Who could have imagined that life as a NICU mom would be so busy? My days are consumed with waking up, pumping, showering, pumping, going to the NICU, pumping, holding the babies, pumping, feeding the babies, pumping, maybe eating in there somewhere, and maybe a little more pumping. Thankfully I have a hospital-grade pump at home and I can use the NICU's pumps while sitting at the babies' bedside. It's still so difficult to leave their bedside, even to run to the cafeteria for lunch. I don't spend many waking hours at home, so I apologize for not putting more pictures up recently. We will download a few more pictures and I will get them on here soon.
Kai and Katherine are doing amazing, as always. Over the past couple weeks, we have been working mostly on eating, sleeping, and growing. They have not had many 'events' in the past few days, and we are in the clear of ever needing CPAP again! Well, never say never, right? But they are doing so well with their breathing, and they only have an occasional drop in heart-rate or oxygen saturation while eating.
Kai is just over 4 pounds and Katherine is around 3 pounds, 4 ounces! My little oinkers! They are learning how to breastfeed and bottlefeed now, and they eat every 3 hours. We breastfeed once a day and they bottlefeed once or twice a day. The other feedings go through their NG tube so that they can conserve their energy. Feeding is a lot of work for them and it is literally exhausting for them. They sleep very easily after eating, which is good because preterm babies grow when they sleep.
They are 35 weeks now, and have been delivered for 6 weeks! It seems like just yesterday that they were born, yet these past 6 weeks have taken forever. We are hoping to have them home by their due date, and the thought of another 5 weeks in the NICU is hard on the heart. Being a labor and delivery nurse, I know what 35 weekers do, how they eat, etc, and I'm finding it very difficult in the last couple days when comparing Katherine and Kai to a 35 weeker who was just born. I never really thought much about preterm babies who need to physically learn how to eat. Both breast and bottle feeding are taking some time, whereas a typical 35 weeker would know just what to do. I cannot do this to myself, nor to my beautiful babies. There is absolutely no comparison to the type of growth and development that takes place in the uterus vs. in the outside world. They say that for every 1 week in the womb, it's like 2 weeks in the NICU. I know my babies will learn how to eat and will do wonderful with it soon. And I need to keep my patience, because they have come so far, really....so incredibly far from where we were 6 weeks ago. I can't help but want to push them and get them home in my arms. But they will get there, in 'due' time.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
So Much to Be Thankful For
Our First Thanksgiving Together
Miniature Rich
Big Yawns for Kai
Reading Time
Snuggling with My Little Monkeys
Eskimo Kisses for Daddy and Katherine
Our Sweet Baby Girl
This was by far the best Thanksgiving we have ever had. We spent most of the day with our babies in the NICU, and it couldn't have been more perfect. Both Katherine and Kai were off CPAP and doing very well. Katherine was put back on just a few days earlier, but proved herself to once again be the tough little girl and kept taking it off herself. The doctors concluded that if she was feisty enough to take it off by herself, she must not really need it. Smart girl. (She must have her mama's brains! :) Kai was taken off the same day, and of course couldn't let his sister show him up. They have been breathing on their own ever since!
Katherine will still have her occasional 'event' where she drops her heart-rate, oxygen saturation, and turns a lovely dusky color. She typically comes back up with a little stimulation, although she sometimes needs some oxygen to help her out. The doctors threatened CPAP again to give her a break from working so hard to breathe on her own, but that very same night she didn't have a single event. She must have really hated that CPAP!
Kai has both an umbilical hernia and an inguinal (groin) hernia. Apparently it is common with preemie boys, as their stomach muscles are not mature enough to hold the intestines in place. The inguinal hernia will need to be operated on, however they do not want to do surgery until he is over 2 kilo's (around 4.4 pounds). Anesthesia is too risky if they weigh less than that. It's risky enough as it is! I hate the thought of my poor little boy needing surgery, and I dread that day so much. But it has to be done and the doctors say that if he needs to have surgery at all, this is the best kind of surgery to need. It's still not easy as the mom, though.
Both babies are not absorbing calcium from their nutrition properly, and are instead taking the calcium away from their bones. If they continue to do so, they will have very brittle bones. So they are currently on the highest dose of medication to supplement their calcium, and have also started on multivitamins. The doctors are a little confused why their levels are not getting better, but hopefully things will look better on their next lab draw on Monday.
