Growing by the day!

The boys are doing well. Joaquin is now 4 pounds and 8 ounces and Santiago weighs 4 pounds 4 ounces. The are now finishing one bottle a day and today Joaquin was a super star and finished his in 7 minutes versus his brother taking 20 minutes. They both are in open cribs and maintaining their body temperature and all we are waiting on to be able to take them home is to only bottle feed (considering that no other issues arise). Below our a few pics of the boys. As you can see Joaquin has quite more hair than his brother!

Santiago

Santiago

Joaquin

Joaquin

Joaquin

Castillo Boys

Our precious boys were born on July 22, 2011

Joaquin Emilio Castillo born at 1:07 pm 3 pounds 7 ounces

and

Santiago Emilio Castillo born at 3:41 pm 3 pounds 2 ounces

Joaquin Emilio Castillo

Santiago Emilio Castillo

Below is a video of Kennedy meeting her brothers on her 2 year birthday.

Below is a video of me changing Joaquin's diaper for the first time.

Castillo Boys' Update:

Yesterday they started milk feedings for both boys and today they've increased the amount per feeding to 8cc's every three hours. They are still on light treatment for jaundice and think they will take them off the lights in a few days. Santiago may have CPAP (prongs in their nose that push the air into the lungs) removed tomorrow and perhaps Joaquin to follow in a few days. So far things are positive and we hope they remain that way.

Thanks everyone for your prayers and encouragement.

Twins Baby Shower

Last Saturday I was blessed by friends and family who came to my baby shower.

Twin Update: The twins are approximately 3 pounds each and doctor predicts that they'll be here last week of August. The weight of my belly has started to slooooow me down which is hard as I still feel as if I've got lots of things left on my to do list. The next Dr. appointment is this coming Tuesday...we'll keep you all posted on any new developments.

Grilling at the casa

Prep work at the grill

Enjoying the not so humid weather.

About to dig in.

Kennedy hanging out with her tios.

Two preggo ladies in the house.

Matteo sitting in "time out" after throwing one to many rocks in the pool.

Kiddos having a blast jumping from the coffee table to the couch.

Night cap

9 weeks left.

Slowly but surely I'm getting closer to meeting our little boys and aside from feeling really large (doc says belly size measures that of a 38 week pregnancy!) I'm doing well. The heat has been brutal in Houston and as the holiday weekend approaches my goal is to stay indoors where there's AC.

Yesterday I took belly pics and here are a few preview shots...I'll receive the edited versions of all pics soon.

Keep us in your prayers as we near the last two months of this pregnancy.

A House Divided

We were lucky enough to get FREE tickets to the Concaf Gold Cup Semi-Final tournament this past Wednesday. But not just any free tix....free tix to a suite with catering and full service help. It was the best way to see a soccer match.

The game kept us all on the edge of our seats but finally in overtime Mexico showed Honduras what's up and scored two goals to close out the game. Of course tomorrow we'll be watching the final with Mexico vs. USA and to be honest I'll be fine with either team winning.

Twins at 27 Weeks

We had our visit with the specialist today and are thankful to report that all news is good. The babies are growing as they should and now both weigh approx. 2 pounds each. No twin-to-twin transfusion and no signs of pre-term labor. If they were to be born at this point they have about an 80% survival rate with 15% long-term complications.

I can also say that aside from normal discomforts from being pregnant that everything has been going well. I feel good and am thankful for that.

As of now it looks like we have a scheduled c-section date for the first week of September, but my gut tells me we may have it bumped up to last week in August as it seems these boys are growing at a healthy rate.

We will keep you all posted on their progress and any changes.