Medical Update:

Great news today and we were there just in time. The chest xray this morning showed that all of the free air in Brendan’s chest cavity was gone and so that means the chest tube comes out! We had to leave the pod for all of 5 minutes while they performed the procedure.
The O2 on the ventilator is down to 28% – target is to hit room air value of 21% and then work on weaning him off the machine entirely. He still does require assistance with taking breaths evenly, and he still occasionally forgets to breath which is very common in premies. The machine is helping his lungs mature. I definitely noticed less swelling and fluid retention in Brendan, he had far less bed wrinkles (now I have them all times 10!) His eyes and face were a lot less puffy too. We even saw him crack his eyes open just a bit. Still zero on the dopamine and blood pressure has been good!
With the chest tube out, they will be able to reduce the Fentanyl/Versed combo that keeps him so sedated.
His light therapy continues today, but bilyrubin test was quite improved so they may be turned off soon. We saw this as a day of great progress! Now we can focus on the plan from the cardiologist.

Trevor is up to eating 20cc of milk from a bottle. It is hard work and he has to take lots of breaks, but he was able to finish it himself. They won’t push too hard, and if he can’t take it all via the bottle, they will put the rest in his tummy via a tube. At 2am, they will increase again to 23cc and see how he does. He is almost through the meconium and is passing a less sticky stool. Diapers are getting much more fun as he is a arm/leg flailing machine. It is almost a two person job at the moment!
He is being weaned off the incubator bit by bit and they hope to move him soon to a regular open crib. Once he is there, he is allowed to start wearing some clothes. I am going to have to look through the tons of outfits we have received and see if there is anything small enough!!
We won’t hurry too much on the clothing, because today he may be put on the light therapy again for a while. That is also normal for his age to require the lights on and off until he grows.

The boys have two neighbor babies in their pod, and it is a bit crowded. We have had several requests for visitors but at this point, we won’t be taking people in to see them. It is going to be the height of cold and flu season, and with the tight quarters it is not in their best interest. They need to stay calm and healthy. I promise to keep posting lots of photos!

General Update

Bill and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary today! After leaving the hospital, we went to the restaurant where we had our first date 9 years ago. We had a wonderful dinner out, appreciating the quiet time and feeling comfortable that our boys were doing well.
Bill has been working his tail off trying to get the home projects finished. Our bedroom has been painted and the new carpet is going in on Monday!
I am still feeling well, trying not to overdo it every day with walking around. I get exhausted quickly and my feet are so swollen they barely look like feet at all! We are adjusting to the up every 2.5hrs to pump schedule and learning how to fit in sleep. We will at least be partially trained when the boys come home.

Pictures Update!

This funky patch means no more chest tube for Brendan!

I just missed him opening his eyes up here.

Trevor looking like a pumpkin in his Halloween themed incubator means that light therapy will probably resume tomorrow!