Hi- The boys had a great weekend in the NICU. Little Christian had a change of nose breathing piece that hopefully is a little more comfortable on his little nose. They changed it out on Friday since his other mask was not letting the septum of his nose heal very well. I was able to be there when they put in in and I think it hurt mom more than it hurt Christian. He cried for about 2 minutes and I was really hurting for him!!! He fell right back to sleep and looked just fine with it yesterday. I will try to post pics of the new air piece when we can. When Brandon and I were visiting yesterday the doctor said that he should be getting his pic line out yesterday which is a great step. He also should be moved to the same isolation box that Brock has enjoyed this week. I know he will really love being in there since it is quiet, warm and dark.... preemie baby heaven :) He has just been doing great and eating 16cc every three hours. He has been spitting up some of his food (more than the doctors like to see) so they might move him to every 4 hours and see if that helps as well as feed him a little slower. They also gave him a suppository to get things "flowing" to help him move the food along a bit better :) He will have a re- sonogram to check his blood clot progress tomorrow. They don't know what time so I hope they will do it while I am there but we can't make an apt. for him. I always try to read the face of the technician who does his scans but I have decided he must be a very good poker player since he doesn't give much away in his facial expressions. He is still having apnea and they will continue to watch this.
Brock- Our little guy is up to 23cc of food every three hours and tolerating it very well. He got his CPAP breather out and just has a little cannula in his nose which Brandon and I love since you can really see his little cute face now. He loves his little private home and every time we go to see him he is in swaddled peace :) Brandon was able to change his diaper yesterday and we were thrilled to see he has moved from a preemie XS diaper to a preemie Small! Big steps for our little man. The diaper looks sooo much bigger to us!
According to the doctor he wants the boys to start growing and gaining weight at this point. They are both stable so it is time to start the fattening up process.
Brandon and I are so fortunate to have so many wonderful and supportive people in our lives. We were able to meet with Manny and Julie on Sat. They have three wonderful triplets who also were preemies and spent some time in the NICU. She has been a wonderful support to me as she was "in my shoes" just a few months ago. They gave us some wonderful preemie "must haves" and some wonderful support. Thank you so much to you two!! The boys also got to meet Lauren and Cliff this weekend and I know they will be fighting over who gets to be her little girls boyfriend when Chloe arrives! Thank you to my mothers of multiple folks who have called, emailed and expressed support. Brandon and I really feel very luckily to be supported by everyone!!
Brandon and I are going up this afternoon and I hope to hold Brock again today. Christian is still not ready to be held until this new breathing piece comes out. It is held in there with a stand that doesn't let us hold him and keep him breathing at the same time. But we know his time is coming where we can cuddle and love on him too!
Jenn
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Sleep Apnea
Hi! Both of our little bundles of joy suffer from Sleep Apnea. The apnea can show up in two forms, when the baby forgets to breath and when their heart rate drops or slows down. This sounds super frightening but is actually a very common ailment in the NICU. 80% of babies born before 30 weeks suffer from apnea. Both of our little babies have it and they have both been treated with caffeine to help control it. When they forget to breath and alarm goes off and the nurse touches them to wake them up and remind them to breath. Luckily this is something that both babies should grow out of and we should see some relief at 36-38 weeks.
Papa and Nana Linn and I got to experience an episode with Christian while we were visiting today. We all decided that we were VERY happy they were in the good hands of the nurses 24/7 while they are still so little.
In other baby news, feedings have been going well and increasing for both babies and Brock seems to be loving his new enclosed home. It is warmer, quieter and feels safer to the babies so I am sure Christian will love it to when he is able to be moved. The incubator is set at 0% humidity and 88.5 degrees..... kind of makes me want to move in with him :)
I am feeling very tired today and will be resting for the remainder of the day. Like my babies I keep taking two steps forward and one step back with my recovery. We have a lot in common :)
Papa and Nana Linn and I got to experience an episode with Christian while we were visiting today. We all decided that we were VERY happy they were in the good hands of the nurses 24/7 while they are still so little.
In other baby news, feedings have been going well and increasing for both babies and Brock seems to be loving his new enclosed home. It is warmer, quieter and feels safer to the babies so I am sure Christian will love it to when he is able to be moved. The incubator is set at 0% humidity and 88.5 degrees..... kind of makes me want to move in with him :)
I am feeling very tired today and will be resting for the remainder of the day. Like my babies I keep taking two steps forward and one step back with my recovery. We have a lot in common :)
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
8 Days old and healthy report
Brandon and I can't believe our little guys are 8 days old today. I decided that this has been the longest week I can remember..... really all this went down only 8 days ago?!? We had a great report from the boys doctor today.
Brock- will be moved into an incubator (a covered plastic box with arm holds) today which is a step up from the warmer that they have been under for the last week. They move babies to these when they are deemed "stable" and the doctors and nurses don't have to mess with them all the time. He also might be able to try no air this week and if his feedings keep going well he will loose the nutrient tube to his arm. Big steps for a little boy! His weight has gone down to 2 pounds, 14.5 oz so they will be focusing on feeding him and making him bigger. He is eating 16cc per feeding every three hours.
