Wordless Wednesday

Pacifiers

I've never been for or against pacifiers. It is what it is, as long as it doesn't give them buck teeth:) In the NICU babies sucking on pacifiers is a good sign. It means they're one step closer to feeding from a bottle. Here's what I came into the nursery to yesterday.

Grant

Landon

Yes, they were both under the bilirubin lights again. Dr. Curran jokingly said, "What are 34 dayers doing under the lights." I think they just like the sunglasses and "bright sun":)

Things are going pretty good. Had a little bit of a setback this weekend with Grant. Ended up being anemic again and getting a staph infection. He'll be on antibiotics for 10 days but the most recent culture came back negative so they decreased the amount he receives each day. He actually ended up getting two doses of blood on Sunday as well. Dr. Curran described it as a double spa treatment and thought he hasn't looked better.

Landon is taking off on his feedings and weight gain. He's up to 2lbs 7.5oz and up to 5ml of breastmilk every two hours. Grant is a little behind since they had to hold his feedings again at 2lbs 1.5oz and up to 3ml of breastmilk. Landon's PICC line came out today and they're slowing weaning Grant off of the iv fluids as well (glucose, sodium) so they'll be getting all of their nutrients from the breastmilk. This is a GREAT sign and they're really starting to make some progress!

Caught wiggling

As the boys are getting "older" they are getting stronger and hence, wiggling. Wiggling in an isolette will get you in trouble and then you become a burrito.

Landon

Landon

Grant

Grant- Didn't know whether to laugh or have the nurse written up:). Grant seemed to recover fine. Just wanted to be "born" again....the right way this time!

 I have a chicken burrito and a tofu burrito.....I want BEEF burritos. Keep gaining weight boys!

Landon-2lbs6oz

My tofu burrito boy pic soon to come:)

Grant-2lb0oz

Wordless Wednesday

We love cupcakes!

So yesterday the boys were four weeks old!! I came up with this great plan to take a picture of them every month with a cupcake hat. Of course I didn't think of this until last Wednesday night. So on the internet I went for my search to find the perfect hats. I spilled my NICU story out to three hat "sellers" to see if I'd get any responses and low and behold the nicest lady from ebay (Jett's Creations) not only responded back but was able to MAKE two hats Thursday night and ship them Friday morning, so I'd get them on Monday. I couldn't believe my luck! I was just so grateful an excited! Although I wasn't able to kangaroo with either boy since they were both under the blue lights and they wanted to get their bilirubin levels up, the nurses were so excited to see these cupcake hats that they had this great idea to take their picture together. TOGETHER?!! Wow, I didn't think I'd be able to hold BOTH of them for still some time. Thankfully there were a bunch of helpful nurses on duty who were able to prepare Grant to make the big trip over to the A nursery to see his brother. He was so excited to get his sunglasses off and see something new...very alert.

Grant getting ready

First time holding BOTH boys!!!

Grant/Landon

Landon testing out what Grant's mouth is like. Or maybe Grant was hungry:)

Cupcake hats!

Both in one:)

Grant

Landon

Getting sleepy

One last hug

I also found out at this visit that Landon had a GRAM-MY award!!! YEAH! This is their first "milestone" that they're trying to hit....1000 grams and he made it to 1005 which is equivalent to 2lbs3oz! Grant hopefully isn't too far behind at 2lbs1oz.

Landon

We have 2 pounders!!

We officially have babies that both weigh over 2 lbs! Our next goal is 1000 grams and they'll receive a "grammy" from the NICU:) Also received good news this week that they may be able to transfer back down to Binghamton in another week or two. Boy, that would be sooooo good to be able to sleep in my own bed!
We've been having a good weekend so far. Landon was anemic and needed another blood transfusion but is feeling better, feeding more and not dropping his oxygen rate as much. Grant is getting to be a real big boy and eating DOUBLE what Landon is. Plus they took him off of his iv today to see how he'll do with just feedings! Such a good sign!
Here's a few pics from today:

Grant after a BIG bm which dad had to change:)

Landon-tangling his wires for the nurses

Grant being bashful

Landon pretending he's sleeping

Landon trying to tell us he needs a different hat

Landon with Dad

No Beeps!

I was able to do kangaroo care with Grant today for an hour and a half with absolutely no monitor beeps!!! This is the first time that he hasn't had any bradycardias or desaturations during care. I was soooo excited! When I came in later to do care with Landon he was all eyes and so observant. Such a little cutie. I think he's using those eyes to flirt with the nurses too as he had a lot of visitors when he was "out" of his isolette.

