Update on Faith and Makaila 18

The girls are on their way to MSA Hospital in Abbotsford by ambulance as I am typing this! We are very excited that they are coming home and that we can all now live in the same city! This is a huge blessing, and we are so grateful for all of your support and prayers over the past months! We will continue to keep you all updated on their progress...thank you for everything!

Blessings,

Graham

Update on Faith and Makaila 17

Wow! I didn't realize it has been so long since I have updated our blog. I guess I was waiting for something different to post, because the girls were so stable and their conditions remained unchanged...which is good news. Now, there's been some changes that are definitely worth letting you know about!

The girls are still in BC Children's hospital, but they are getting very close to being transferred to the hospital in Abbotsford (provided there are two beds available, which might mean a transfer to a hospital closer to us, but not necessarily Abbotsford). Faith just came off of CPAP on Wednesday and is doing well. She is on the nasal prongs with minimal oxygen and is also eating well. She now ways 4.7 pounds.

Makaila has been off of nasal prongs for quite a while now and has been doing very well breathing on her own without any assistance. The only tube she still has in her is her feeding tube. She now ways 5.8 pounds. She had another MRI yesterday and the doctors told us that everything looks fantastic.

So the goal right now is to get the girls to learn how to breast feed and/or take a bottle. Now that they are both off of CPAP, getting Faith off of the nasal prongs and both of them on the bottle or breast are the last things that need to happen before they can come home. We were told last night (Thursday) that there is a good chance that the girls may get moved to the hospital in Abbotsford today, which is very exciting. This is also a bit of a reminder that very soon they will be coming home and that we are still a ways from being ready to have them come home. We have all been sick as of late, especially Isaiah, so we also have to get better in preparation for their coming home.

We will keep you updated on the events of the next few days. If you don't hear anything, it's because they haven't moved and not much has changed. As soon as the girls have moved to Abbotsford, I'll let you know. Thank you for your support and prayers.

Blessings,

Graham

Update on Faith and Makaila 16

We have good news to report! Faith is doing well on CPAP and has even had two cuddles with Mom! She has also moved out of her incubator and into a crib! This has helped because she likes being wrapped up and she was too hot being wrapped up in the incubator. So now she can be wrapped up and not get too hot (try saying those last two sentences fast). She still needs to get stronger and she still hasn't been on CPAP that long, so keep praying for her...it's working!

Makaila is continuing to do well. Today she tried breast feeding for the first time which is a big deal! This is a big step towards being transferred to Abbotsford, however, this is usually a very difficult process because premature infants don't have the same sucking reflex full term babies have and they tend to not eat and breathe well together. They can forget to breathe when they are swallowing so you have to give them a little shake or smack to get them breathing again (we've heard of babies going blue, yikes!)...or they forget to stop swallowing when they breathe and they choke. So, we don't expect this to be a smooth or easy process, but so far so good. Makaila took to sucking right away and took breaks in between to breathe (or so we think) but she only latched on for a minute or two.

While we are still a ways from being transferred to Abbotsford, some of the babies that have been around Faith and Makaila in the NICU are being transferred to other hospitals. This has got us thinking that one day they will be coming home and that day is at least 2 months closer then when they were born. They could be transferred to Abbotsford within a month and then home a few weeks after that (these are generous guesses). We are both excited and overwhelmed: excited to have our girls home, but overwhelmed by what we need to do, buy, and get to be ready for them and do all this while Karyn lives most of the week in Vancouver and while I work in Abbotsford and travel to and from Vancouver (oh ya, and then we'll have two infants and an almost 2 year old in our house to care for...yikes!). We would appreciate your prayers as we attempt to prepare for Faith and Makaila's homecoming.

Blessings,

Graham

Update on Faith and Makaila 15

My apologies for the long gap between this post and the last. We have been in Vancouver for most of the holidays and between being busy with the family and the sporadic internet access, we have found it difficult to get updates up. So, if in the future there is another long gap, just assume that no news is good news! So, here's what's been happening in the worlds of Faith and Makaila...

