It's just one of those days,,,,

Jo has been sick for almost 4 days now. He caught that "flu" that goes around and that means he hasn't seen our babies for a couple of days. He wanted to see them so bad but he restricted himself not to... it's for our babies' health anyway so what I do is take lots of pictures and videos. I get to cuddle them both though, one at a time!

Today, we called their nurse to check on our babies (we do it everyday before heading to the hospital) and she said that Joscel is having apnea every hour which means she's not breathing at all and turns bluish/grayish. They did their routine which was check her CBC and CRP for infection and the results came back normal. They also wanted to make sure she's safe from it so they did blood culture which we need to wait for a couple of days for the result. And in order to prevent infection, they are giving her antibiotics. They also did an x-ray for her lungs because she wasn't improving. They found out that her lungs are wet which is due to her chronic lung disease (normal for premies) so they gave her Lasix to get rid of that wetness. The doctors said if her breathing still doesn't improve, they might intubate her again and that requires the old ventilation machine. HOPEFULLY NOT ANYMORE! Please help us pray  that her breathing will improve and that her blood culture will come back negative.  

On the other hand, Joshua is doing really well. He knows how to keep us strong.

We still have 2 more months to go and we know all these are part of God's plan for the 4 of us. Of course, God still shakes us once in a while just to make sure we're still holding on to HIM right?

Our babies are growing!

It's been a week since the hospital made some changes with their rules around the NICU since they noticed that their infection rate went up. Some of them are: you have to "really/actually" wash your hands before entering NICU (some parents, visitors and even nurses didn't bother doing it before), no more stuffed toys, no more colored blankets and linens, and only parents, grandparents and siblings of the babies can visit. These are some of the restrictions for now until everything goes back to normal.

We were told that our babies are doing so well and maybe they can transfer them next week to LEVEL 2 of NICU where "not so critical babies" are. So we are still being trained to do some of the stuff that nurses usually do. And here's daddy changing Josh's poopy diaper. Before, he used to pretend his cellphone was ringing just to get away from doing it! But not anymore!!

Since Joshua is doing so well with his breathing, the next step was to get him on Nasal prongs. His cycle is 6 hours on CPAP and 4 hours on prongs...

And of course, our little "Miss Attitude" loves her soother so much!

From Joscel's birth weight of 660 gms, she is now 1065 gms. And Joshua, from 620 gms, he is now 966 gms. Even if we are at the hospital to visit them everyday, it's amazing to see them growing!

Today, their eye surgeon came to check on their eyes and praise God, she said that they have no ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity which is a disease of the eye).  Hopefully, they won't get it in the future because of their continuous oxygen intake.

And before heading home, we go to their pods to pray for them, say "nyt-nyt" and check to see what they're doing....

Enjoying cuddle moments...

We've been enjoying cuddling our babies so we didn't have the time to update our blog,, sorry!

2 Days after Mommy had the chance to cuddle Joshua for the first time, Joscel had her chance to be cuddled too! At first she was a little uncomfortable, but she got used to it afterwards.

And of course, daddy's most awaited moment,, he got to hold Joshua for the first time. And here they are, having their boys' alone time.

Jo is already teaching Josh how to sleep and slack for 24 hours....

If daddy's holding the baby, mommy has to steal some kisses too right?

Joscel's nurse gave us a chance to take a peek of Joscel's face without anything on it. And here she is.....

We know it's a little silly but Jo and I used to argue who to cuddle who (knowing that we have TWINS alright?). But finally, we decided that he will hold Joscel and I will hold Joshua and do alternate the next day.

Updates about them:

The nurses stopped feeding Joscel for almost 4 days because they found blood in her stool. They constantly did some xrays on her and today, the xray showed that her abdomen is fine so they started feeding her again. And Joshua's feeds increased up to 7.1 mils every 2 hours and it seems that he's tolerating it really well. They are also looking forward to changing his CPAP to nasal prongs since he's doing so well with his breathing.

