Evie & Maggie Oct 2009
Thursday, June 5, 2008
6/5/08 Part II
The rest of Thursday was rather uneventful. Maggie went back on her CPAP around 11 am. Mom and Dad had kangaroo time at 5pm and Maggie got put back on her cannula for her 6 hour interval. The cannula is under 2 conditions – Maggie keeps breathing so that she doesn’t desaturate where she can’t bring herself back up and her breaths are less than 100 per minute. She has a bit of an issue with breathing too quickly, which will probably wear her out. But she gets to practice every 6 hours. Evie got to do oxygen flow by during her kangaroo and handled it very nicely with Dad. At their weigh in this morning – Evie is 2 pounds 15.8 ounces (6 grams away from 3 lbs) and Maggie is 2 pounds 9.2 ounces.
Thursday June 5, 2008
The report from last night… I did get to hold both girls at the same time, it was so wonderful. Maggie was so good, she was wrapped in the pink blanket and got to come out first. We took off her CPAP to give her nose a rest and just used blow by oxygen – but she didn’t really need that either. The oxygen mostly sat away from her and we just had to wave it in front of her face twice. She was awake and looking around for the first part, and then finally went to sleep. I put my hand above her head to block some of the light, and she looked up at my hand and I think the back of my rings caught her attention, because she kept looking at them. Then we got Evie out, who was wrapped in the blue stripped blanket. I think we woke her from a deep sleep, because she wasn’t quite ready to breathe on her own – and she had just eaten. She turned a little purple right as we took her out and then reminded her what she was supposed to be doing, so she got to come out and take pictures. While she was out she opened her eyes and smiled with her sister. Then she went a little blue again and we decided we’d better put her back on her CPAP. Then Evie fell right back to sleep. I held them for about an hour and a half and Dad did stop working and come over to see us. Joe says the girls are like onions – they make his eyes water when he is around them.
At this point, you should definitely go look at the new pictures in the photo gallery – start at the bottom of page one. (There are 2 pictures on page 2 also)
The difficult part of the night was putting them back because Maggie was not happy about having to get her CPAP back on. She thought she’d proven herself, so she didn’t have to have it and fussed. But she might have had a point because the prongs got her and made her nose bleed, poor thing. But it quickly clotted and she was sleeping when we left. However, she might have found a sneaky way to get back on the nasal cannula. The nurse asked Dr. Hiller if they could try her on nasal cannula again – which has smaller nose prongs and much lower pressure – to help her little nose. So, she started on that at 2:30 am and was great when we checked her at 8:30 am this morning. I’m worried she’ll get a bit tired from working on breathing, but the nurses will watch her. She’ll probably go back and forth between the cannula and CPAP, but any little break helps.
At this point, you should definitely go look at the new pictures in the photo gallery – start at the bottom of page one. (There are 2 pictures on page 2 also)
The difficult part of the night was putting them back because Maggie was not happy about having to get her CPAP back on. She thought she’d proven herself, so she didn’t have to have it and fussed. But she might have had a point because the prongs got her and made her nose bleed, poor thing. But it quickly clotted and she was sleeping when we left. However, she might have found a sneaky way to get back on the nasal cannula. The nurse asked Dr. Hiller if they could try her on nasal cannula again – which has smaller nose prongs and much lower pressure – to help her little nose. So, she started on that at 2:30 am and was great when we checked her at 8:30 am this morning. I’m worried she’ll get a bit tired from working on breathing, but the nurses will watch her. She’ll probably go back and forth between the cannula and CPAP, but any little break helps.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Wednesday June 4, 2008
Hmmm, it has been a pretty quiet day today. We haven’t spent a lot of time with the girls – but I’m headed over this evening to hold them both – at the same time I hope. (Joe has work to do) They have been pretty much sleeping – and being finicky on their oxygen needs. The girls started their Epogen (brand name for erythropoietin) shots to help red blood cells to grow. This is necessary because they don’t have much bone marrow to produce their own blood and hopefully this will keep them from needing as many blood transfusions. They will get the shots Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for quite a while. The girls did have visitors today – Joan and Tom Schafer stopped by since they were “in the area” and got to see our little girls. But since the girls can’t really come out and play – we just stood and talked about them. It was quite nice to see and chat with the Schafers since we haven’t been in the same town for 6 weeks.
Well, I’ll report on holding the girls tomorrow – but now I’m headed out the door!
Well, I’ll report on holding the girls tomorrow – but now I’m headed out the door!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Tuesday June 3, 2008
The girls had a much more peaceful night last night – it must have been because their parents held them before settling down for the night. When talking with the nurse this morning, she commented that they are in the feeder-grower stage. There are not any major things we are fixing at the moment – just working on those lungs and growing, which is a pretty good place to be.
Joe enjoyed his kangaroo time because he got spit up on twice and had to smell a dirty diaper the entire time. Despite Joe changing her diaper before holding, Maggie wasn’t quite done with her job – and with the fortifier it is pretty stinky. Evie was a doll for her mother of course!
Grandma Bev wanted new pictures, so here are some:
Joe enjoyed his kangaroo time because he got spit up on twice and had to smell a dirty diaper the entire time. Despite Joe changing her diaper before holding, Maggie wasn’t quite done with her job – and with the fortifier it is pretty stinky. Evie was a doll for her mother of course!
