Finally Home - 12 weeks later!

We're finally home!

After 3 months in the hospital Jack and Ethan are finally Home! It's been an amazing ride. The people at Overland Park Regional Med Center were absolutely fantastic from beginning to end. Wonderful care and excellent bedside manners! A big shout of THANKS for all they did for Jack & Ethan over the past 3 months. Without their help we know they would not be where they are today, home! Your advice has made us more capable parents.

On Sunday night they sent Ethan Home...at 1am Monday morning while Heather was nursing Ethan, he stopped breathing. Heather immediately started rescue breaths and I called 911. For what seemed an eternity, Ethan just wouldn't breathe. He turned blue and then got bluer. It was a scary several minutes. Just as the police and paramedics arrived, Heather finally got Ethan to breathe. And within moments he started turning pink.

Well, with that scare we called the hospital and they re-admitted him the next morning. After running several tests they determined that he had just taken in too much breast milk and was fine to go home. However, they kept him overnight just to monitor him and to give mom and dad a break!

By Thursday, they released Jack to come home so on Friday afternoon we headed to the hospital and collected Jack!

The ride home that evening was so fun. The whole fam in one place, kind of a wierd feeling!

Jack is still on Oxygen but the doctors expect him to come off of that in the next 30 days. In the mean time the boys are quarantined to the house for the next 6-8 weeks. So that means lots of quality time with each other. After 3 months in the hospital it sounds like heaven!

We had our first night last night with both boys...WOW what a ride. I (David) did the 12midnight and 3am feedings...it's quite a handful, changing clothes, watching the oxygen, the monitors and trying to change stinky diapers but I wouldn't change it for the world. I think I finally made it to bed about 4:30am! Hopefully, I'll get a little quicker :-)

Heather is an excellent mother, she is patient with feedings and is doing an amazing job juggling all the responsibilities of two growing boys. I get wiped out with just 2 feedings, she does the other 6! It makes me tired just writing it!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this and for keeping updated with our boys! We can't wait to show them off in the fall!

Love,
David & Heather and Jack & Ethan

Weeks 8-10

Wow, where has all the time gone?! I'm sure I'll be saying that the rest of my life! It is truly amazing to think that it has been 10 weeks since the boys were born. They have come through so many issues and are finally becoming stable. The doctors and nurses have been very impressed with their growth and are beginning to give hints that they will come home soon! No date yet but it could be very soon!

So what have the past 3 weeks been like for the Jones family? I'm glad you asked, here are a few highlights:

• Jack and Ethan have gone from 3 pounds to 5 pounds
• Ethan came off of all the oxygen!! Jack is still on a low flow cannula...
• They are able to sleep in the same crib! (although Ethan pulled out Jack's NG tube - maybe they were a bit too close!)
• Mom held both boys together
• Nanny Jenn came and had the opportunity to hold the boys
• David's first father's day (He won the new dad award at church - Sorry Scott!)
• Heather started back up to work...that was hard but she is adjusting
• Boys are nursing really well! (Big relief to mom)
• Both eye exams say that things are developing normally
• Boys had their first shots (immunizations)...It was the loudest cry yet!
• David had the opportunity to feed the boys by bottle! He's a pretty good burper too!

Well, that's about all the excitement for the last three weeks. We'll update the site with new photos this weekend...we have tons!

Thanks to all those who keep up with us on the web! Your prayers and support have been a tremendous encouragement...

Weeks 6 & 7

The time goes so fast.......here we are trying to catch up for weeks six and seven already. Many things have happened in the last two weeks......here are just a few.

On May 28th both babies broke into the three pound range with Ethan weighing in at 3# 1 oz and Jack at 3# 3 oz. They have had steady weight gain and by the 31st Jack was at 3# 8 oz and Ethan at 3# 6 oz......Jack is leading the "weigh" on weight gain...

Six weeks marked the beginning of time that the grandparents could hold the boys.......all were very thrilled at this new introduction and had been some what patiently waiting I might add....When David called his mom to tell her she said, "OK, I'll be right there".....It's a drop everything kind of event! So now the boys have been properly introduced to all their grandparents.

This week also marked the first time that Jack and Ethan were able to wear clothes in the NICU! This is a very happy thing for mom as she loves to shop! A special shout out goes to twin mom Kelly Sinclair who sent a ton of preemie hand me down from her boy to mine! Their wardrobe doubled thanks to her and baby Gaberial.

Jack learned to suck his thumb this week! Ethan was first out of the gate to begin to try and nurse.....this is a new adventure for both mom and baby....whoever says it just comes naturally hasn't tried to breast feed a premature baby... :-) Jack had his first nursing experience on their seventh week birthday! Learning to nurse is one step closer to coming home!

This should catch everyone up for now! Thank you for all your continued support, prayers, and good wishes! The journey continues...

5 Weeks and Counting

It's amazing that it has been just over 5 weeks. The boys continue to do well so we are trying to be creative in our photos...I mean just how many different types of pictures can you get of a baby in the hospital???

So their grandmother, (Heather's mom) known affectionately as, "Gran-Gran" saw these cute little Mastodon's at Target and decided that each of the boys needed one to keep company while we were away...so we have finally acquired pets!

