Feeding Frustrations

We are so close to the end, but still yet so far away. All that is left to accomplish is this darn feeding thing, and it is ever so frustrating!!

Yesterday Kaylyn tool ALL of her feedings PO, and they even removed her NG tube yesterday afternoon. However, last night she regressed and didn't do so well with the bottle and they had to put the NG back in. I didn't even get to see her face with nothing on it, and that kind of bummed me out. We will see how she does today, hopefully she picks it up a bit.

Kylee is still on every other feeding PO, and she does OK. She is not overly interested in drinking from a bottle, and usually will only finish half of it. This morning they tried a high-flow nipple in hopes of peaking her interest, and she did finish her entire bottle but who knows if that will happen with the next feeding.

I am supposed to meet with a discharge planner today and pick out a pediatrician for the girls once they are discharged. I know we are getting close, and I need to be patient.

Today the girls gestational age is 36 weeks. It is hard to believe that they will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. They will be getting their 2 month immunizations sometime in the next couple of days. Hopefully that doesn't slow down the progress. From what I hear kids can feel kind of crappy after getting them. Its not optional though, they need their immunizations, especially because they are preemies.

We're Getting Closer...

The girls continue to amaze me each and every day. They are both doing phenomenally well, I am so very proud of both of them.

As of last night Kaylyn weighs 5lbs 5oz, and Kylee weighs 4lbs14oz. They are getting so big! I just love them!!

The big news is that Kylee is FINALLY off of her O2. They gave her a blood transfusion the other day and it has helped bump her along tremendously. She is doing so well, they already discontinued the Pulse Oximeter that measures the amount of oxygen in her blood. The only way to tell if she de-sats now is by her color. That is one less wire that is connected to her, and one less alarm to go off- so that is OK with me.

Kaylyn is now allowed to PO (by mouth a.k.a. Bottle Feed) for every feeding. She is quite the little porker! She usually takes more than the required amount. If she tolerates all feedings PO for 24 hours then they will remove her NG tube. So depending on how her feedings go tonight, I may be able to see her beautiful face with nothing connected to it for the first time tomorrow! Lets keep our fingers crossed.

Kylee had a little issue with constipation today. Since she was clogged up on the lower end, it was causing her to spit up her food. She was working really hard to poop to no avail. So the nurse gave her a glycerin suppository to move things along. I swear she pooped a golf ball, same size and consistency. But once she got that plug out, things seemed to be moving fine. She was just Full of it!! Hopefully that will be what she needed to get back on track with her PO feedings. She is still on every other feeding PO, but maybe tomorrow it will be increased to every feed.

We're getting closer, and I have a feeling that it shouldn't be that much longer until they come home. Now all we have left to master is this eating thing, and we are getting there. I am hoping that things stay on track!

We've Almost Got 10lbs of Baby!!

I haven't posted in a couple days because there was nothing really new and exciting to write.

The girls are both getting fed by a bottle every other feeding, and they are doing OK with it. Sometimes they will down the entire thing, and other times they will just do half of it. We have to get to be a little more consistent before they move them to all of their feedings by bottle, but we will get there.

Today they did some blood tests on the girls to see how everything was shaping up. Everything was good but Kylee's H&H (Hemoglobin and Hematacrit) was a little low, so the Dr. decided that she needed another blood transfusion. This is not a big deal, more of a booster of sorts. This may be what she needed in order to get off the Oxygen, since the red blood cells are what carries the Oxygen through the body. So keep your fingers crossed, hopefully she can get rid of that nasal cannula once and for all.

Kaylyn reached the 5lb mark today, at 5lbs even! I cannot believe it. Kylee is almost there at 4lbs 12oz. They both are getting so much bigger. Everyday I go to see them I notice a difference.

So we are guessing the girls will be home anywhere from 1-3 weeks. from now Really it all depends on them. They have to be taking all of their feedings by mouth. Its our last step, and so far it seems to be the hardest. Everyone keeps telling me, that with preemies and eating it is kind of like a light bulb goes off in their head and all of a sudden they just "get it". I am still waiting for said light bulb.

That is all for now. Hope all is well with everyone!!

I Have so Much to be Thankful For

I am still in awe of the fact that I have 2 beautiful baby girls, and the most wonderful husband on the face of this earth. I am so very thankful for my family and friends. Thank You for everything!

The girls continue to progress. They took Kylee of her O2 again today, lets hope that this time she stays off of it!