Grandma Bev wanted new pictures, so here are some:
Evie
Maggie
Monday, June 2, 2008
Monday June 2, 2008
Sorry for the lateness of my posting. We switched up our schedule yesterday and held the girls from 8 -10:30 pm, so by the time we got back to the room I was too tired to blog.
So, the only big change was that Evie got her PICC line out – which means she doesn’t have any IV fluids and is relying on oral feedings. I was there when the nurses took it out, and it was anticlimactic, which I suppose is good. But, Joe has another medical thingamajig to put in his collection. Maggie kept her nurse on her toes last night as she had a few spells and had to get bagged. She has an issue where she doesn’t bounce back very quickly and the nurses have to breathe for her a few times. Dr. Hiller must have decided she wasn’t quite ready for the reduced pressure, so she went back up to 4. That means that Maggie is probably not quite ready for the cannula – although she still hates the CPAP and manages to continually push them out of her nose. Evie doesn’t seem to mind the CPAP too much – she’s just happy to have the ET tube out of her throat! Oh, and I figured out the additive that Maggie is getting to increase her calories, it is MCT oil (medium chain triglycerides). These are easily absorbed lipids (Joe terms), and they do seem to be helping as she is gaining weight.
So, the only big change was that Evie got her PICC line out – which means she doesn’t have any IV fluids and is relying on oral feedings. I was there when the nurses took it out, and it was anticlimactic, which I suppose is good. But, Joe has another medical thingamajig to put in his collection. Maggie kept her nurse on her toes last night as she had a few spells and had to get bagged. She has an issue where she doesn’t bounce back very quickly and the nurses have to breathe for her a few times. Dr. Hiller must have decided she wasn’t quite ready for the reduced pressure, so she went back up to 4. That means that Maggie is probably not quite ready for the cannula – although she still hates the CPAP and manages to continually push them out of her nose. Evie doesn’t seem to mind the CPAP too much – she’s just happy to have the ET tube out of her throat! Oh, and I figured out the additive that Maggie is getting to increase her calories, it is MCT oil (medium chain triglycerides). These are easily absorbed lipids (Joe terms), and they do seem to be helping as she is gaining weight.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Sunday June 1, 2008
On the first day of June, I want to take this opportunity to say Thank you to all who have been praying for our girls and walking with us on this journey. It fills my heart to know that there are so many people out there caring for our little baby girls and it has helped me remember that we are not in this alone. So thank you so much for being with us and I look forward to the day when you all will get to meet our ‘not so little’ girls.
The girls had a day of feeding and growing. They are still increasing their feedings and both gained over 40 grams today. Maggie is still on her CPAP, but went down on her pressure to 3. Both girls still have little spells where they stop breathing, but it is typical preemie behavior as their brains are just not quite mature enough. Mom and Dad spent a couple hours in the NICU holding the girls, reading stories, and chatting with the nurses. I think we have a couple positive steps to look forward to tomorrow, but will report when we get there. This evening the girls looked all comfy as they were swaddled in for a good night’s sleep.
The girls had a day of feeding and growing. They are still increasing their feedings and both gained over 40 grams today. Maggie is still on her CPAP, but went down on her pressure to 3. Both girls still have little spells where they stop breathing, but it is typical preemie behavior as their brains are just not quite mature enough. Mom and Dad spent a couple hours in the NICU holding the girls, reading stories, and chatting with the nurses. I think we have a couple positive steps to look forward to tomorrow, but will report when we get there. This evening the girls looked all comfy as they were swaddled in for a good night’s sleep.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Saturday May 31, 2008
My happy news is that I fit into a pair of non-maternity pants! Just thought I’d share.
The girls had a normal day. Evie is up to 19.5cc of 24 calorie milk every 3 hours and Maggie is at 20cc of the same plus something else that increases her calories. Maggie is still smaller and didn’t gain any weight today, so they are trying to pack on the grams. Evie received her last dose of antibiotics today and is not showing any signs of infection, so that should be cleared up. The family made kangaroo care into naptime today, it was quite nice. Maggie got to go back on the nasal cannula this afternoon and stay on as long as she handled it – which was until almost 9pm when she had her 2nd spell. She was probably getting tired and needed that positive pressure from the CPAP. She wasn’t real thrilled with her “scuba gear”, but I told her if she was going to stop breathing there would be consequences. It’s a lesson we all have to learn in life.
The girls had a normal day. Evie is up to 19.5cc of 24 calorie milk every 3 hours and Maggie is at 20cc of the same plus something else that increases her calories. Maggie is still smaller and didn’t gain any weight today, so they are trying to pack on the grams. Evie received her last dose of antibiotics today and is not showing any signs of infection, so that should be cleared up. The family made kangaroo care into naptime today, it was quite nice. Maggie got to go back on the nasal cannula this afternoon and stay on as long as she handled it – which was until almost 9pm when she had her 2nd spell. She was probably getting tired and needed that positive pressure from the CPAP. She wasn’t real thrilled with her “scuba gear”, but I told her if she was going to stop breathing there would be consequences. It’s a lesson we all have to learn in life.
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