Makaila has been doing very well on the nasal prongs, only needing just the slightest bit of oxygen to help her with her breathing. She was able to come out of her incubator about a week ago because her body temperature reached 28 degrees Celsius so she is now in a small NICU crib. This is great because we have easier access to her and it's just one more step in her journey towards coming home. Her weight is now 1790 grams (almost 4 pounds) and she is looking more like a little baby girl rather than a premature baby.

Faith needs a lot of prayer right now. She went in last Friday to have her bronchial tube examined because there was a chance that she might have scar tissue forming as a result of the reflux she had been experiencing. They were able to conclude that her bronchial tube was fine and that her airway was simply small because of her premature age. They put her on CPAP the next day and she has been on it since, but has really struggled at times. The medical staff (and Karyn and I) really don't want to see her go back on the ventilator because this will set her back another two weeks. She's had several dips where her heart rate and oxygen levels have dropped, and at one point needed chest compressions to get her heart rate back up, which it quickly did. They have given Faith a dose of caffeine and plan to do give her more tomorrow, so we hope this will help her to remember to breathe. So, if you could pray that Faith would be able to stay on CPAP and catch up to her little sister, we would really appreciate that! Faith currently weighs 1465 grams (almost 3 and a quarter pounds). She was much closer to Makaila a short while ago, but has slowed down in her weight gain.

So, that's it for now. We will be posting updated photos of Faith and Makaila soon, so check out mcmahon-family-photos.blogspot.com

Blessings,

Graham

Update on Faith and Makaila 14

Today has been a good day in our journey with Faith and Makaila. This morning we went in to the hospital for around 7:30 because Faith was going in for her MRI scan. We got there in time to see her all strapped into the MRI incubator (there will be pictures soon). We walked her into the MRI room in the hospital and then went back to their private room to wait. I got to have a cuddle with Makaila while we waited. Around 9:00am she came back and an hour later the neurologist came in to give us the results...and everything looks good! Her ventricles (the spaces within her brain) are a little bigger than expected (by only a few millimeters) but this is most likely due to her premature age. The ventricles haven't enlargened since her brain scan a few days after her birth which rules out the need for concern. The doctor said that two months from now the ventricles will most likely be the same size but the brain will be 50% larger. Next week the neurological radiologists will be in to confirm the doctor's findings, but he is confident they will be just as positive. So, we are relieved and excited about the results to say the least. They also hope that by next week she will be ready to try going back on CPAP. They want to wait until after Christmas so we can just focus on being with her, cuddles, and not worrying about putting her through the trauma of switching her over to CPAP. Sounds good to us!

As I mentioned earlier, I was able to have a cuddle with Makaila today. It has been weeks since I have been able to cuddle either of them so I made up for it with a 3 hour session! Makaila looks more like a little girl than a premature baby, especially with her little clothes on. She was squirming around at first, looking up at me, probably the most alert I have ever seen her, but then she settled down and slept soundly (and I got to catch a few z's too!) until it was time to move her back into her incubator. The cuddle definitely made my day and I realized how much I missed being with them for long periods of time. I am definitely looking forward to the next week!

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. We greatly appreciate them!

Blessings to you in this Christmas season,

Graham

Update on the McMahon Family

Well, I've been keeping everyone up to date as best I can with Faith and Makaila but haven't spent much time talking about the rest of the family. For the past 5 weeks my father has been living with us in Abbotsford taking care of Isaiah. This has helped immensely because it has given Isaiah a routine that keeps him grounded. My Dad has him in swimming lessons, play groups, and out for play dates with friends. My Dad and Isaiah are out in Abbotsford usually from Sunday to Thursday afternoon and then we all go into Vancouver to be together as a family for Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday. We have had the huge blessing of staying in a condo in False Creek right on the water next to the Burrard Street Bridge and across from Granville Island. This condo is owned by a wonderful man in our church named John Wiebe and he has been gracious and generous enough to let us use his condo as a home away from home until the girls are released from BC Children's Hospital. We are going to stay their as a family with my Mom, Dad, and Brother over Christmas. We've even been able to decorate the place up a little for Christmas!

