Elsie leads the charge!

Day 18 today!

So not a lot of variety in today's blog, the doctors still have the 2 main objectives of upping their breast milk intake and getting them off the ventilators.

We extubated Sammy on Monday, and he moved to CPAP, which means he has to do all the breathing on his own.  The mouth tube comes out, and is replaced with little oxygen nose tubes that provide oxygen support without breathing for him.  He tried hard for a solid 12 hours, but had to be reintubated late Monday night because he was getting pale in color from working so hard to breathe on his own.  Even though they told us it is very common for preemies to not be able to do it on the first try, it was a rough day for us emotionally when we had to see him struggle to breathe.  We will try Sammy again in a few days.

Danny is looking like he will get his chance off the tube later today or tomorrow.  He had a little pneumonia and they want to make sure he has full capacity before making him do all the extra work.  He is the fussiest of the crew, and so it is also important that he is ultra comfortable before this big transition.

And then there is Miss Elsie Mae...leaving the boys in the dust! (She knows this may be the only time in her life she has the advantage since there are two of them and she is taking charge!)  Elsie jumped to CPAP on Monday evening and is doing fantastic.  Breathing on her own, low oxygen settings, and resting comfortably with good color.  They have also upped her feedings and so her PICC line was taken out because she no longer needs additional IV nutrition now that she is tolerating a good amount of breast milk.  Without the vent tube and the IV line and all the wires associated she is looking naked and we love it!  She only has the body temperature sensor and the oxygen sensor now, which means easier transfer for skin to skin time :)

I have now gotten to hold all 3 babies, so in my eyes it's been a great few days.  This bonding time has also helped my postpartum and has almost doubled my milk production so it's a win win all around!

Here are a few pics...

Danny - VOGUE!

Danny with his eyes wide open 

Danny in his Blueberry hat!

Danny wrapped in his swaddling cocoon!

Mommy and Danny snuggling for the first time!

Big yawn for Elsie

My little flower hat

Mommy's first hold with Elsie

Cuddling with my Carrot hat on!

2 days in a row Sammy gets to snuggle Mommy!  Yaa!

Sammy likes to scoot down and throw his feet off the bed!

Or to pull his foot out of the covers :)

Look at Sammy's cool Apple hat!

Even when Sammy's locked down in the bed he manages to scoot down to hang his feet!