For those of you who know...I (David) am not quite fond of animals...something about my childhood and the genetics I've inherited from my mother...anyway...in a few of our new photos, you'll see an exciting new addition to our pictures, boys and their new pets the Mastodon's!

One Month Update

The boys are now one month old. The doctors and nurses continue to say how well the boys are doing!

The question everyone is asking is: "When will they be able to come home?" That's a question we would love to be able to answer. Unfortunately we have no idea! :-)

Some of the misconceptions out there is that they can come home at a certain weight. However, it is a little more complicated than that. Their lung development, breathing, weight, eating patterns, etc. all have to come together. It seems as if they will come home sometime in July which is when they were due (July 25th).

Some of their new talents are:

• Turning their heads from side to side...it's quite a site! It takes a lot of energy
• Pooping on mom and dad...ok, who knew this would be exciting
• Little smiles from time to time...
• They've begun to cry! We are enjoying it now...not sure how long that will last!
• Their eyes are open and moving to the sound of our voices...

Two Weeks plus One

May 4 - Jack is extubated (taken off the ventilator) and onto a CPAP Mask

May 5 - Ethan has another echocardiogram. Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) is still open. Last Round of medicine to close the PDA.

May 6 - Head Sonogram given to Jack and Ethan. Results came back normal!

May 8 - Waited for the Cardiologist to give us the report about Ethan's PDA.

May 9 - Echo still shows PDA open. Ethan will need to have surgery. Jack off CPAP onto nasal canula today! GO Jack GO!

May 10 - Held both the boys today! Ethan's nurse prepares for surgery. Mom and Dad both worried. Would have been 29 weeks gestation today.

May 11 - Ethan had surgery today. The doctors and nurses did an excellent job. The surgery was smooth and sucessful. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support! Jack & Ethan are 3 Weeks old today....

Jack and Ethan: The First Two Weeks...

Here we are to send you the latest update on our baby boys! The past week or so has been a complete blur for this new mom and dad so I'm going to skip ahead to their first week birthday and proceed from there. I do have a few days with some interesting details before their first week was complete, so I'll add those in too. Do you think Ethan and Jack's early arrival will help make their parents more punctual? I'm not holding my breath, but time will tell.


April 20th - babies are born but they are know as baby boy A and baby boy B because we had no names for them....coincidentally this is our 15th wedding anniversary and we had no gifts for each other until the babies arrived!

April 21st - Yeah! The groggy parents are able to name their offspring......baby boy A is named Ethan Caleb and baby boy B will be called Jack Austin....what a relief...

April 23rd - Our first time to hold our sons. David held Ethan and I held Jack........what a moment of relief and joy!

April 24th - My blood pressure was elevated so I have to stay in the hospital one more day.

April 25th - Mom is discharged from the mother/baby unit to home.

April 26th - I am able to hold both boys today.....they call it "kangarooing" them, holding them skin to skin to keep them warm.

April 27th - They are one week old today......amazing how much they have changed in a week, they'll be graduating from high school soon....today would have been 27 weeks gestation today.

April 28th - Ethan is able to come off the ventilator and is assisted by a C-PAP mask to help him breath......he also had his first poop today....who knew poop could make us so happy!

April 29th - Jack smiled around his breathing tube today.....at least this is what mom saw....I was able to hold him again and Gran-Gran came for a visit.

April 30th - Ethan was able to come off his C-PAP mask to be held by me today. He has such a sweet face...yes, I'm biased. David held Jack today and Jack had his first poop today! Gran-gran and Grandpa came for a visit.

May 1st - Ethan's heart murmur is back today.......the PDA (patent ductus arteriosus) has reopened. The neonatologist has restarted the medicine that may be able to close the opening. Jack had to be placed back on the bili lights to help bring his bilirubin level down.

May 2nd - Ethan was able to come off of the C-PAP mask today and was placed on a nasal canula to give him oxygen. It is such an improvement and so nice to better see his face. He is able to cry now that he is off the mask.....it is a great sound to hear today. Jack has had a status quo day with no changes.

May 3rd - Held baby Jack today for the third time. Each time is a pleasure. He remains intubated but is improving and is off the bili lights. His doctors have hope that he will be weaned off the ventilator in the next several days. Both boys smiled at me today and both had dirty diapers for me to change. Jack can't stand to be wet or dirty......he gets the wiggles until he's changed. Ethan continues to do well on just the nasal canula but his heart murmur remains. One day of medication yet to be given to close the opening in his heart. Today would have been 28 weeks gestation.

May 4th - We are two weeks old today!

Prayer Points

• Pray that the boys will not have any type of infection while they are in the hospital.

• Pray that their brains would develop normally and that they would not have any bleeding into their brains or long term complications from being born early.

• Pray that they will gain weight. Pray that the opening in Ethan's heart would close so that he doesn't have to have surgery and that he would stop having apnea (decreased breathing) and bradycardia (decreased heart rate).

• Pray that Jack will be weaned off the ventilator, would keep a high enough oxygen level (saturation) and would be strong enough to breath on his own without assistance.

• Pray for mom and dad that they would get enough rest and have an increased measure of God's grace to be at peace in the midst of this situation.

• Pray that Heather would continue to heal and would have a normal blood pressure.

• Pray for grandparents, family and friends to be at peace.