Various Pictures

Our Neighborhood watch program...
The three kiddos
Caleb (left) and Joel (right)
Kiera actually fed Joel his whole bottle. She just chatted away to me the whole time!
Joel all spiffed up for church in his shirt & tie (wouldn't fit Caleb's wide neck)
Kiera playing with her Little People (they were all lined up sleeping under the ottoman)
Hanging out on the farm (Caleb left, Joel right)
3 month picture of Caleb in his outfit from the Rouw aunts. So cute!
Joel's 3 month in his cute outfit from the aunts.


Hope you enjoy these pictures from the last couple weeks. Things are getting into a routine around here. Joel is doing much better napping, Caleb not so much. They both are doing awesome at night. They go from 11 pm until 8:30 or 9 am. They don't wake up unless they get their arms loose out of their blankets. It is so nice to have a good nights sleep again! Now if only we can get them napping good. I will definitely take the nights over the days anytime though! Caleb and Joel love their exersaucers and we get such a kick out of them just standing there staring at each other. It will be fun once they start talking to each other and actually playing. Kiera loves to hug and kiss them. She is a big help but still can't tell them apart. Since Joel naps pretty consistently, it's been nice to have a little bit more free time to spend with her.

Mix & Match

Kiera a little unsure when we were singing "Happy Birthday"
Caleb and Joel were so enthused....
This was Kiera's b-day cake. We had a Pretty Pony theme. I was quite pleased with how this turned out. I had only a picture from online to go by and wasn't sure if it was going to work.
Joel and Caleb very excited with their exersaucers ( :
"What are you lookin' at?? Don't bother me, I'm busy" (Caleb)
Kiera helping make her birthday cake.
Birthday #1 (her actual b-day). Oma helped make cupcakes since we were in the hospital.
Oma visiting Caleb in the hospital
Kiera playing at the hospital with her computer she got for her birthday (she wants to be just like daddy working)
Caleb in the hospital with all his tubes and wires
"Ahhhh....this oxygen makes you sleepy"


Hope you enjoyed all the pictures. Tonight we had Kiera's b-day party with all her cousins, uncles & aunt from the area. She was SOOO excited and kept tackling her cousins and trying to pin them. Ya, such a girly girl. So much for the pretty pony girl theme! She is very in to My Little Pony and has quite a few and knows each of their names. She decided long ago that this was the cake she wanted. It turned out pretty good. For her party we had supper together and then cake and opened gifts. The highlight for her was her cupcake maker. She has been wanting this since Christmas when she saw it in an advertisement. She was so excited to get this from her aunts & uncles. It makes the cupcakes (in 30 sec...not sure how edible these are going to be and then frosts them). She didn't need anything else once she saw this. Thankfully we had some cupcakes leftover from when my mom was here and each kid got a turn to frost theirs. Overall she had a great evening and lots of fun with her cousins. Caleb and Joel just enjoyed all the attention and Kiera thinks we should save the cake until their birthday. Won't they be excited come Dec.!!!

Let's Count...

As I see the clock strike one, I am amazed at how little I've accomplished today. As I was washing bottles, I got to thinking about how many things I've repeated today.

Baths: 6 given (Kiera: 1, Caleb: 2, Joel: 3...the boys both had a blow-out and Joel coughed so hard, he threw up all over himself...about 2 minutes after his first bath).

Bottles washed: 20

Outfits changed: 7

Diapers changed so far: 8

Diapers left to change: 10 (if all goes well)

Garbage bags taken out to the trash can: 4

Toys picked up: hundreds

Loads of laundry: 2

Bottles fed: 7 (Caleb decided he needed a little extra)

Burp rags used: 6

Naps given: 4 ....naps yet to be given: 6

Amount of Sanity found: 0

Some days I just try not to even stop and think! No wonder people hire nannies!!!!

We found out this past weekend that Joel actually had RSV. His earlier test was actually positive. Supposedly they get a lot of false negatives for RSV if they get tested early on in the virus. So the poor little guy spent all last week battling RSV and we didn't pay too close attention to his breathing because we assumed he was okay (and I was still in the hospital with Caleb). The Doctor sent us home with a prescription for nebulizer treatments that we need to give him every 4 hours. I took both boys in on Monday and they seem to be on the mend. Joel still has a little cough, but is doing much better. Thankfully he didn't have to be hospitalized. Hopefully by the end of this week we will all be healthy and actually be able to have a birthday party for Kiera!

Home Sweet Home

We are home!!! After a looooong week, we finally were able to go home today. Caleb made it all day yesterday and all night (with the exception of 1 hour after his nebulizer treatment) without oxygen so we were given the okay to be discharged. Praise God!!! We arrived home about 12:30 this afternoon and were met by a very excited Kiera and a wonderfully clean home thanks to my mom. What a blessing she has been. I was able to take a 4 hour nap and probably would have slept all night had my alarm not been set. It is so wonderful to be home and in the peace and quiet (I guess that relative...but at least there's no beeping). We want to thank all of you for your prayers and notes of encouragement. We are so thankful for answered prayer and that Caleb is back to himself again (a little lighter, but very happy). Pray for continued healing and health for all of us. We'll try to post some pictures later this weekend.

