Feeling Full

As you can see, we're happy to report that Gwendolyn is back at home with her sister. Except for the fact that she's still a little swollen, Gwen's no worse for the wear and we're back to being a full family unit yet again.

Busted!

Looks like we just uncovered the real reason that Gwen is taking longer than anticipated to heal up… She was just waiting for her old pal the frog mobile to make a reappearance.

Mom reports that Gwen spent an hour cooing at her long-lost illuminated green buddy after the mobile was installed on her hospital crib.

Now that’s a girl that knows what she likes!!!

;)

On a serious note, Gwen's been off oxygen for about an hour and seems to be doing okay... Not fantastic mind you but she is keeping her oxygen-blood percentage in the low 90s and upper 80s. Hopefully that trend will get better throughout the rest of today and we can get it up to the 100 threshold on a consistent basis. As you can see a little more clearly from the picture below, Gwendolyn really is starting to look more and more like her old self as the swelling in her face begins to subside. Better yet, we think that just set a blog record for the most consecutive photos of Gwen without a headband accessory. It's a pleasure to not need that thing holding the pins close to her head anymore!!!

A Turtle's Pace

As we've come to appreciate, Gwendolyn Marie tends to move at her own speed... Translation: she's ready when she's ready and not a second before or after.

So, it should come as no surprise to us that Gwen's not quite ready to totally be weened off her oxygen just yet. Honestly, we think her throat is still a little raw from yesterday's procedure and not allowing for a full flow of air to reach her lungs. Just in case, they are getting an x-ray of her lungs this morning to make sure it's nothing there.

As you can see from the photo, Gwen's swelling has gone down considerably already. Hopefully, we'll get her off the oxygen once and for all later today. If that comes to fruition, they'll just hold her overnight for observation and then release her tomorrow around lunchtime (we hope!).

So, while we are far for out of the woods, we at least think we can once again see the light and this is just a minor, one day setback.

We shall see...

Nothing's Ever Easy

Well, as you might gather from this photo with her mother, the good news is that Gwendolyn did very well in the operating room. The surgeon said she didn't bleed at all, that the bone growth in her jaw was very good already, and that aside from having to make a pair of small extra incisions above her cheeks to assist with disassembling the extension devices, thereby making them easier to take out, it was a very mundane procedure. Better yet, they were able to easily place and remove Gwen's breathing tube for the procedure. However, as is always the case with her, there is a "but" to report. Apparently Gwen had an adverse reaction to one of the pain-killing narcotics that they gave her following the operation. It caused her extra irritation and she began to cry rather uncontrollably. Her shrieks of pain combined with an already raw throat from the inserting and taking out of the breathing tube gave her a wicked wheeze. So, every time she tried to calm down, she'd wheeze and it would cause her pain, which would then cause her to get all worked up again. It became a horrid cycle for a while and she spent a few hours fussing before finally calming down enough to get a cat nap in. After waking from that, we were able to give her a full bottle feed (previously we could only administer a partial feed via her button) and she seemed to catch her rhythm from there, quickly drifting back off to sleep in a fairly wheeze-free state. Unfortunately, she did swell up after the procedure but nothing out of the ordinary. She also did require some oxygen because her cries and subsequent wheeze were limiting her ability to get deep breaths of air. However, they are weaning her off that and she should be oxygen free very shortly. The good news is that she's still on track to be released tomorrow, but it's with a sense of cautious optimism that we look toward tomorrow afternoon and that possible discharge. Mom is staying at the hospital with Gwendolyn tonight and I've come home to watch after Braelyn overnight. Hopefully it's just a single day that we'll be a split family again! Well, I guess that's all for now... we'll update you all tomorrow as we are able to.

Fifth Time's the Charm?

Well, they took Gwen into the O.R. at about 1 PM. As you can see, the wait didn't seem to phase her at all!

;)

Here's hoping that this fifth surgery's her last for a little bit.

We'll try to update the blog after we see her again.

The Final Night Before For a While (We Hope)

Well, hopefully Tuesday brings little Gwendolyn Marie her final surgery for the foreseeable future. We are suppose to report to the hospital with her tomorrow at 11:00 AM. Shortly thereafter (or at least we HOPE it will be shortly after we arrive) Gwen will be taken into the operating room. There, she will have anesthesia administered in order to prep her for surgery to have her jaw extension devices removed.

As you can see above, Gwen's a fighter (just as Braelyn's jaw... OUCH!) so we feel confident that she'll come through things marvelously. And, based on her last x-ray and the progress she's made eating and breathing since this journey began, Gwen's newly elongated jaw has made all the difference. So, if all goes as planned, Gwen will be released on Wednesday after a night to observe her and be sure all is healing as it should. Within a week or two, she should be nearly all healed up and good as new.


In preparation for her procedure, Gwen spent the day hanging with Nana, Brae Bear and her mom (who was enjoying yet another snow day).

Well, keep us in your thoughts a prayers tomorrow. Gwen can use all the encouragement she can get! And we'll be sure to post an update once we have news to report following this latest procedure. Talk to you all soon.

Almost Time For Grandma x2

Braelyn & Gwendolyn are just counting the minutes until Nana arrives later today... maybe she'll bring some Florida sunshine with her! Regardless, the only thing better than spending the day with one grandma (and keeping Braelyn away from her diaper-happy father), is having them both there to share the day with!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

On behalf of our little pair of Cupids, we hope you and your family have a very happy Valentine's Day!!!

Dad Lucks Out!!!