When Karyn has been in Vancouver on her own she has been staying at a house two doors down from the hospital owned by friends of my parents (Gwyn and Michael). She stays in a guest room upstairs and can walk to the hospital that's literally across the street. We have been so blessed by their generosity because we don't have another car and without their hospitality Karyn wouldn't be able to stay in Vancouver and be with the girls.

Between these two places, Karyn has been able to spend every night of the week in Vancouver which means she has been able to see the girls almost every day since they were born. She comes in to Abbotsford for church on Sundays and sometimes for a night or two on occasion. I am usually in Vancouver with her at the condo somewhere between 3 and 4 nights a week and we're all together (Karyn, Isaiah, and I) a couple of nights a week. We've gotten into a pretty regular routine which makes it easier to plan our week and to know what to expect, but it continues to be hard on all of us. At some point throughout every week, one member of our family is on their own without the other two, we're only together as a family for barley 48 hours, and we're never truly a family with the girls in the NICU. We are really looking forward to being all together for a week over Christmas at the condo in Vancouver.

Well, when I get another chance, I will continue to let you know more about how we are doing and how we are coping during this journey. We continue to covet your support and prayers. Thank you for all of your comments and prayers.

Blessings,

Graham

Update on Faith on Makaila 13

In our last entry Faith was going on CPAP and Makaila was continuing to do well on CPAP. Faith lasted for 16 hours but wasn't able to stay on it. She had too many apneas and so was put back on the conventional ventilator. We were a little discouraged but were happy that she made it as long as she did and she continues to do fairly well on the ventilator. When they put her back on the ventilator, they discovered some swelling in her throat at the top of her trachea. The swelling is caused by acid reflux, which is common amongst premature babies, but her reflux is particularly acidic. They put her on medication to change her pH levels and this seems to have done the trick; the swelling has gone down. Faith was supposed to have an MRI early this week but has been bumped to Friday instead. We are eager to hear the results and hope that everything comes back normal.

Makaila has been doing really well on CPAP. So well, that they took her off of CPAP a day and a half ago. She now only has oxygen prongs in her nose to keep a constant flow going. This is far less evasive and a great sign of her growing stronger. A few days ago Karyn went in to visit the girls only to find that they had been moved from their usual spots in the NICU. It turns out that they needed the space so Faith and Makaila have been moved to their own private room. This is great for visiting because we have our own room to ourselves, can decorate it how we want, and it's set up better for longer visits. The only drawback is that we won't see the other parents as much whose children have been Faith and Makaila's neighbors for the past 8 weeks. We'll just make sure we go in and visit them on our way in and out.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. We greatly appreciate them!

Blessings,

Graham

Update on Faith and Makaila 12

Since our last entry, not much has changed with Faith and Makaila which is good news. Makaila continues to do really well on CPAP and has had a cuddle with Karyn almost every day she has been at the hospital. Late last week Makaila had an MRI done as she is part of a research project that studies the brain development of premature infants. We are very fortunate to be able to be a part of this study because there are only a few neurologists in the world that specialize in infant neurology (like maybe 8) and Canada has one and he is one of the best and is at BC Children's hospital. The MRI incubator cart they put Makaila is the only one in Canada and is worth $400,000. We are so fortunate to have this kind of care for free! Makaila did really well throughout the MRI, sleeping through it all. Karyn was able to find out the results within an hour of the MRI and we have been told that everything looks great. The doctor doing the MRI said he saw more fluid between her brain and the inside of her scull then he thought there would be, but said it was not something to be concerned about and they would simply monitor it in the MRI's to come.

Faith is not yet ready for an MRI because she hasn't been stable for long enough and their priority for her is to get her off the ventilator. Faith was taken off the oscillator late last week and has been doing well on the ventilator's conventional setting (she got to have a cuddle with Mom a few days ago). They have continued the process of weaning her off of the ventilator and she has done well on the lower breathing rate and lower oxygen levels. Today they started administering caffeine (yes, our girls are already coffee drinkers) to get her breathing rate up and steroids to keep her lungs strong. This is all in preparation for tomorrow afternoon when they hope to transfer her to CPAP. We are really excited and very nervous at the same time. When they have tried Faith on CPAP in the past she has not lasted more than 30 minutes and it has been very traumatic for her and for Karyn and I. Faith has been doing really well in the last week or so, so we hope that this time she goes on CPAP, it will be for a much longer time so she can learn to breath on her own and grow her lungs. This possibility excites us greatly! Please pray for Faith as she goes on CPAP tomorrow (Tuesday), that she will be able to stay on it until she doesn't need it anymore.

