Together Again

It is so great to have our family together again! Thank you so much for all the prayers said for the babies and our families! Yesterday morning Johnathan came home from the hospital after being taken off his 1/4 liter of oxygen in the middle of the night. He almost came home Friday because he had been off oxygen since 9:30 a.m. but by the afternoon he was working harder again so I actually requested that he be put back on 1/2 liter so that he didn't overwork himself. I remembered from the NICU that it could happen where he'd just need assistance a little longer so it wasn't a negative thing in my mind. He has been doing great and is very happy to be playing with his sisters and cuddling with the dogs! He is on prednisonal thru tomorrow and remains on the inhalers. Below are some pictures of Johnathan in the hospital. The first one is of him in the ER with Mommy, the 2nd of him playing with the oxygen sat probe, and the 3rd of him playing with the Chelsea teddy bear that the hospital gave him.

Yesterday morning was also Mady's follow-up at the pediatricians and since Annabel had started being fussy with her bottles on Friday and I had gotten some red scabbed gunk out of her right ear I decided to take her in too. As suspected Annabel has a right ear infection so she is now on omoxycillin for the next 10 days with her inhalers. Mady's lungs sounded clear and she was sating 100% but she was still retracting and breathing fast (52 bpms) so she remains on Albuterol treatments (we were able to switch to inhaler) and finishes her zythromax for her ear infection tomorrow. Yes, it is a bit crazy right now keeping track of all the meds and inhalers! Overall all three babies are getting better and I think we are moving in the right direction.

So here's an overview of the craziness of last week. Monday night Annabel was coughing all night and quite congested. Tuesday I took her to her first CHAMP session and she got her cast and then in the afternoon I took her to the pediatricians and she was put on both inhalers. Wednesday was Annabel's 2nd day of CHAMP and not a very good one because she wasn't feeling well she wasn't in the mood. Wednesday was when Johnathan coughed all night and Wednesday during the day was when Mady started wheezing and coughing more. Thursday was when we took all 3 babies to the pediatricians - Johnathan got hospitalized and Mady was diagnosed with an ear infection. Friday Annabel had CHAMP again and this session was better, using her left hand more and the therapists came up with a new way to wrap hand that seems to have helped her, it doesn't frustrate her so much. Saturday morning Annabel was diagnosed with an ear infection and Johnathan came home from the hospital. In the midst of all this B.J., myself, and my parents were all fighting whatever the babies have been fighting! The babies also celebrated their 14month b-day last week. Their weights were - Annabel 17lbs 3ozs, Madelyn 15lbs 7ozs, and Johnathan 17lbs 1 1/2ozs.


Eventhough the babies have not been feeling well they have really been acting very good and playing as normal. On Tuesday Johnathan was loving playing with the music/lights toy and even learned to pull himself up to standing on it! As soon as he was in his crib in the hospital Thursday he was up sitting and exploring. With Annabel we've been working on her using her left hand and although she hasn't made progress as much as we'd hoped (it hasn't exactly been the best week for her or for us time-wise to help her) she has used it at times and showed us some promising moves. Hopefully the next two weeks of the program allow for further development! Mady has been herself, all over the house exploring, stealing toys from her siblings, and talking like crazy!