It has been a few days since the last posting and things have been going at a steady pace. No large leaps, and no large set backs. But they say (whoever "they" are), that "Slow & Steady wins the race". I would like to meet these people "They" call Slow & Steady...
Ethan was started on his feeds again, which is good. They started him on a very small amount (.7 cc) every 3 hours. However, he was having too much residual (which is what is in the stomach before the next feeding that he hasn't digested yet), so they moved it to every 6 hours. They need to jump start his intestines and bowels and the longer they wait, they harder it is to get them to function properly. And his bowels are sounding a little slow right now. Its a very small amount, but very little is better than none at all. When I went in today, they have rearranged his feedings to .5 cc every 3 hours to see how he responds. With fingers crossed, he will be able to move up on the volume of his feedings soon.
He is still showing signs of swelling and they continue to give him a diarrhetic every 12 hours so that he releases the fluid. It's not an ideal situation for them to have to do this. But it's one of those things that we have to watch and wait on. I hate waiting....
So far he has been doing okay on the CPAP machine. His settings of oxygen are averaging in the 28%-50% oxygen levels depending on what is happening around him. Normal air that we all breathe is 21%. He has been going a little higher settings than what I would like to see, but none the less, he is on a less abrasive machine. Slow & Steady strike again.
Unfortunately the person that comes every day to work on Ethan and Madaline and gives them their massages (Karin), went home sick yesterday. Mommy to the rescue! I gave both Madaline and Ethan their daily massages yesterday and they both responded very well by falling asleep and relaxing their muscles. Something I'm sure they have grown very accustom to over the last couple weeks. Next week when Karin comes back, she is going to teach me some more moves that will work on Ethan's range of motion for his legs & feet (that turn out). Ethan at some point will also get a ultrasound of his hips to makes sure there is nothing serious going on. Cross your fingers, eyes and toes. We will also start to work with Madaline to get her prepped for feeds by mouth.
Onto my precious Madaline. She is doing pretty well. Last time I posted they tried to do the PICC line on her so that they would not have to keep poking her to give her some necessary medication and nutrition. Well, they gave her a day off and attempted again and was successful. Thank goodness. One less thing to keep poking her for.
She has now been off her CPAP machine for a few days and seems to be doing pretty well. She continues to just have the Nasal Cannula (like the old people), and her oxygen levels is low. No major set backs to speak of.
Since she had the infection that she had, they had to stop her feeds for the last week. Today, when I went in, they started them up again. She is at 1.2 cc every 3 hours and responding well. Her belly is soft and bowel sounds sound good. Sounds like we may be back on track.
Since both her and Ethan turned 32 weeks (gestational age) yesterday, Madaline is now able to get a bath every 3 days. Unfortunately I missed her 2nd bath yesterday, but boy did she smell good after. I don't think Ethan is at a point of being stable enough to start getting his bath. But he's a boy... Boy's can be a little smelly, right? At least for right now.
Also, the humidity in Madaline's incubator has been turned from 60% down 10% every 12 hours until it stays at 30%. They use humidity in the incubators to help develop the babies skin. Once they turn the humidity off, they can start wearing clothes. Can you imagine how small those clothes are. The nurses actually told me that the best place to shop for the babies is at Build-A-Bear. I might have to go find their halloween costumes there.
A little clarification... In the NICU, babies have 2 different "birthdays". The twins have their actual "birth"-day (September 7th), and then they have their gestational age, which goes by how far along I would be in my pregnancy. (Due date was November 27th). A lot of what happens in the NICU as far as development goes by gestational age. So when you see me write that the twins are having a 32 week birthday, it just means where they are in their development. It doesn't mean when they get older that they will have 2 birthdays and twice the presents.
In the past few days the twins are showing small signs of improvement, slow & steady. We are hopeful, but yet we try not to get so excited, so quickly. As they always say in the NICU, its a roller coaster of highs and lows. 2 steps forward, and 1 step back. I'm getting a little nauseous from this roller coaster though. But, it's like my boss (Dr. Bocchino) said, "Dont' worry, it only lasts for 18 YEARS!" Thanks Dr. Bocchino.
Side note:
Thank you to everyone who has expressed their enjoyment of reading and following our blog. It means a lot to us to know that you are all checking in to see what the latest is on the babies. Your continued love means a whole lot.
Pictures:
The top picture is our Little Superman, Ethan. They took a lot of the stuff off of him to make changes and I had only a spilt second to take a picture so his eyes are half closed.
The next picture is Madaline with her pacifier in her mouth. He passed out sucking on it with it in her mouth.
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