We've been busy......

Hi All! We apologize for taking so long to post anything new. The NICU has kept us very busy since the 20th. The girls moved to the "growers and feeders" side and it has been a whirlwind. They are on the fast track to coming home, but it takes a lot of work for them, us and the nurses. There are three basic skills that preemies have to obtain: Regulate their own body temperature (get to wear clothes and sleep in a crib not an incubator); Eat from a bottle (perfect the suck, swallow, breathe reflexes); and the final and often last one is to remember to breathe without apnea episodes (a's and b's). So, here's what we have been up to.....

Avery - Regulates her own temp and is now sleeping in a regular crib with clothes on. She has been taking her food through a bottle and even did well with breastfeeding. She remembers to breathe most of the time, but still has the occasional episode. We were told that she could be home in as soon as a week if she progresses as she has been!!!!!!!

Emily - Still working on regulating her own temp, but she is ALMOST there. She has been taking her food through a bottle as well and is doing very well with it. She is getting better with breathing, less episodes, but she is still working hard in this area. Nevertheless, she is just right behind her sister!!!!!!!

They are both growing and changing SOOOO much. Avery weighs 4 lbs 9 oz and Emily weighs 3 lbs 7 oz, up from birthweights of 3 lbs 5 oz and 2 lbs 5 oz respectively. Miss Avery has hit a growth spurt, wait until you see her cheeks, OMG! I noticed yesterday that Emily is just starting into a growth spurt right now also. They definitely have their own personalities already. Avery is slightly dramatic since she is out of her crib, putting her hands over her face and ears to block out noise and light. Emily is the sportier and more coordinated of the two...she is all over the isolette, kicking and moving. She already knows how to hold her pacifier in her mouth as well as take it out and put it back in!!!!!!! Are you kidding, she's 3 lbs!

The nurses have wanted our involvement so much recently. It's been very important for us to spend as much time as possible with them, as this seems to speed their development. So, we have been learning how to feed and burp them, bathe them, handle them, etc. Also, since there is a chance they might come home on apnea monitors we have wanted to educate ourselves as much as possible in this area, as well as CPR. We have had to move interviewing pediatricians to the top of our list. We are very confused about vaccinations. There is a lot of research for and against. If anyone has any good info on this subject please email us.

We did have quite a trying week with little Emily. A few times we walked into the NICU and she was in less than a desirable state. One time her arm was down in a crack of the bed about an inch wide. Another time she was struggling so hard to breathe that I started bawling and immediately got the Dr. involved. He suctioned her nose out and said she was bleeding quite a bit in there b/c the nasal cannula (oxygen) dried her out. Then she had an apnea episode and there were no nurses in sight despite her alarm dinging. This was very scary. In fact, it prompted us to pop up to the hospital in the middle of the night (when we had just left a few hours before) to keep the nurses on their toes. We ended up staying until 4 am asking many detailed questions about the breathing and monitors. We have decided to take a more vocal approach with the nurses, otherwise they will just go about their job and maybe not take such a proactive approach with checking on them.

More to come, but just wanted to give everyone a quick update! Thank you so much for your wonderful support and keep praying, we are not quite out of the woods yet.

Heather