Heinz Ketchup Had It Right...

GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE THAT WAIT!

Today was a very special milestone for our family since the boys have been in the NICU. I have waited for this day since the boys were born and my dreams came true at least with one of the boys today. After 29 days of life I was able to hold Makaio for the first time.

It is crazy to think that our first picture with the boys will not be in a hospital bed with me looking like I just gave birth. What it will be is us in the NICU nursery, sitting in a chair, with our babies hooked up to a bunch of machines and everything will be closely monitored. But...I wouldn't have it any other way. Our beginning was completely unexpected and so different from what we had imagined but it is perfect for our family.

Cylynn and Makaio

One Happy Mother

3/4 of the Family

She Thinks My Back Hair's Sexy

Initially this post had nothing to do with back hair, but as I was looking at the pictures I had taken, I noticed that Kekoa had more than his fair share of it. Since it is dark in their rooms all day, I just assumed that the lanugo (white hair) was slowly falling out and that over the course of four weeks it would be gone. Oh no, such was not the case. As you look at the picture of Kekoa's incision, feel free to sing, "She think my back hair's sexy" to the tune of "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" by Kenny Chesney.

Anyway, the real reason for this post is to document mostly for ourselves, but also for any and all of the followers, a visual of the boys' incision sites for their PDA Ligation that was performed a week ago. The pictures look a lot worse now than they will in the future. So to the faint of heart we say, "Some pictures are of a graphic nature. Parental guidance is suggested."

M. Sheffield

PDA Ligation Site (M. Sheffield)

K. Sheffield

PDA Ligation Site (K. Sheffield)

After many days of contemplation, the pictures now suggest that the boys will likely be complete opposites. If you look at their pictures and compare them, it seems quite obvious that Kekoa is thicker and darker than Makaio. The hair color has been a little obscured by the camera flash. Makaio appears to be long, lanky and fair-skinned with dark black hair. Kekoa is leaning toward being short, stocky and dark-skinned with light brown hair. The only difference that isn't yet apparent, but for which we wait in anticipation is whether or not the hair will be curly or straight. Only time will tell.

PDA at 21

Who knew these boys would have a PDA at 21? 21 days! We are not those kind of parents for those of you that were about to lecture us about spoiling our children. Our children have patent ductus arterioses, not personal digital assistants. This is a duct or blood vessel from the heart to the lungs usually only open in utero to provide the lungs with oxygen. Once the baby is born and breathing in oxygen, this duct closes. However, in premature babies sometimes it does not close on its own. The boys have been on medicine similar to ibuprofen for the past week to help the duct to close. Unfortunately, the ducts remained open.

The next step was surgery. On day of life 21 for both boys, they had surgeries to close their PDAs. It is a fairly routine surgery with minimal chance for complications, but any surgery on your own child, especially one so small, is a worrisome event. They both made it through the surgery fine and are recovering well.

Both boys are over their birth weights and doing well now. We hope they will continue to grow and develop quickly. Here are some pictures of our three week old boys:

M. Sheffield

K. Sheffield

Tummy Time

This post is a little late coming, but last week the boys had their umbilical IV lines removed. Because the boys cannot eat enough milk to gain all of their nutrition at the moment, they are receiving fluids through an IV every day. The umbilical cord is made up of three blood vessels: two arteries and one vein. An IV is placed in a vein. When babies are first born, the umbilical vein provides a perfect location to place an IV. However, this can only be used for a short amount of time as the IV could slip out or fall off if left in for too long. Thus, both boys had theirs removed in their third week of life. A different type of IV called a PICC line, more long term than the type adults receive, was placed. You may be wondering why I am telling you all this medical information. If you are not like me you may not care. Well, what does this mean for the boys? Because they no longer have IV's in their umbilical cords, they can now lie on their stomachs. Consequently, you all have the opportunity of viewing a shot of their previously unexposed backsides. Here are some pictures:

K. Sheffield

M. Sheffield

Both boys have loved the tummy time. The nurses have reported sounder sleep. Tummy time is supposed to aid in digestion. They should be eating steaks in no time.

As I am sure you can tell, the boys are growing. One ultrasound technician who saw them two weeks ago and again this week said, "They are huge." They have reached their birth weights again, both weighing over two pounds now. This brings me to a second and exciting change. You will undoubtedly notice the lack of saran wrap in future pictures of the boys. Once a child reaches one kilogram and their skin thickens with a couple of weeks of life, they are able to maintain their own temperature. This means no more plastic wrap obscuring pictures, warping features, and impeding our fingers from touching our children all we want. Although this is exciting, it has created a new dilemma. With nothing but open air between their adorable faces and Cylynn's lips, she is struggling with the urge to constantly shower them with machine-gun kisses. Incidentally, we did kiss them for the first time when the boys reached day of life twenty. They are so warm and cuddly, it was difficult to stop.

Hopefully their next "first kiss" comes at another "twenty" landmark and mom hopes that that is 20 years old!!!

Changes and progress are good. They are especially nice when you are a parent in the NICU.

Promised Pictures

I need to post the Father's Day pictures that were promised. Here they are:

Dad with Kekoa

Dad with Makaio

It was a great Father's Day. The boys had a great day and are both at or slightly above their birth weights now. Soon they'll be ten pounds and we'll wonder where the time went.