Hoping to get costume pictures tonight when we go back to the hospital so check back later:) Brooklynn and Giovanni have both started bottle feeding. They get to try at one feeding each day to take their formula from the bottle. Both are doing really well taking about 10 mL at a time. This is a huge success in the milestones they have to reach before being able to come home. Obviously they have to be able to take each and every feeding from the bottle with no problems before we can even have the conversation about them coming home but we are taking steps in the right direction! Both of these two are now dressed in clothes and looking even cuter than usual! Jade was put back on her nasal canula and seems to be doing much better. She will probably reamin on it for 5-7 days before they try taking her off of it again. She works hard at her breathing so we were surprised when she came off it so early but did pretty well until just the other day when she had several episodes within an hour. Kensley has come off her nasal canula and is doing great! Leighton remains on his but is progressing towards becoming more independent. These two seem to be our social butterflies so far. They both love to get attention from anyone who will give it to them and stay awake most of the time while being held to check things out. All of the babies will have another round of brain scans done next week as well as screening for retinopathy of prematurity (issues dealing with their eyes). I will keep everyone updated with the results as we get them!
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This week has been filled with more good news. Giovanni has been doing really well and is on the fast track to make it home soon! He is dressed in clothes and getting ready to try being bottle fed and regulating his own temperature. Brooklynn continues to do well without any oxygen support as well as Jade. Kensley and Leighton still have their canulas however are expected to progress off of them soon! They all had their PICC lines removed and are receiving all their nutrition from the formula now. Everyone is finally over 3 pounds and Giovanni is just ounces away from 4 pounds. After visiting the babies today we took time out to carve pumpkins. Lexi is dressing up with two other friends as the three stooges this year and as you can see the girls got dressed up early as butterflies. I'm hoping to get the boys in their costume later this week! We want to make sure to thank Strongsville's 8th grade football team, families and Coach Boyle for their thoughtfulness with all the diapers!! We greatly appreciate the unexpected surprise! You definitely went above and beyond:).
What everyone is always looking for...PICTURES:)!! Scroll over the picture to find the arrow and be able to navigate through them all. Thank You to all the nurses who helped take these photos and Amy too of course:) Giovanni seems to be the attention getter again lately. This morning we were at the hospital early and were told that he will be getting his PICC line removed this evening. This had been used to provide him with the calories and electrolytes he needed to supplement what he was receiving from his feedings. Now that he has increased to full feedings he no longer needs the PICC line. This is a great milestone for him to reach-not to mention a huge reduction in the amount of wires he is attached to! He may even get to be dressed in the next week or so...can not wait for that!!
The others continue to make steady progress with increasing their feeds and independence with breathing. With the amount of good news we have received and the progress they all have made it's hard to believe they just turned two weeks old today! Tuesday would have been the 32 week milestone if I were still pregnant. They are proving to be just as determined as we were to prove that they can do it! The past few days havent been filed with much new news but that's good when we are talking about these guys! They are slowly becoming more independent with their breathing and tolerating larger feeds very well. They are all still being fed through the little orange tube you see in their mouth. Giovanni is slightly ahead of the others of course but all are doing well.
My days have lately consisted of getting up with Jacob and Lexi in the morning and helping to get her on the bus. Then I spend an hour or two getting things done around the house, paying bills, pumping, and whatever else I can squeeze in. Sometime between 10 and 11 I leave for the first trip to the hospital. I spend a couple hours holding as many of them as I can before heading back to the house to meet Jacob and Lexi as they get off of school. It isnt long before we are back in the car and on our way back to the hospital. We stay until the shift change at 7 and then head back home for a late supper and an hour or so of relaxing before it's off to bed to start it all again in the morning. Needless to say the days fly by-which I'm thankful for...I'm ready to have my babies home! The nurses at Fairview today truly earned some brownie points with me... As if I didn't love them for what they do already! They asked if I would want to hold Jade and Kensley together at the same time...I didnt think anything could top the feeling of holding just one but this definitely did! I don't have the greatest picture to share because my camera was of course at home today but it's worth sharing anyway! Holding both of them together makes me wonder where I put the other three the whole time I was pregnant! Haha...
Monday all five babies had brain scans completed to check for any abnormalities or bleeding. Every scan for every baby came back normal! Another prayer answered and another step in the right direction!
Giovanni was also lifted from his precautions and able to be held on Monday as well. It was great to finally share that with him! While being held he started sucking his thumb...sooooooo cute! He is turning out to be our biggest baby size wise and in personality! Haha. They are all getting close to weighing about what they did at birth now. After holding Giovanni you can definitely feel the pound of difference. His belly is so much more round than the others. His features in general are so much different than the others too. The other four have longer narrower faces while Giovanni's is much more round. Can't post without saying how nice it was to finally get to see Lexi play soccer either. It was her last game before their big fall tournament but at least I got to see one! She played great too...I like to think it was since I was there but... I will try to post some updated pictures of everyone tomorrow-I know that's what everyone is really looking for!! I thought the only emotions I would feel would be positive when I finally got to go home after being in the hospital for almost 8 weeks but the moment was bittersweet. Just feeling fresh air made me smile and I loved being back home with Jacob and getting to be a mom to Lexi again but I couldn't help but feel I left a huge part of myself back at the hospital. It is definitely a challenge to not be right down the hall from everyone and not be able to take a short walk to go see them when I miss them. I never worry that they are not being taken care of because the staff they have in the NICU is phenominal but I do feel like I'm missing out on the time I used to get to spend with them. I told everyone I just wanted to fast forward to delivering and being home but now I want to fast forward to THEM being home!!! I have never been on an emotional rollercoaster quite like this one!
Below are some more recent pictures of them--How could you not want to spend every minute you had with them??? We are still waiting to be able to hold Giovanni and Jade...cotinue to pray that they gain the strength needed to continue progressing so that we can share the skin-to-skin connection with them too! |
-Unknown Archives
September 2016
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