Snapshots from the NICU

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Theo's breathing tube is gone, yay!!!
Theo's toes

Little Miss Sophie, all sleepy and bundled up.

Tonight and tomorrow night I'm staying at the hospital in one of the rooms for families.  We can use the rooms two nights a week for free, if they're available.  Yet another great resource at the hospital.  So far our experience here has been wonderful.

Theo is breathing room air now, which is spectacular.  We can see his cute little face without the tubing in front of his nose.  He has an adorable little chin.  Sophie still has the breathing tube, but on very low flow.  Her respiration is not quite as strong or steady as Theo's, so it will be a bit longer for her before she sheds it, if at all.  Here at altitude it's pretty common for preemie babies to come home still on oxygen feeds.

Both babies have some trouble digesting the larger amount of milk and calories and multivitamins that they are being fed now.  The nurses say this is all normal, nothing worrying.  But it will take some time to figure out what is causing their stomach distress.  In the meantime, they spit up at least once or twice a shift now, which is hard to witness.  Both of them regulate their own temperatures, so maybe soon they will sleep in open cribs, another big milestone.  There are three big criteria we're looking for in order to bring them home.  1) Temperature regulation, 2) strong room air breathing (at least 40 minutes without distress), and 3) feeding by bottle or breast.  The criteria that they are able to bottle or breastfeed seems like the one that will take the most time to accomplish.  If you think about it, the ability to suck, swallow, and breathe all at the same time is a pretty complex task for a baby!



Commentaires

  1. soeurette6 septembre 2012 à 06:40

    Super, que du bonheur ces photos, encore, encore, encore!!!

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  2. mama6 septembre 2012 à 08:17

    toujours des photos c est ma drogue encore mes ti loulous j aimeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

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  3. Caroline7 septembre 2012 à 13:23

    Love these babies! Thank you for the updates! Miss you all!

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