Dad seems to have just hit the lottery this fine Saturday afternoon!

While he is at home with Braelyn and Gwendolyn watching college hoops, Mom's visiting the dentist. I mean, did Dad totally get the better end of that trade off or what!?!?!?

;)

Later on, Grandma McKee will be nice enough to come watch the girls so Mom and Dad can have a pre-Valentine's Day date at the movies.

A Saturday with the girls and college B-Ball before a date afternoon with Mom... good times indeed for Daddy Dearest!!!

The Calm Before The Storm

Yesterday was quite the busy day for us. Gwendolyn had her final hospital check-up (and a couple of other consultations) before her jaw surgery takes place later this month. After that, her and Braelyn had their four-month shots on tap. As you might tell from Gwen’s expression above, that photo was taken minutes BEFORE the immunization shots were administered at the pediatrician’s office. (If the poor thing only knew what was about to transpire).

Before we get into that afternoon baby terror, let’s give a quick recap on Gwendolyn’s morning hospital extravaganza. She received nothing but praise for her progress. X-rays showed that the new bone growth in her jaw had almost finished to fill in and should be complete by the time the extender devices are removed. Speaking of which, they bumped her back a day so now she won’t go in until February 23rd for that procedure (but as we’ve learned before, you never know for sure until you are there that day that the surgery will take place as scheduled). The nutritionist also saw Gwenner and gave us the okay to discontinue her overnight pump feedings. So, she is on a normal baby feeding schedule where she gets all her nourishment via bottles (although they are still thickened to the consistency of honey). So, the good news there is that Gwen continues to inch closer to the median of development.

As for the fourth-month checkup for the girls, we also received positive news there. The stats are kind of boring but for those keeping track, Braelyn fell between the third and tenth percentile while Gwen was in the tenth to twenty-fifth percentile. Overall, Braelyn was 22.25 inches long, weighted 11 pounds 2 ounces and had a head circumference of 39.5 centimeters. Gwen was 23 inches long, weighted 12 pounds 2 ounces and had a head circumference of 41 centimeters. As has been the case since birth, Gwen is a little more of a chunk than her “older sister” but the gap continues to narrow. While they are both still overall small compared to their peers, the girls are continuing to progress very consistently on the growth curve chart. In fact, we found out earlier in the day when we conferred with the nutritionist at the hospital that Gwen had grown a full centimeter in length and packed on a half-pound of weight in just the last week alone. Needless to say, Gwen apparently inherited more than just the “Castellano nose!” It seems she also has her daddy’s appetite too!

As for the post-shot fallout, it was something we won’t forget soon… (Referring back to the above photo) Braelyn, who is far from the binky-addict that her sister is, almost seemed to sense something was afoot as she clinched her gums tight against her pink friend while Gwen was carefree and giggly. Funny, but the vaccination aftermath played out the way you’d anticipate given their respective expressions… Gwen whined a little but was fine after a minute or so while our little Brae Bare screamed so hard and for so long that the doctor came back into the room and examined her thinking she was having an adverse reaction. Nope… she was just telling us she didn’t like those three needles one bit.

It actually caused Dad to cry a little bit as he thought about the situation in the car ride home… he still swears that Braelyn thinks he administered those shots himself since he was the one tasked with holding and comforting her after it was all done.

Maybe the guilt was just Braelyn’s way of giving Daddy some payback for all those blog laughs at her expense!

;)

Until later friends!

The Girls' "Super" Weekend Gets Extended

Unfortunately, the girls didn't quite make it through the entire Super Bowl broadcast yesterday... but as you can see above, Braelyn did find the time to make a quick prediction on whom she thinks will win next year's contest!

The good news is that Mom got a snow day from school today so she took the girls shopping at the mall with Grandma McKee. As you can see, they got gussied up in some very appropriate tops given the circumstances.

The bad news (for Dad at least) is that the girls went shopping at the mall without a chaperon capable of talking them OUT of spending money!

=P

All "Buttoned" Up

Well, the only news of note since our last post is that Gwendolyn now has a Mickey-Button as opposed to her old G-I feeding tube. As you can see from the photo above, it looks pretty much like the air valve in a water tube... In fact, we took this picture just after she ate so her belly kind of looks like it's been pumped full of air. =P

Other than that, the girls are doing well and getting ready for their first "Super Sunday" tomorrow. Since we don't really have much more to report, we thought we'd share some other recent photos of the girls below... enjoy!!!

For Those Keeping Track

Well, you know it's a good sign when we only had to post 12 blog entries in the month of January. In the preceding three months, we never had less than 20 entries because we always had pressing news to share during Gwen's elongated hospital stay.

So, we'd say an even dozen entries is much more like it... That means we've still got news but it's far from pressing and we no longer need to post one about every day.

Regardless, somehow the girls have gotten through the four-month threshold already. Funny, but time does fly. For all her time in the hospital, it can sometimes seem like Gwen hasn't been there in months instead of the actual weeks it has been.

Her bottle feeding is going well... actually, it might be going a little TOO well. Let's just say that Gwen looks to have inherited Daddy's appetite because she seems to get hungrier in quicker and quicker intervals. We've got to monitor her a little because we don't want her to chunk out now that we've finally got her weight up to the normal range.

Braelyn is doing just fine herself. She slept through the night again last night which you can be sure is just fine by us.

The girls spent their Saturday this past weekend taking turns cooing to us. It does our hearts proud to see Gwen becoming more and more like a typical little baby.

We guess that's all for now... talk to you in a few days!