Christian- He is holding stable. He is having a little sleep apnea so the doctor gave him some caffeine to help his heart keep going when he forgets to breath on his own. This is a common preemie baby issue and he SHOULD grow out of it. He is doing well on his air consumption as well and if his sleep apnea goes away they will try to ween him off in the future. His clot will get re-sonogramed next Monday to see if it has shrunk. His blood pressure has been pretty stable... they had to give him meds yesterday but not so far today. They have a line in his artery to check it non-stop so until that comes out we can't hold him. The doctor said that could be this week or next week or longer depending on how his pressure does.
Thank you all for your prayers for our little guys... they are tough ones!!!
Brock- will be moved into an incubator (a covered plastic box with arm holds) today which is a step up from the warmer that they have been under for the last week. They move babies to these when they are deemed "stable" and the doctors and nurses don't have to mess with them all the time. He also might be able to try no air this week and if his feedings keep going well he will loose the nutrient tube to his arm. Big steps for a little boy! His weight has gone down to 2 pounds, 14.5 oz so they will be focusing on feeding him and making him bigger. He is eating 16cc per feeding every three hours.
Christian- He is holding stable. He is having a little sleep apnea so the doctor gave him some caffeine to help his heart keep going when he forgets to breath on his own. This is a common preemie baby issue and he SHOULD grow out of it. He is doing well on his air consumption as well and if his sleep apnea goes away they will try to ween him off in the future. His clot will get re-sonogramed next Monday to see if it has shrunk. His blood pressure has been pretty stable... they had to give him meds yesterday but not so far today. They have a line in his artery to check it non-stop so until that comes out we can't hold him. The doctor said that could be this week or next week or longer depending on how his pressure does.
Thank you all for your prayers for our little guys... they are tough ones!!!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Update
Christian got a good report last night. The brain scan showed minimal brain bleeding on both boys (totally normal for preemies) so they are able to do the blood thinner with relatively low risk. They started him on it last night and they will re-sonogram him in a week to see how it is going. They said to expect the clot to take a couple of months to go away since he is on such a low dose of blood thinner. Brock is doing well (as always) and they have been bumping up his feeding size over the last couple of days. He is eating like a big man now!
Both boys are on the step down for breathing with a new form of CPAP tubes. They are exactly one week old today!! We couldn't be more thrilled!!! I am heading to the NICU this morning with my mom and then Brandon and I will go tonight and try to hold them again. We just can't get enough of our little men :)
I am attaching some pics with Brandon's mom and the boys from last week. He just got these emailed to me. How lucky all the boys are to have meet all their grandparents in the first week of life!
Both boys are on the step down for breathing with a new form of CPAP tubes. They are exactly one week old today!! We couldn't be more thrilled!!! I am heading to the NICU this morning with my mom and then Brandon and I will go tonight and try to hold them again. We just can't get enough of our little men :)
I am attaching some pics with Brandon's mom and the boys from last week. He just got these emailed to me. How lucky all the boys are to have meet all their grandparents in the first week of life!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Big Weekend in the NICU
Don with Christian
Don with Brock
Christian's first hold with Dad, aren't they cute!!!
Brock's first hold with mom... I got up and had a LOT of drool on me :) Funny how I didn't care at all.
Christian and Dad again with his Barefoot blanket... so fitting :)We had a big weekend with the boys. Don, Brandon's dad was in town on Friday to meet our little guys. They got a nice visit in with him in the afternoon (see pics below). On Sat. Brandon and I were able to see the boys two times at the 11am feeding and the 2pm feeding. On Sat. night we had a call with their doctor.
As always, Brock is stable and Christian is our little trouble maker. After doing an ultrasound on his kidneys, the doctor discovered a sizable blood clot below his kidneys but before his legs. The clot is large, but doesn't seem to be blocking anything right now. The NICU doctor meet with a hematologist and they decided last night to give him some medication to make sure his clotting levels were correct. Then this morning, he will get another ultrasound to see how the clot is looking. If it is the same or worse, the doctors will give him heparin blood thinner. If it is better, they will just watch it. Another issue would be why did he develop the clot in the first place? Hopefully the blood tests will reveal some reason why his body made the clot.... keep everyone posted on the results! Some blood tests will be back tonight and others will take a week to process.
On Sunday Brandon and I got to feel like parents and hold our little guys. I held Brock and Brandon held Christian. We sat with them for a few hours and just enjoyed being with them. What a treat.
Sunday Brock got taken off his breathing tube (yeah) after he removed it himself (yet again) and was moved to a CPAP line in his nose. He also got the tubes out of his belly button and put into his arm.
I was told again that mid-Oct. would most likely be the release point for the boys..... so we have a LONG few months to deal with all the NICU challenges with them.
Keep they boys in your prayers, as we can see they are still very little and fragile and need all the support there is to offer.
Jenn
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