Post 29

Well hey there.

Sorry we've been a little slow on the blog posts. Things here have been insane.

So...whassup!?

The girls are doing well. Kelli is healing and back to her fighting weight...she's only 6 pounds over her "going in" weight. Of course, the six pounds is all boobs....good grief, the milkman has come to the Dirt Farm. Yessirree.

The girls are doing really well. They're still in the NICU, but for one reason only...they keep having litle spells of apnea, where they temporarily stop breathing. They've passed every other test they've thrown at them, well, with the exception of the handwriting test. They both have terrible handwriting, but, what can you say? Kids these days...they'd rather text than write. Stupid kids.

They're both eating from the bottle or breast 8 times per day each. Right now they've both gained almost 2 pounds each. That's the Karr genes! As for being pretty, well, that's all me too...(haha). Damn I'm pretty. But you know this.

Speaking of pretty, we have as a case in point, Ms. Isabelle Grace Karr. Isn't she such a chubby little bugger?



We have Isabelle in the foreground and little ol' Madeline Hope still snoozing in the back. Isabelle is getting ready for a bath, which basically consists of her laying down and squinting while I take pictures of her. It's a process.

She did pretty well in the bath, but shaving her legs was a nightmare. Glad that's over.



...and below we have little Madeline...



She's just peacefully plotting her next poo...wondering if she's going to cover Dad or Mom with her toxic buttspray...isn't she cute?!

Well Mom got to bathe our little poop rocketeer...and man she needed it (and yes, we even had some "bubbles" in the bath that had us all scared for things to come...luckily nothing happened...no shots were fired thank goodness).



Isn't Kelli looking pretty! My goodness I'm blessed with such pretty girls.

And here we have the two little peapods, being inspected by Grandma Byers. Check out their sweet hats! Some of the nurses made them for the girls...I assume because many of the other babies in the NICU were getting their feelings hurt by our girls' beautiful fuzzy heads. Fuzzy little devils!



And of course, not to be excluded, Charlie wanted me to include a picture of him and his very sharp new sweater. Isn't he a dandy?! Here he's about to head to his club for a round of croquet and then gin and tonics with the girls. That guy knows how to live! Stud!



Better close for now....thanks for stopping by.

Post 28

Hey there Fans of The Deuce!

Well everyone here is doing great!

The girls are two weeks old as of today....time has flown by! It's only seemed like a month since they were born...wait, I've got that backwards...what day is this? Who am I?

Kelli is healing and really getting around...and pumping some serious baby-juice. It's not bad really, she only has to pump 8 times a day (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)...so it's a lot of work, even without the Deuce loose at the Dirt Farm. And (I know you're not supposed to start a sentence with a subordinating conjunction, but I promise I won't do it again) well now I've forgotten what I was going to say...nevermind I guess.

Anywho....things are getting back to normal for everyone, which means that we're all adjusting to our surreal schedule where Kelli goes up to see the girls once or twice during the day, then we go together for the 8 pm feeding of the Deuce.

Today we had family day which was nice...we stayed for about 4 hours and hung out with the girls, which really means that we do a bunch of stuff like pump, clean baby butts, change diapers, hold bottles, and wash our hands 750 times, and Maddie and Issie just lay there and moan and groan and eat and burp and fart and pee and poop and fart some more....so basically it's the ideal male lifestyle they're experiencing. All they lack are dorm-mates and it'd be like my college experience...which explains why it took me so long to get out now that I think about it.

But I digress...

The girls are now at 36 weeks old, so technically, they aren't even "born" yet according to the doctors and nurses...so what this means is that the normal things you'd expect a newborn to do, well, the girls aren't able to do, and aren't really expected to do...but they are really progressing.

Physically, they are both gaining weight, and have surpassed their birth weight (babies are born and then lose weight, a lot, and then must gain it back obviously). They are both breathing room air, are in a crib together, are regulating their body temperatures on their own, and are both feeding off both a bottle and off mom's nipple. They actually both can take an entire bottle and finish it in around 15 minutes.

The only negative in their outlook is that they are both apneatic, which means that they both have a tendency to stop breathing...but they recover within seconds of stopping breathing. As you can imagine, this is extremely problematic, and is common in premature babies. All the babies in the NICU do this, so we're normal. They do this because their nervous systems are very very premature, and their little Duece brains get wrapped up in eating, pooping, sleeping, etc., and sometimes they get a bit overloaded and forget to breath....and not they they have to remember to breath, as you recall from 8th grade science class breathing is controlled by the involuntary or sympathetic part of the central nervous system...but let's remember....they're technically not "born" yet...and they've got some growing to do.

Like we say in the NICU...it's tough being little.

So....the girls are really doing well for not having been born yet, and Kelli is doing well too! She's back to "skinny-Minnie" mode and weighs about 3 pounds more than what she did before she got pregnant. As soon as her incision heals fully in a few weeks, she'll be back to her fighting form. What a champ!

We've uploaded soooo many pics to the Flickr website. The link is here

The website isn't the best...in that operationally it could be a little easier to use...but I've paid my $20 for unlimited storage...so we're sticking with it (yes, because I'm cheap, and because for $20, I can change my babies' diapers for a day).

