Girls are doing good. They are upping the food constantly. Kandis is now eating when she is awake by bottle. She is doing good about eating as well. Kenedi is a little bit behind. She is still only eating with the Speech or Occupational Therapists, by Dr's orders. They started her on a medication for Reflux, which should help with the eating as well. We just started that yesterday, so we will see how that will go.

Both girl's oxygen are put down to 1/10 of a litter. This is just another step down for them.

We went to T or C today for TJ's Dad's birthday. Had a relaxing day so far and we are going to go back home tomorrow. It was a nice get-a-way!

13 Weeks & 5 Days

Kandis Tayler rolled over the Six Pound mark today, which she gained faster than Kenedi. Kenedi Rhyan sits at 6 lbs 7 oz today. What a great day!

Three Months!

The girls turned 3 months old today. Time sure flies. They are getting so big and we can not wait until they are able to come home. We are not sure when this is going to be, but we predict another month or so. Here is their birthday pictures!

Shawnah with both girls after full tummies! Kenedi Rhyan with her Cow! She is bigger than the cow now!

Kandis Tayler with her Giraffe. The giraffe is about as long as her!

13 Weeks!

Kandis Tayler

Kenedi RhyanThey are both gaining weight and doing good. Kenedi hit SIX pounds last night. That is crazy, she's gains a pound in less than two weeks! She is getting 53 ml, which is slightly more than 1 & 1/3 oz of milk every 3 hours. Kandis is not far behind at 5 lbs 8 oz. and is getting 48 ml of milk every 3 hours. They are still taking some of this by mouth and not feeding tube. Kandis is going strong, still taking the bottle or breast feeding 4 times a day, which is half of her feedings. Kenedi they slowed down a bit to give her a little more time. On Thursday, they gave her a swallowing study, where a camera goes down and sees what she is doing, because she was choking more than she should. They found that she is holding the milk in the back of her throat and then trying to breath, which doesn't work. So, they are going to give her a little more time to get adjusted. The Occupational Therapists are going to feed her once a day by bottle and then Shawnah breast feeds once a day, because that seems to be ok. Shawnah breast fed both girls at one time this week, which was a first. It was complicated and difficult to get situated, but was really cool once they were settled.

The oxygen has changed a little. They are both at 1/8 liter, and they are off the blended oxygen and on straight oxygen. This is nice because when it was blended, it shoved water up their nose from the moisture from time to time, which doesn't which seems to help with the spells. They really haven't had too many bad spells in the past couple weeks. They still have a couple here and now, but that is about it. Plus, they can go home on oxygen that is not blended, so it is just another step.

They both got head scans again this week, which they both came back normal. We were explained that this was huge. Most premature babies have some sort of head bleed, but ours never have. It is amazing.

Shawnah's birthday was Monday, so we ended up having a couple people over to celebrate and to watch Monday night football. Was a lot of fun. Something different. We are trying to do as much as we can now, because soon we won't be able to do this type of stuff. Today, we went around and did errands and then finished up setting up the girls rooms and stuff. It looks great!

12 Weeks!

The Baby Shower/Pamper Party was a lot of fun. It turned out exactly how I wanted it to be. It was great. Thanks to all who helped out getting it all set up and going. It was perfect! We got some great stuff and had a ton of fun. Thanks to all who came, it was good seeing everyone and having a little relaxation after the past 2 1/2 months of crazy. TJ's sister, Toni, made an amazing cake for the party as well, which turned out so great. It was perfect as well. I'll get my pictures on my computer and post them.

We also got the girls room mostly done. We're still missing a couple things, but we'll get them here soon. Here is what it looks like. TJ did the painting so great. Our good friend Jesse helped do the chair rail and the great canopies over the bed Shawnah found online. It is exactly what we wanted.

The night of the shower, we called the hospital to check in on the girls, and we found out that Kenedi had hit 5 lbs. These past two weeks, they just shot up in size and weight. It is crazy. Kandis took an extra week, but she hit 5 lbs today. So, now we officially can fit in car seats! They are eating like champions, both taking breast feeding good. Kandis is doing better on the bottle feeding. Taking some whole feedings by bottle. Kenedi is slower at learning, but she's working at it.

