Reunited

The gang is back together!

I came in on Thursday morning and Donna and Barbara were making the big move for Elsie to rejoin her brothers!  So exciting! Here's the video:

I held Elsie and Danny together yesterday and Danny was overjoyed to have his sister back.  He sat there and stared at her, he was completely enamored.  He kept trying to hold her hand and reaching toward her.  Elsie on the other hand had a face of 'OMG that needy little boy from the mothership is back and he's touching me again!'  She finally caved after 5 minutes and let him snuggle up to her.  Within minutes their breathing was in sync.

Could it really be her?

Mom where have you been hiding her...

What if she doesn't remember me?!?

I'll hold her hand, that will make her remember me...

Quit touching me, I thought I got rid of you and got my own crib...

Ok, I'll let you snuggle, just stay on your side...

This is the best snuggle ever (said by both)

What is this you ask?

It's an unplugged ventilator!  That's right we are all officially off all CPAP vents!  All the babies are on High Flo nasal cannulas, which come straight off the oxygen input from the wall.  High Flo has 4 stages (4,3,2,1) that reduce the number of liters of oxygen per hour till the baby needs no breathing assistance whatsoever.  It's hard to believe we are here already, just 3 weeks ago Danny still had a mouth tube!  Amazing how it starts to come together and then just takes off!

Babies are 10 weeks today (34 weeks gestational) and their preemie outfits are starting to get snug.  All the babies are between 4 lbs 6 oz and 4 lbs 10 oz.  It's incredible to think they are zipping through clothes now, but that's ok because we love chubby babies!

Here are some pics:

Meme hugging Danny

Sammy napping

Daddy with Sammy

Miss Elsie snuggling in her crib with her Christmas hat

Sleeping peacefully

Sammy hiding out from the light

Danny napping

Mommy holding Danny and Elsie

Sammy sleeping the day away

Here are a few videos:

Elsie watching her mobile

Daddy with Danny

Elsie and Danny meeting for the first time out-utero

Daddy brushing Sammy's hair

 

A Breath of Fresh Air

Hey hey hey!

Guess whose babies are big enough for cribs!!! Yaaaa!  Yesterday we reached an exciting milestone when we moved out of incubators!  This conquers 1 of 3 items needed to go home...maintaining body temperature. 

It is really nice to see them in their big kid cribs. It finally feels like they are out in the real world.  You can see them, easily touch and change them. This makes care time a much simpler task. 

I brought in their mobiles from the nursery for entertainment.  Yesterday when I turned on Danny's, he moved his whole head in the direction of the movement and had big, alert eyes watching it spin around.   Very cool. Hooking up Elsie's today, looking forward to seeing her reaction since she tends to be awake more often than the boys.

Things really seem to be snowballing in the right direction and we can't be thankful enough.  We are just so blessed they are getting bigger and stronger each day and progressing like term newborns would.

Here are some pics. Going in order today, Sammy, Danny and Elsie. And a video of Danny and his mobile from this morning. 

Although it appears Nurse Donna has Danny by the neck, she is positioning his chin to help with reflux. Danny loves her and I love this pic that shows his focus on her :)

Here is the video of Danny seeing his mobile for the second time (not as dramatic as the first time but still memorable)

9 WEEKS!

Wow are they getting big!

Sammy and Elsie are 4 pounds!  Hoping when I get to the hospital this morning that Danny will be as well, since he was only grams away yesterday.  4 pounds is 1814 grams, and to think that in week 1 the boys weight dropped as low as 630 grams and Elsie at 640 grams.  Now they are triple their weight!  Holy moly!  They are all starting to look like little chubbas, with their wrinkles being replaced with rolls!  We love it!


All the babies are doing great on their current vent settings.  Sammy has been sitting in 21% oxygen (otherwise known as room air!) for a few days, and although Danny just made the jump to CPAP 8 like his siblings, he has caught right up needing only 24%-29%.   This is a dramatic change to just weeks ago when they were all needing 40-50% oxygen.   The less oxygen the better for tons of reasons, but one being eye development.  Less oxygen equals better eyes, so we are pretty pumped about these latest stats.  Even the doctors are, saying in rounds yesterday that this is a fantastic improvement and they want to just hold them steady on these settings till they grow healthy, new lung tissue to replace the tissue damaged from the intubating vents they were on in the beginning.


Here are some pics of our chubba lubbas....

Sammy 

Elsie

oh look I can take out my cannula

Nurse Barbara says no way

Danny

The sock doll has seen better days but look at the difference! It was as big as Danny!