Halloween

Mommy kangarooed with Daniel today and after fidgeting a bit, he settled down and slept. Both babies had eye exams today which revealed immature vessels in the right eyes and stage 1 retinopathy in the left eyes. The eye doctor will continue to watch as their eye development progresses, but right now the issues appear to be mild and are expected in premature babies. They will get examined weekly for follow ups.

Sofia was not happy on the steroids today and had more desats, but they were still able to wean her again and her oxygen is in the 30's - which is much better than before the steroids. If all goes well, they hope to extubate this weekend.

Both Sofia and Daniel are now at least 3 pounds!

8 Weeks Old

The doctors are happy that the steroids are allowing them to wean the ventilator settings for Sofia today. They will wean her as she tolerates it. Mommy kangarooed with her and she did so well - without a single desat.

Daniel will now get lasix every day due to the fluid buildup, but other than being a bit puffy, he did well today - staying within his oxygen saturation range over 80% of the time.

Second Try

Sofia is getting a second course of steroids to hopefully improve her lungs and wean her further on the vent. The last course coincided with her pneumonia, so we are hoping this course is as effective as it was for Daniel. Sofia got a blood transfusion today and has been needing her diuretics because she is quite puffy again. The steroids should act as a diuretic as well.

Daniel was happy today and his pressure was weaned on his NIPPV. Both babies were started on feeds every 3 hours, which is apparently a big step and they tolerated it well.

Mommy was unable to visit the babies yesterday because she was in a car accident on the way to the hospital. Luckily, she only managed to bruise her knee and nose, but the car is totaled. Thanks to her Hertz points from traveling, she is renting a car for free this week to visit the babies.

Kangaroo with Daniel

Mommy kangarooed with Daniel today for the first time on his NIPPV. He did very well once he settled down. He enjoyed his purple pacifier too. Afterwards, his nurse put him next to his lamb to sleep. Daddy held Sofia in a blanket and she also seemed happy in his arms, with few desats.

Today was a day without lasix for both babies and the doctors are going to see how they do without diuretics every other day. Daniel was weaned on the ventilator settings and Sofia has been hanging out on the same settings over the past couple days. Her oxygen was a bit lower overnight and today.

Sunday Visit

Mommy kangarooed with Sofia and Daddy held Daniel today. Daniel was crying enough so that we heard him when he was outside of his isolette. Sofia got a new isolette today after managing to poop all over. Even though the babies are small they can still make big messes.

Aunt Becky and Uncle Chris visited today too on their way back to Boston. The babies are much bigger than when they visited last.

Double Duty

Today Mommy held Daniel while Daddy held Sofia. Both weigh about 2lbs 10 oz today, and are gaining regularly. Extra fat was added to Sofia's regimen so that, like Daniel, she is getting more calories. Sofia was up on her oxygen and settings today but we are hoping the overall trend improves from last week. Daniel is still doing well on the NIPPV and enjoying his pacifier more now.

Sleepy Friday

The babies slept this afternoon during the visit. The pressure on the
ventilator was weaned for both of them but Sofia's was increased again
when her oxygen requirement went up. The X-ray showed an area with a
slight collapse on the left side of her lungs and the pressure helps
to keep the lungs more inflated.

Today the doctor changed the strategy on the diuertics, opting for the
lasix which will not cause them to lose as much sodium. Because the
sodium is important for growth, this may help them to maximize their
weight gain. After a few days they will evaluate the effectiveness of
regular lasix and check their electrolytes.

7 Weeks Old

The babies are seven weeks old today and both are now officially at least 2.5 pounds. The nurses are remarking on how "big" they are getting. They are on 13cc's of food every two hours. Daniel and Sofia are now getting the same mixture of breast milk, Neosure powder and human milk fortifier. Sofia is an ounce larger than Daniel, but about an inch shorter.

Sofia and Daniel also both have dry skin thanks to Mommy's genes. Daddy put Eucerin cream on them both today.

The doctors are continuing to wean the ventilator settings for both babies as they tolerate it. We are glad to see that Sofia seems to have recovered from the possible infection and fluid retention that gave her trouble last week.