A Tribute to Anita Heward

On Friday April 4th, 2008 Blair's mother Anita suffered a massive heart attack and returned home to our Heavenly Father. She was only 55 yrs old. Blair received a call from his dad around 11:30 a.m. that she was in the hospital and it didn't look good. She went quickly and didn't suffer which is probably how we would all like to go when our time comes. We will all miss her very much and wish she didn't have to go so soon but when the lord calls us home theres not much we can do about it. She was a wonderful woman and always treated me like one of her own kids. She really helped Blair and I out a lot during my extended hospital stay and with the kids in the NICU. She came and stayed with me a couple of days when I was first in the hospital just to keep me company. She told me one time that as a mother you can give service that is needed freely to your own daughters, but as a mother-in-law it's hard because you have to sit back and wait to be asked to give service to your daughter-in-laws. I think she really appreciated being able to help me out and do what she was able for me. I'm grateful for my good relationship with my mother-in-law and that she was always very sweet to me. Blair and I and the rest of her family will miss her dearly. Blair and I are grateful she was able to see our kids before she passed we are just sad that our kids won't grow up knowing their grandmother. It's good to know that we will one day be reunited with her and that there is life after this. She was a good wife,mother, and grandmother. We love you Anita!

We're HOME!

So the rumors were true and the kids were released home Sunday. It was four weeks to the day. Blair met me in Ogden at the hospital that morning and we loaded up all their stuff put them in their car seats and onward home we went. Needless to say they are sooo small for their car seats that they look uncomfortable. I was jumping over the seats about every 15 minutes just to make sure they were both still breathing. We made it home a little after 5:00 that evening and it was so nice to finally be home. Now we have a lot of sleepless nights ahead of us.

Were Breaking Out of Here!!!!!!

These are just some pictures of Cassidy and Statton getting tub baths. Can you guess who is who?! These were taken about 1 1/2 weeks ago.
So we thought the day would never come but it looks like we finally might have proved ourselves worthy to get the heck out of here. The doctors and nurses have been talking to me about releasing the kids on Sunday. Statton is finally meeting his minimal feeding intake requirement. The nurse told me that his little light bulb finally went on but I'm still wondering if it's more of a dim switch. He eats so good for the nurses and then mom comes along and he'll only take about 2/3 of what he needs. Whats up with that?! All in all he's doing well and has really picked up in the past few days. I'm pretty proud of the little guy!
As of right now we have been getting things in the works so that the kids and myself can all finally go home. This includes discharge worksheets, shots (yuck!), and teaching me how to mix up their formula cocktails. I haven't seen my house or even Burley in 2 months. My family and Blair's were super nice and went and cleaned my house this last weekend in anticipation of us coming home. Either they didn't think Blair was the best housekeeper for 2 months or that we have a filthy little dog. Probably both. Anyway I was very grateful and touched by the sweet gesture. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that this all isn't some cruel joke and that Sunday afternoon/evening we will be on our way home to Burley.

Blair's got his hands full

I thought I needed to get a picture of Blair holding both of his children. The top one is of Statton. I just thought it was a super cute picture.

Still hanging out

I'm beginning to think that I've taken up permanent residence at the hospital. I've been contemplating if I should go see if they have any job openings in the Radiology department to help pass my time and help pay for these soon to be outrageous hospital bills. Maybe they would give me an employee discount!? The nurses here keep promising me that they've never kept any babies past kindergarten age. That makes me feel better(roll eyes here.) Thats my little tangent for the day so heres the update.
Cassidy is still eating like a champ. She doesn't care if the food is cold or warm she just wants to eat. She is currently sitting at 4 lbs 7 ounces and 18 inches long. WOW! She started having some specks of blood in her stool again. The doctor thinks that the inflammation she had is still healing but isn't concerning. To be on the safe side they are switching her to yet ANOTHER type of formula that is designed specifically for babies with blood in their poop. We will just have to keep an eye on her.
Statton is the one who might be the death of me. We just can't get the kid to want to take all of his food. He eats a little bit and then passes out and I can't wake him up enough to finish the rest. When he does eat he gets so excited that he puts all the milk he can stand in his mouth before trying to swallow and then forgets to breath. Then we have the monitors going off because he dropped his heart rate and his oxygen levels. ARGH! I've been trying to be the patient mom but it's been hard to watch your child choke on his food and not eat what he needs. At the rate he's going I just might have to take a job here. All joking aside he's actually improved from the previous week. I keep praying that the little light bulb inside his head will flip on and he'll learn to eat overnight. I'll let you know how that goes.
Either way I couldn't ask for two healthier little kids. I'm just so glad to have them here after all these years that I should be able to handle a few weeks of waiting for them to come home. I'll work on that.

Let's try sharing again.

This morning the twins seem to be doing great. Cassidy's taking well to the new alimentum formula and her poops are looking yellow/green. Who would of thought we could get so excited over the color of poop. She's back up to her full feedings and not needing her IV anymore. So once again the nurse has capped it off and she will probably take it completely out later today. Cassidy's out of her isolette AGAIN, and will once more try sharing a crib with her brother.
Statton has been trying to take a bottle for a few days and he's very sporatic in how much he takes each time. This morning the nurse told me that he's been taking all his feedings by bottle through the night and tolerating them well. So I got to feed him this morning with a bottle and he took it great. I didn't even feel like I was drowning the poor child. Hopefully he can keep that up and get his feeding tube out of his nose. Sister pulled hers out last week so the nurses just left it out since she was eating so well.
I'm hoping they can both keep this up for a few more days and possibly get released.
Cassidy weighs 4 lbs 4 ounces
Statton weighs 4 lbs 14 ounces

And up again we go!

So as always things are up and down from day to day. I got back to the NICU after lunch today and Cassidy's xray of her abdomen is looking much better. The doctor is still going to withhold her feeding for another 24 hours and see how her xray and labs are looking in the morning. So good news this afternoon so I hope things stay that way. If things look good in the morning they will start her on a formula called alimentum(i hope i spelled that right) This is suppose to be very broken down formula with little to no cows milk in it. It's suppose to be very gentle on her tummy. The doctor wants her to be on that for atleast 3 weeks before I can reintroduce her to breastmilk or regular formula.
Cassidy is now weighing 4 lbs 1 ounce. We finally exceeded her birthweight. YEAH!
Statton is now weighing 4 lbs 10 ounces. What a chunky baby!ha ha
-It's funny how they've started to not look so little to me anymore.
It's turned out to be a pretty good day so I hope it continues.