Thank you for all of your support and prayers!

Blessings,

Graham

Update on Faith and Makaila 11

The last 3 days have seen some improvements in Faith and Makaila's conditions. Three days ago, Makaila managed to remove her ventilator tube again, and so they decided to put her on CPAP. She has continued to do really well on CPAP and her reliance on it for oxygen is very minimal. She has had a few cuddles with Karyn and these have gone very well for Makaila and have been a huge highlight for Karyn, something she has really cherished. We are very encouraged and we just keep hoping and praying that she can stay on CPAP.

Faith is still on the oscillator, but she seems to be doing well on it. Her oxygen levels stay fairly level, she has been crashing far less, and really only needs to have her oxygen levels upped when she is handled. The goal with Faith is to wean her slowly off of the oscillator. This means gradually dropping the pressure, the breathing rate, and the oxygen level. Once she is less dependent on the oscillator, they will move her to CPAP. We are not sure how long this will take, but it will at least be days before she can be switched over. She has yet to be stable enough and long enough for Karyn to have a cuddle with her. We hope that in the next day or two, this will be able to happen.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.

Blessings,

Graham

Update on Faith and Makaila 10

Not much has changed since our last update. Faith and Makaila continue to be on full feeds and are both still on the ventilators. Faith has had to go back on the oscillator setting because she isn't getting enough oxygen. She had another blood transfusion today and that has seemed to help. Makaila has been put on CPAP to see how she does, but she doesn't last much more than an hour. So, the goal right now is to get them bigger and stronger so they are capable of breathing on their own. The medical staff are adding supplements into their milk as needed to help with this process. So far they remain infection free which is encouraging, and this needs to continue to help keep their bodies focused on growing. They are both reasonably stable as long as they are left alone, so it has been a while since we have had a chance to cuddle with them. Karyn and I are satisfied with how they are doing, but we want them to grow and get stronger as soon as possible so they can get on CPAP. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
Blessings,

Graham

Update on Faith & Makaila 9

We have continued to be encouraged by Faith and Makaila's progress over the past couple of days. Both girls are up to full feeds which means they have been taken off their IV lines, their PIC lines have been removed, and so have their arterial lines. This means that other than their feeding tube and ventilator tube, they're tubeless! With no tubes puncturing their skin, there are now far less sites that might contract infection, and keeping infection away is a top priority right now: they can use all their resources for growing instead of fighting infections. Both girls have also gained weight over the past days with the increase in their feeds. Faith has broken the 900 gram mark and Makaila has cracked the 1000 gram mark (that's 1 kilo, yay!).

Both girls are still on the ventilator, though they tried Makaila on the CPAP today for a short period of time. She just wasn't ready yet. So, that's the next goal, getting them off the respirator and onto CPAP so they can grow their little lungs. They are currently 28 weeks and 4 days gestationally and if they can get on CPAP soon and stay infection free until 30 weeks, their chances of survival and normal development will be very good.

Being infection free, off of sedation and antibiotics, tubeless, and relatively stable means we have had several cuddles with Makaila and one cuddle with Faith (and hopefully more tomorrow). These have been great experiences for Karyn, myself, and the girls. This week has been very encouraging and our hope continues to grow. Our biggest concern for the girls continues to be remaining infection free and getting them off the ventilators, so keep praying for those two things! Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

Blessings,

Graham

New Photos Posted!

I have posted 10 more photos of Faith and Makaila, including our very first McMahon Family photo! Go to mcmahon-family-photo.blogspot.com to view them. Blessings!

