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!

Medical Update:

We made our second trip to the hospital tonight. Brendan had his chest xray and the doctor said there was one small bubble of air still surrounding his lungs. To err on the side of caution, they will leave the chest tube in overnight and check for change in the morning. The chest tube is still sealed, so if the air bubble expands, then they know there is still a problem.

We technically got to hold Brendan tonight, if you count that I scooped him up in my hands and held him 6in over the bed while the nurse changed out his blankets. Bill got to scoop him up while she zeroed the bed scale to weigh him. I guess it kind of counts, it is the most we have gotten to handle him so far.

Great news is that Brendan is completely off the dopamine and his blood pressure seemed to be stable since they got to zero 5 hours earlier.  We hope that it continues this way!

Trevor is up to 14cc’s of milk every 3 hours, and moving to 17cc at 2am. He passed the first of the meconium which is a really good sign that his digestion is working properly. He is also given a pacifier occasionally to help his practice his simultaneous sucking/breathing skills.  We got a handmade quilt from a volunteer sewing club for each baby, they are very festive fall colors and they cover the incubator to give the baby some dark quiet time.  I am definitely going to have to make up some hats or something to donate, it really is nice to get a handmade gift like that.

Pictures Update!

Brendan had the work/exam light on and the blue light off for just a moment tonight, so we could get a good look at his blond hair

He’s got a pretty full head of hair for such an early baby!

Trevor gets a little snuggle time with dad

That is his hand all lit up by the pulse-oximeter! His incubator covered up gives him a nice dark place to open eyes wide and look around.

Medical Update:

Brendan had another echocardiogram this morning, but we have not heard the doctor’s opinion yet. His blood pressure has stabilized and was actually reading somewhat high so they are going to attempt again to wean him off of the dopamine to see if he can maintain good pressure himself. They are sealing his chest tube today, and the xray tonight will tell them if it is time to remove the tube entirely. If they can get rid of the tubes and the dopamine, then we will only have the ventilator left to worry about. Getting him off of pain meds and sedation would be a wonderful thing and we will be able to get to know our boy, and not just look at him like a still little doll covered with wires. He is going to stay under the lights for jaundice as his bilirubin levels were a little higher than yesterday.
He is having a PICC line put in through his leg today. This should allow them to give him his medications more safely, and they will remove the line running to his umbilical cord. The line is threaded up as close to his heart as they can get it so that anything added can be dispersed quickly. It also lasts much longer than the belly line and is less likely to be pulled out.
Still – very positive improvements for just the 4th day of life. I changed his diaper and took his temperature today, and can’t wait to cuddle that boy.

Trevor’s bilirubin levels were down nicely and they have turned off his “tanning bed”. He gets 48hrs and they will check him again to see if he needs another treatment. He was just a bit dehydrated today so fluids were turned up and he was given some saline. He is doing just fine with the increased food and is having no trouble whatsoever dealing with the bottle.