Say hello to Isabelle Grace (this was taken Friday when we had our nasal canula in...it is gone now)





...and say hello to Madeline Hope



...aren't they the prettiest little things!

Stay tuned for more information....maybe in a couple of days, after I recover, I will tell you how fun it was to be poo'd on by Madeline, aka, The Poo Fountain!

...all I can say is...thank goodness I had an undershirt on.

AND.....please accept our sincere thanks and gratitude for everything you all have done for us. Please know we have Thank You notes on the way, but the reality is that there aren't enough Thank You cards in the world that can express how wonderful we think you all are, and how much we appreciate everything you've done for us.

THANK YOU for joining us on our little poo-covered journey towards parenthood....what the he** have we gotten ourselves into?!

Thanks for stopping by to hear about our wonderful girls.

Aren't ALL my girls wonderful....

Post 27

Hola Muchachos.

If you'd like to hear this blog message in English, press 1.
Si tu quieres a oirlo in Espanol, ponga numero dos.

Ok...good choice...because I don't know that much Mexicish.

Just wanted to let everyone know that KELLI HAS BEEN DISCHARGED!

Yep...Kelli is back at the Dirt Farm, and feeling very very well!

But...our departure is bittersweet...we had to leave the girls back at the hospital in the NICU. It was very tough leaving the girls in the hospital as we left, but they are best served by being there with the incredible staff at Presby Plano. They are really incredibly talented and we are blessed to have them caring for Maddie and Izzie...the two cutest girls in the universe.

So....that being said...we are home, we are safe, we are healing, and we miss the girls...but we will be up there feeding them, changing there diapers, checking their temps, and doing all we can to be the best parents we can...even if they poo all over Daddy as he's changing diapers (yes, that has already occurred...and really, I'm fine with it...because it's such cute poo).

Serioulsy, thanks to EVERYONE who supported us in prayer, kind thoughts, hopeful thinking, hospital visits, gifts, flowers, and everything else.

Without you, we never would have made it.

Like I've always said, we are blessed beyond what we deserve. May God continue to bless you and your families. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you, and if there is anything we can ever do for you, please don't hesitate to let us know. We may be a little tired, but we'll be there.

Thanks for stopping by.

Post 26

Update...

Everyone is doing well! Madeline Hope Karr and Isabelle Grace Karr (yes, we picked middle names!) are both doing very well and have been promoted to the Feeders and Growers pod on the NICU floor which is very good. They are both co-bedded and are really doing well. Tomorrow we are going to try some feeding to see if they can feed without the tube (that's what you see sticking in their noses). Mom's milk has come in, which is perfect timing for the girls (way to go MOM!!)

It's amazing how tough they are....the reality is that they are doing things that most babies wouldn't be expected to do for another 6 weeks. They are preemies, but are maturing quickly.

My other favorite girl, Kelli, is healing quickly too. She even walked down to the NICU today which is amazing considering that a couple of days ago I was watching the doctors trying to keep my wife's insides on the inside. That woman is my hero.

...and, in case you were wondering what life was all about....see below.

Snuggle time with Isabelle....life is good.

Post 25

Update:

Mom is healing nicely and is up and walking around.

The girls are breathing on their own, off antibiotics, and are actually sleeping in the same bed. Both are doing very well and will start on mom's milk tomorrow.

Here are some pics. They are too cute.


This is Isabelle.





...and this is Madeline.

Post 24

Ok gang...I just talked to Little Madeline, and she wanted me to tell you that she is no longer on her "pig-nose" CPAP machine and is breathing on her own.

To that, Kelli just provided her first load of baby milk to M and I....things happen pretty quickly around here at The Dirt Farm, Plano Annex.

We are blessed....and of course we're awesome.

Thanks for stopping by.

Also...we've uploaded a big pile of pics HERE

.

Enjoy.

Post 23

THE DEUCE ARE LOOSE!!! At 34 WEEKS!

Yes, we have BABIES!! They arrived this morning at 8:04am. We had an 8:00 appointment scheduled but someone (me) couldn't figure out how to get the face mask on right. After the 7th time...I finally got it right. I know...you know....I'm not that bright. I also tore my shoe cover apart putting it on....I WAS EXCITED.

Kelli did great! We had a c-section so she never really felt any contractions nor pain to speak of...very blessed indeed.

so....

Madeline is our small baby at 4 lbs 6 oz and 16.25 inches. She has the CPAP mask on here little face.

Isabel is the big sister at 5lbs and 17 inches long. She is our "What's Up?" baby...(see if you can figure out what picture I'm referring to)

...and no, we don't have middle names picked out yet.

Just wanted to let everyone know!

Mom is doing great and the babies, even though they are in NICU, are doing very well.

Just wanted to keep everyone posted.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.















Thanks for stopping by.

We will keep you updated!

Post 22

Ok team...Kelli's water just broke....so...looks like we are going in for some monitoring.

We will more than likely have babies soon!

At 34 weeks....everything looks good.

Stay tuned for more details.