Update on Faith and Makaila 8

The last few days have been very encouraging! Faith and Makaila have improved considerably over the past week. It appears that both of their infections are almost gone or gone altogether. During the time they were sick, neither Faith nor Makaila were able to take any of their breast milk feeds. Now, however, Faith is up to 4 mls of breast milk every 2 hours and Makaila is up to 9 mls every 2 hours. They are receiving these feeds well which means the amount they receive will be increased on a regular basis. When Makaila gets to 13 mls and Faith gets to 11 mls they will be able to come off of their IV lines. Makaila is obviously closer but it will still be several days for her and probably even more for Faith before this will happen. Both girls are now on the conventional ventilator (Faith was on the oscillator in my last update) and are doing well. Their oxygen saturation levels are good, so they are not relying too heavily on the machines.

While things look positive, Faith and Makaila still have a long road ahead. The key is for them to not get sick again so they can just focus on putting on weight and growing. Faith and Makaila have both put on roughly a hundred grams each but are still bellow the one kilo mark (Faith is around 800 grams and Makaila is around 900 grams). Faith's level one hemorrhage in her brain has not increased which means it is still not a concern. If they can make it to 30 weeks (gestational time) without any significant setbacks and they keep putting on weight, then their odds for survival will be very good (we recently found out that when they were born, their odds of survival where anywhere from 30% to 60%). On November 21st they turned 28 weeks so that's two weeks to go!

Please continue to pray for the protection of their health and that they would keep putting on weight and developing those little lungs (we want them on CPAP soon!). Thank you for all of your support and prayers!

Blessings,

Graham

Photo Blog Updated!

I have posted some photos of Faith and Makaila during their first two days on the planet! Go to mcmahon-family-photos.blogspot.com to see the pictures. Blessings.

Photo Blog!

We have added another blog page to post photos on, so the written entries don't get lost amongst the pictures. I haven't had a chance to post photos yet, but hope to do so this afternoon. So here's the link to the photo blog: mcmahon-family-photos.blogspot.com. Keep checking this blog page (mcmahon-family.blogspot.com) for written updates and I will also post short entries letting you know when I have updated the photo blog. Thanks for reading!

Update on Faith and Makaila 7

Hello everyone! My apologies on the the long gap between this update and the last one. We have had some rough luck with internet access the past couple of days. It has been a crazy few days as of late and we are at the hospital right now. But there is good news. Both Faith and Makaila are doing better. Makaila started off as the worse of the two this past weekend with lots of crashes but has recovered the most so far. She is off the oscillator and back on to the ventilator, which she apparently decided to do on her own. One evening a few nights ago Makaila somehow managed to remove the oscillator tube from her throat and mouth. They're not sure how she did it but they decided to put her on the ventilator and she has done well with the change. Her reliance on the ventilator for oxygen has dropped, which means her levels of oxygen saturation are higher which is good. The ventilator is still doing most of the breathing for Makaila so she can rest, she is being weaned off of the sedation medication at this point, and her blood pressure is better. Makaila's lungs are still filled with and surrounded by fluid so they are putting her on medication to remove some of that fluid and we are still waiting on blood cultures to come back to find out if her lung infection is progressing or regressing.

Faith started off being the strongest of the two girls, but that quickly changed a few days ago and she remained in an unstable critical condition with lots of crashes. Everytime they tried to move her or do any work on her she would crash so she was being heavily sedated. Her lungs have also filled with fluid and are surrounded by fluid. Yesterday they gave her hydrocortizone, a steroid, and this both helped raise her blood pressure (together with another blood transfusion) which had been low and increase her ability to receive oxygen on her own. Faith is still on the oscillator but is only on 38% oxygen which is low (and about the same level Makaila is on) and means she's doing most of the work on her own. She has stabilized significantly and they hope to put her back on the ventilator later on today. We are also waiting to hear the results of her blood cultures to see how her blood infection is progressing.

Both girls are doing much better than a few days ago, but they still have a long way to go to get back to where they were before last weekend. They need to overcome these infections and get strong enough so they can get off the ventilators and onto CPAP. While the ventilators help them breathe, being on them for a long period of time actually works against the healthy development of their lungs. So getting them stable enough as quickly as possible so they can get on to CPAP is our biggest goal right now.

