HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

My little minions :)  The NICU did a Halloween photo shoot last night.  All the costumes were made by volunteers and you get to keep them for keepsakes afterwards.  They are so great here at the hospital :)

Breathe in, Breathe out!

Sammy came off the vent yesterday!  It has been 24 hours and he is doing great!

Sammy's last few moments with his mouth tube

Sammy getting extubated and getting his nose prongs in

 

What an exhausting day!

Danny started some steroids to help him get off the vent.  Today was the first day, but we already saw a calmer, more relaxed Danny so that is hopeful.  He also is wide awake most of the day because of this too, so I took advantage and got some pics :)

Danny resting with his binkie

More afternoon napping

What?  They took Sammy's tube?  You can't have mine!! I better hold it tight!

Wide awake this morning

And Miss Elsie has now joined the 'Kilo Club' hitting 1000g today!  She continues to maintain her rock star status!

I just eat, sleep and grow :)

Miguel and I continue to be humbled by everyone's generosity.  Our friends Sue and Tracy McConnell made these gorgeous quilts for the babies.  As a crafter, I can say from experience that quilt-making is very time consuming, and we are so grateful that our babies are loved and receive such heartwarming gifts.

Here is Elsie's on her isolette

 Blue for Danny, Green for Sammy and Purple for Elsie

Look forward to tomorrow to dress the babies in their first Halloween costumes!!!

ONE MONTH!

Can't believe it has been a month!

Elsie is now 2 lbs, making the triangle complete!  In fact, Danny hit an even bigger milestone reaching 1000 grams!  Even though this is only 2lbs 3oz, he is really starting to fill in and get a little chub :)

Elsie graduated to another type of ventilation, the cannula.  She previously had two nose tubes that went up her nose and hung down into her throat, and she now has the big girl nose cannula which has two little bumps that sit in the entrance of her nose.  She's going places that one ;)

Her first day with the new cannula

Resting peacefully in her swaddle

Blocking her eyes from the lights in the room

Danny had a leak in his vent tube and had to get his tube switched out, which gave us the chance to see if he was ready for CPAP before reintubating him.  Sadly, he did not do well without his tube and tuckered himself out quickly trying to breathe on his own.   When he gets worked up he either holds his breath or forgets to breathe, neither which works well for sustaining oxygen.  So he is back on his tube as he feeds and grows a little bit longer before trying again.

Danny in his swaddle

Danny destroying his swaddle in less than an hour

Nurse Donna fixed his wagon and made him a burrito

Danny's attempt at CPAP with his nose tubes and a binkie

No big news for Sammy, he is just growing and feeding.  And sleeping.  :)

He loves to be swaddled, as long as he gets one hand or foot out

Tuck me in, but let me stick out....

Prepping for the swaddle, he sticks his arm up

All burrito-ed up like his brother

My mom made them some rally caps and after game 4, it seems to be working...

Again, Miguel and I would like to thank everyone for all their support through this time.  I had a reminder yesterday of the gravity of the NICU.  I was in the lounge heating up some food, when another NICU family came in with the nurse manager and the social worker.  I don't know what the diagnosis or prognosis was, but it was clearly a devastating one.  The 2 minutes on the microwave felt like eternity as I watched everyone from the grandfather to the parents hysterically sobbing in agony.  I returned to our room crying, thinking about how lucky we are to have 3 babies here, and alive.  Not to say we won't have a long list of issues we will face due to their prematurity, but it is always important to keep the perspective that others may have it worse than you do.  

Plumping Up!

Exciting News!

Danny and Sammy hit 2 pounds today!  Danny is up to 2 lbs 2oz, Sammy to 2 lbs even, and Elsie is almost there at 1 lb 14.5 oz.  Since it is normal to lose 20% of their birth weight initially, it feels like it has taken a while to get moving in the right direction. Now that they are, there is no stopping them!

We also notice now that they are getting bigger, they are getting stronger.  They are using their arms and legs to push themselves around the isolette, much to the demise of their nurses.  They want to go places their vent tubes don't reach, and they seem to forget those tubes are taped to their faces.  Today the boys got swaddled to decrease their activity, and though it worked, Sammy had a big pout face on the whole day about it.

Danny didn't seem to mind his at all...

Miss Elsie got to wear her first onesie today.  Nurse Kathy wanted to bundle her up to come out of the isolette and get held by Daddy.  This gives you an idea of how small they still are considering this is a preemie onesie.

On a side note, it appears that exhaustion has finally set in with Mommy.  Only sleeping in 2-3 hour chunks is worth it if it means providing milk for my babies, but apparently it also provides entertaining dreams. Two nights ago I had a dream that my pump was chasing me (it was more like a nightmare), and today while napping, half the cast of ER (circa 1992) was hanging out having lunch with me.  Can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings! :)

Looking forward to celebrating the 4 week old milestone this weekend!  

Danny using sign language to tell me he wants to eat 

Danny patting himself on his back 

Danny napping and holding his feeding tube with his toes

Elsie napping 

Apparently she is going to be a sleeper that sticks a leg out of the covers :)

Sammy napping with his binkie

This is the dramatic sleeping pose

Sammy covering his eyes from the sun

Changing of the guard

Women and Infants hospital is a teaching hospital,  and therefore every 4 weeks a new team comes in to provide care.  The team is made up of an attending Neonatologist, a fellow, and several residents and medical students.  Today we welcomed or new team led by Dr. Bliss. In our extended stay here at the NICU we will see 4 teams of doctors. 

The team talked strategy about how to get the boys off the vents.  They seem to be in a cycle of doing ok, so the doctors wean their vent settings to get them as low as possible before taking them off... then the next day they struggle so they bump their settings back up so they don't overexert their little lungs. .. then back to a good day,  etc...

The problem with this cycle is it requires a lot of heel sticks to get blood to measure their progress and the babies get purple heels after 3 or 4 sticks in a day :(   It also is very stressing on their little bodies to be constantly challenged to the point of collapse.  And since this cycle hasn't produced significant progress over the course of 2.5 weeks,  the doctors decided to keep the boys comfortable and focus on growing them.  The bigger they get,  the more mature their lungs get,  and the closer they will be to extubation.

So there won't be a lot to report for the next week or 2, but I promise to keep the updates coming even if they are just pics :)

Today's boards with current weights:

Daddy holding Danny

Sammy sprawling

Mommy with Danny and Daddy with Sammy

Elsie's new dance move 

Sammy trying to roll on his side

Danny mimmicking Sammy

Elsie taking an afternoon nap

3 WEEKS OLD!

Very exciting to hit another milestone!

Elsie continues to do well on the CPAP and it is great to be able to hear her when she cries.  Here is a little video of her with the hiccups.  Right now she is very soft spoken, but her voice will continue to find itself and get stronger in time (and I will not be posting videos of her cries then!)

The boys are still feeding and growing while we wait for their lungs to be mature enough to move off their vents.  Although there has been much talk about trying to extubate them this week, they do not show enough consistency in their breathing pattern to comfortably make the jump to CPAP.  So we are in a holding pattern with them while their bodies develop.

Here are some pics:

Sammy with his eyes open...doesn't happen often!

Daddy holding Danny

Elsie gets very alert every time you go near her isolette

Sammy back to his favorite napping position

Danny with a big yawn 

Elsie getting some tummy time 

Elsie watching Daddy intensely during care time