We ended up not being able to see the girls until Tuesday, which we still played it safe. They both ended up getting a stuffy nose like us anyway! Must have gotten the germs before we started staying away. Sorry girls!

We went to the State Fair and Rodeo on Sunday evening with TJ's parents. Was a lot of fun. We saw Jamey Johnson after the Rodeo, who was terribly boring. He didn't even smile or talk to the audience or nothing. Just sang in his almost monotone voice. Blah. The Rodeo was great though. Plus, Shawnah got her turkey leg, which she craves all year long, and TJ got his fried cheesecake, which is amazing if you've never tried one.

Tonight, we went to the UNM/NM State game. We had VIP passes to the tailgating party put on by Lobo Radio, which was awesome. Free food from Nothin' but Noodles and free beer! Can't go wrong. We only ended up staying until half time, because it was getting so late and we had to be back to bathe the girls, but State ended up winning! Yea!

11 Weeks!

We moved to the West side of the building. Originally it was because they were cleaning floors in the room next to ours and they needed the room. So, we moved to the other side, but then found out that our girls are well enough to stay over there. The West Side of the NICU is not technically the Intensive Care Unit, it is Extensive Care Nursery. This means that they got another upgrade. They got to stay in the "cage" beds, but just moved over. Little more room and close enough together.

They grew some this week. We are at 4 lbs 8 oz with Kenedi and 4 lbs 2 oz with Kandis. They are taking food like crazy and the breast feeding is going well. They also started to take a little bit by the bottle. They seem to like the idea, but can't seem to get the whole swallow and breathe thing down! The oxygen is about the same, still working on getting them to breath heavier.

TJ and I both got sick this week. We planned on taking Thursday and Friday off of work and come home to get ready for our Shower/Pamper party, but didn't get a lot done because we were so sick. Plus this made us unable to go and see the girls. It was really hard not seeing them the past couple days, hopefully we'll get over it so we can go love on them. The Shower/Party is later this evening, I'll let you know how it went next week! So excited and should be fun.

10 Weeks & 1 Day

I know we said we were going to post once a week , but today was a such big day for us!

Shawnah got to breast feed for the first time with Kandis.

They oxygen was turned down enough for her to try it. She is now on 1.25 liters of oxygen, so she was able to try breastfeeding. It was absolutely amazing. Totally worth pumping for this long.

She did so good too. She latched right on and began sucking without a problem. She worked at it for a good 20 minutes. A wonderful step for Kandis.

They tried Kenedi on the bottle today as well and she did great. She took her whole feeding! She had a couple little choking spits, but otherwise, she did wonderful.

Forgot to mention yesterday, the feeding are down to giving them at specific times, making them want the food and not being constant. Kandis is getting 38 ml over a period of 1/2 hour, every 3 hours. Kenedi is the same schedule, but getting 39 ml.

Ten Weeks!

So, this week was a good week for the girls. They both hit 4 lbs!!! Yea. Kenedi was first, of coarse, hitting 4 pounds on Sunday evening and Kandis was on Thursday. They are just trucking along together, just about the same pace!

This was also our first week that we got the girls together. Shawnah got to hold them together and they completely loved it. They felt around and enjoyed each other. Getting to know each other again after two months of being apart.

Then, Kandis got off her ventilator and is on the cannula. Here are both of them together with just the cannula, which give a constant low setting of oxygen. Kandis is doing better on this than sister is. They are both at the same 1.75 liters of oxygen, she caught up to Kenedi quick. Picture is taken today.

The girls were put into the same bed space on Monday as well. They are now closer together, making it easier to hold them both.

We had a great time at the lake last weekend. Was a short trip, but well worth it. We came back Sunday evening late and worked on the baby's room on Monday. Trying to get the house ready for the shower. We went to the Ronnie Milsap concert tonight. It was really good, but short. He doesn't play for long, that is for sure. He was good though.

9 Weeks!

So we decided that we are going to update the blog every week now. The every day thing is hard to keep up with, so once a week should be good.

The girls had a great week. They are growing and growing. They are getting baths every 3 days now, which is so nice. It is Shawnah's favorite time.

Kenedi tried her first bottle on Thursday and did not do well. They are still small, so it wasn't surprising. She can suck like crazy, but she just can't get the suck, swallow and breathe thing going! They are going to wait a week or so and then try it again. We'll see how she does then.