Still here...

Sorry we didn't get a chance to update things yesterday. Things were a little crazy. Caleb's x-ray came back clear. We were thankful for that good report. He spent yesterday morning off of oxygen and I was hopeful that we would be going home. However, he needed to be back on the rest of the day. So we spent another night here. All night his respiration monitor was going off and we couldn't get the thing to be quiet. And when it wasn't going off, his oxygen monitor was. I think I finally fell asleep about 6am. I am exhausted. Ryan had a pretty busy day with planning for youth group, so he and Kiera came up for awhile to visit and Kiera was able to open a few presents for her birthday.

Today (Thursday) has been a hopeful day. Caleb has now spent all day off oxygen and if he can go all night, we may get to go home tomorrow. Yeah!!!! I'm cautiously optimistic as he hasn't had a real deep sleep all day and his levels may drop tonight. We'll keep hoping. Today was a little sad for me as it was Kiera's 3rd birthday. I didn't get to spend much time with her, but thankfully my mom made the day special for her. They made a special breakfast together and then made cupcakes to share with us at the hospital later. I was able to go home for a couple hours while Ryan sat with Caleb and spend some time with Kiera and Joel. We then got a babysitter for Joel (so he wouldn't catch ANYTHING from the hospital) and we all headed to the hospital for a little party for Kiera. She had fun opening presents from cousins (thanks guys!) and eating cupcakes. We then took her to McDonalds with a playground (her favorite place to go) and she had a blast being with just mommy and daddy. My mom was able to stay with Caleb while we got out. It was such a nice break! Kiera had a fun day, but as her mom I feel bad that it wasn't what I had planned. We'll have to have our party next week sometime. I'm sure she won't mind. I know she won't remember a year from now, but mommy's always feel a little bad.

Hopefully we'll have some great news about being home tomorrow. Pray that Caleb makes it through the night and if anything that we can sleep. Sorry if all of this sounds a little disjointed...my brain is a little fuzzy and sleep deprived! Thanks again for all your encouragement, support, and prayers!

Tuesday

Last night was a rough night for Caleb and I (Sheri). After his last feeding he just would not settle down. He would sleep awhile and then just be real fussy and fidgety. I finally called the nurse in to take his temp which ended up being a about 100. After we gave him Tylenol about 4:30am, he finally fell asleep. Whew, too short of a night. Since he contracted the fever, the doctor wanted to make sure he wasn't getting pneumonia. He thankfully doesn't have an ear infection (which usually happens with RSV), but they did want to take a chest x-ray. We did that around noon and still haven't heard back the results. Hopefully he will be clear. He still is needing about 1/8 of a liter of oxygen when he sleeps, so we aren't able to go home yet. We are happy that he has started eating more of his regular amount, so maybe we are turning a corner.

We were moved to a different floor as the amount of RSV cases in pediatrics is so high and Caleb is very stable. I am now in a room with a real bed!!! Yah!!! Maybe my sleep will be awesome tonight! I do feel a little secluded now as it's kind of a makeshift pediatrics floor and they converted rooms that the surgeons were using to take naps in. At least it is quiet and a much bigger room.

Hopefully we'll have some good news tomorrow about being discharged. Until then, we'll keep on keeping on. Keep the prayers going!

Monday news

We are now on day 3 of our hospital stay. Caleb continues to remain the same. He can't seem to nap or sleep at night without needing oxygen. He has to be able to go 24 hours without it, so we continue to plug away at the hospital. He isn't eating more than 2-3 ounces at a feeding (he usually takes 5) so we have to make sure his feedings are back up to par also before coming home. Last night went much better with sleeping. I (Sheri) was able to get about 5 hours. What a welcome respite after the last week of 3-4 hours of sleep. They continue to nebulize him every 4 hours which breaks up my night some, but he always goes back to sleep very easy. My days get quite boring as there isn't much to do there. Thankfully I can catch lots of catnaps and Ryan is able to come and keep me company in the afternoon. Caleb is being so good and it's hard to believe sometimes that he's not feeling so well. We did learn that he already is quite the flirt. He loves to smile at the nurses when they are poking him and nebulizing him. What a silly boy.

We did take Joel in to the Dr. today as he was developing a similar cough as Caleb. Thankfully, he tested negative for RSV. He just has a little cold and we will continue to keep an eye on him. I am SOOOOOOO relieved that he is fine. I was not excited about starting this same journey with Joel.

My mom arrived this morning and has been watching the kids at home. Ryan is now at the hospital so that I can get home and just relax, play with Kiera, and visit with my mom. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We'll keep you updated as things progress.