Close, but no cigar

Hey everyone! We've had a crazy week so far with Forrest home. It definitely takes a little while to establish some sort of routine even with one baby. I shudder to think what it will be like when they all start coming home! The title of that post will probably be "Utter Chaos"!

Our "big Poppa" Pius was scheduled to come home on Sat or Sun, but he decided he wasn't ready to leave his favorite nurses in the NICU. On Friday, he had an episode of bradycardia when he was sleeping. He stopped breathing long enough to cause his heart rate to drop (that's the bradycardia) and the nurse had to leave Danna's bedside to go stimulate Pius to breath. Because of this, the docs wanted to watch him a little longer, and he'll have to go 5 days without any more red marks. If he has any more episodes, they'll have to start the 5 day count over again. He's still doing great, along with all the others and gaining weight like crazy. He is also still oxygen and feeding tube free and it's great to be able to see his whole face without all the tape and tubes! He has dimples to go along with his little "butt chin" and fat head. He currently weighs 7 pounds, 3 ounces and has outgrown all the preemie clothes. The nurse squeezed him into one yesterday and it looked like a muscle shirt.

Frosty had his first doctor appointment last Friday and passed with flying colors. The docs said he looks great (which Forrest is fully aware of already) and we just need to keep doing what we're doing, including giving him a baby mohawk every time we brush his long, blond hair (I just can't resist it). He does have a small umbilical hernia that is pretty common in preemies. His belly button just looks like a big outtie. Between Billy, Becky and me, he is being fed every 2-3 hours on average. He takes breast milk mixed with some higher calorie formula called EnfaCare, and he can also breastfeed up to 2 times a day. He has gained weight since his hospital discharge and is probably around 6 pounds, 15 ounces, or so. Not really sure since we don't have a scale at the apartment, but he was about 6 pounds 13 ounces at his Friday appointment. Also, I'm proud to say that he has peed all over Billy's face a couple times now. I told him he should have been using the pee-pee tee-pees that Mary sent, but I guess it'll take a few more squirts to the face before Billy starts to listen.

See, Jac, the pants don't ALWAYS have to be hiked to their neck!

Forrest showing off his lil' mohawk after a bath

Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' alive, stayin' alive....

Too close, mom, too close! My girlfriend, Emma, will see all 3 of my chins!

The little princess has been doing great, too. Her nurse tonight said she has been doing really well with her bottlefeeding and she even took her whole bottle this afternoon when Becky was feeding her. She was also being a little brat and fussing for no apparent reason, causing Becky to stress out. What a high maintenance little girl! She thinks that just because she keeps gaining weight, she gets to push people around with it. Tonight Danna weighed in at 3 pounds, 6 ounces. She's still our little peanut, but they'll probably be able to move her out of the isolette and into an open crib shortly. I think she also has dimples, but it's hard to tell with all the tape on her face.

The little stinker after giving Miss Becky such a hard time

Little man Laine got a bath yesterday and enjoyed some snuggle time with mom. He took 30 of his 40 mL bottle and then tuckered out. I think the bath before the feed may have taken the energy he needed to finish those last 10 mLs. He's still such a sweet little boy and usually only cries when it's warranted. I keep waiting for him to throw a fit for no good reason, but he just lays there and stares at you like, "What more do you want from me? Back flips and cartwheels?" He continues to gain weight like he should and is now up to 4 pounds, 15 ounces. He's really starting to fill out and even has those big, beautiful Selenke lips like Grandma Vicki and Uncle Ryno.

Mom and dad are still doing just fine. Enjoying our first baby at home, as well as the time away from the baby at home in the beautiful 70 degree Phoenix weather. Billy and I have done a good job of taking turns with feeds and getting up or staying up 'til all hours of the night with Forrest.

In our last post, I forgot to say congrats to Bob and Janeen Smith on the arrival of their little girl, Erin Noel. Wish we could've stopped in to see you all when we were in town, but it was good to at least see Bob at Players. Hope things are going well with all 5 of the kiddos!

Jaclyn, hope the "boob infection" is getting better. It sucks, I know. Thanks for all the tips and advice from our last conversation. I'll call you about what I found out about the formula measurements.

Thanks for all the continued support and prayers! A huge thanks to all my Wesley friends who were able to donate some of their PTO hours to me. That helps SO much with the insurance dilemma we have been facing! We really can't thank you enough.

For those of you who we've talked to that say, "Oh, I check your website all the time!" but never comment (you know who you are), you'd better start giving us shout-outs, even if it's just a quick note to say hi and you're reading! Your comments are sustenance for us!

Also, we'll be getting more recent pictures of Laine and Pius when I visit them after church today. We'll post them as soon as we can.



Love,


Billy, Moni, Pius, Forrest, Danna and Laine