Feeding Time!

Last night Cameron decided she had had enough...enough of watching Reagan get to have all the fun! She decided that she was very hungry last night and ate 15 mLs all on her own. Then, this morning she decided that she wanted to do the same! Reagan also had a hungry night and ate her full bottle for the third time so far! They have now moved Reagan to being fed four times a day by bottle. Cameron has now had the order written by the doctors to have one feeding a day by bottle. But her nurse said that she went from nothing to being a pro because even though she only ate 15mLs - she did it in five minutes flat! Her nurse had to stop her and put the rest of the food through her tube because Cameron's belly is not used to having so much food in it so quickly. She usually gets a continuous feed for 2 hours. I expect that the doctors will be trying to switch her to being fed once every three hours (for an hour) soon to help her transition.

Reagan moved to her new home today. I plan on taking pictures of her home tomorrow. I just wanted to wait to be sure that it sticks before I celebrate too much! Today Reagan helped to teach Daddy how to feed her with the bottle and Daddy is a pro! She ate 30mLs out of 36. She did great! Then, she was so tired she took a nap against Daddy's shoulder. It was so sweet to watch Seth with the girls - he has such a calming effect over them! They are Daddy's girls already - which he loves. Seth has already decided that we need to invest in another rocking chair or glider because we both love to sit and rock with them - actually Seth loves to nap while holding the girls! He looks forward to visiting with the girls because not only does he get to visit with his precious angels but sometimes he gets a good nap, too!

Tomorrow they will be rechecking Reagan's iron and hematocrit levels to see if she will need to have a blood transfusion. When they have to have a blood transfusion she cannot be fed for 4 hours before, during the actual transfusion, and 4 hours afterward - which could be interesting since every three hours on the dot, Reagan begins to cry and throw a fit if her belly is not being filled in some way (they call it hunger cues!). It could be an interesting day tomorrow!

Spunky and Sweet

"Your girls are so sweet." "Your girls are beautiful" "They definitely have personality" "You wanna know which one of your girls has an attitude?"

All of these are comments from the nurses lately...and you know what? I love every bit of it! I eat it up! Of course I think they are beautiful because I am their mom but most of all I am so happy that they are healthy enough to be so spunky and to keep the nurses on their toes! Of course I say that now but when they are home and continuing to plot together to keep me running around like a chicken with its head cut off I may think differently!

Weight Update: Last night Reagan was around 3 lbs 9oz and Cameron was around 2 lbs 10oz. They are really growing. I know that Cameron maintained today but have not heard about Reagan yet.

This morning when I arrived at the TCN I was informed that Reagan had been very busy in the early morning and yanked out her NG tube ( I think that is what the tube in her nose is called that her food goes through). So, her nurse decided to bottle feed her for this feeding and then put her tube in. Reagan drank her entire feed through her bottle (which I believe is now at 33 mLs)! What a big girl! Then, when I got to her isolette Reagan had decided to play hide and seek and had wiggled her way all the way down to the bottom of her blanket that she was swaddled in - all you could see was a few hairs sticking up! After such a hard working morning she was not that interested in feeding with Mommy but that is okay. Tomorrow she gets to help Daddy learn how to bottle feed her. Cameron was sleeping so soundly and did not want to wake up to try to eat either. But, after a while she woke up and did the cutest thing - her eyes would meet mine and then she would smile the biggest grin - it melted my heart and made me cry. I do believe that is one of those mom moments that I will remember for the rest of my life - the first time she smiled at me. Could it have been gas? Maybe but I choose to believe that it was because she recognized her mom and was happy to see her. Of course afterward, she chose to show me that she loved me by dirtying her diaper (3 times!)- but that is beside the point!

Tomorrow is the big day for Reagan - they are supposed to try her out of the isolette! Her heart rate is still running pretty high and she is beginning to have quick desats despite giving her the iron. They are trying to hold out until Friday to see if she will need a transfusion but I hope all this hoopla will not get in the way of her transitioning out of the isolette. Reagan's nurse commented tonight to my dad that she really thinks that Reagan is really making great progress and I believe that Cameron has been taking notes because she has really been working hard, too!

I spoke with the physical therapist today and she said that the girls did really great on their initial assessments. She was going to examine them today outside of the isolette and then make a plan on skills to work on. I am eager to hear how their visit went and got some tips on ways to help the girls muscle tone improve and stay like it would have been had they continued to stay in utero.

Eye Update

Well, tonight at 6:00 we got a phone call from the pediatric opthamologist and he had good news! The goal was for their eyes to remain the same - meaning that the ROP had not progressed. He said that Cameron's eyes are already showing marked improvement and that Reagan's eyes had not progressed. I am continuing to pray for even more improvement the next week.