We are encouraged by the turnaround both Faith and Makaila have experienced in the last 24 hours. We have been told that Karyn will even be able to have her second cuddle time with Makaila today! Faith has a bit more to go to catch up to Makaila before she's ready for another cuddle, but we hope that this can happen in the next few days. Thank you for your continued support and prayers, they are very much needed and are making a huge difference!

Blessings,

Graham

Update on Faith and Makaila 6

Karyn and I were able to visit with Faith and Makaila for a few hours this evening. They are both on oscillators, which is the setting on the respirator I mentioned in my last post. Both girls are heavily sedated so they don't fight the oscillators and remain comfortable. The oscillator breathes for them with very quick little puffs, so quick it looks like they are trembling. Their oxygen saturation is also being assisted by the oscillator, however, they are able to provide roughly 60% of their own oxygen at this point.

The fact that Faith and Makaila are on oscillators is not the our primary concern at this point. In fact, being on oscillators can actually be better for them then the ventilators they were on before because an oscillator doesn't apply as much pressure to their lungs making it possibly less damaging. The real concern is that both of them are showing signs of infections. Faith has a blood infection and Makaila has a lung infection. The medical staff are not sure what the infections are specifically but they are able to treat them with what they believe are the right antibiotics for the types of infections they are. They hope that early treatment will mean a faster recovery for both Faith and Makaila. This is crucial, because these infections take away the resources their bodies need to grow their lungs, brains, and organs and right now, their lungs are being hit the hardest. Out of a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the worst state their lungs could be in and 10 being the best state they could be in, Faith and Makaila are at a 3 right now.

The doctor we spoke to tonight said that it could be up to 2 weeks before they get closer to a 10. It is their hope that the combination of oscillators, antibiotics, blood transfusions, blood pressure medication, and sedation will get them there. There were some signs today that this treatment strategy is starting to work because they have settled a little, their oxygen levels are up, and their blood pressure is better. Karyn and I will be going in again tomorrow morning for another visit before I head back out to Abbotsford to work (Karyn will be staying at the apartment in Vancouver and my Dad will be coming to help her take care of Isaiah). We hope that tomorrow will bring more reports that things are looking at least the same as today and hopefully better.

Thank you for your prayers and continued support. Faith and Makaila need them especially now, as do Karyn and I and Isaiah (who has come down with a nasty cold).

Blessings,

Graham

Update on Faith and Makaila 5

The roller coaster ride continues. Yesterday (Saturday) was probably one of our best days yet with Faith and Makaila because we got to hold and cuddle them for an hour and a half, but it has since been somewhat overshadowed by learning that they both had a difficult night and Makaila has since gotten worse. This morning (Sunday) we received a phone call from the doctor supervising their care last night, which has never happened, so we were very concerned that she was phoning. Faith and Makaila had a difficult night with their breathing last night, and if things got worse, then they would need to change the setting on their respirators to one that is more aggressive and takes over the entire process of breathing. I'm not sure I understand why, but this setting shakes their entire body, so it will be very difficult to see our little babies in this state. As I write this, Karyn is on her way to the hospital to be with the girls.

About an hour after she left, I received another phone call from the resident supervising Faith and Makaila's care today, which again meant that we were probably in for some more bad news. Faith remains in the same condition as she was last night, but Makaila has gotten much worse. She has been switched over to the new setting and is on 100% oxygen saturation, which means her lungs aren't working at all on their own right now. They say that she is "sick" but don't know for sure what she is sick with. They believe that it might be chronic lung disease which can be developed in premature babies as young as Faith and Makaila. The resident assured me there are still ways of treating it so that it can go away. There is still hope, but she is very ill right now. I am not heading out to the hospital yet because I am leading the Young Adults group tonight at our church, but I am very concerned about Karyn being there on her own. If she needs me, I will go out to the hospital tonight. If she is ok, then I will go out tomorrow afternoon.

