05-11-10

Last night we held the two munchkins! We didn't do the Kangaroo Care. They were wrapped up and we held them in our arms. Which was so much fun. All they did was smile and have a good time. I know they have no clue what a smile is but we were laughing so hard at their crooked smiles. They had an Elvis Presley smile...one side higher than the other. We were in heaven looking at those two angels smile as they slept.

They are good today. The Respiratory Therapist has goals of getting them off any oxygen and air flow in the next couple of days. They tried 1/2 liter last night after we left. Quinn is still on 1/2 liter and at 21% oxygen (room air). Brooklyn didn't like it too much and they moved her back up to 1 liter. They were both D-stating this morning. Basically, their oxygen level in their blood was lowering.But they recovered on their own. They have been doing this and will continue to do it. They may hold their breath or get too comfy and relaxed. These are amazing steps in the right direction.

Brooklyn is off IV fluids. She still has an IV in her foot for good measure. She is now feeding 17ml of boobie milk. She tried to be a big girl today! Wait for it......she tried a bottle!!! YAY for Brooklyn!!! Nurse Lauren said that she took only 3ml from the bottle. Nurse said that she did very well sucking and breathing at the same time without lowering her stats. Problem was that she was surprised that she got a mouth full of something unlike her pacifier. She just let it roll out the sides of her mouth. Silly girl! She didn't get that she was supposed to swallow that milky boobie goodness! Maybe next time!! But the plus side is that she held her own with the sucking and breathing. That-A-Girl Brooklyn!

Quinn is now feeding on 27ml of boobie milk. She loves it! She can't get enough, little chunky monkey. She is doing well on her 1/2 liter of regular breathing cannula at 21% oxygen (room air). This surprised me though. I just knew that Brooklyn would do better. She doesn't D-stat as often as Quinn does. Sneaky little chick is playing games with us. She didn't try the bottle today at their 12:00pm feeding. Nurse Lauren said she was snoozing so good that she didn't want to bother her. So she will try again at 3:00pm feeding if she is awake. I am willing to bet that she does well with the bottle.

Also, Meredith the Respiratory Therapist put cute knitted hats and booties on the girls last night. It was so adorable to see them in something other than hospital attire...which is complete nakedness.

The chickadees are going great considering their size. We really need them to gain more weight. The head nurse last night said that if they get more new admissions, Quinn and Brooklyn will be the first to graduate to C nursery. They are doing that well. Those girls had something to prove and they are doing it. One of the nurses said that babies that are visited by parents daily seem to do better. We have visited everyday and sometimes twice to three times a day. She made me feel better...like we are helping and encouraging the little princesses.

Just a moment in the NICU:

Last night, while we were holding, a baby on the opposite side of the nursery decided that he was not going to work anymore. All of his stats dropped at the same time. He was not breathing and his heart rate dropped tremendously and continued to drop. When I heard the beeps, it sounded like the normal beeps in the nursery. Then I saw every nurse in that nursery drop what they were doing and run to that babies insulet. WOW! Apparently, the beeps were not the same. They worked to get that baby's stats up and intubate him. It was all in order and well organized. It was so scary and the only thing I could think was them having to do that to Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago. The baby worked to bring his own stats back up. He was fine after being intubated. But it was good to see the nurses work in a hurry. It gave me even more confidence in them and their profession. It fits their slogan, "NICU NURSES ROCK!"