So, I understand from comments that I've gotten from some people reading our blog that it sounds like we're having a pretty hard time here, but it's actually been much easier for us than it sounds. From early on, we heard from other parents of multiples that premature babies were not uncommon with multiples and that there were assorted milestones that the babies would need to meet before they could leave the hospital. And it isn't unusual for premies to take a little time to make those milestones. For instance, they must be able to regulate their own body temperatures. Premies are used to living in a controlled environment and often don't get that ability until they get closer to their due date. They also need to be able to consume a reasonable amount of food per feeding on their own and to be able to gain weight at that level. They also need to be able to maintain even consistent breathing and heart rates. Our boys are pretty much on track for their age. They are still roughly 4.5 weeks premature at this time, and making progress. We're quite happy that they are actually healthy and not in any danger. They just need time to grow to normal birth conditions. The staff here are taking great care of them and we get to watch them make strides every day. Since we had heard from several other parents of multiples before this, we were somewhat prepared for this. It is taking longer than we hoped, but still within what we had been told we might need to expect. And because the hospital has been so kind to us, letting us stay on the maternity ward here, we get to be very close to our sons. We get to visit them whenever we want and to experience all of the "touch times" as scheduled.
Additionally, there is one extremely good benefit that we've gotten from this experience so far. Most parents of multiples talk about how exhausting it is to take your children home from the hospital and be responsible for all of their care around the clock immediately. They talk about the exhaustion of the first few months until you can get a schedule going for your infants. Add to that, most first time parents are just learning how to do most of the childcare on their own and that adds to the exhaustion. For us, we've had a whole staff of mentors who have been helping us learn how to take care of our kids. We get to ask them questions as we are caring for our children and learn from them. Even though I'd had a little childcare experience, I've learned a lot this week to augment and sometimes correct what I've done. We also get to choose when we go in to care for our children. Right now, we help out from noon until midnight and then we get a break from midnight to noon. We get to have close to a full night of rest and still have some breaks. We're not exhausted like most parents are at the end of the first week. We get to ease into the parenthood thing and be taught how to do a lot of the childcare skills. So, we're really appreciating having all of the collected knowledge and training at our disposal for mentoring us on how to care for our children.
So, onward to the kids. Saturday, was a good day for Spencer. When we went in at lunchtime, we found out that he had continued to progress and they had switched him from the high-flow cannula to a regular cannula. And they continue to decrease the amount of oxygen support that he is getting. And he is having fewer breathing problems even with the decreased air support. He's definitely progressing well. They hope that in a day or two, that he'll be off all oxygen support and breathing normally on his own. Because they had been able to move him to the regular cannula, they were also able to move his feeding tube from his mouth to his nose. Although the feeding tube in the nose is still a little irritating for the baby, it is significantly less irritating than having the feeding tube down the throat. And that has also helped to improve his disposition and he's even a happier baby. He's doing great. They have also started to increase his feeding. When I left last night, he was at about 7 ml of formula (just to get his stomach used to processing food). By the time that we arrived in the morning he was up to 15 ml of formula. The staff are hoping that he may be able to try bottle feeding as early as tomorrow.
Dexter remains much the same. He's very happy, very healthy and he's progressing normally and well in almost all areas except that he still hasn't started to eat on his own. The doctors say that some babies take longer and it is not unusual for a baby not to get it until they are around 36 weeks gestational age, and he won't be there until Wednesday. Otherwise, we just enjoy having time with him, holding him and waiting for him to catch on.
This afternoon, we decided to go out and find someplace new for lunch. We found a great little Italian place. The food was inexpensive and quite good. Just your little mom and pop kind of Italian pizza and pasta joint. The waitress clearly enjoyed her work and knew a lot of the patrons. She said that the Saturday late afternoon crowd tended to be more regulars and that she enjoyed getting to know them. It was very homey and just a nice change of pace. The portions were huge and we had big leftovers left, which would be useful.
When it came time for Spencer's 4:30 touch time, I decided to have Barbara go in alone and have some private time with Spencer. I had been having private time at the midnight feedings with the boys, but she hadn't really had private time. I used the time to catch up on e-mail and the blog and to download and sort some of the photos from the last couple of days. Win-win.
Barbara came back, took a short nap and I finished up my work. After we visited both boys at 6:30 and 7:30, we decided we wanted something different for dinner. We had been having sandwiches and Italian a lot and after checking around decided to try the local Chinese restaurant. Okay food and a nice change. We had some leftovers as well. Since we were not sure what would be available Sunday night after 8:30, we decided that the various leftovers would be good for then. We could go out for lunch and stay in for dinner.
All seemed to be going well with the boys and by the late feeding, Dexter was up to 50 ml of formula per feeding and Spencer was up to 20 ml of formula. Spencer's oxygen support continued to be decreased and he seemed to be on track to be weaned from supported breathing in the next day or so.
So, we're all alright.
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