The Burkett Bundle

Friday, January 2, 2009

It's been a very busy week since our last post! On Saturday, we were able to hold our precious Karyssa for the first time! We could only hold her for a few minutes each, but what an amazing few minutes!

Yesterday, Talyse was able to "Kangaroo" our little man, Kyran! Kangaroo care is a way of holding a preterm or full term infant so that there is skin-to-skin contact between the infant and the person holding it. She was able to hold him for about 20-30 minutes, and then Jason got a turn!

Kyran has recently decided to take matters into his own hands. On Tuesday, he went from the Jet ventilator - which supplied 420 puffs of air per hour - to the regular ventilator. On Tuesday night, he extubated himself twice. That means that he took out his own ventilator tube. So after the second time, they put him back on the CPAP - Bubble CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), a flow of warm humidified oxygen stabilizes and opens the airway and keeps the lungs inflated while allowing the baby to retain the surfactin it has already produced - and yesterday he was taken off the CPAP and put on high-flow nasal cannula. Those are pretty big steps for a two-day period! God is so good! He now weighs 3 lb, 10 oz!

Karyssa is maintaining herself nicely, although it did take three nurses to hold her down for an x-ray the other day! Both babies are so feisty! She made it up to 3 lb, 1 oz, but they have had to stop her feedings for a few days, and last night she was back to 2 lb, 14 oz, which is still a great improvement from where she was, and we have faith she will be gaining quickly once they start her feedings again, either today or tomorrow.

Both Kyran and Karyssa had a little jaundice and spent a few days under the phototherapy light, but are out from under it now and their color looks great!

Our angel and our little man are doing so well and we couldn't be more proud! God has truly blessed us!

Talyse is recovering nicely and hopes to be back behind the wheel of a car within the next week! It's been a long time since she's driven or gone anywhere except the hospital and our house. She is very much looking forward to making it to church on Sunday!

Please continue to pray for Kyran and Karyssa. Their progress is proof that nothing is more powerful than prayer! Here are a few pictures of our miracles!