Miracle

Tonight, I was rocked to the core. It was about 11:3o Sunday evening- Carrie and I were getting back from visiting Ella in the NICU and were going to the nursery to take Grady back to our room. The nurse encouraged us to leave him there since Carrie was planning on sleeping and I was going to go into the office to wrap up a few loose ends. We decided that was ok and went back to our room. Carrie got into bed and I got ready to leave. I thought it would be a good idea to stop by the nurse's station to make sure the nurse knew that I had left. She came out from the nursery with some bad news. Grady had coded- he stopped breathing and his heart stopped. They did CPR and a swarm of people were around him. (This was within ten minutes from when we last saw him) She took me into him, he was blue and had just started to breath on his own. The NICU nurses came and admitted him next to his sister. He stabilized within the hour and is doing fine. They have administered O2 and IVs but is doing ok. They have done some x-rays and lab work to see what is going on. We will know more tomorrow when the doctors come in.

His cries are so difficult to hear. We were just getting used to comforting them..... Now we can only touch his hand through the incubator.

This whole experience brought me to my knees. My faith in Christ is the only thing that I had to lean on. Carrie is doing ok although shaken up as well. What a solid rock during this helping me deal with everything. We are bunkering down tonight in the NICU as long as we can since we aren't Sleep really doesn't seem that important......

God sometimes uses hard circumstances to mold our reliance on him.

We'll post more when we know more.

World's proudest and most tired dad....

One day at a time

Quick update on where things are at. Grady is doing fine and has a healthy cry. He has lost some weight and Dr Chandra is going to evaluate him tomorrow. There is a small possibility that he will go the NICU to get a feeding tube to help him out for a few days... (Mom is trying hard to prevent this) Ella is doing better. Dr Waziri reviewed her x-rays this morning. She has a portion of her lung that is deflated and has pneumothorax, a condition in which a pocket of air has escaped from tiny holes in her lungs and air is still trapped in her chest cavity. He inserted a chest tube to help alleviate some of the pressure and help her breath. There was positive signs from her x-ray later today showing progress. She has pneumonia that we are treating as well. She still has the c-pap which is a breathing tube in her little nose. The doc has reduced her from 100% O2 down to 50% O2 this evening. (good news) We are probably looking at least a 10 day stay for Ella.

Carrie is recovering fine. The pain is very real at times but the staff is quick to help or issue pain meds. The emotions are intense. We want to be at two places at once. Carrie hasn't been able to visit her very frequently because of feedings with Grady and her own recovery. We both desparetly want to hold her but are told it will be at least a few days.

Right now, the plan is day by day. Grady and Carrie have a chance to get discharged tomorrow but will know more later. With Ella still in the NICU, we will transition into her room. Grady can only be back there if he has never left the hospital for infection control reasons. There is only one parent allowed to stay overnight which logically would be Carrie. A hard transition for a new family being separated. It will be challenging for the next few days but we are confident that we serve a sovereign God. His plans are greater than mine and sometimes, as hard as it may seem, I just need to accept that.

I will try and update as we get news. Thank you for everyone's prayers and support. If anyone would like to visit, please call before hand to check in.

Proudest dad!!!

Contact.....

Feel free to contact us by phone 319-404-8819 or Carrie's cell 319-290-5678. We'd love to hear from everyone. We'll be checking email too.

Our two bundles of joy!!

Proud new dad writing..... On Friday, Janurary 18th - Grady James and Ella Beth were born to the Mulligan Family. Grady was born at 4:24 pm, 6lbs 3 oz, 19 1/2 inches long and Ella was born at 4:26, 6lbs 11oz, 19 inches long. The c-section was a sucess and the birth was amazing! Both of the babies returned to the room with mom for recovery. We enjoyed greetings by grandma and grandpa Gatto. Ella's oxygen level was of concern so after an hour in the room, the nurse's admitted her to the NICU. She is breathing sparatically which is causing her low O2 levels. They have done some chest x-rays and lab work to determine the cause. She had a small spot on the x-ray of her lungs they think is an air sack that was deflated during the birth. They also believe that she inhaled some fluids then too. The NICU doctor will be in today to do a diagnosis and we'll go from there. Our nurse's tell us that the recovery is up to Ella and she'll be the one to dictate when she gets out. They said it could be tomorrow or two weeks. We're just going day by day trusting that God is holding her since we can't.

The pediatrician came in and saw Grady this morning. He is doing great and learning to nurse. Carrie is getting a taste of the pain from the surgery since the spinal is wearing off. The staff is great here and taking good care of us.

Sorry - no pictures, I don't have the cord to camera. Trust me, they are the most beautiful babies I've ever seen.

I'll try and update everyone again tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers.

Stephen and Carrie

Update

We just wanted to let everyone know that there are no babies yet! I had my 36 week appointment last week which confirmed I will be having a c-section, as baby A is still breech. My doctor still wanted to let the babies stay in without scheduling anything yet, despite their 6lb 9 0z. weight status - yes, EACH. The good news is that if I don't go into labor in the next few days, the c-section will be scheduled for sometime between 37 1/2 and 38 weeks. So the end (I guess really the beginning) is near! Despite all of my discomforts, I have to continually remind myself that God is blessing us with being able to carry them this long; for this reason I'll hopefully deliver two healthy babies! We feel incredibly blessed, and can't wait for our new family members to arrive.......soon :)

Merry Christmas!

Just thought I would post a few Christmas pictures after numerous lectures about not keeping the blog "updated!" Sorry, but I haven't been in the mood to have a camera pointed my way these days :) Stephen and I had a pretty laid back Christmas at home this year...still waiting for babies! We celebrated Christmas here yesterday with my parents, "Mom", Joey, Heather and the kids. It was a fun day and good to have family at our house :)




Lucy likes to incubate the babies.


Heather and Halle :)


Jayden liked those cookies!

Daddy?

Last week we had our last Lamaze class, and Stephen was lucky enough to experience "pregnant" life for about 20 minutes wearing the "empathy belly". What a good sport!