Our Kids

I think that one of the hardest things about having the girls in the NICU is leaving empty handed at the end of each day. Sometimes I wonder if they are really ours. It fills me with absolute joy to think that we have these two wonderful blessings, two beautiful girls that are so different already. Then I am filled with dread that I have to go home without them each night. The only thing that keeps me going is knowing that I will be with them again in the morning. I am looking forward to the day when we can all be home as a family.

I love you Lela and Piper,
Mommy

Mystique let me know that at another of yesterday’s feedings, Piper took 30ml of her feeding from nursing, and they thought she had done so well that they didn’t add any more via the tube. So we’ll consider that a full feeding. Lela did about half of her feeding from nursing, but they did finish hers up through the tube.

Also, Piper finally got the oxygen sensor removed from her foot since it was becoming more of a nuisance than a help. It basically monitors her blood’s oxygen level and beeps if it dips. Apparently it dips when she feeds (it’s hard work!), but she recovers all the time, so they’re not worried. Both girls are now only on heart and respiratory monitors, which means just one big wire.

And I’m not sure if I’m getting this right, but I think Mystique mentioned that the girls are up around the 4lb 8oz mark… they sure are doing their best to get home!

I’ve added another picture of me and piper… please look beyond the large forehead at the cute little girl. This afternoon I’ll add a shot of Lela from the archives.

Got a call from Mystique this morning and she let me know that Lela took her entire 9am feeding from nursing! That’s 35ml straight from the source. Awesome!

And it gets better… Piper took 25/35ml of her feeding from nursing, at the same time! Big thanks to our nurse today, Debbie, who is also a lactation consultant… I guess she was on the job helping the kids out since Mystique only has two arms (and breastfeeding two babies at this age requires at least three!)

So we’re off and running on a great day… the girls will probably be pretty tired after all that feeding, so we don’t think they’ll do that again today. But we’re pretty excited… obviously nursing (and not being fed through a tube) is a milestone for getting the kids home, and it seems like we’re well on our way to that.

Kudos to Mystique for stepping up to the burning question on Piper and Lela’s minds… Got Milk?

jason

Howdy!

Just a quick note with some good news… both of the girls have been moved into the same crib! A nice little treat for us… they had already moved Piper into a crib last night (Sunday night), but they were watching Lela’s temperature to make sure she could handle it. Mystique and I walked into the NICU this morning and lo’ and behold, both girls were sharing a crib!

I tried to take a cute picture of both of them together, but as usual, Lela wasn’t cooperating with picture-time. If you look at the new picture, it doesn’t look like Lela’s happy, but I think they’re glad to be sharing.

I also put up my first attempt at a photo composition which I’m sure Mystique will appreciate since it’s a closeup of her and Piper (everyone just loves having closeups put on the web!)

Not much else in news… they’re both gaining weight nicely, and if you believe yesterday’s weighings, Piper actually weighs more than Lela (by five grams). However, Lela’s been doing better at breastfeeding, so we’re not really sure where Piper’s sudden weight-gain came from, other than she was holding a nice poo to inflate her numbers. We’ll see with Monday’s weighing.

More soon!

jason

Three new pictures to the right, there, including one of our new room.

jason

Piper and Lela have a new home, still in the Billings NICU but we moved to a private room at the back of the unit. Which is a good and bad thing. Good for us because our babies are doing well and no longer considered the “sicker” babies, bad news is that two other little ones quickly took their place. Although we are happy to move, our hearts go to the moms and dads of the other two.

The girls are doing well. We were pushing them pretty hard with the breastfeeding and trying to get their body temperatures stable so that they can be moved out of their isolettes (incubators) and into a crib. They let us know that we were moving too fast by dropping their temperatures so we have pulled back and are taking it easy on them for a few days. They are still in their warm isolettes and not looking too interested in moving out any time in the next day or so.

Both are doing well though and we now have two babies over 4 pounds! The weight is exciting for us but not a condition of release for them. To come home they have to be feeding on their own and maintaining proper body temperature. Since the feeding is progressing slowly I anticipate another couple weeks before they really get the hang of it. They are still feeding via gavage tube (tube down the nose) but having more alert periods (10-20 minutes a couple times a day) and being a little more interested in working harder for their food by breastfeeding.

So all in all another good week for the girls, we have had some fun times this week. Once I was changing Piper and I picked up her legs with one hand to put a diaper under her with the other and she shot poo out of her bum and all over the place. It was quite funny and truly messy! Jason was glad that finally I was getting the “bum” end of the deal. HA!

Another week begins…….stay tuned.

Mystique

Howdy!

Just a quick update after talking with Mystique… seems like the girls are doing pretty well without me. They’re both tolerating their feedings nicely, moving from having the feeding done over an hour’s time to 45 minutes. Lela’s still at 33ml every three hours and Piper’s still at 31. Both are “eating” fortified breast milk of 24 calories.

Both Lela and Piper have done about ten minutes of breast feeding with Mystique. She thinks Piper even did some swallowing, as opposed to Lela who I think just let it dribble out. Apparently breast feeding is really tiring, so they’ve both been sleeping pretty well.

Mystique’s parents and grandma are in Billings with her, so now all the grandparents (and a great-grandparent!) have seen the kids.

I had some time tonight to start going through my video footage and was able to put together a movie that’s around four minutes long of the girls on Christmas and the 26th. Two links, like last time… the smaller one is 4mb and the larger one is 16mb. Both are quicktime, again, and should be able to be streamed. Don’t forget to put on headphones or turn up your speakers for the soundtrack…

More later when I get it… I’ll be heading back to Billings on Friday so we’ll have some more updates then.

jason

Hi!

This is jason, and unfortunately I’m writing this from Bozeman We decided that I should try and save some vacation for when the girls come home, so I’ve driven back home to spend some quality time with our other kids — the mutts. It was sad to say “see ya later” to the kiddies, but I know they’re in good hands and their mom will keep an eye on them for me.

When I left the kids were doing great… Lela’s really ramping up on the feeding, including moving up to the fortifier that makes breast milk 24 calories (usually it’s 20). Similar to Piper, though, she’s spitting up a bit more, but nothing to be worried about. Today she was at 33ml every three hours, which is pretty amazing considering she was around 5ml less than a week ago!

Piper’s still moving along, too… she’s up to 31ml every three hours, and I think the only reason she’s not at more is that’s her maximum calculated amount. One of the nurses told us how they calculate their feeding, and she’s been moving up in small increments, so I think that’s what is going on.

Both of the girls are a lot of fun… we were usually changing them every three hours during the day and we had some good laughs when the girls would either give us trouble or be little angels. This morning Lela was giving me fits — I think I went through two outfits and three diapers for just “one” changing. I think she figured out that I was leaving today and wanted to give me something to think about. Next time I won’t say I’m leaving!

The girls had a nice visit from some friends from Bozeman today, as well… Amy and Andrea were nice enough to visit the NICU just in time for Mystique’s practice breast feeding time. They dropped off some great outfits for the girls… I’m sure they’ll be spitting up on them in no time. Thanks!

Mystique said this below, but I want to say it, too… thank you everyone for your words of support and wisdom. We feel so lucky and blessed, not only because of our beautiful daughters, but also for our family and friends who have helped us out every step of the way. It takes a village, and our village is the best

That’s it for me… more when I get it!

jason