Saturday, November 8, 2008

2 Days Old

Patrick hanging out getting some sun!


Savannah settling down for bed with her night goggles on!

Patrick & Savannah are officially 2 days old and are both doing "reasonably well" per the neonatologist. To me, reasonably well means they are doing great considering how early they were born and how little they weigh.

Patrick has gained about an ounce or so but that is mostly fluids that are being injected into him for the nutrients that he needs. He is still breathing on his own which is a huge plus and his blood work is consistently coming back in the normal and acceptable ranges. He has a slight case of Jaundice and that explains the goggles and light. At this time, the Jaundice is not a major concern and is typical for babies his size. Patrick also has a feeding tube in his mouth that goes directly to his stomach which is providing him and will continue to provide him with the nutrients that he needs for the next 3-5 weeks until his sucking mechanism kicks in and he can begin to feed from a bottle. Lastly, this evening they inserted a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC). Believe me, this sounds much worse than it is. The PICC is basically a long term IV and will relieve the nurses from finding a new vein every two days to start a new IV. The PICC will stay inserted for a number of weeks or months or until they release him from the hospital. Moving forward, the PICC will be used to provide any needed fluids and or medicine. Overall, the majority of work that is being done on Patrick is proactive instead of reactive.

Savannah also continues to breathe on her own and is quite comfortable. We have learned and heard that she has quite the little voice and the majority of time that we see her, she is sleeping peacefully. She likes to keep her little arms and legs close to her body at all times. Savannah, like Patrick, is also going to have a PICC inserted this evening to allow the nurses to provide any medicine or fluids that are needed. As of this morning (Saturday) she began to receive a very small dose of formula (2CC's) per every 6 hours. This is a good sign because that means that the doctors are confident in her digestive system. She will continue to receive formula until April can provide her with some milk and then it will be a combination of milk and formula. She also has a feeding tube through her nose and this will stay in until she is able to feed from a bottle which is usually around 34 or 35 weeks. As like Patrick, all work being completed on Savannah is proactive.

April and I are both very proud of our two little fighters and they continue to amaze us more every day. The highlight of our day is when we make our trips down to see them and just sit there admiring how cute they are. They both move around frequently while they are sleeping and have both opened their eyes and looked around while we were there. The entire NICU staff has been great and spend a good amount of time answering any questions that we have. As of this writing, there have not been any discussions or timetables set on how long we can expect them to stay in the NICU.

April is doing better today, however, she is dealing with some major muscle atrophy issues. It is very painful for her to stand on her own and walk but she is doing the best that she can. This evening, she took a lap around the 3rd floor with the help of a walker and that is a great beginning. This is going to be a long recovery process for her but I know that she is going to attack the physical therapy just like she attacked the challenge of bed rest. The doctors have stated that she will most likely be released on Monday and she is very excited about that. We will have to plan a little welcome home party for her as it would have been 75 days since she walked out the front door to that fateful OB appointment.

More updates to come in the next few days.

1 comment:

The Knisley's said...

They are so precious!! Two miracles! You guys are in our thoughts and prayers. We'll be in touch soon!
Love, Faye