Yet Another Update

The girls are both doing fabulous! I haven't updated my blog because Kylee went back on Nasal Canula 2 nights ago, and it seems as though every time I update this damn thing, and write that she is back on Nasal Cannula she ends up back on CPAP in a matter of hours. So if she goes back on CPAP we can all blame Marcy (because she was begging for an update)! So far so good though, she is tolerating it well and doesn't seem to be working too hard to breath like she had in the past.

Kylee is now up to a Full Feeding (27ml every 3 hours), so she no longer needs any IV fluids! That is a HUGE step, and it is one of the criteria she had to meet in order to go home. Within the next couple of weeks they will start her on a bottle and practice breast feeding. We will see how that goes.

Kaylyn on the other hand is in no hurry to get to her Full feedings. She is at 7ml every 3 hours, but she is still on the continuous feeds. They gave her a suppository today, so hopefully that will clean things out. Kaylyn is down to 1lpm of oxygen now, so she is really close to breathing on her own.

We are getting there....slowly but surely. I am hopeful that things continue in this direction. Sorry Marcy, I don't have their current weights, but I do know that they are gaining weight. I will try and do better on the exact figures in the next blog update!

Monochorionic Diamniotic

Yesterday the pathology report came back from the "Products of Birth", and it found that my girls were Mono-chorionic (which means there was only 1 placenta), and Di-amniotic (which means there were 2 separate amniotic sacs). That being said, and the fact that they both have the same blood type, and because the membrane that separated them in utero was so tiny it is looking like they are probably identical. You have to have a DNA test to know for sure (which I plan on doing when they get home), but chances are they are identical. I can't wait to see when they get a little older if they look the same or not. I still have not had the chance to see them side by side, and it is really hard to tell by looking in one isolette and comparing it to the other. By looking at pictures though, I would say they look a lot alike.

The nurse had asked us to bring in some onsies for the girls to wear in preparation for the transition from the isolette into an open crib. I went to babies R us yesterday, and could not find preemie onsies anywhere! So I just brought in some of the newborn onsies I had at home. Kristi made some adorable ones with their names on them, so those were perfect! Perfect except for the fact that they are HUGE on them. Their days of eternal nakedness has come to an end. Even though they are a little big, it is nice to see them dressed. They look much more human. It was really cute.

Kaylyn now weighs 3lbs 6oz, and is on continuous feeding. That means that there is a pump feeding the milk to her 24 hours a day (It breaks down to 1ml every hour), rather than getting 3mls every 3 hours. For some reason her gut did not want to digest big amount at one time. So far the continuous feeds seem to be working, she has not had any residual and is tolerating it well. She is such a mellow baby. She opens her eyes and looks around, but she never cries. People poke and prod her and she just looks at them like "what are you doing in my little house dude?", but she doesn't really care. She's just going with the flow.

Kylee is now up to 3lbs 1oz, and is up to 12ml of milk every 3 hours, and is tolerating it well (She's getting a lot more because she was tolerating it better). Even though she is still on CPAP and struggling a little bit respiratory wise, she is kicking butt on the feedings. There was talk about possible taking her off of CPAP today, but it all depends on how she is doing at the time. She hates it so much, and it makes her a little fussy. I can't blame her though, I wouldn't want a huge plastic horn tied to my face either.

Not much else has changed in regards to their status, which is a good thing. We are making progress slowly but surely. It is hard to believe that they are already over 3 weeks old. They are both so incredible and I love them so much!

The Roller Coaster Continues

Both of the girls are doing fine, with minor set backs here and there.

Last night Kylee had to go back on CPAP (for what seems like the 100th time...) because once again she was working a little too hard to breath. In talking with her nurse the only solution to this problem (her going back and forth from CPAP to Nasal Canula) is time. She needs to get bigger and stronger. Its so hard as a parent to watch them have to take steps backwards when they are doing so well. Other than the breathing issue, Kylee is doing great. She is tolerating her feedings and she is gaining weight. Kylee weighed 2lbs 10oz at birth, and as of yesterday she was at 2lbs 15oz.

Kaylyn got her Lasix on Wednesday afternoon, and so far it seems to have helped her out quite a bit. She is not working nearly as hard to breath, and she looks a lot more comfortable. She has also started tolerating her feedings (finally!), and is gaining weight. Kaylyn weighted 3lbs 1oz at birth and she is now up to 3lbs 3oz.

The nurses in the NICU adore the girls. They even fight over who gets them . They are very animated little babies and make all kinds of faces all the time. Its really cute. They really don't cry all that much, usually only when they have to go back to bed after being held. They don't even mind getting their diaper changed. They really are good little girls.

These last couple of months feel like years, and I still have at least 2 more months to go. I know that it will all be worth it when I get to bring my beautiful girls home, it just feels infinitely far away...

Update on the Girls

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted an update! I really have no excuse besides the fact that I have not been in the mood. Really not much has changed since Saturday, which is a good thing!

Kylee was taken off of her CPAP on Tuesday and is now breathing with a Nasal Cannula. She seems to be tolerating it well for now, so we will see how she does.

Both of the girls were started back on Feedings on Monday. Kylee is doing well with her feeds, and has steadily increased the amount she is getting each day. Kaylyn was having some digestion issues, so they ran some tests to make sure everything looked OK. All the tests came back fine. Sometimes I have to remind myself that their little bodies were not designed to eat for another 3 months. Slowly but surely we will get there!