The Dr. upped the orders for bottle feeding today! They are now allowed to take a bottle every other feeding, rather than 2 times a day. That is great news. Slowly but surely we are getting there. Once they are taking all of their feedings by bottle, they can come home. So long as nothing else pops up that would cause them to stay, which we don't anticipate happening.

The girls both had their hearing checked yesterday and everything came back normal. I am really curious how they test the hearing of a preemie, but I wasn't there when they did the test so I still don't know.

Unfortunately, Keith had to work today and his Thanksgiving dinner consisted of Rolled Tacos from the Mexican food shop. There are leftovers here for him, but its just not the same when it has to be heated up in the microwave. He is so wonderful!

That is all the news in the Naylor world for now. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Can't They Come Home Already!!

I'm getting really anxious for the girls to be able to get home already. Its hard to believe that we have almost been doing this whole NICU thing for 7 weeks, but lately the closer they get to being able to come home, the slower the times seems to go. They are both doing so well, and I know we have made incredible progress over these weeks but I am so ready to start being a full-time mom.

They tried to take Kylee off of her Oxygen yesterday morning and she did well until this morning. Once again, she started working too hard to breath and her color wasn't the greatest so the nurse opted to put her back on her nasal cannula. I'm sure it wont be too much longer and she will be free and clear of needing it, its just a matter of being patient and whenever she is ready.

The girls are allowed to have 2 bottles a day now (one during day shift, and one during the night shift). They both have been doing well with it. Kaylyn is our little porker and she almost always finishes her bottle. Kylee is more hit or miss, sometimes she will finish it, and other times she will just come close. They are both frequent burper's. If they are not burped at least 4 times during the feedings they wont continue to eat. I got to feed them both their bottles this morning and they both finished them. Great Success!! Hopefully in the next couple of days, they will increase the amount of times they are allowed to get a bottle a day.

Kylee has been having some arrhythmia's again. If you remember, she was the one who was having this in utero as well. They did a 12 lead EKG yesterday, but as of this morning the results were not back yet. The Dr. didn't seem too concerned, and he said that most infant arrhythmia's are benign and nothing to worry about. But its not normal so they are going to check it out anyway to make sure that everything is fine.

Kaylyn now weighs 4lbs 10oz, and Kylee weighs 4lbs 5oz. They are gaining weight, and they look amazing. Some of the preemie clothes that they have are beginning to get a little snug, but I think they are still a few weeks from outgrowing them.

Still no official word on when they will be able to come home. We are hoping about 3 more weeks or so, but we will see. I'm not getting my hopes up that's for sure! They will come home when they are ready, and one will probably come before the other. I have been preparing myself for that since this whole roller coaster began, we will see how I handle it when it actually comes to that.

We've Got 2 Bottle Feeders!!

I can't even begin to tell you how well the girls are doing, and how far they have come. I love them more and more each day, and I cannot wait to bring them home!!

Both of the girls are over 4lbs now. Kylee weighs 4lbs 3oz, and Kaylyn weighs 4lbs 7oz. The occupational therapist came and saw them Friday, and assessed their ability to suck, swallow and breath all at the same time. They both did really well, so now they are allowed to take a bottle once a day. This morning was the first time they each took the entire bottle! That is such a huge step!!! Once they get better at it, they will start increasing the amount of times a day they can have a bottle until all of their feedings are by mouth (rather than by ng tube). The nurses tell me it could take a couple weeks to get to that point. But really that is the last big milestone they have to accomplish and they get to come home.

Kylee is still working on getting rid of her nasal cannula. They are lowering the flow little by little until eventually she will be off of it completely. I cannot wait to be able to look at her beautiful little face without that big honkin' cannula on there! Im sure she will be much more comfortably as well.

There is no denying that these girls are their Fathers Daughters. They are pooping machines!! Within 5 minutes of eating, they have already filled their diapers (just like their dad, minus the diaper part...) That is a good thing though, it shows that everything is working like its supposed to.

I cannot wait until I get to post that they are coming home! We are getting there. Slow and steady wins the race....

I Fired a Nurse from Taking Care of the Girls

Well Wednesday I fired a nurse from taking care of the girls. I was so incredibly infuriated, I cannot even begin to tell you! Kaylyn is on continuous feeds (at that time over a period of 1 1/2 hours) and this nurse was giving her feedings over 30 min! This caused her to de-sat into the 60's, then the nurse didn't even come in the room when the alarms were going off, I had to go get her. They had to put Kaylyn on a blow-by oxygen mask to get her saturation's back up. There is a REASON the Dr. has her feedings going over an extended period of time!! Dumb Lady!! I was soo angry, I called the charge nurse and made sure that she will never be taking care of either one of my daughters again!!

