January

Hello all,


The girls are doing amazing and we have had a good January. Somehow, it has flown right by. They are truly happy babies and get very excited when Mommy or Daddy come around. They are still hesitant to strangers, but it is understandable because we do not leave the house. We are still being careful of everything and thankfully none of us have gotten sick. We have steered clear of all the flues and such so far.

Kenedi and Kandis are still sleeping though the night and we sometimes can even go up to 12 hours. Mostly they are getting between 8 and 10. We are getting them set on a schedule that we like so we can survive as well. It also allows Shawnah to have some time to get some work done, both for the company as well as the house. It also allows us to have some time in the evening for each other, which is much needed.

The girls got the first round of the flu shots this month, which comforts us a bit. We still are very careful about going anywhere and who comes up to the house. They are growing like crazy and according to our scale, the girls are up to 11.5 lbs for Kandis and 12 lbs for Kenedi. They are eating well and seem to enjoy their food. They are up to 6 ounces for every feeding. We are down to feeding 5 times a day. The medication decrease for the Previcid was not successful. We ended up play around with the doses a bit to find the perfect match and we are sticking to that for a bit now. Without the medication, their reflux is just terrible and they are not happy, which makes us frantic and stressed. So it is a win/win for everyone!

Here are some January pictures for all to enjoy....

The girls love their baths! Top is Kenedi in the pink towel and bottom is Kandis in yellow!

They are starting to push themselves up slightly when they have their "Tummy Time". Kandis is getting a bit better than Kenedi, but Kenedi is determined! Top is Kenedi and Bottom is Kandis.

Do they act like twins or what!

Naked babies! They love the freedom of nothing around or on them... Look at those HUGE milk bellies!

They love their jumpers! Kenedi is in the white one, Kandis in the green. They are a bit small for the jumpers still, so we have to put a box underneath! They love to hang out in these and are starting to figure out what is going on with these contraptions! Below - Kandis checking everything out. Kenedi is amazed by the new toys!

We do hope all of you enjoy and please keep checking in for new updates on the girls. Sorry that it takes so long in between times.

New Years

I forgot to post the New Year's Pictures....

Hope everyone had a great and safe New Years. Here is to a year of growing. Can you believe that is 2010? What gets me is that it has been 10 years since the Y2K scare. AMAZING! Another decade has begun and should be a good one!

Holiday Update

The girls are doing amazing! We have so far succeeded to not get sick and bring it home to them. We are still going to stay cautious most likely through March. Thanks again to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and help. It all means so much, more than we can express. Please let us know if you did not receive a Christmas card with some great pictures of the girls and I can get one out to you.
The girls got off Oxygen at the end of November and beginning of December. It is a great feeling to have them able to be off the cords. They really were getting in the way around the house. We went to the doctor for the heart and lungs on Wednesday and he has cleared us to not have to go back to see him. So, their heart and lungs are up to par and good to go! Very exciting to hear.

Their eating habits are improving and they are starting to take between 4 and 6 ounces per feeding. A huge jump from what we started with! They are eating us out of house and home! We are completely off breast milk and on to formula, even on some special formula mostly for their reflux issue and their weight gain. They are down on the reflux medication, as of Wednesday, so that is a good sign that they are growing out of that. They seem to like the formula. It was just too hard for Shawnah to keep up with breast feeding because they would not take her, just pumped milk in the bottle. It was too much to have to feed both girls and pump, while still working full time and keeping the house up. Especially with wanting to spend fun time with the girls too.

The girls turned six month old on Monday! We can not believe that it has been six months since the little angels came into our lives. As of Wednesday at the doctor, Kenedi weighs 11 pounds even and Kandis is at 10 pounds 10 ounces. They are growing like crazy! They are doing good on the growth chart too. We go in next week for their next sets of shots, which isn't fun, but it does mean they are getting big and doing good! Plus, they are sleeping at least 8 hours each night for almost two weeks now! It is amazing to have sleep again!

The holiday's were amazing for us. We even got out of the house a little bit. After making sure everyone was healthy, we went to Shawnah's grandparent's house on Christmas Day. It was nice to get out and for everyone in the family to see the girls. Then the day after Christmas we packed up the whole house and went down to the lake and stayed on Dad's boat. TJ's family then came down that evening and we had dinner with them. The boat worked out so perfectly for the girls and they seemed to like it. The ate and slept more than being at home. Plus, it was nice to get away and enjoy one of our favorite places. Thanks to TJ's parents, we even got to go out one of the nights with some friends!

Here are some holiday photos for you to enjoy:

Santa came to visit us!

Ms. Kandis is happy to be snuggled up...

Ms. Kenedi all snuggled up...

Santa and the girls. Santa is actually Shawnah's Dad!

Kenedi is not so sure about what she is doing in there!

Kandis is pretty comfy in her box!

The best gift anyone could ever ask for!

Our family!

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!