We decided last minute to head down to the lake today. We didn't end up leaving until early afternoon, but we are glad we came. Needed a little break!

2 Months!

Yea! The girls are 2 months old! We are so excited that time is flying fast enough that they are getting so big!

8 Weeks & 1-3 Days

First off, we want to appologize for not keeping up with the blog better. We are just busy and time splits away from us.

We went home again this weekend and even stayed Monday night. TJ's Parents and Sister and Brother-in-law were in town, so we got to spend some time with them. Being home is so nice, makes you really miss it when you're not there. It's just not convenient like the trailer is.

Not too many changes for the girls in the past couple days. They are gaining weight still, constantly. Kenedi is up to 3 lbs 11 oz and Kandis is at 3 lbs 5 oz. They are just going and going. This weight and the fact that she can hold her own temperature (with clothes on) let Kenedi upgrade to a new bed! Instead of the isolate that she was in, she is now in an open air crib. TJ thinks that it looks like something a zoo animal is kept in, but we don't really care, because it's a good sign!

Then, Shawnah was out of the room, and came back to find TJ sitting like this in his chair...

So, she figured he was watching his little girl sleep, because the blankets were still over him and figure he wanted to keep it dark in there for her. So, she let him be for a bit and then remembered that she had her camera. She decided to get a picture of how cute he was with Ms. Kenedi. She figured she'd also sneak in to get his face without him knowing. Little did she know, this is what he was doing...







He was passed out cold! This was taken with the flash on, which he didn't wake up to. She even left him alone for a bit and nothing. Shawnah went and showed all the nurses in the room before he woke up! He's one tired Daddy!

8 Weeks!

Today was a big day in so many ways. First off, they are eight weeks. Can't believe that they are eight weeks old. Has been a crazy adventure.

Secondly, they got their first baths this morning. They both loved their baths, both relaxed and enjoyed the warm water. Shawnah got to bath both of them, which was so nice. TJ took a bunch of pictures!

Here is Kandis getting her bath, she stretching out to let us clean her. Here is Kenedi, also stretching out. (Look at that big ol' Belly!)

Then, Kenedi got upgraded to the cannula, which is just a small hose that goes in her nose. This does not give her breaths of air, just oxygen that is through the nose. It looks a lot better too. Plus, she is much easier to move her around. We can get her out of her bed by ourselves now. It's so nice. Kandis is not far behind, hopefully. We also got to see her face for the first time without anything thin attached.Plus, they got them put clothes on for the first time. We got matching shirts from TJ's sister (Thanks Toni) that says "I can't wear Pink everyday." They are perfect for Shawnah who swears against Pink!

Here is Kandis in her first outfit.

Here is Kandis in her first outfit.They got their weekly pictures as well...

Here is Ms. Kenedi with her cow.And here is Ms. Kandis with her Giraffe.All is all, this was a great day! A lot of good upgrades and changes. Yea for 8 weeks!

7 Weeks & 5-6 Days

Oh my goodness. The girls shot up in the past two days. Not sure if the Nose prongs helped out, but the weight gain was amazing. Kenedi gained 6 ounces in two days, putting her at 3 lbs 8 oz. Kandis gained 4 oz, putting her over 3 pounds at 3 lbs 2 oz. We officially have two 3 pound babies. They are getting a lot of food, so it doesn't surprise us, but its nice to see the growth.

They are still on continuous feedings because of their reflux. The doctors told us that they wanted to get the respiratory under control first, then they will start switching the food around. They also got eye exams. This was their second ones, the first was was too early to tell anything. The verdict this time was about the same. They are too premature, but looks good as of now.

We got to hold them in her arms instead of on our chests for the first time. It was so much better, we could see them and they could see us. Was great day!

7 Weeks & 3-4 Days

Just doing the growing that they need. The girls are becoming easier to move around and hold in our arms. It is great that they are truly stable.

Kenedi hit the 3 pound mark. She weighs 3 lbs 2.6 oz. She gained a bunch.
Kandis is not far behind, weighing 2 pounds 14 oz.

The weight gain is steady and constant. They really like Mom's Milk.

