WEEK TWO

MONDAY, JANUARY 9TH

I can’t believe they’re officially a week old! In just a week, Hannah has already gained 6 ounces (yet to lose any weight) and the doctors are already talking about moving Parker out of his isolette into a bassinet by the end of the week!!  So excited!

Beautiful flowers from my loving husband 🙂

I also got a little surprise myself today… during our snuggle time with the twins, our nurse told us we had a “beautiful” arrangement of flowers at the front desk (we can’t have flowers back in the NICU). So after our time was over and we put the kids back in their beds, I went up to see what we had gotten… I saw the flowers came from a florist near where I work so my first thought was that we had gotten them from BMA, but low and behold, Eric had sent them to me! (No wonder he didn’t want to go with me up to the front desk!) I was completely surprised and probably could have started crying right there with the amount of hormones still left in me!

TUESDAY, JANUARY 10th

Bath day!! More like spot cleaning, but none the less, they got spruced up! Before their feeding, we got to help our nurse give them a wipe down. Just a little bit of warm, soapy water on a wash cloth was all that was needed, but it’s quite the process considering all the extra stuff around them and being in their isolettes! Then, the nurse swaddled them and ran warm water over their heads in the sink to wash their hair. After a quick brush of the hair, we got them in their onsies, snuggled them into their beds and fed, they were happy campers. Hannah really woke up during the whole experience – mostly because nothing was around her and you could tell she felt out of place! Her eyes got really big and her arms and legs were all stretched out looking for her boundaries. Of course the whole time we were with Hannah, Mr. Parker was sure to let us know he needed some attention! It is a great sign that he is waking up close to his feedings and while he was getting fussy, it was still quite cute!  He was much happier when it was his turn 🙂

It was also another day of good reports. They’re weights stayed close to the same as they were the night before, Parker’s head ultrasound came back clear and Hannah’s complete chromosome test came back normal as well (surprise, surprise). Both have reached full feedings for their size. Parker is currently taking 38ml (so almost an ounce and a third) and Hannah is at 24ml. Hannah’s feedings will be a little trickier because they want to limit the amount of liquid she receives due to her heart, which means she’ll require high calorie formula. Both are actually on high calorie formula to get them to bulk up. If I’m thinking correctly, normal formula has 20 calories, and theirs has 24 calories… which sounds so funny that an extra 4 calories is considered “high”! Parker is in a new weight bracket, if you will, so instead of increasing his food by 2ml each feeding like they have been, he’ll get more food once he gains more weight.

Hannah getting some snuggle time in with Daddy 🙂

What big eyes you have!

Mommy with Mr. Parker

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11th

Some how or another, the kids seem to amaze me each day… I’d be happy if the doctor’s said that everything was the same and they weren’t experiencing any set backs, but each day they get awesome reports! Yesterday, they thought Parker might need the bilirubin lights since he was looking a little more jaundice, but his levels are actually down today! Sounds like Parker made the nurse work hard for her paycheck last night – while neither one of them had any events until this morning (Parker had one during a feeding, which is pretty common to have), he apparently peed through his diaper soaking his onesie and his bed linens… not just once, but four times!! What a little rascal! She also had to weigh him a number of times to make sure the weight was correct… some how he gained 100 grams and is now back up to birth weight! Hannah gained as well, just not enough to make a difference in ounces… but considering she has yet to lose any weight since being born, that’s fantastic! Both are getting their oxygen levels lowered and from the sounds of it, they could have their nose tubes removed within the next day!! Docs were just going to lower Parker’s, but with Hannah’s heart, her pulse ox levels can be lower than Parker’s but have always been just as high as his, so they want to see how well she tolerates the lower levels to make sure her heart isn’t getting overworked. Finally, they are both getting vitamin D added to their formula.  All in all, a pretty good report!

Now you can see her pretty face without the nose tubes!

Mr. Parker free from nose tubes!

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12th

Yesterday just kept getting better after posting Wednesday’s update. It’s official, both Hannah and Parker got their nose tubes removed!!  So excited!  At their 11am feeding, they turned the flow of the oxygen down to see how well they would tolerate it and by their 2pm feeding, the tubes were completely removed. Of course we always have that little thought in the back of our heads hoping that they don’t have a set back and pray as we walk in the morning that they haven’t put them back on, but all went well through the night!  Both look so much more relaxed without the tubes and extra tape on their faces.

Surprisingly the nurse also made comment yesterday that they could potentially try bottle-feeding for Parker as soon as this weekend!  He’s starting to show signs that he has the energy to take a bottle and goes to town on his pacifier especially when it’s meal time!