The struggles with their breathing seem to be the biggest and only challenge for Faith and Makaila right now. They have been eating lots (Faith is up to 9 ml of milk every 2 hours and Makaila is having her feedings upped at a faster rate and has been responding well). Being able to hold and cuddle them yesterday was a huge blessing. Karyn and I sat in rocking chairs by their incubators. Karyn held Makaila and I held Faith. We were able to cuddle with them for about an hour and a half and the next time they are stable, we hope to hold them even longer. They are so tiny, warm, and often squirmy, but mostly they were very peaceful and calm resting skin to skin with their Mom and Dad. It was a beautiful moment we will cherish for a long time to come. I took lots of pictures and captured some of the moments on video so I will try to post them when I can.

Please keep Faith and Makaila in your prayers...especially Makaila as she battles this lung ailment. They need God's breath in their little lungs. Thank you for your continued support and prayers.

Blessings,

Graham

A Rude Awakening

Now, while this has been a very traumatic and often difficult journey in the past couple of weeks, there have definitely been some great moments of laughter and so I thought I would share this little story with you that happened this past Tuesday morning when we were staying at Bob and Sally's apartment in Vancouver. So on this particular morning, Karyn got up with Isaiah to feed him breakfast and watch him (watching is all she really can do, because the c-section surgery has left her only able to do limited and slower movements and she can't pick anything up). Now, just "watching" Isaiah is normally all that one needs to do with him in the morning...or so we thought.

As Isaiah's morning pattern has shown has shown us for the past year, he gets up, eats breakfast in the highchair with his PJ's on, gets down, we take his PJ's off, and we change his wet diaper (it's just wet, no yucky stuff). On this particular morning, all was going according to his usual pattern. He got up, ate breakfast, got down from the high chair, Karyn sat on the carpet, and Isaiah walked over to have his PJ's removed and his diaper changed. Karyn manages to get his PJ's off without incident and is about to remove his diaper when Isaiah decides that he would like to take it off himself. Usually we get him to lie down and then we remove it. But he's a big boy (17 months), so Karyn decides to let him try. So Isaiah continues with his attempt to take off his diaper by pulling on the sticky tabs on either side of the front of his diaper. And...Success! The diaper drops to the ground and to Karyn's horror, it's filled with an unexpected load of yucky stuff! To which Isaiah exclaims "Poo!" And then proceeds to plant his left foot squarely in the middle of it! And then run around the living room in circles yelling at the top of his lungs, "Poo! Poo! Poo! Poo! Poo!"

Now this all happens in about 3 seconds flat, so poor immobile Karyn is left just sitting there watching in shocked disbelief as our son runs buck naked in circles, leaving clumps of poo and pooey foot prints on the carpet. Karyn finally comes to her senses and manages to get Isaiah's orbit to come close enough to her so that she can grab him and wipe off his foot. Now that she has him, she needs me to contain him while she cleans up the mess. So she starts yelling my name to get me out of bed to come get Isaiah. The unfortunate thing is that I'm wearing earplugs because part of Isaiah's morning pattern is that he usually likes to yell at the top of his lungs quite randomly and for no apparent reason...so whatever parent gets to sleep in, often sticks earplugs in to get some uninterrupted sleep.

Now, remember the title of this blog entry? "A Rude Awakening". Well, I'm sound asleep when I feel someone shaking me. I wake up and it's Karyn. I'm staring up at her face and her mouth is moving, but no sound is coming out. She sees my puzzled look and proceeds to yank my earplugs out of my ears. "Isaiah stepped in poo and tracked it all over the carpet and I need you to contain him while I clean it up!" Still a little asleep, I find this story a bit puzzling and hard to follow, but the urgency in Karyn's eyes tells me she isn't joking. And then I notice Isaiah standing behind her, completely naked. And then he turns around to leave the bedroom, and I see a hunk of poo protruding from his bum. "Well, now I definitely know she isn't joking," I think to myself . So I get out of bed and go into the living room to survey the carnage. And sure enough there are five significant sized, half lump, half smeared piles of poo on the floor. I guess Karyn had grabbed the "nuggets" before Isaiah had managed to press those into the carpet too.

