Day 6

There is so much good news to report tonight that I barely even know where to begin! First of all, last night Robert went to see the babies (he goes every night) and Lydia was off her canula when he arrived! She's done beautifully ever since and I didn't see her have even a single desat today. It seems like she was just ready to go off the oxygen literally in a single moment, and that was that! Then, this morning, I walked in the room and saw two babies in bassinets! No more isolettes! That alone is such a huge deal and makes such a difference because it is easy to get them in/out and you're encouraged to hold them whenever you want (which, granted, we've been doing anyway). As if that wasn't enough, the nurse told us that Sophia had taken three out of four feeds by bottle the prior night and Lydia took her first couple of bottle feeds, too! Sophia was finishing about 3/4 of her bottles, whereas Lydia was finishing about 12 ccs (which is not bad for her first attempts at all!).

As the day went on, even more good stuff happened! We attended family rounds, which is where parents are encouraged to come and meet the entire care team, hear the care plan, and ask any questions. We didn't really have any questions since they are doing so well, other than the ever present one of when they will be home. The neonatologist said that we should bring carseats in soon and that he doesn't expect them to be in past 37 weeks, so it looks like they are definitely on the fast track at this point! He's been super positive all along, and just keeps telling us how great they are doing every day, which is so nice to hear. It's really been nothing but up thus far, which is rare in my NICU experience. I do expect to potentially have more ups/downs with feeding, but we'll see. Maybe they will just get the idea and come home!

Speaking of feeding, at their 11 am feeding, they were both zonked so they gavaged them. Considering that they had taken a bunch of bottles in a row, that wasn't surprising at all. At their 2 pm feeding, they were rooting and wild children. I tried to nurse Sophia, and she latched right on, but then did approximately nothing other than look around very cutely and suck once every 30 seconds. Needless to say, after 15 minutes of that, I decided to try a bottle. She took the ENTIRE bottle! I was stunned. Seriously, I can't believe that she took 38 cc by bottle! Wow! Lydia did super well, too, and took 26 out of 38 cc by bottle before falling asleep. Considering that Lydia has only been nippling at all since last night, that was amazing progress. Robert is at the hospital now, so I am looking forward to hearing how they did at their later feedings!

As for me, I had my follow up appointment with Dr. Wall today and my incision is not infected! It's goopy and yucky, but healing, so I just have to keep it clean and dry (by stuffing a pad into it every day, which is pretty gross in and of itself) and it should continue to heal ok. I have to go back in a week just to make sure, but I'm feeling pretty hopeful after talking to him that it will continue to heal well. He also assured me that the FIFTH c-section is the easiest one, but I told him that he should give it a try instead and let me know how it goes for him.

On the pumping front, I'm making a lot of progress! The babies are currently taking in 608 ccs per day combined. I have one more pumping session that counts for today and I expect to hit about 500 ccs total. That's an increase of about 100 ccs since yesterday, so I'm hopeful that I'll start to provide 100% of their milk by tomorrow. Even now, I'm coming mighty close, but I really want to hit 100% and then get ahead of them since their needs are only going to increase (and quickly!). I've been pumping 10+ times per day, plus still trying to nurse when possible, and drinking tons of water, and eating periodically throughout the day so I'm doing what I need to do... now it's up to my body. I do still plan to pick up some More Milk Plus tomorrow, though.

I forgot my camera today (figures!), so I just have a few iPhone pics today. Still, there are some good ones!

No more isolettes!



My first time bottlefeeding Sophia AND her first full feed



Sophia wide awake after her bottle



Holding both for the first time! (Yes, I'm a little tired)



Awww