Back to the good news: The babies are now co-bedding! Meaning, they are in the same bed together! Studies have shown that preemies do amazingly well with stabalizing their heart-rates and breathing when they are co-bedding. So far it seems to be working pretty well. They are absolutely adorable together. It's so incredible to watch them interact. My favorite time is when they are facing each other, both wide awake, just staring at one another. You've got to wonder what they are thinking! (So you're the one who was kicking me all the time in mama's tummy...) A couple days ago they were holding each other's hands, all on their own. Katherine also likes to put her hands in Kai's face, or even in his mouth. Today the nurse told me that Katherine was trying to suck on Kai's nose before I arrived. She might be little, but she sure has a mind of her own.
We have certainly been on quite the rollercoaster ride over the past few weeks. Just when we think things couldn't get any better, the next day we take a few steps back. I am cautious to get too excited at how well they are doing because I don't want my emotions to completely fall off that rollercoaster. I have to just keep on riding.
We are so incredibly thankful to have the best medical care possible, to have family and friends that support us and love us and encourage us, to be given the chance to become parents, for each and every day and the new milestones they meet, and of course for our sweet little Katherine and adorable little Kai.
Miniature Rich
Big Yawns for Kai
Reading Time
Snuggling with My Little Monkeys
Eskimo Kisses for Daddy and Katherine
Our Sweet Baby Girl
This was by far the best Thanksgiving we have ever had. We spent most of the day with our babies in the NICU, and it couldn't have been more perfect. Both Katherine and Kai were off CPAP and doing very well. Katherine was put back on just a few days earlier, but proved herself to once again be the tough little girl and kept taking it off herself. The doctors concluded that if she was feisty enough to take it off by herself, she must not really need it. Smart girl. (She must have her mama's brains! :) Kai was taken off the same day, and of course couldn't let his sister show him up. They have been breathing on their own ever since!
Katherine will still have her occasional 'event' where she drops her heart-rate, oxygen saturation, and turns a lovely dusky color. She typically comes back up with a little stimulation, although she sometimes needs some oxygen to help her out. The doctors threatened CPAP again to give her a break from working so hard to breathe on her own, but that very same night she didn't have a single event. She must have really hated that CPAP!
Kai has both an umbilical hernia and an inguinal (groin) hernia. Apparently it is common with preemie boys, as their stomach muscles are not mature enough to hold the intestines in place. The inguinal hernia will need to be operated on, however they do not want to do surgery until he is over 2 kilo's (around 4.4 pounds). Anesthesia is too risky if they weigh less than that. It's risky enough as it is! I hate the thought of my poor little boy needing surgery, and I dread that day so much. But it has to be done and the doctors say that if he needs to have surgery at all, this is the best kind of surgery to need. It's still not easy as the mom, though.
Both babies are not absorbing calcium from their nutrition properly, and are instead taking the calcium away from their bones. If they continue to do so, they will have very brittle bones. So they are currently on the highest dose of medication to supplement their calcium, and have also started on multivitamins. The doctors are a little confused why their levels are not getting better, but hopefully things will look better on their next lab draw on Monday.
Back to the good news: The babies are now co-bedding! Meaning, they are in the same bed together! Studies have shown that preemies do amazingly well with stabalizing their heart-rates and breathing when they are co-bedding. So far it seems to be working pretty well. They are absolutely adorable together. It's so incredible to watch them interact. My favorite time is when they are facing each other, both wide awake, just staring at one another. You've got to wonder what they are thinking! (So you're the one who was kicking me all the time in mama's tummy...) A couple days ago they were holding each other's hands, all on their own. Katherine also likes to put her hands in Kai's face, or even in his mouth. Today the nurse told me that Katherine was trying to suck on Kai's nose before I arrived. She might be little, but she sure has a mind of her own.
We have certainly been on quite the rollercoaster ride over the past few weeks. Just when we think things couldn't get any better, the next day we take a few steps back. I am cautious to get too excited at how well they are doing because I don't want my emotions to completely fall off that rollercoaster. I have to just keep on riding.
We are so incredibly thankful to have the best medical care possible, to have family and friends that support us and love us and encourage us, to be given the chance to become parents, for each and every day and the new milestones they meet, and of course for our sweet little Katherine and adorable little Kai.
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