Emily was discharged from the hospital on July 30th after 51 days in the NICU. It was a bittersweet moment having to leave our little Matthew there to grow big and strong.
Emily has had a great 24 hours and met her cousins, Thomas and Graden today.
Nigel and Izzy also seem to enjoy her being here (at least for now). Nigel lays under her bassinet and they both watch while we feed her.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Week 7
Both babies are doing very well.
Emily is weighing 5 lbs 4 oz, Matthew is 4 lbs 3 oz.
They should be coming home in the next week and will being doing that separately. Emily will come home first with Matt shortly following. She has been doing well with her feedings. Matthew is up to 6 feedings and when he gets to 8 he can come home too!
Emily is weighing 5 lbs 4 oz, Matthew is 4 lbs 3 oz.
They should be coming home in the next week and will being doing that separately. Emily will come home first with Matt shortly following. She has been doing well with her feedings. Matthew is up to 6 feedings and when he gets to 8 he can come home too!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
6 weeks old
Matthew-
He weighs 3 lbs 13 oz and is now off of his oxygen as of yesterday morning and is only on the feeding tube. He gets to have 2 of 8 meals by mouth (hopefully moving to 3 tomorrow). He will also be moving to his big boy bed tomorrow. He likes being out of his isolette and stays alert looking around.
Emily-
She weighs 5 lbs and is off of all of her tubes. She eats all of her meals on her own but does have some reflux. She will be coming home soon. She was going to be discharged early this week but last night she had reflux and it caused her a tiny issue with breathing so Dr. Roohey says "that bought her 5 more days and that she just did not want to leave without her brother." She must have listened when I said it was giving me anxiety to have Matthew stay behind. I did find out that she is allowed to go back to the NICU with me if they are discharged separately so anxiety is less!
Both babies have been moved to the Level 2 (feeders/growers) area of the NICU. Lots of our neighbors are twins. We have exchanged contact info with their parents so that way we can meet for play groups and see each other once they are bigger. We are getting closer to the day when they will both come home. It is amazing how much they have grown in 6 weeks and how much more alert they are. They both get physical therapy with Michelle, which includes tummy time and they get to have playtime together on the mat. They also get occupational therapy with Heather. We practice things that we will do at home to help them get stronger.
He weighs 3 lbs 13 oz and is now off of his oxygen as of yesterday morning and is only on the feeding tube. He gets to have 2 of 8 meals by mouth (hopefully moving to 3 tomorrow). He will also be moving to his big boy bed tomorrow. He likes being out of his isolette and stays alert looking around.
Emily-
She weighs 5 lbs and is off of all of her tubes. She eats all of her meals on her own but does have some reflux. She will be coming home soon. She was going to be discharged early this week but last night she had reflux and it caused her a tiny issue with breathing so Dr. Roohey says "that bought her 5 more days and that she just did not want to leave without her brother." She must have listened when I said it was giving me anxiety to have Matthew stay behind. I did find out that she is allowed to go back to the NICU with me if they are discharged separately so anxiety is less!
Both babies have been moved to the Level 2 (feeders/growers) area of the NICU. Lots of our neighbors are twins. We have exchanged contact info with their parents so that way we can meet for play groups and see each other once they are bigger. We are getting closer to the day when they will both come home. It is amazing how much they have grown in 6 weeks and how much more alert they are. They both get physical therapy with Michelle, which includes tummy time and they get to have playtime together on the mat. They also get occupational therapy with Heather. We practice things that we will do at home to help them get stronger.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Week 5
Last night, Emily weighed 4 lbs 12 oz and Matthew was 3 lbs 7.6 oz. We have started occupational and physical therapy to get stronger and work on developmental markers like tummy time and sucking/swallowing.
I still need to post the pics from baths. They both screamed during the baths and were happy when it was time to put on the hooded towel.