Today during rounds, both got good reports – no events during the night and they’re tolerating having their nose tubes out. Hannah had her head ultrasound this morning and it came back normal! They’ll repeat the ultrasound after a month to check on the development of the brain since it’s still too early to tell right now.

In other news – we’re getting working TVs installed in their rooms!  The TVs that are here don’t work and apparently the parts aren’t made any more to repair them so the hospital is putting flat screens in all of the rooms (we are in Carmel, haha), wooohoo!! We’ve also discovered that they like to get hiccups at the same time! I don’t know how it happens, but it must be their twin thing for the time being.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 13th

Go figure, on Friday the 13th, both would need their nose tubes back on 😦  They enjoyed the past two days without them at least!  But if this is the only thing that is considered a set back so far, that’s not bad at all! Since Hannah is breathing a little fast and Parker has had a few more events, they’re putting the nose tubes back on to make sure the twins aren’t burning any extra calories. Plus, babies blood pressure in their lungs can drop two weeks after they’re born. While it’s still too early for Hannah to show signs of that, if she would have her blood pressure is starting to drop in her lungs, they would get fluid in there, causing her to work harder to breathe – part of the reason why they’re limiting her fluids with her heart condition. Therefore, the nose tubes can combat that and in just the first few minutes of being back on, their breathing has already gotten better. Again, it’s just a half liter of air flow, the twins are completely breathing on their own. Hopefully they just need a couple of days since they’re still so tiny and young and they’ll get them removed. It’s all about trial and error at this point and taking it day by day.

On the bright side, Parker has been tolerating the temperature decrease in his isolette, so after our cuddle time at their 2pm feeding, it sounds like they’ll leave the top off of the isolette and keep in swaddled to see how he does in room temperature. If he does well, he’ll be moved to a bassinet!  Go Parker Go!

SATURDAY, JANUARY 14th

It’s moving day!  Hannah and Parker moved into new rooms today, complete with TWO recliners (woohoo) and a view for Parker!  Our original rooms were down the back hallway and kinda away from everyone else since one set of twins moved out a couple of days ago. Now we feel apart of the group and can see what all is going on… though gossip around the NICU is slim, haha!

Parker is still working on moving into an open bassinet, but it shouldn’t be too much longer! Last night, Hannah weighed in at 3lbs. 3oz. and Parker (for the second time this week) is back up to birth weight! He tends to go up and down on his weight, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he went down tonight. But, due to their weight progress, both were able to increase on their feeds today. They are also doing well with their nose tubes in, though Hannah did have to get her air flow increased since she’s still breathing a little fast.

While speaking with our nurse today about what life might look like once we all got home, she did make mention that if things keep going the way their going, her prediction is that Parker could be home in another three weeks. Granted, I don’t like putting “expectations” on their health, but that was very exciting for us to hear! Hannah will more than likely be here a little be longer just due to her size. We’ll just have to wait and see!

 

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15th

What an exciting day for Parker – he graduated to a big boy crib! Now that he is able to maintain his body temperature, they have moved him out of his isolette into a crib. Originally, they were going to place him into a bassinet, but since we want to co-bed Parker and Hannah once Hannah is able to come out of the isolette, they went ahead and moved him into a crib. Not only is this exciting for Parker, but this also means that family can now start to hold him!! After waiting nearly two weeks, you can imagine that everyone is dying to get their hands on the twins! It so funny to watch everyone either fold their arms or place their hands around their backs to make sure they don’t reach out and touch them!  As long as Parker keeps maintaining his body temperature and stays in the crib, family can start taking turns lovin’ on him 🙂  Hannah still has a ways to go until she moves into the crib with him, but others can now start helping Eric and I change her diaper and give little touches on her just before feeding time. She won’t be able to move out of her isolette until she’s at least 1800 grams (which she’s now in the 1400’s) and can start maintaining her temperature.

Both are doing well with their increased feedings and we’ve already noticed big gains in their weight – Parker is now at 4lbs, 9oz and Hannah is at 3lbs, 4oz!!  The physical therapist also stopped by this morning to do an assessment on the kids. Basically they are looking to make sure they’re positioned well and have good range of motion. Hannah so far passed the test so they’ll check in on her about once a week. Parker also did well, but they did notice now that he’s strictly on his back in the crib, he tends to keep his head turned to one side. They’ll keep an eye on him about once a week as well, but recommending that we switch up his position in bed so he’ll want to turn his head to see what’s going on so he doesn’t keep his head one way.