7 Weeks & 2 Days

We got back from Red River today. We went up on Saturday afternoon, taking one four-wheeler in the truck and towing a trailer with another. We had issues with the battery here in town, but we took it down to Checker to see if it was the battery or what. They said it was our charger and they sold us another one to charge the battery to use it. So, we took the charger with us to do it up there. We got there late, and just relaxed. The next morning, we planned on taking the four-wheelers up Mount Wheeler to have a little fun and get away. Well, the battery still didn't work. Wouldn't take a charge. So, we ended up just taking one. It was a lot of fun and we got to relax a bit. We hung out that evening and then got up to come home today. It was a nice change of scenery. We missed the girls, but it was worth getting away a bit.

7 Weeks & 1 Day

Kandis went on the Nose Pap today, joining her sister. Kenedi is doing well and is getting her oxygen lowered more each day. They are both gaining weight regularly and we are able to hold them more and more.

Here is Kandis on her Nose Pap. Look at those big ol' eyes.

Here is Kenedi, the hat hold the tubing on to them. Both of them have big eyes.

7 Weeks!

Here is Kandis on her Week 7 picture...Though you can't see much of the body, you can see the head and compare it that way.

Here is Kenedi with her Cow. The same thing here, you can't see much, but you can see she's grown.

6 Weeks & 6 Days

Kenedi got to get moved back onto the Nose Pap. Again, this is almost the same as the tube in her throat, she is still getting the breaths she needs at a specific rate, but she looses more air and she has to breathe a little more on her own. This will be a big help. So far, she did great today.

Kandis shouldn't be far behind.

6 Weeks & 4-5 Days

Went to the morning 'rounds', where they discuss each baby. Each nurse goes in and is joined by the Doctor that is on for the day, the Nurse Practitioner, a Pharmacists and a Charge Nurse. They just go over each baby and let them know what is going on and make plans if there is anything to be done. They decided to start slowing weaning down the oxygen and the rate at which the air is given to the girls. Kenedi is a little higher, because of the fall back when they tried the Nose Pap on her. So, Kandis, because she is already a little lower on her settings, they are going to try her on the Nose Pap tomorrow if all goes well today. So, that is a good sign.


They are gaining weight like crazy. They even upped the food because they are digesting it well. Kenedi is now getting the continuous feeds at 8.5 ml. per hour and Kandis is getting 8 ml. They even have little guts that hang out over their diaper. It's so cute. Kenedi is at 2 lbs 14 oz. I'd say by Saturday, she'll be at 3 pounds. Kandis is not far behind at 2 lbs 11 oz. She'll hit the 3 lb mark probably next week.


Here is Kandis, passed out hard. Can't really tell, but she has her pacifier in her mouth, but it's hanging out because she's so sound asleep.





Kenedi is also sleeping hard here. You can see how chunky she is!

6 Weeks & 1-3 Days

Been a couple days since I've been updating. We apologize for those who are religious about checking on the blog. We've been catching up with work and finishing up Shawnah's finals week for school. She has a break for school for awhile. It is just too much for her to deal with, especially with the better the girls are getting. She is going to want to spend as much time as she can with them. TJ is still doing classes and working, crazy for him to. Guess, it is preparing us for no sleep when the girls come home!

Sunday we slept in so late, until almost 10. That was so nice. It made us get back to normal. Have felt better ever since. We stayed at home for two night this weekend and it was nice to relax. TJ's mom ended up spending all day Sunday with the girls, so we relaxed a little bit more. Plus we went to a friends and went through all her daughter's old clothes for our little ones! It was exciting. Got so much stuff. (Thanks Carlie & Jesse)

There is not much change for the girls. They are growing and gaining weight like crazy. Because they are on continuous feeding, due to their reflux, Kandis is getting 7.5 ml per hour and Kenedi is getting 8 ml per hour. Instead of giving them all the food at one time every two hours, they are getting food constantly, just measured out by the hour. Besides that, they are steady. Their spells have dropped a lot, where they are not having any issues with them. If they have spells where they drop their oxygen levels, they pull themselves back up without nurses or us having to do anything. We are able to hold them more often as well, which is nice.