Today Kaylyn had another cardiac ultrasound, and it still showed that her PDA (the open valve in her heart) was still open. So they did a chest X-Ray and that showed that she is retaining some fluid around her lungs. The neonatologist was thinking it could be due to the PDA, so he had the cardiologist come over from children's hospital to check her out. The cardiologist said that he does not feel that she needs to have the surgery just yet. Since it is small, he still wants to try and treat it with medicine, since the surgery would be a huge step back. So for now, they are going to give her Lasix to try and remove the fluid around her lungs. So lets hope that works, and this damn PDA will close already!!

Other than that, everything is pretty much the same. They both continue to gain weight, and are doing well. They are very strong, and are doing better and better each day. I am ready to bring them home already!!!!

Two whole Weeks Old Already!

It is hard to believe but the girls are already 2 weeks old. Today I brought their NICU nurses cookies to celebrate!

The girls are both doing well. Kylee had to go back on CPAP yesterday for her breathing. She was working a little too hard, and they wanted to give her a break. They said that they are going to leave it on for 72 hours, and then they will try her on the cannula again. These up's and down's are really hard, but its all part of the territory. Other than that minor hiccup she is doing really well. We did the Kangaroo Care thing yesterday, and this time she didn't scream the whole time, so maybe she doesn't hate me...

Kaylyn is pretty much the same, but no news is good news. She just got her last dose of medicine to close the valve in her heart this morning, so tomorrow they will do another cardiac ultrasound to see if it finally closed. Hopefully, this time the medicine worked and we can be done with this whole issue. I did Kangaroo care with her today, and she loved it. She definitely was not a happy camper when she had to go back to bed.

My little girls are so amazing, and I am so lucky to be their Mommy. I just want to bring them home already so they can go on their first desert trip. Things are pretty much the same, which is good. Daddy says slow and steady wins the race!

I just took a percocet and now I fully intend on passing out!

I would have been 30 Weeks Preggo Today

The girls are now 13 days old, and have made tremendous progress in such a little time. Every day I just love them more and more, and I can't wait to bring them home.

Kylee is back on the Nasal Cannula and doing well. However, I decided that she hates me. I tried to do Kangaroo care with her yesterday for the first time and she just was not having it. She screamed the whole time (not her cute little kitten cry-but a scream). So I put her back to bed, and her nurse tried to start and IV in her foot, and she didn't even flinch. Its a great feeling knowing my daughter would rather be stuck by a needle, than have me hold her. We will try to Kangaroo today, and maybe she will like it better this time. Kylee is up to 9ml of breast milk every 3 hours. They will keep increasing it until she is at a full feeding (that could take a while because a full feeding is about 23ml's)

Kaylyn on the other hand is all about Kangaroo care. She is so cozy being cuddled up with me, she seems to love it. We got the results back from her cardiac ultrasound, and her valve is still open in her heart. It is small, and she is not having any symptoms, so they are going to try another round of medicine and hopefully this time it will do the trick. She is doing so well, that they Dr said he hates to send her to surgery because that would be a step backwards in her progress, and since it doesn't seem to be affecting her too much we are gonna sit on it a while longer and hope it closes. Unfortunately, when she is on this medicine, they have to stop her feedings because the medicine upsets her tummy. So she will not start feeding again until Sunday. I'm OK with that, I would much rather have her take this medicine and close the valve, and work on the feedings later.

My little girls are so amazing. They are incredibly strong, and I am really hoping that their progress continues without many regressions. The less bumps in the road, means the sooner they will be able to come home. Today they are both going to have a follow up ultrasound of their heads, just to make sure everything is good. So far all of their head ultrasounds have been normal, so I am hoping this one is to.

Its hard to believe that they will be 2 weeks old tomorrow. It has been the fastest longest 2 weeks of my life.

They're Starting to Grow into their Skin

When the girls were born, they looked like little old ladies-so much skin, and not enough fat to fill it! They were quite wrinkly. But in the last couple of days they have both been consistently putting on weight, and they are starting to fill it out...a little bit!

Both of the girls are continuing to do really well. Kaylyn is still on the Nasal Cannula for breathing, and Kylee had to be put back on CPAP last night. She was working a little to hard to breath, so they did it as a precautionary measure. The one thing I really don't like about the CPAP is that it makes her little eyes swell up and she can't open them. It makes me sad.

They both have all of their Belly Button lines out now. This means that we can hold both of them now!! Yesterday, Keith held Kylee and I held Kaylyn for over 2 hours. We would have switched, but its really hard and inconvenient with all of their wires and everything that is attached to them. So we will switch today.

Kylee is now being fed 5ml of breast milk every 3 hours, and Kaylyn is at 2ml every 3 hours. We are still having little problems with digestion, but yesterday they both got suppositories and they pooped so hopefully that cleaned out the plumbing to help things along.

The only things that remains to linger is Kaylyn's PDA in her heart. The valve still has not shut entirely. The Dr.'s are going to continue to monitor it. But since it is so small, and she is asymptomatic, they are choosing not to send her to childrens for the surgical ligation to close it for now. She is going to have another Cardiac Ultrasound today, so hopefully it will show it closed on its own.

I'm not gonna lie, my girls are the cutest kids in the NICU! I love them so much!! We are hoping the good progress continues.