On the up side: Colin is finally able to digest milk. He has been on a continuous feed getting .5 ml every hour for nearly two days now and has not had any problems with digesting. Tonight, they plan to increase the continuous feed to 1 ml every hour. It’s still a minuscule amount, but the fact that his digestive system is able to keep up is good news.
Also good news is that Colin finally pooped yesterday. (Sorry to all of you non-parents who find discussions of babies’ elimination habits distasteful.) We were starting to get worried because he hadn’t gone yet; a week and a half after delivery is a LONG time to go without any poopy diapers. Now that he is “eating,” we should be seeing more dirty diapers, which right now is good news.
On the down side, Colin’s lungs are starting to show signs of damage because from the ventilator. Not an unexpected development, but we are really hoping to be able to wean him from it soon before the damage becomes irreversible. Last night they started him on medication that is intended to loosen up some of the “gunk” in his lungs so they can suction them out. After the lungs are clear, we may be able to start the weaning process again.
Today, after giving us a scare this morning by losing his IV (and it taking a very long time for the nurses to find another vein), Colin settled in and had an uneventful afternoon. His saturation levels have stabilized again, and by dinner time I was able to hold him again — this time for nearly two hours.
Today I started to feel like the mother of twins. I went straight from holding Colin to changing Veronica’s dirty diaper and then feeding her. In the process of feeding her, she spit up all over herself (and me). It was almost normal.
Veronica continues to push her way toward the doors. She has moved into Nursery 3 today, and is being weaned off the heated isolette. She currently is getting used to wearing a shirt and being wrapped up. If she is able to handle that and keep her body temperature stable, she can move into an open bed.
Veronica also continues to do well on the increased feedings. Today she was up to 25 ml every 3 hours, with added calories. The doctor was hoping to take her off the IV as soon as tomorrow, but she has been spitting up some of the food at this new level so we decided to wait another day or two before adding more calories in. While this means she’ll have to keep the IV for a few more days, I think it is better to let her get used to the feeding. She is still only at 30 weeks (gestational age).
Tomorrow will mark the end of our second week. I am praying for a boring and uneventful day to celebrate.
Here is a picture of Veronica getting in some tummy time yesterday.
And here is Colin with John’s hand to help provide a sense of scale as to how small he really is. (His shin is about the same size as my pointer finger; he can just wrap his hand around the tip of my finger.)
Thanks, Becki, for sharing ALL the details, including the poopy diaper - us moms know that is really important.
ReplyDeleteThanks, too, for sharing your own ups and downs. I know that is not always easy to do, but it helps us all see how real this roller coaster is.
Much love to all of you!
I too thank you Becki for the updates!! Every detail is important! And Yeah! for feeling like the mother of twins :)
ReplyDeleteYou are all still in our prayers!
Colin and Veronica are looking great! Minus the tubes and despite the small size, they look like pretty normal newborns to me. Thank G-d for all the wonderful technology, resources, and caring hands that have brought them this far. I am praying for you guys all the time, an totally admire your strength. I really appreciate you sharing all the details -- it must take you so much time to get it all down. It's really good to know what's going on. I look forward to the day I can hold them! I think there's going to be a queue in church when they finally make their appearance.
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