Today was a hectic day with a very short visit with the girls but here is what has been happening - Cameron drank from a bottle for the first time!!! YEAH! She is working hard to catch up with Reagan. Cameron drank 10 mLs on her first try with a bottle! Today, Reagan drank 20 mLs for one feeding and then 5 for the next. Her nurse said that she was very agitated with the eye exam today and took a long time to calm down so that really wore her out. It turns out that 11 o'clock is her very alert feeding time and that tends to be when she performs the best! Reagan's heart rate has been pretty high, so they did some bloodwork and saw that her hematocrit was a little low and also that she was low on her iron. They are giving her iron starting tonight and going to check her "crit" again later to see if she still shows signs of needing a blood transfusion. Thursday seems to be the day that they are working to try to get Reagan out of the isolette - I hope that all this mess with the transfusion won't mess things up. They say that the older the girls get, the less transfusions they will need because their body will be more proficient at replacing the blood cells and making blood (I think that is right - some of this medical stuff runs together) but I guess Reagan isn't quite there yet.

11 Weeks Old!

It is so hard to believe that the girls are 11 weeks old today! It is funny to hear the nurses call the girls old - because they kind of are - they aren't newborns anymore. They have come so far. I am so proud of them both. Cameron is now 2 lbs. 9.5 oz and Reagan is 3 lbs. 5 oz. Reagan lost some under the 1500 gram mark. So, we are hoping that she will gain it again tomorrow. Reagan has been switched to feeding orally 3 times a day. Both girls worked with the OT today and got to practice feeding with Mommy today. They are getting their eyes checked tomorrow. I am praying for no progression of ROP - that will be a step in the right direction. The pictures up above are of Reagan and Cameron yesterday. The ones below are from today. Unfortunately Reagan was looking for her pacifier when I was taking her picture - hence the funny look on her face! Cameron was napping so sweetly when it was time for her picture. Mommy had just placed her back in her isolette to nap after spending time together.

Chunky Munky

That's Reagan I'm referring to. She's the whopper of the two. Sounds funny calling a 3lb 5oz baby chunky, but seeing where they've come from...that's almost trippled their birth weight. Leslie just told me I spelled trippled wrong, but I'm not changing it. I'm sure there'll be more mispellings to come. Oh, yeah...Cameron is up to 2lb 9oz now too. Both of the babies are growing up well! Reagan has reached the weight requirement to come out of her isolette. They will not move her out until later in the week, but it looks like it should only be 3 to 4 more days really. She's got to maintain her own body temp at a good level, and continue to maintain or gain weight before the transition comes. Let's hope and pray all the feedings go well and that the babies eye reports come back well, and that Leslie and I will get our house in order for our two new tenants.

Bottle Feeding

Today I worked with Reagan to bottle feed and she took 16mL (a drastic improvement from the 5 mLs the other night). She did so well but boy is it different than feeding Aubrey was! Reagan gained weight and is now 3lb. 3 oz. Cameron lost weight but is still at around 2lbs. 7 oz. Cameron worked with the OT yesterayto see if she was ready to work on bottle feeding but she could have cared less! She was not interested! Today out of curiosity I asked the doctor about a timeline and what would be the earliest Reagan may come home and she said about 4 weeks or so! Crazy! I worked with speech today and tomorrow we will work with the OT. Hopefully I will continue to improve the more that I do it. We have a lot of work to do if we are going to be ready in time. The criteria are: at least 4 lbs., taking all feeds orally, maintain body temperature in an open crib, pass the carseat challenge test (sitting in the car seat for approx. 1 hour with no bradys or desats). Reagan's nurse said that we would know it is getting close when she is at oral feeds 3 times a shift. Wow! I can't imagine!

Feels like I'm a Mom

8:00 am was an early appointment today - too early. How I previous got up to go to work every day at 5:30 I have no idea. Now, it seems as if my eyes will not even open before 7 after being up throughout the night! Anyway, Reagan was sleepy too so we just played together today. Today I was taught how to take the girls in and out of the incubator, I changed her diaper, practiced nursing her, swaddled her, and made more appointments to meet with the OT and Speech therapist to work on bottle feeding with the girls. Apparantly a year's worth of practice with Aubrey did not teach me anything...it is a whole new ball game with the girls. Cameron was supposed to work with the OT today on bottle feeding and both girls get to practice feeding with Mommy this weekend and on Monday. Today I feel so empowered. I can't shake this feeling. I actually feel like I might learn how to do all this. I still don't have pictures - when I have my hands full with a baby I can't take pictures too. I will have to remember to ask the nurses to take pictures for me...or see if I can schedule appointments when Seth can go too. I am hoping that in a few weeks we will be able to bring Aubrey to the hospital and let her finally see the girls through the window at the TCN. I met the docs on the team for the TCN today and I really like them. They are adding more to Cameron's milk - or rocket fuel as they like to call it. Hopefully we will see the difference in her weight over the next few days. Cameron got to sit with her Papa today and she loved having him talk to her and rub her head. I guess that is all for today. I have to be at the hospital tomorrow morning to work with the OT so I should have more for you then!