The girls are both doing extremely well. Kaylyn is still breathing on her own, and doing fine with it (other than when the nurse tried to flood her with food!), and Kylee is almost ready to finally come off of the nasal cannula. They tried taking her off yesterday, and she did OK for a few hours, and then she started working a little hard, and tiring out, so they put her back on the low flow. I'm guessing a couple days and she will be free of it.

Today the occupational therapist is supposed to come in and work with them on bottle feeding. Premature babies have to be taught how to suck, swallow, and breath at the same time, where are with a full term baby it is a natural instinct. I am hopeful it will go well. As soon as they master this, they will get to come home!! The nurses have told me it could take up to 3-4 weeks for them to get the hang of it. But that is still before Christmas, and that is our goal!

I gave both of the girls baths yesterday all by myself! It went better than I thought it was going to, I guess I am learning. Of course right after I finished Kaylyn's bath and got her dressed and comfy back in bed, she spit up all over herself. So I got her cleaned up again, and comfy and she was fine. One benefit to this whole NICU stay is I am getting tons of practice before I have to take them home.

I think that's all for now, we are one day closer to having them home. Get ready for the big Naylor Baby Homecoming Party!!!

Friends

The last 2+ months have been extrememly hard on both Keith and I. I really don't think we could have done it without such fabulous friends. I can't even begin to tell you the amount of messages, phone calls, care packages, and gifts that we received. Everyone's outpouring of generosity has been so wonderful! This situation has really made us realize who our true friends are. Thank You to those of you who went our of your way for us. We have been really busy and there have been some messages and phone calls that we haven't returned, but I promise its not because we are not thankful you were thinking about us.

The girls are doing great. Really no new news to report. They are getting bigger. Kaylyn is 4lbs 3oz, and Kylee is 3lbs 15oz. They increased their feedings because their weight is increasing, and they are both still tolerating it. They are still working on slowly condensing Kaylyn's feeds until her tummy can tolerate a bolus feeding, but we are getting there.

Keith and I gave Kaylyn a bath on Sunday, and she thought is was really fun to fart in the water, making little bubbles in the tub. It truly was pretty funny.

Both of the girls are in open cribs now, and maintaining their own body temperature. It is so nice to reach in and grab them when ever I want without have to put my hands through the holes in the isolette.

Hopefully, they will start to bottle feed this week. I am going to talk to the Dr about it today, and hopefully he can give me an idea of the game plan. We are thinking we probably have another 3-4 weeks before they can come home. But who knows they may surprise us. We all know they like to do that!!

Time for an Update

The girls are doing incredibly well. They have both made some huge advancements in the last couple of days...

Kaylyn is now up to full feedings, and had her picc line removed a few days ago. They have started condensing her feedings now, so instead of getting fed for 24 hours a day, she is fed over a 2 hour period and then an hour off in between. They will continue to condense her feedings until she can tolerate all of her food at once. Kaylyn is now breathing on her own!! She no longer needs the nasal cannula, and is doing very well. She maintains her O2 saturation in the high 90's.

Kylee is almost breathing on her own, she is now on low flow O2 and .25lpm. You really can't go much lower than that, apparently she just needs a little puff here and there. Kylee is still tolerating her Bolus feedings, and we have continued to work on breastfeeding. It is really kind of hit or miss, sometimes she will do it, and other times she will just put my nipple in her mouth and fall asleep.

They both were moved to open cribs yesterday. Kaylyn is doing just fine, Kylee is borderline maintaining her own temperature. They are wrapping up Kylee like a baby burrito to help her adjust.

They are making great progress, at this rate hopefully we will have them home in a few weeks. We are praying for no more set backs, but we will just have to wait and see.

We're Getting There

We now have a 4 pounder!! Kaylyn is now 4lbs 1oz. and Kylee is 3lbs 8.5oz. They are getting big, relatively speaking of course!

Yesterday both of the girls had a chest xray in the morning and they were both a little hazy. The Dr. is thinking they probably have a little fluid around their lungs, so they both got a dose of Lasix to make them pee out the excess fluid. All of their other lab work was great though, and the fluid is not overly concerning.

