Adorable

Today was another good day.  Praise God!!  Those little dudes are just absolute fighters, so they got their Dad's good looks and their Mom's resolve.  Wes kept things a little more tame today, he decided he would keep using the ventilator to assists his breathing...at least for now.  He has had some high blood sugar over the last couple of days, and they have been giving him tiny doses of insulin to keep that under control.  The reports today showed that his blood sugar was much better, so they have discontinued this treatment for now.  Max had a pretty uneventful day as well.  He seems to be taking the breast milk well and they have been able to continue feeding him at regular intervals.  Both of the boys are still up and down on their vent settings, which is very common.  The ventilator has many different settings on it, but the primary controls are as follows; Breaths per minute - the number of breaths the machine takes for the boys every minute, they have been taking some breaths on their own, but if they forget to, the machine will not let the number drop below the set amount, about 40-45 for both boys right now.  Pressure - this setting controls how much pressure the machine uses to inflate the boys lungs and this setting changes frequently.  Finally, oxygen - simply the amount of oxygen the machine adds to the air going into their lungs.  This setting also changes frequently.  The boys have a tendency to "de-sat" as they call it (oxygen saturation in their blood drops) when they are handled for temperature, diaper changing, etc., so this setting is adjusted frequently as well.  We did get to watch one of the nurses do Wes' "care" as they call it, which is simply taking his temperature and changing his diaper.  They like the parents to start doing this pretty early on in the process, but Kate and I are still a little to scared to handle them too much...they just look too fragile.  So we just opted for the training course.  Wes' little butt is absolutely adorable.  If you can even call it a butt, the dude doesn't have an ounce of fat on him, so it looks like his legs just attach to his belly and the skin on his rear has a little crease in it.  I should have got a picture.

I forgot to mention last night that they are both starting to open their eyes!!  It is about the coolest thing ever.  As parents, Kate and I are both convinced that they are looking right at us.  Some doctors might say that they cannot see very well yet, but we are pretty sure they looked right at us.  It absolutely melts our hearts.  When we were praying with Max last night he looked right at us, almost with a, "I am doing good mom and dad, Jesus hangs out with me and my brother when you are gone" look on his face.  So cool.  They really have to try to open their eyes too, which makes it even more adorable.  Their little foreheads get all these wrinkles on them because they are putting forth so much effort.  

Both sets of grandparents got to see them today as well, and they were very well behaved (both Max and We and their grandparents).  They both opened their eyes to show their grandparents how big and strong they are getting.  I took a couple of pictures tonight to show you how they sleep...it is hilarious.  

This is Wes all bundled up and ready for some good sleep:

And here is his brother Max all sprawled out enjoying his new found room to stretch!!

Thank-you to every one who has been praying our little guys through the last 6 days.  The nurses all say that they are doing really good and that their feisty attitudes are very good signs that they are going to keep fighting.  We know each day is uncertain, but we thank God for his providence in carrying these little guys through almost their first week of life.