Ethan and Evan are both home now! Ethan came home last Tuesday on oxygen and some meds, but he is doing well and we are going to try slowly weaning him from the oxygen later this week. (See new pictures and video clip below.) We are so glad to have them both home, but it has become very difficult to get into the hospital in Dallas to see Aiden, not to mention the basics like…sleep, which is at a premium! They are both the size of little new borns now — Ethan was up to 6 lbs., 14 ozs. as of last week, and Evan is nearly 8 lbs. Even Aiden has somehow more than doubled his birth weight: despite all of the difficulties he has experienced, he is up to 4 lbs., 15 ozs. They are all smiling now on a regular basis and Evan is even laughing.

The twins seem to have this language between each other which they start saying just before feeding time. Evan started it when he first got here and Ethan soon picked up on it. They are “I-O, I-O, I-O” and keep repeating it. In the video below, it happens with both of them at the end of the video; it is very loud and pronounced and they do it over and over until they get their food. We recently gave Evan a new nickname “E-Monster,” because he has grown so fast and is taking over.

Please continue to pray for Aiden. He was doing relatively well last week and they moved him back over to the South Side of the NICU, with the Feeders & Growers, finally increased him to full feeds and started having him try one feeding a day by mouth. This Saturday, however, he gave us another scare when the hernia becoming incarcerated again. Fortunately, we caught it early on, before it became as bad as last time, but of course they had to stop feeding him. They plan to do surgery early this week, probably tomorrow (Tuesday). We will know more in the morning. Please pray that God will guide the surgeon’s hands and give the doctors wisdom and give him the right nurses and doctors to care for him.

Evan and daddy spend some time together

Evan at home and in his “going-home” outfit

Little Aiden has grown so much!

The Two Teddy Bears

Ethan getting ready to come home

Face off!

Zzzzz time….

Already reading at such a young age!

Ethan looks like a little wizard

Aiden sticks his tongue out

Dad getting Evan ready for his first real bath

E-Monster smiles

No more pictures

Such twins!

Evan says a prayer before bedtime

Evan came home this past Saturday. One down, two to go. I have to say, if having one is this much work, we can not even imagine how much it will be when all three are here!

Some updates:
– Ethan is doing well and is ready to come home very soon. The only thing keeping him is he still required very small amount of oxygen to help him breathe. The hospital is under pressure from the insurance company to send him home an on oxygen tank. If it was just one child it would be on thing. But trying to manage Ethan on an oxygen tank with Evan already home and visiting Aiden in the hospital every day is a daunting task. Please pray that Ethan’s lungs would get strong enough and he could be weaned off any oxygen needs.

– Aiden is doing much better. His feedings have increased and he seems to be much happier. He is not doing too well with bottle feeding as he got a late start due to all his issues. Additionally, he did not have any bowel movements for nearly three days and they had to give him an enema to make him stool. Please pray that nothing is wrong with his intestines, etc. and that he starts bottle feeding as well.

We will try to get home pictures and video updates. Things have been so busy that we have just not had any time to do so. Hopefully, we will catch a break and get some updates.

On Saturday, we went to the NICU and Aiden did not look good at all. His stomach was very swollen and distended and he appeared very weak and lethargic. They had to put a special tube down his throat to remove the mixture of blood and bile that was backing up into his stomach, and even with the tube, it was still pouring out of his mouth. Although they had originally diagnosed him with NEC, the doctors did not seem to know exactly what was wrong as the bloodwork did not show any major problems or signs of infection as would be typical with NEC. Saturday night, we noticed that his condition seemed to have declined significantly and he seemed much worse than he was when we had arrived at the hospital earlier in the day. They quickly performed another xray earlier than planned, and the doctor went ahead and called the surgeon to get a consultation and see if they would be willing to go ahead and operate.

Late that evening, the surgeon arrived and examined him. Within seconds, he noticed that Aiden’s hernia had become incarcerated with his intestines and was very extended. He popped it back into place and told the nurses to continue to remove the contents out of Aiden’s stomach, hold feedings and watch him closely. The surgeon said that he thought it might still be possible that there was also something else going on (such as NEC) due to some of Aiden’s symptoms, some of which were still consistent with NEC; however, he thought that relieving the obstruction caused by the hernia would make a significant difference in his condition. Within the hour, the swelling and distention of Aiden’s stomach started to go down and his countenance began to look much better.

Throughout the weekend and on Monday, the swelling continued to diminish and Aiden started to act more like himself. Today, his stomach was back to its normal size. They performed another xray this morning and the doctor explained that it was the hernia that had obstructed the small intestine and caused all of the problems. Thus, Aiden did not have NEC and it was a false alarm.

All we can say is that this is an amazing testament to God’s grace and an answer to prayer. The surgeon who fixed Aiden, Dr. Hermann, shared his personal testimony with us and told us to keep praying for him. It was a reminder that God is always watching out for His children and that we can lean on Him for everything. Dr. Hermann was an answer to our specific prayers that God would send us the right doctor for Aiden.

Thanks for all so very much for your prayers through this scare! Aiden is doing much better and this afternoon, they have very slowly starting feeding him again with 2 cc’s every three hours.

On Thursday, Aiden was put on nasal canula oxygen and on Friday was moved to the South Hall of the NICU, in the same room with Ethan and Evan again for the first time in a while. He seemed to be doing well yesterday, but we rec’d a call from the hospital early this morning telling us that Aiden has developed a serious condition called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

NEC is a gastrointestinal disease that mostly affects premature infants. NEC is caused by air becoming trapped in the wall of the bowel, and involves infection and inflammation that causes destruction of the bowel (intestine) or part of the bowel. NEC can result in perforation of the bowel or peritonitis (inflammation of the abdominal wall), in which case immediate surgery would be required. If it does lead to surgery, it is extremely concerning as there is an even higher mortality rate. There are many other possible complications and side effects that can be caused by this condition; however, we know that God is the great physician and can heal his little body before it ever reaches this point if it is His will.

They have moved Aiden back to the North Hall of the NICU and the doctors have stopped feeding him and started antibiotics. They will be taking x-rays of his abdomen every 6 hours and doing blood tests on a regular basis to monitor his condition, and will likely have to re-intubate him and put him back on the ventilator. Please pray for him.

Ethan is quite upset!

Such tiny hands

Sweet dreams for a little boy

Aiden loves his pacifier!

Aiden is keeping any eye out

Manish changes Ethan’s diaper — is it really that bad?

Mom with little Evan

Ethan enjoys watching the little ‘spiders’ go up and down on the bouncy seat

Evan wasn’t sure what to make of it — he liked the music!