Kylee is still tolerating full feedings. We even tried Dry breast feeding the other night. That is where I pump first, and then put her to the boob so she doesn't get flooded. She did really well. She was getting the hang of it. Unfortunately I can't do it too much because it burns a lot of calories for her, and right now we need to fatten her up a bit before she can really have at it.

Kaylyn should be at full feedings by this afternoon. They have slowly been increasing the amount of breast milk she gets, and she seems to be tolerating it thus far. She is still on continuous feedings, but once she gets to a full feeding they will start condensing the amount of time she gets food. So rather than getting fed 24 hours a days, they will titrate it down to 16 hours a day, until she can tolerate the bolus feed (all of her food at one feeding).

Everyday they are making progress! The Dr. had mentioned that he was thinking about repeating Kaylyn's cardiac ultrasound to see if the valve had closed in her heart yet, but so far he has not ordered it. Other than that they are just feeding and growing, and working on the breathing in between.

4 Weeks Old Already

I cannot believe my precious little angels are already 4 weeks old. They have made so much progress over the last month, I am so very proud of both of them.

Yesterday they moved the girls to the less intensive Step Down unit!! This means that they don't require as serious care, so its a big step. I am so happy that they moved the girls at the same time, and they are still next to each other. The nurses has told me previously there was a chance they might have to be split up, but I am very thankful I didn't have to deal with that.

So apparently Kaylyn's scale in her isolette is broken (and apparently has been for some time), and no one caught on to this until her nurse a couple of nights ago thought she looked much bigger than what the bed-scale was reading, so she weighed her on a separate scale and got a much higher, more accurate weight for her. So Kylee does not out-weigh Kaylyn...yet. Its kind of disappointing because for the last week all of Kaylyn's weights are wrong, and it is impossible to say if she has consistently been gaining weight. Kaylyn now weighs 3lbs 15oz, and Kylee weighs 3lbs 8oz. They are both almost a pound over their birth weight!!

They are increasing Kaylyn's feedings every 12 hours, and in about 2 days she should be up to a full feeding and they will be able to discontinue her IV. Kylee is still on full feedings and doing very well with it. The Dr. wrote orders today that I can start "Dry" breastfeeding Kylee tonight. That means that I will pump and then I will put her to my boob. The purpose is to work on getting her to latch on, but we don't want to flood her with breast milk just yet. So hopefully that goes well.

Not much else has changed since yesterday. The Dr came by today and remarked how well they are both doing. I am very hopeful that continues. We are one more day closer to being able to bring them home!!

The Twinfants are doing Fabulous!!

I have nothing but good news to report!! Both of the girls are doing amazingly well! The Dr. even said that they may be discharged in about a month or so. A lot still has to happen before they come though. They have to be in open cribs and able to regulate their own body temperature (we are already close to that ), they have to be breathing on their own, and the next big step will be that they have to be eating (either by bottle or breast) and gaining weight. They will probably start introducing a bottle in the next couple of weeks, and possibly even putting them to the boob.

Kylee has now been off of CPAP and on the Nasal Cannula for 4 days!! I guess Marcy didn't jinx her after all. They even starting weaning the amount of O's (oxygen) she is getting from 2lpm to 1.5lpm, so we are making progress. She is tolerating it very well this time, and is not working to breath like she was before. This is the longest she has been off of CPAP, so I am hoping we have seen the end of that terrible device. She is still tolerating her full feedings, and because her weight increased her full feed is now up to 29ml every 3 hours. She had her PICC line (her IV) removed yesterday, so now the only tube coming out of her is her feeding tube and her Nasal Cannula! Kylee even outweigh's her sister now.

Kaylyn is down to .5lpm, so she is very close to breathing on her own without any assistance. It will be so great to see her beautiful little face without anything on it. As of last night she was at 12ml every 3 hours for feeding (she is still on continuous feeds), but I believe it may increase this morning as long as she tolerated her food last night. She also may be moved into an open crib within the next couple of days. They have turned down the temperature in her isolette to almost room air, and so far she has been able to regulate her temperature on her own.

I had them both out yesterday and at least 5 nurses saw me holding them and commented on how big they have gotten. Its hard for me to tell because I see them everyday, but it is good to hear that they are growing! Even though Kylee weighs more now, she still looks smaller because Kaylyn's head is a lot bigger. Everyone agrees they are really starting to look more alike.

Keep your fingers crossed that this great progress continues. I cannot wait to bring them home!! They are 32 weeks gestational age today, so we are getting there!