September 22, 2008

SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look what we walked in to see tonight at our nightly visit:

Alec:
Out with the OLD (isolette on the right!) ...in with the NEW (big boy bed on the left!)!


Alec's new crib!




Evan's new beddy bye




Alec all tucked in:


Evan all tucked in:


And is is JUST me or does Evan look like he's gained 100 pounds! Look at his face...positively plump! Alright...not plump...hahahahaha but he LOOKS bigger to me today! As if I haven't seen him in days (I saw him yesterday!)...he seems to have grown overnight!!

Weights today:
Alec: 4 lb 0.4 oz
Evan: 5lb 0.1 oz

BOTH boys have broken the next pound up mark! Goooooooooo boys!

On to other updates.
Evan:
As you can see, Evan's g-tube is back in (the G-Tube is the tube in their nose that food goes through for the tube feeding). This means we're back in business for FEEDING!!! He started at a whopping 3 cc, which he got twice, then went to 6 cc, and now is up to 9 cc, and will remain at 9 cc for 12 hours, before going up another 3 cc. SO far, he seems to be tolerating the feeds, without residuals, but it's VERY early and he's not getting much yet ;) He did poop tonight (which Daddy changed!) with no blood so far, so so far so good!

Evan's Brady's have been better as well. He had ONE today at about 3 am. He has them for less than 5 seconds and self recovers, which is GREAT! Keep the "no brady" prayer going, because it's working so far!

He is such a little love. He had a bath last night and this morning his hair was all fuzzy and clean. Hehehe.

And then the big news, tonight when we got there, they were OUT of their isolettes and in open cribs! The funny thing is that I JUST asked their nurse earlier today when they usually move babies to open cribs. She said that usually they like to see them nippling (aka feeding) more consistently so that they only have to focus on one thing at a time. She said that their temperatures have been great, and that they'll just wait a little longer. Then tonight we walk in and viola! Their night nurse thought that they were ready and phoned the doctor to ask, who gave the okay. Wow. I just hope it's not too early to have them out, as they really are not nippling real well yet. Evan tried to nipple (by bottle) his 9 cc feed tonight, and drank about half of it, then petered out. Alec tried to nipple (by bottle) his 32 cc feed tonight and only took about 7 cc. They get real tired. Poor dudes!

Alec:
Alec had his IV pulled today as planned! However, they have to check his blood sugars regularly now that he is off the IV which has sugars, etc in it. His first few blood sugars were borderline/low, so they decided they'd up his feeds a bit more quickly, moving from upping 1 cc every other feed to 1 cc EACh feed to try and get his sugars up. His sugars were as follows 42, 44, 44, then 50! His numbers need to be above 40, so he's really just on the brink. If he dips below 40, they'll have to put an IV back in. If he has three blood sugars with 50 or more then they will stop taking them. The doctor explained that babies who are growth restricted like Alec do not have any stores in their liver like we do, and can't rely on the stores (since they have none) to keep their sugars up. So, they'll watch him real close and if he can't sustain himself on feeds alone, they'll have to put the IV back in. On a side note, Alec's residuals have been GREAT! Good job buddy! He's up to 32 cc which is just over one ounce (30 cc in one ounce).

Daddy got to change both boys tonight! He got a little shower from Alec, who peed on himself. Daddy had to change his outfit and wipe him up, but did very well! He got TWO for TWO poop diapers tonight...both Alec and Evan had prizes for him.

Here are a few more pictures for fun!
From yesterday:
Little bitty Alec holding Daddy's finger


Momma with both boys (when looking at the photo, Evan is on the left, Alec right)




Evan SMILING!


ALSO- I just wanted to let you know that I may do a couple updates during the day. I often go up in the morning, and then in the evening. I may post twice, once after the a.m. time and once after the p.m. time I go. So, be sure you check at the bottom of each post before reading a new one b/c I may update more than once a day if I am ambitious!

Lots of love!
Xoxox