Jo went back to work yesterday so our schedules changed a little bit. I'm trying to go to the hospital early by myself to visit our babies and thank God for Jo's family who offers to give me a ride.

That's it for now, we'll try to update our blog again soon!

Mommy's First Cuddle

What an amazing experience for both Cey and I. After much arguing (or commanding on her part) we (she) decided that she gets to cuddle Joshua first, and maybe I get to cuddle Joscel when she's ready, Not. Either way, it was a great feeling to have Joshua out of the incubator and onto Mommy's chest. It's called Kangaroo Care, and it said to help the babies a great deal. They are able to feel the warmth, as well as follow the heart beat and breathing patterns of the "parent". Notice how I emphasized "parent", as both moms and dads are allowed.

Joshua has finally graduated from the tube down his throat, to the CPAP which goes to his nose. He is able to breath a little more on his own, and so they switched him over. He still has a tube down to his stomach to feed him, but he's able to make some sounds now. We can hear him cry, but sounds more like a cat's meow.

Here are some pictures of the process.

A first look of his entire face without the tubes. We call him "Little Old Man".

They then manual ventilate him while they prepare the CPAP.

He then has to wear a special hat so they can keep all the new tubes and straps "in place". Joshua thinks he can do it on his own, and keeps taking the tubes off. One time the nurse found his oxygen line on his cheeks, and he was still doing fine. But he still needs it for a few more days.

Mommy lends a hand, or two, with the linen changes as well. We are encouraged to help with some of the tasks, like linens, facial cleaning, and diaper changes. It's great to have some involvement with their daily routine.

And finally the awaited moment. Mommy got to hold him for about an 1.5hours, while Daddy took pictures and video taped. I snuck a few kisses on Joshua, and got to smell his baby breath. Next time, I'll have my opportunity.

Until then they can just cuddle with their stuff toys.

One Month Old

Well it's been 30 days since it all happened. Our two little Angels decided to come out 3months early. It's been a stressful, heart-wrenching, and heart warming month.

They've gone through the delivery by C-Section of course, breathing problems, infections, heart-rate drops, blood pressure inconsistencies, lots and lots of medications, blood transfusions, stomach surgery (Joshua), heart surgery (Joscel and Joshua), and many more things, including the NICU bad haircuts.

Now they just want to be left alone. Joshua still doesn't mind being handled during his routine check-ups, but Joscel is something else. She will squirm, fuzz and kick if you touch her. That's why she's been paralyzed so many times, because otherwise she'll just stop breathing altogether.

You can see her attitude now... Cranky, Feisty, Wild, and Bossy...I wonder where see gets that from?.....certainly not Daddy.

BE Quiet, I'm Sleeping.

Joshua is still Cool, Mellow, and Laid Back.

Yo!!..Westside Dawg....wassup?

And once in awhile, they'll give you a heart-melting little smile that makes everything seem alright.

Recovering Well

Well it's Day 4 since their heart surgery. Joscel and Joshua are doing very well in their recovery. They are both behaving a lot better than the Nurses expected.

Joscel had a few episodes with her heart rate dropping whenever they touch her. She hates being disturbed and she's not afraid to let her Nurses know. We always warn the new Nurse of her crankiness, and they find it to be true almost immediately. She is ready to feed, and will have her first taste to Mommy's milk today. Hopefully she'll take well to it, unlike Joshua.

Joshua is still in his usual state, mellow and laid back. He often just drops his oxygen when Joscel acts up, but it doesn't last long. He just lets us know that he's still there, when Joscel grabs all the attention. They will check his bowels thoroughly before they'll start to feed him again. The last time they tried, he perforated his intestines and had to get an emergency surgery. They think that his bowels healed themselves, but they just want to make sure.

That's all for now. Thanks again to all for your continued prayers and support, it's a long road ahead, and we hope to share our joy with you when they are well enough to bring home.