One Day At A Time...

Day of Life 77 ~ Corrected Gestational Age 35 Weeks, 5 Days

It seems as if so much has happened yet nothing has happened since our last update.  Truth be told, that is the journey of the NICU.  To feel like everything is happening yet nothing is progressing...



Cecilia has recovered quite nicely from her eye surgery.  Unfortunately she is having a difficult time gaining and maintaining weight.  Sunday she weighed 1160 grams or 2 lbs, 8.9 oz.  She is still very little, but she is a fighter. 

On Sunday, Cecilia was transitioned to a high flow nasal cannula at a rate of 4 liters.  This is a step in the right direction.  Currently she is having a difficult time with the transition but hopefully she will get the hang of it soon.  The doctors are willing to let her have "a good college try" at it before moving back to the Ram if necessary. 


Unfortunately, the road continues to be tumultuous for Cecilia.  On Saturday, I noticed her left index finger was swollen at the bottom joint (closest to the palm).  I started calling it a funnel finger.  On Monday we took XRAYS and did an ultrasound to confirm that her finger is in fact fractured.  We've been told that breaks and fractures are typical in micro preemies who had to be on TPN for extended periods of time.  Thankfully her fracture is just in her finger rather than her arm or her leg (which the doctors and nurses see much more frequently). 

Isabelle was treated for an infection last week with five days of antibiotics.  She had a stitch that did not dissolve and wound up causing a pustule on her back at her incision from her PDA ligation.  The pustule thankfully took care of itself and the doctors did not need to intervene (with more than antibiotics).  She is feeling much better now.

On Sunday, Isabelle was transitioned to a high flow nasal cannula at a rate of 3 liters.  She is doing fabulous with the transition and has been at room air for the entire time.  Hopefully we can decease her liters soon.

Isabelle has also decided that she does not want to follow the normal course of development and today she rolled over!  She was on her back and the next thing we knew she was on her belly!!  Talk about an advanced baby!  On Sunday she weighed 1360 grams or 3 pounds.




Zoe has had the roughest time recovering from her eye surgery.  As a result of being intubated, Zoe developed staff auresis pneumonia.  She completed a regiment of antibiotics for ten days.  We had to wait with bated breath however has they ran cultures to determine if Zoe had MRSA - if she did, she would have to be placed in isolation for the remainder of her hospital stay - thankfully, it was just a scare!

Zoe is still on the Ram at a Peep of 3 with fluctuating oxygen levels.  We are hopeful that she will be able to transition to a high flow nasal cannula soon.  They were discussing this step for her before her eye surgery, so we have our fingers crossed.

On a lighter note, Zoe has discovered that she enjoys pooping on her nurses.  For three consecutive days she pooped on three separate nurses!  Everyone was grateful for the poop however so Zoe was able to skate by on her good looks!  On Sunday, Zoe weighed 1320 grams or 2 lbs, 14.6 oz.

Bottles & Boobies

All of the girls have been transitioned to gastric, bolus feedings from continuous feedings directly into their intestines.  This is a huge step towards finally learning how to nurse and take a bottle. 

Zoe and Cecilia are being fed every two hours, while Isabelle is slightly ahead of the group, being fed every three (this timing is more compatible to an actual nursing schedule). 

Milestones

The girls have reached another milestone - the tops of their incubators have been raised.  This is a step that is normally reserved for babies at 1500 grams and above.  Once again, the girls are over achieving.  It is quite a sight to see the tops raised and to know that we no longer need a doctor's order to hold our children! 

Yes, another milestone.  Once the girls dropped before a Peep of 4 on the Ram and transitioned to the high flow nasal cannulas, we no longer need to ask permission (at least from the doctors) to snuggle with our babies.

Lastly, the girls all had their two month vaccinations on Monday.  Four shots - two shots per thigh.  All the girls were troopers and handled their shots much better than I would have!  I was so proud of them!

 

Happy Neonatal Nurses Day!

Sunday, September 15 was Neonatal Nurses Day.  The girls insisted on bringing bagels and cream cheese for the nurses to show their appreciation for all the nurses' hard work.  More importantly, for loving them.  The nurses (most of them anyway) actually care about the girls as they have been at the hospital for 77 days (ok 78 days now as it is Tuesday).  It makes it a little easier to watch the nurses care for them because of who they are rather than just because it is another baby.  This is important to me. 

One Month To Go

My original due date was October 16, 2013, so we have officially reached the one month to go deadline.  Unfortunately we do not believe we will make it home by our due date, but we are hopeful to get home by Thanksgiving.  Ideally, it will be sooner.  However, if I set a date too soon and we don't make it, I might get discouraged. 

Please keep praying for our girls and know we hold you all in our hearts. 

All our Love

Adam & daneille