4.11.2009













Hey everybody! We're alive and well, just a little sleepy! All is going very well with the rapid transformation of our lives and assimilation of four (and eventually five) babies into our little world. Our theme of the week is "control them or they'll control you..."!! Kidding...a little. Seriously, it's all about the schedule these days. Keep them on schedule, get them as much formula as you can get down them in 30 minutes and life is good. Do not follow the schedule, let them slack on the bottle and you can be certain your life will be very chaotic for the next several hours! Side note, why don't they make baby bottles squeezable?? Is that wrong?
Here are a few pics of daily life in the Jones house. We can't seem to feed Jack enough formula lately so he decided to take a bite out of Brooklyn's head!! That's Ryan with Eliot in her bed - she has been taking one of the babies down to her bed before night time while we read to her. The picture of Eliot by herself is at her school's Spring Fling where she sang western songs with her class and played lots of games. Nana has been down a few times to pull some overnight shifts for us...thank you!! Only thing missing from these pictures is Baby Bright Eyes Britton...come home soon, baby girl!!

I actually don't think Britton is ever coming home. It's really surprising to us that she is taking this long and I think it's time to crank up the prayer machine! She's doing ok, but it is believed that she has acid reflux which is making it very uncomfortable to eat. Actually, the nurses and doctors have told us that if we didn't have four other babies, Britton would be home by now. Apparently they think throwing a high maintenance baby in the mix with four others would be a bit difficult. Got to give the NICU staff credit for thinking about that...once again, they are AWESOME!! Please pray that Britton conquers the bottle and battles back the reflux so she can come home soon!

Because of the reflux, she takes about half a bottle then throws in the towel...great if you're on a diet, awful if you're a three month old baby! She has been on Prevacid for about a week now and it has helped some, but not enough so they are doubling her dosage as of yesterday and increasing the calorie count of the formula she is getting. She was on 22 calorie formula, now she'll be on the 24 calorie. Amazing that 2 little calories per ounce could make a difference!

The four at home are doing fantastic! They are all eating very well, sleeping very well, and growing very well!! So well, in fact, that we are in the process of moving them from a three hour feed schedule to a four hour feed schedule...yeah!! That simple move will free up four hours per day...can you believe that?? It doesn't help a ton with the sleep, but it is very helpful, nonetheless.

The volunteer help continues to be incredible as well! The only reason I get to write this blog right now is thanks to volunteer help. Everyone who has pitched in has been great and we are starting to get a few regulars that are really learning the system well and helping out a ton. The nights are still pretty rough as the overnight help is hard to come by, however. We have hired a night nanny to help us out two nights a week starting in two weeks. Hopefully by doing that, it will take a little pressure off of our moms and the others who have been helping out with nights and we'll all survive the next couple of months!!

So far, Miss Eliot appears to be handling everything with ease though we have seen our share of clinginess from her. We are keeping a close eye on her state of mind and making every effort to keep life relatively normal for her as we move through this process - she makes it very clear when she feels she hasn't gotten enough of the focus! She got to go to an Easter egg hunt this morning with Casey and later went with me as I did a couple of things for a project I'm running. We are also enlisting her help whenever we can with the babies and she really seems to love doing that...as long as it doesn't involve poop, she's in!

I know I sound like a broken record here, but we continue to feel amazingly blessed with everything that is happening right now! Life is busy, hectic, and very challenging at the moment, to be sure, but there are about a million different ways that it could be much, much more difficult. God is good and he is carrying us through to a better day...one with a little bit more sleep... :)

God Bless,
Ethan

8 comments:

Shelley said...

Yeah for 4 hr feedings! You will be amazed how much that one little hour helps!! We had reflux problems with the boys too it is no fun!!

Grandma W said...

So glad to see more pics-we know you're BUSY but still we crave your fantastic journaling and pictures. Can hardly wait til we see Bright Eyes Britton in the mix.

Wish I lived closer-I'd be helping as much as possible, believe me, but it's a long commute from California!!

Susie

Becca or Cori depending :) said...

Dr. Sanders is an AWESOME ped GI here in Austin.
My son had HORRIBLE reflux! She is so loving and such a GREAT Dr!

Katherine said...

Yes, going to 4 hour feedings is sooo much better, and that is with one baby! You'll love it!

Mary Anne Whiteley said...

Sometimes a change in bottles helps out...I hear Dr. Brown's is popular in the preemie set! My girls both had reflux, and it's a pain!

gilloth/Edina said...

Praying for Britton.
Hope you had a blessed Easter!

Tori :) said...

4 hour feedings is awesome!! I so wish I could be there to help. One day I will have to make a trip.

Eliot is a cutie!

The Houston Family said...

they do make bottles you can squeeze. It is called the Medela haberman feeder. Glad you don't really need it! Prayers for you and yours!

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