Wiersma Family Blog

WIERSMA FAMILY BLOG
A glimpse into our lives as a family with micro-preemies. Our twins boys (Lovingly referred to as our Miracle Men) were born almost 16 weeks early.

Our journey continues when our son Max was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 3. This is his story....


Monday, February 15, 2010

New Pics

I am getting really bad at updating this lately...as I was reminded by my entire family at my little brother's birthday party on Sunday!! Things continue to progress appropriately, I guess. Max is doing really well and has adjusted to life at home. He has had some good doctors appointments recently and they have resulted in a few adjustments to Max's vent settings, but not any of the pressures just yet. Things move a little more slowly after leaving the NICU, and we were aware of that before we left, but the reality is kind of a bummer when he is doing so well. Max is tipping the scales at 19 pounds as of today...and his cheeks are still as chubby as ever. His latest trick is peeing whenever he is put in the tub. The last two tubbies have resulted in at least 3 tub refills each. And the look on his face while he is peeing all over the place is of a deep sense of pride.

Wes is still chugging along. We continue to struggle with retching and weight gain, and truthfully, that has been an incredibly frustrating ordeal. No one seems to really have any idea what is causing it or what to try next. We are on our third type of formula in as many weeks and just really want this to stop and start seeing some good weight gain. He weighs 16 pounds as of today, but next to his brother if looks like he weighs about 10 pounds. Wes is off oxygen all day, and we have a sleep study in April to see if he can come off oxygen altogether!! It is hard to believe we will ever have a baby that is not connected to some sort of wiring or tubing.

Certainly one of the highlights of the last couple of weeks was a follow up photo shoot with Marie Clark. She came and did a session with us when the boys were about 4 months old...needless to say, they have changed a bit since then! Below are some examples of Marie's amazing talent. You can view all of the pictures at the following link:



8 comments:

  1. Love the awesome pics of the boys!! I especially love the first pic in the Mom and Dad onsies. Their expressions are priceless..."come on, we know we're cute."

    We will continue to pray for relief of Wes' retching and for continued forward progress for Max. Congrats on night-time only oxygen for Wes. Isn't being cord-free awesome?!!!

    Love both and will continue to pray for your whole family.

    Marie and Chad

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  2. Great pictures! Thanks for posting! We're continuing to pray for God's protection and complete healing for the boys. They are so precious! And praying, too, for strength and patience for you guys!
    The Sluiters

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  3. What cool pictures!! Just wanted to let you know that you are all in our thoughts and prayers!!! The Lord is in control!!
    The Genzink's

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  4. What handsome little dudes.....great pictures :) Continued prayers for you and the boys!! We can relate to weight gain issues, Jasper is 19 months and just over 20lbs and gaining weight is a struggle for us as well. He goes to the doctor tomorrow and I'm so not looking forward to putting him on the scale and seeing where he is on the chart...very frustrating!! Praying for answers to Wes's struggle with retching and praying for continued improvements in Max's vent settings. How awesome that Wes is off oxygen during the day...a great accomplishment!! Praying for you guys, this preemie lifestyle is a nonstop wild ride!!

    Tina Jacobsen

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  5. Wonderful special pictures! Thanks for sharing your lives with us, it helps us remember.
    Karen Boersema

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  6. Those boys are getting so CUTE!!! Thanks for sharing the pictures with all of us!!

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  7. Awww!! Some very sweet pictures of some very sweet boys! We miss you & love you all!
    Stacy, Geoff, Cassi, Evan & Sadie

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  8. Just wanted to let you know that we are still praying for your family!!!

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