I haven't updated in a few days, things have been a little crazier than normal with Thanksgiving. I am almost ready for things to be normal around here, whatever normal is anyway.
Marcus has been up and down in his progress for the last few days starting with an infection in his eye. He has nerve damage so his left eye doesn't close making him prone to eye infections apparently. Then his left lung collapsed, due to the fact that he is always laying on his left side, so of course he was requiring more oxygen for that. He was scheduled for surgery on Monday, to close his eye a little more, however all that came to a screeching halt today. He has gotten very sick, we are not sure if it is due to an infection or the damage his brain has sustained from the hydrocephalus. He is no longer able to breathe on his own, as of now he is only on hte CPAP, but if he gets any worse they will have to intubate him. We have found out the hard way that things can go from bad to worse with no warning at all so we are on pins and needles right now. We will not get the results back from the cultures until Tuesday and that seems so far away right now.

I didn't make it to the hospital today, bringing the three oldest by myself is just not a task I felt up to today. Luckily, Steven gets off early all this week so I will be able to go tomorrow by myself and spend some quality time with the boys without distractions. I do love those times, when I can just sit and hold them, and look at them, quietly, concentrating only on them. I so wish they were home with us. I keep telling myself they will be soon.
Myles finished another bottle today! Yay Myles! If he keeps this up he will catch up to his big brother Lucas in no time. He is still doing great, just needs to take all his feeds from the bottle and he will be coming home. Oh happy day.
Marcus, my sweet little super hero is still fighting the good fight. I think it might be easier for me to list his updates~
  Hydrocephalus-the shut is keeping the fluid from building anymore, but it seems like we have hit a plateau on the actual drainage. His head measurements seem to fluctuate from day to day within a centimeter or two.
 Possible cleft palate- they mention this, but don't seem to be too worried about it for the moment.
 Sucking reflex- he is not showing any signs of having a sucking reflex, so they are just continuing the NG feeds, if and when he does show that he has developed the reflex, they will begin bottle feeding. However the dr has told us of the possibility that he will need a g tube inserted, if he does not.
 Lungs- he has been placed on diuretics to help with the fluid on his lungs. hopefully this will work and he can be taken off the oxygen.
 Hemi-vertebrae- no change/not an issue right now.
 Fused ribs- again, no change, not an issue right now.
 Hearing- he failed the hearing test again.
 Eyes- due to his inability to blink his left eye, he now has to have his eyes taped shut every night.
The girls are out of school this week for Thanksgiving break, which means a whole lot of bickering sisterly love is going on in the house(and the van, and the store, and the yard...) Thankfully Monday is almost over.  

Going to the hospital with 3 kids is a test of wills, theirs, and ours. So far Lucas is winning. Today, Chloe and Trinity had him in hte reading area trying to entertain him while we sat with the boys, and he squealed loudly, as he so often does, Steven and I looked at each other and he said, "Man, who does that kid belong to?" Apparently, he belongs to me, the girl who always said MY kids will never act like that. MY kids will know how to behave properly in a public place....now I know better, because I am THAT mom, the one that gives her kid the extra cookie because it keeps him quiet for just 2 more minutes. The mom that thinks that the creator of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is a genius, and the mom that knows, it goes by all to fast. So I clean up the crumbs from that extra cookie, and I jump around like a maniac to the Mickey theme song, and when my kid squeals in a public place, I just pretend I don't know who he belongs to.

                                                    Marcus and Myles dressed the same.

                                        Even the tiniest newborn socks are too big for Marcus.

Today Marcus had a hearing test done, he didn't pass, so they will do a more sensitive test soon. The physical therapist met with us today as well, she will start working with Marcus on Monday. He was also started on a diuretic to help with the fluid still in his lungs, which hopefully will mean he can be taken back off the oxygen soon. The nurses are trying to wean him out of his isolette, however he gets stressed out so easily, and with so many other things to work on his little body just is not ready to handle the stress of regulating temperature. His doctor mentioned he may need a g-tube, which is a feeding tube inserted into his abdomen, later on, but told me not to worry about it now, he would wait until Marcus was closer to 40 weeks to make that call.

Myles is still going strong. He is taking a bottle feed a day, he usually takes about 5-10ccs at a time, then gets tired and falls back asleep. This kid is always sleeping, Steven keeps saying he is resting for when he comes home. I think that is a good idea, because with all the noise around here, there is no rest. Today he was entertaining me with his face making abilities while I was trying to feed him.