Safety For our Children's ;)

**funny video at bottom - reward for reading long post**

Hey guys... The childrens are doing great. A l ot of folks have asked about seeing them so we're writing this post as a head's up as to what to expect from us over the next few months when it comes to the babies.

First of all, thanks so much for the prayers, love, and support. I feel like I have said it 1,000 times but it still isn't enough. We have amazing friends and family. We are excited for you all to meet them and they are excited to meet you too (I mean, I assume they are.. they can't really talk yet.)

Secondly, as you are about to meet them we wanted to give you a heads up about somethings our doctors from the ICN (intensive care nursery), our nurses, nurse practitioners, and our pediatrician has drilled into our heads. We want you to know about something called RSV (respiratory syncytial virus.) Though most babies by the age of 2 have had RSV, for term babies, it may appear no different than a common cold. For premature babies it can show itself in quite a different way. Babies born before 36 weeks (Aidan and Addision were born at 28 weeks) are at the highest risk for pneumonia, bronchiolitis, RSV, and other possible fatal complications.

Preventing the spread of RSV is very difficult. Since we've just spent over 80 days (and counting) at the hospital we're gonna do all we can to avoid having to go back and to keep our babies healthy during RSV season (October - April.) RSV can be spread through touching, in the air by coughing or sneezing, or by touching an infected object (like these.) The virus can live as long as six hours on hands and up to twelve hours on objects, and it spreads very easily, especially from child to child.

When I first heard about this I thought, "don't they need to build up their immune system anyway?" The doctors have assured me the quick answer to that is, "No." Since our babies were so premature they have not acquired the necessary immunities to fight off infection. If they contract this virus they could have to go back to the hospital again and may develop serious complications.

So, to help us out with our quest to keep them at home and healthy we will ask you to follow a few guidelines when you stop by:

1. When you get here, please wash your hands and use hand sanitizer (it's not hard to find in our house right now ;)

2. If you're sick, live with someone who is sick, or have been in contact with someone who is sick during the day it probably isn't the best idea for you to stop by. (on a side note - if you are sick and need something.. feel free to give us a call and we'd love to help you out ;)

3. If you smoke, we ask that you change your clothes and not smoke before you come by as premature babies lungs are very sensitive to smoke (mostly during first two years of life.) (This is even hard for me as I enjoy smoking a pipe all through the fall and winter.)

Unfortunately we will not be bringing them out to large social gatherings thru the winter which is tough on Diana and I because we are so social. Their lungs are still very fragile until they are two years old and our goal is to make it thru these first two years without contracting this virus. Believe me this was not the plan we had for our kids and not the easiest thing to do. Diana and I are both a bit the type to throw caution to the wind with our own lives. We've always been adventurers of sorts but we do feel this is the best for them over the long haul.

I hope this stuff makes sense and if you've got any questions feel free to ask. We're so excited about being parents and hope that we can raise our children in a way that shows them and the world a love that is special. Thanks for playing a part in that with us.

Love and Peace,

-Jason and Diana

ps - writing this seemed like a public service announcement

Yes...we have clothes!

Addison in her little outfit

Me and my boy...

I have a feeling this will be a favorite picture of mine for a while...

Diana and Addison

Between these two women in this picture my heart is in no way shape or form my own any longer... (not that is has been in the last 5 or 6 years ;)


To see more pictures visit Rebecca's blog as she has put more up on her site... (if we put all of them here you wouldn't have to go to her site and check them out ;) thanks for sharing your amazing gift with our family Rebecca!!! (regardless of if our pics are on her site - you should frequent her site as she just does amazing work)

So many great things happened over the past week with the kiddos.

Their PICC lines were pulled because they no longer need the IV nutrition. When they no longer have that line they start putting little onsies on them. They don't like to dress them when the PICC or IV lines are in because they don't want to risk disrupting the lines. It's fun to see them in little outfits, makes them seem more like a "normal" baby. We have some really cute onsies for both Aidan and Addison (thanks Becky, Leslie, Rebecca and Karen) that I took up to the hospital over the weekend. They are still a bit small for the clothes but really cute in them anyways!

They also were taken off the Vapotherm form of oxygen and are just getting regular oxygen, another great step! They are growing, growing. growing. Aidan weighed in at 3lbs 1 ounce tonight and Addison was 2lbs. 14ozs.

Addison's heart murmur seems to be getting better, they can barely hear it when they listen to her heart.

We love spending time with them, holding them, reading to them, just hanging out. This time has truley become our favorite time of our day.

The next step is to get them out of the isolets (their "condos") and into an open bed as they call it. Then they will be able to be in the same liitle crib!!! They have to show that they can regulate their body temperature to make this next step.

We are reminded on a daily basis of just how BIG God is when we see our little miracles. Thanks again for your continued love, support and prayers!

-Jason and Diana (both were contributing authors to this post ;)