Accommodations, the Holiday Spirit, and Care...

Hey gang,

I hope that this note finds you all happy, healthy, and not too crazed by the holiday spirit.

Our little ones are doing pretty well.   Logan has taken quite well to his feedings and is now topping 5 lbs. and Caroline has more than doubled her body mass in her short time on this earth and is now a whopping 2 lbs. and 4 oz.

Now some of you may remember reading that the 5 pound mark was a big milestone and it indicated that one was close to heading home with the folks... and you're not wrong.  But there is more to it.  The NICU has a firm set of criteria that all kids must meet before they are sent home and while we've passed the general weight requirement, little Logan has quite a bit to "learn" and develop before he's close to packing his bags and moving out.  I'll fill you in on all the milestones on a later posting and as we're closer to our checkout time.

All indications still point to a late January release date for Logan, and a bit later date for Caroline.  But it's all up in the air and the kids could surprise us!

Many of you have asked what our accommodations are like in the NICU and so I took an opportunity to snap a few photos for you.  As you can see, they're not to shabby and decked out with the Holiday Spirit.

Here's the door to our room.  The photos are from our delivery day.
I'll add more down the door as we progress.

Some Holiday Decorations above their whiteboard.
The whiteboard sits above the two nurses stations and has the name of our nurse
and all sorts of good information.

The decorations are from my dear Topeka High School friend Erin (Rooney) Doland.  She sent the kit to  Melissa when she was on bedrest to help her pass the time.  Well... we delivered a bit earlier than expected, but the decorations really help spice up the kids' room and the nurses and staff have all commented on it.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Erin is an accomplished blogger and author.
Find her site here: http://unclutterer.com/

Here's a perturbed Melissa.  I'm guessing she wasn't prepped to have her pic taken.  Oops!
You'll notice she's wearing a mask.  We do that if we feel like we have any hint of a cold/sniffles/cough.
The kids are so susceptible to any sort of infection, we try to be extra cautious.

Here's their tree.  It's a little bit Charlie Brownish, but does the trick.
The ornaments are small KC Chiefs helmets from my cousin Jen and jingle bell snowmen
with Logan and Caroline's names, which they got from Grandpa Chris and Grandma Linda.

So we've got a really cozy space.  We are there every morning for the doctor's rounds and Melissa stays after I head off to work.  We then head back after 5 and spend the evening helping with their cares and getting some good "Twin Time".

As you all know, Logan was able to sport some "Big boy" clothes in his new open-air "Big boy" bed.  Well the nurses didn't want Caroline to get jealous or complain to Mom and Dad about preferential treatment, so they let her try out some fancy duds.

I'm beginning to think that in some 15 years, I'm going to wish that my little fashionista wasn't introduced to such nice duds at an early age.

Logan's new open air bed has been great.  It means we have easy access to him and certainly makes changing his diaper and moving his wires much easier, as we don't have to navigate the tiny holes of the isolette.

It has, although, left him wide open to some drive-by-smooches from his Mom.

All swaddled up with no defenses, our hero is powerless to defend himself
from the onslaught.

But he's got a secret power!!!
He threatens Mom with a daily limit of 6, or he'll yank out all his hoses.  Again.

And we'll finish off this post with a couple of treats...

SANTA!!!

Santa visited the NICU and Caroline!  She was on the Nice list.

Santa had to have a chat with Logan.  After some of the Naughty presents
he's been leaving Mom, Dad, and the Nurses in his diaper he really had to
talk his way onto the fringes of the Nice list.  We're crossing our fingers that he
doesn't get any coal in his stocking.

And finally, I shot a little more video.

Here's Logan getting checked out by Megan, one of our fantastic nurses.  He's not fond of cold stethoscopes, but doesn't put up too much of a fuss.




So that's it for this update.

We'll have another update after the craziness of the Holidays passes.

Our very best wishes to all of you for a wonderful and safe holiday season with your loved ones.

Mike, Melissa, Nice Caroline, and Maybe Naughty Logan.