Improving Daily

Could a mother be any more grateful? I just can't get over how much God is blessing my tinys and how much improvement they are making daily. Truly the hundreds of prayers being lifted for our babies are being heard and God is answering! Thank you everyone!!!

Last night (their one week birthday) we walked in to see that the babies are off the billirubin lights. This means their billirubin levels were high enough that their livers were out of danger, at least for the time being. I understand that at any point they may be put back on the lights, and that's okay, but I am grateful today that they are off them. The lights increase chances for eye damage and being as small as they are the goggles they put on to cover their eyes are too big so they don't stay on well.

Weight - I have been saying my daughter is a pound and a half...exaggeration. The smallest she has gotten is 1 lb, 12 oz which technically is closer to 2 lb (birth weight) than the half way mark, but she is so small, and when they are that tiny every ounce truly matters.

Last night McKenna was weighing in at 1 lb, 15 oz; that is only one ounce away from her birth weight. Keaton was weighing 2 lb, 13 oz (smallest he got was 2 lb, 10 oz) but the nurse said he is only a couple grams away from being 2 lb, 14 oz. This is huge. Both babies are moving forward on weight. So grateful! The nurse did say that as soon as they get the IV catheters out of their legs their weight will drop, and as soon as Keaton has a bowel movement, they will lose weight, but so far they are back on the uphill side of things.

Feedings are going well. They are now increasing amount of breast milk they receive by 1 ml every 6 hours. Keaton is up to 12 ml of breast milk (almost 1/2 an ounce) and McKenna is up to 9 ml. Keaton had a new feeding cord put in that goes into his nose instead of his mouth and is a thinner cord and less bothersome. McKenna is still receiving feedings through mouth IV but as long as she keeps the C-PAP off for another day or two they will switch to a nose IV for her too.

They are tolerating feedings but Keaton is starting to have a little bit of spit up coming out the nose and didn't digest a little of it during one of his feedings. Nurse was quick to point out that at any time they can be forced to decrease feedings, stand them at a Holt for a little bit, or take them off feeding all together for a day or two which would force them to start over at the beginnings o the feedings (1 ml) or at least at the half way point (10 ml). That was discouraging, but trying to keep in mind that they have to warn us of worst case scenario.

Prayers today are that Keaton has a bowel movement, and that both babies remember to breathe (they still are having dips where they just forget to breathe and have to be reminded by the nurses poking them), have protection from viruses, infections, diseases, have healthy digestive systems, protection over their brains and no bleeding on the brains (scan brains on April 24 and then again a month later to see if their is current bleeding), no heart problems or murmurs, full lung development and that they continue to open and shut on their own, protection of their livers, healthy and normal sight and hearing.

With the hundreds of prayers lifted for our tinys daily, we are so grateful and could never show or tell everyone thank you enough!!! Hoping that the positive results and the continual updates are a reminder to everyone to keep going because the prayers are working and God willing, we will be able to bring them home in no time.