6 Weeks!

The girls are a Month and a Half. It is crazy that time flies when you look back at it, but it sure goes slow when you are living it day to day. We had a couple visitors today, including a couple from out of town, plus TJ's Mom came up again. It is nice to have company.

The girls got their weekly pictures...

Kandis Tayler:

Kenedi Rhyan:

5 Weeks & 5-6 Days

Kenedi is 2 1/2 lbs. She has gained even more, she even has a little gut that is hanging out of her diaper! It's great.

Her sister is not far behind, sitting at 2 lbs 5 oz. Kandis also got a new breathing tube today. The one she had was too small for her, so she got upgraded to a bigger one. When the put Kenedi back on hers earlier this week, they just put the bigger one in.

We went home today, that way we could catch up on the house work and laundry. Sleeping in our own bed is nice too. Also went to dinner with some friends and ended up hanging out at the house after. Was a fun and relaxing night.

5 Weeks & 4 Days

They are both gaining weight still. Kandis has hit 2 lbs 2 oz, so she is up a little and Kenedi is up to 3 lbs 6 oz. They just keep on growing. Nothing new besides their weight today.

Had a couple issues with a nurse who was taking care of them. Didn't like the condescending way she was. We ended up talking to a charge nurse who said she would take care of it. We then was set up with the Nurse Manager, who wants to meet with us on Friday after work. We'll see how that goes. Otherwise, the staff at the hospital has been amazing.

5 Weeks & 2 - 3 Days

They ended up having to put Kenedi back on the ventilator tube. The nose pap was just not enough for her to keep up with breathing. She was having to work too hard at it and intern not getting enough air. I figured she'd only last a couple hours on the nose, but she did really good for a little over two full days. The doctors say that it is a good sign for next time. The fact that she lasted two days was amazing for her size and age.

They are still both gaining weight and growing like crazy. They have come to settle down a little bit more than before. I think the extra food is helping them.

5 Weeks & 1 Day

Today the doctors/nurses took the tube out of Kenedi's throat to help her breath. They put her on one that goes into her nose, but not down to her lungs. This helps her try harder to breath. Though it is still helping her along, she is able to breath out of her mouth on her own. Plus it gets the big patches that held the tube in off of her face. We can actually see those little cheeks, well they take after Shawnah, so they are big cheeks! Can't really see them in the picture, but they are definitely there!

They are starting to such on little pacifiers as well. The nurses told us originally that they might take a bit to start sucking and figuring out how to do it all, but they both took them great. Kandis' has to be held in her mouth because of her tube still in, but Kenedi is going to town on hers!

They weighed the girls again last night. Kandis has hit the 2 pound mark! Yea! She weighed in at 2 lbs 1 oz. They are looking to start her on the nose air instead of the tube in the lungs either tomorrow or Tuesday. Kenedi is gaining weight like crazy. She gained 3 oz in 2 days. She is now sitting at 2 lbs 5 oz.

It's back to the trailer for us to start another week.

5 Weeks!

We spent last night at home. It's nice to be able to do that! We just relaxed last night and slept in this morning. We are going to visit the today, but come back home to stay another night here. We have a BBQ to go to at a friends' house, so that should be something different for us.

They are getting older! Yea! Here are the pictures of their weekly cow/giraffe visits!

Kandis & her Giraffe:


Kenedi & her Cow:

4 Weeks & 5-6 Days

Two days in one. Not much changes going on yesterday and today.


The feedings were upped one more time. Kenedi is on 13 ml and Kandis is getting 12 ml every two hours. This is making them grow. They were weighed and Kenedi is 2 lbs 2 oz and Kandis is 1 lb 15 oz. They are getting stronger and stronger. Spells are starting to decrease more and more, which helps with their breathing.


We looked back on their pictures from the beginning and can completely see how they have grown. This makes it easier for us to see, because when you see them four time a day, it doesn't seem like there is much growth. Their legs are getting chunky and they've got little bellies! So exciting! Plus, they love Mommy's milk, which is nice to know.


We are still living out of the trailer during the week. We plan on going home on the weekends more often, to get stuff done and just be in our bed and relax a bit. Picture below shows our set up at the hospital. The security building is right there, plus we have shad/vines in the back! Even lawn chairs and a BBQ grill are present! Sometimes we forget we're in a parking lot!