Day 12!!!

I wish I could say last night went great, but unfortunately Joseph had a few episodes where his heart rate would drop below 100, and his oxygen saturation would not stabilize.  Neither of these two issues are of major concern however, as most premature babies go through these episodes and they become less frequent over time.  The nurse also said that he may have experienced these episodes last night because of the decrease in his medications, so they stopped weaning him down and are holding him at his current level.  He has since been stable, and hopefully they can start his breast milk feeding again today, which they had to stop because of the episodes!  He looked happy and comfortable this morning, and I got the help the nurse with his "hands on" evaluation, which made me very happy!  His oxygen levels were back in the mid 40's, but the nurses said because of the issues last night, they wanted to make sure he was comfortable before weaning him down again, but as long as he remains stable today, the nurses hope to get him back down to the 30's.

Nicholas had a great night, and has remained very stable since his little issue earlier this week.  There hasn't been any more signs of bleeding from the intestines, and his color looks 100% better now.  We are hoping that the bleeding issue was a  small problem that won't resurface, and we are thankful that at this point it doesn't seem to be anything more serious in nature.  Nicholas was very cozy this morning, so instead of waking him I just gently put my hand on his back and let him rest!

Nicholas sound asleep, and looking really cozy!!!

Jr., our little trouble maker back to his old tricks!!!  Doing better this morning!!!

  
UPDATE 8/22/2013 3:00 PM:  Today has been a good day so far, the boys both have had some episodes today, but it's nothing that the nurses or doctors are too concerned about.  Again episodes are normal in premature babies, and both boys are not experiencing the episodes frequently enough for the nurse to believe something else is wrong.  She basically explained to me that their brains and central nervous systems are so underdeveloped yet that they literally forget to breathe, so they experience an episode!!!  I can understand that considering they weren't supposed to be breathing on their own yet!

Joseph has been back on his feedings as of 11:00 am today, he is only on 3 ml of breast milk every 3 hours though, but seems to be tolerating it fine.  Joseph also had a really big day today, first I got to hold him during hands on, and then my Wife got to finally do kangaroo time with Jr.!!!  It was wonderful news and we hope that he will continue to tolerate the holdings more frequently!!!

Nicholas joined in on the episode train today, probably because his brother was doing it, so he didn't want Jr. to be alone!  The nurses have not started his feedings yet, they are making sure his GI bleed or Ulcer is completely healed before re-introducing breast milk to his stomach.   Nicholas also got some much needed kangaroo time with Mommy today!  I will be heading to see the boys soon, and hopefully get some holding time for both of them as well!!!

 

Mommy and Jr. loving their first kangaroo time!!!

Little Joey with the hiccups!!!

UPDATE 8/22/2013 8:20 PM:  My wife, Vince, my Mom, and I all went to the hospital to see the boys tonight.  My Mom and Vince took a walk on the campus of the hospital, while my Wife and I went to see the boys.  I like it when my Wife and I can go see the boys together, and of course I wish Vince could be there with us, but I feel that the boys know when we're both in the room with them.  It's a blessing to live so close to my parents, and we can't put into words how thankful we are for their help with Vince during these last couple of weeks, as we spend and have spent a lot of time at the hospital.  Vince has been doing well with all of it, but I know he's happy that Mommy can at least be home at night to snuggle with him before he goes to sleep!!!

Both boys were nestled in their beds, sleeping very comfortably.  Throughout the day, both boys were experiencing episodes, but again nothing the nurses felt were out of the ordinary for such premature babies.  Joseph was handling his feedings well again, and there is talk about taking him off of the NO2 gas tomorrow, which would be nice to see! 

I wouldn't say today was a bad day, but it wasn't one of the better ones.  We have been lucky to have so many good days already, that we almost started to think that each day would be like that.  However the doctors and nurses have all kept us very aware that there will be a lot of ups and downs along this road, and keep telling us don't get discouraged if they do have a bad day.  It's hard to watch your children struggle like they do sometimes, but we know they are fighting, and that has helped us and will continue to help us remain positive during this journey!  Goodnight to everyone and thank you so much for the continued support, my Wife and I don't know where we would be without all of you!!!