The nurses (who were on their 4th night of working) decided to make a little bow out of yarn for Emily's hair so her first "official" bow is not one of the many that Mommy's has purchased (b/c they are WAY too big!).
Who can say that I don't look like my Daddy? Chin and cheek dimples included.... Matthew is developing a funny little personality. He has been "smiling" and is working on getting out of that isolette and into a big boy crib. The isolette temp is turned down daily and he stays warm on his own (which is huge step in preemie world) and he now gets a pillow since he is too long for just the z-flow bed. The nurse and NP said today that they can barely hear his murmur which means that the PDA is closing. So next step is removing that oxygen.
I still need to post the pics from baths. They both screamed during the baths and were happy when it was time to put on the hooded towel.
The nurses (who were on their 4th night of working) decided to make a little bow out of yarn for Emily's hair so her first "official" bow is not one of the many that Mommy's has purchased (b/c they are WAY too big!).
Who can say that I don't look like my Daddy? Chin and cheek dimples included.... Matthew is developing a funny little personality. He has been "smiling" and is working on getting out of that isolette and into a big boy crib. The isolette temp is turned down daily and he stays warm on his own (which is huge step in preemie world) and he now gets a pillow since he is too long for just the z-flow bed. The nurse and NP said today that they can barely hear his murmur which means that the PDA is closing. So next step is removing that oxygen.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
We weigh....
Matthew weighed 3 pounds 3.1 oz
Emily weighed 4 pounds 8.8 oz. She completed her first oral feeding today!
We also had their first eye screenings and both looked good. The 30 day brain scans were also clear.
Tomorrow, we will be getting a chance to bathe them ourselves. Pics to follow.
Emily weighed 4 pounds 8.8 oz. She completed her first oral feeding today!
We also had their first eye screenings and both looked good. The 30 day brain scans were also clear.
Tomorrow, we will be getting a chance to bathe them ourselves. Pics to follow.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Yay for 3 lbs!!!!
Matthew officially weighs 3 pounds!! What a big boy!?!?
Emily is holding at 4 pounds 3 oz.
Emily is holding at 4 pounds 3 oz.
Update
Matthew weighs 2 lbs 14.9oz (he is hovering at the 3 lb mark and I am sure that he will make it when we go for tonight's visit) They are weighed every night and tracked very closely. He was put back on his oxygen because he was having trouble keeping his oxygen saturation up and the NP and Dr. did not want for him to work hard to breathe and decided we would go back on oxygen for one week. He had started practicing his breastfeeding and was doing very well but that had to be put on hold while he is on oxygen.
Emily weighs 4 lbs 3 oz and has started eating one feeding a day. She usually will eat for 5 minutes and fall asleep and gets the rest of her feeding from her feeding tube. One of the stepping stones to going home is eating 6 of 8 feedings so we still have a ways to go to reach that goal for both babies. Emily moved to a big girl crib and seems to like it very much as much as we like it because it is much easier to get her in and out.
Here is a pic of the transition... out with the isolette... in with the bed!
I bought them some preemie outfits at Carters. Matthew's is a puppy and Emily's is a strawberry (poor pics from iphone but you get the idea)
Matthew snoozing in his isolette.
Emily weighs 4 lbs 3 oz and has started eating one feeding a day. She usually will eat for 5 minutes and fall asleep and gets the rest of her feeding from her feeding tube. One of the stepping stones to going home is eating 6 of 8 feedings so we still have a ways to go to reach that goal for both babies. Emily moved to a big girl crib and seems to like it very much as much as we like it because it is much easier to get her in and out.
Here is a pic of the transition... out with the isolette... in with the bed!
I bought them some preemie outfits at Carters. Matthew's is a puppy and Emily's is a strawberry (poor pics from iphone but you get the idea)
Matthew snoozing in his isolette.
Friday, July 1, 2011
3 weeks old
Matthew
Emily
We are able to hold the babies as much as we want now and kiss there cute little faces!!
Friday, June 24, 2011
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