I grabbed Isaiah, cleaned off his "little friend" he was carrying around with him, and kept him away from the deposits he had left on the floor before he decided to step in them again. I simultaneously got a bucket of hot soapy water and a cloth, gave them to Karyn, and she scrubbed the three contaminated areas of the carpet. It was my job to play goalie with Isaiah while she scrubbed. I was the goalie, he was the puck, and his "deposits" were the goal. Needless to say, I'm a pretty good goalie and I managed a shut out. By the time Karyn was done, the carpet looked as if nothing had happened (though I don't think I would say, "The floor's so clean you could eat off it!") Well, by all accounts you'd never know what had happened that morning if you looked at or smelled the carpet, and I guess that's what counts. At least, I hope that's what counts. Sorry Bob and Sally if that's not what counts! Thanks again for giving us your place for a couple of weeks! Don't worry, we won't let Isaiah change any of his own diapers again! I think it's safe to say we've learned our lesson.

So, I hope our little story brought a smile to your face, as it sure did for us. Because, after a morning like that, and being woken up like that, what else can you really do?!

Update on Faith and Makaila 4

Well, it has been a few days since our last blog entry, and mostly encouraging things have been happening in the little lives of Faith and Makaila. In our last update, I mentioned that Makaila needed a blood transfusion, and she did get one, and since then, so has Faith. Now, as I also said in my last update, this is normal because they aren't "plugged" into Mommy anymore; they simply can't produce enough red blood cells (or other important ingredients contained in their blood) on their own. So they've been getting help, and it's going well.

I also mentioned a short while ago that both Faith and Makaila looked like they were coming down with something. To play it safe, the medical staff started them both on antibiotics, but were able to take them off of them because their blood cultures came back negative! Yay! They should be in the next Bond film, because they dodged that bullet! Payer works! Maybe we could make a movie based on premature twin girls powered by God through prayer that dodge bullets! Maybe not...Anyways, we are encouraged!

Both girls are eating well. Faith is up to 8 ml every 2 hours! Makaila is up to 3 ml every 2 hours! We thought we weren't going to need all the milk Karyn has been pumping, but it turns out these little girls' big appetites will not let any of that milk go to waste. And apparently their plumbing is working great, because they're pooping and peeing up a storm (which is great!...but not a storm I would want to get caught in without an umbrella!).

They took Faith off of the respirator and tried her on the CPAP but she only lasted 20 to 30 minutes. She had several apneas and her oxygen saturation levels are just simply not where they need to be yet so they have put her back on the respirator. We are just fine with that. She gave it her best, but her lungs are just not there yet. Soon enough they will be, so we are good with waiting. Makaila is almost ready to go back onto CPAP as her breathing rates and oxygen saturation have been good. That should probably happen sometime tonight or tomorrow during the day.

Faith had her arterial line taken out of her umbilical cord today, which reduces the risk of infection....and most importantly, it means both she and her sister (Makaila had her arterial line out last week some time) are ready for CUDDLES!!! Yes, that's right, the doctors and nurses encourage skin to skin contact with Mommy (and Daddy too, I think) as soon as the babies are stable enough. This apparently is very soothing for the girls, nurtures their brain development, and even boosts their immune systems!!! The boosting of their immune systems happens in a pretty crazy way! Apparently (now, I'm not the doc, so I hope I get this right), when the girls are in their Mommy's arms, if there are bugs in the air, the mother's body picks up on those and her body starts to automatically produce the antibodies needed to fight those bugs and those antibodies go into the milk she produces and that milk goes into the twins' tummies and it keeps them from getting sick! Wow! God knew what he was doing when he designed the amazing and beautiful bodies of women and the miraculous process of bringing little new lives into the world! Sorry guys, our function in the matter is purely utilitarian.

So needles to say, we are very much looking forward to bringing little Faith and Makaila out of their plastic homes to cuddle skin to skin with Mommy (and hopefully Daddy) tomorrow evening! And I will have my video camera and SLR rolling and clicking away! I will write abut the experience and post the pics as soon as I can! Thank you for continuing to pray for our little ones. They are truly blessed by your love and compassion! They are alive and doing as well as they are because of your faithfulness! We can't thank you enough!

Blessings,

Graham