Landon "swimming in his intertube with his sunglasses on"

Landon and Daddy bonding

Overall we had a good weekend. Bri got to hold Landon for the first time on Sunday so that was exciting. I swear Landon was smiling and giggling the whole time! Grant keeps tolerating his feedings well and is already up to 4 ml of breast milk. Landon unfortunately was having some issues with keeping his feedings down so they had to lower his 2 hour dosage to 1ml. He lost a couple of grams since his last weigh in but is still a little over 2 lbs. He hadn't had a big bowel movement since Halloween so that was becoming a concern but was given a suppository today and had a LARGE poop, that's my boy. So hopefully he'll be able to up his feedings tomorrow.

Grant & Bri

Landon & Bri

We were also able to give Landon a bath Sunday night and this time brought the camera! He was so good, even when I picked him up for the first time in his isolette so the nurse could change his bedding and full of cute facial expressions. Boy, that's a challenge working through two little arm holes!

Landon getting ready for his bath....with his Nemo bedding:)

Washing his mouth

Soaping up the hair

First time I "lifted" him

First "feeding" even if it is through a tube

Ahhh, all clean and ready for bed!

Looking forward to Jess and Megan coming to visit tomorrow and blowing kisses from the security locked doors of the NICU :(. Well, they'll at least be here to support me so I can have a sense of normalcy and do alittle shopping between care times!

Visitation

Landon and Grant will no longer be able to receive any vistors except for Bri and I througout their stay in the NICU. The hospital changed their policy starting this morning that only parents are allowed in the NICU. This is to hopefully prevent the babies from getting sick and of course the big scare of the seasonal flu and H1N1. We knew this might be coming and is actually already the policy in the hospital I delivered in. They were lucky enough to get to see both sets of grandparents and even great grandma though. We'll definitely have to keep up with the pictures now:)
I was able to do kangaroo care with both Grant and Landon yesterday! Both boys are up to 1.5ml of breast milk every two hours and they have both gained weight since Sunday. Landon is ONE gram short of 2lbs and Grant is about 1lb13oz so both past their original birth weight, yeah! If Grant would stop wiggling all the time he might be able to put on some more!
This morning both boys had to go back under the bilirubin lights which again is very common for them to be under for a few days, out for a few days. This just helps with jaundice and keeping the chemicals out of their tiny little bodies. Personally I think they enjoy wearing the sunglasses and lounging out. Maybe they'll be beach go-ers like their parents!
Can't wait for dad to come tomorrow! We'll definitely take more pics this weekend.
Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers!

Rollercoaster Ride

So the nurses were right when they said, "Expect some ups and downs". Monday was an overwhelming day for everyone. Grant started off the day with a lot of drops in his stats, bloodwork to see if he had another infection, a big BM, and being turned the other way in his isolette when I arrived. They were getting prepared to put the ventilator back in before I was about to leave, watching him like a hawk. Turns out his blood count was really low, showing that he was anemic so they started a blood transfusion (which his brother had the day before). That seemed to level out his stats a little better throughout the night. I also got the Day 14 brain scan back to show that Landon's was clear and Grant had a Grade 1 bruising in his front vertex which is actually ok and should heal on it's own. The doctor said it wouldn't cause any developmental delays and is common in preemies of this size.

Landon on the other hand was doing well except they wanted to start him on meds again for his heart murmur. They actually could barely hear it in the morning before they gave him the meds. I was able to do kangaroo care with him for 45 minutes! He was really content and seemed to be enjoying himself.

This morning I headed over to the hospital hoping for better news. Both Grant and Landon are having a good day so far, Grant is done being naughty for now and was wide awake to hold my finger and make tons of expressions while Grandma Nancy and I were there to visit.

Couple of pics from this weekend....

Content little Landon

Grant-rockin' out

Happy Halloween!

Grant's 1st Halloween outfit!

Landon.....being shy & a little sleepy after kangaroo care

Grant

Landon

Things have been going pretty well this weekend. Grant's feedings are continuing to go well, he might even go up to 2 ml tomorrow! His stats have been good and they turned the billirubin lights off for today. The most exciting news is that daddy got to do kangaroo care with Grant today and Grant was content for an HOUR!!!! Only one bradycardia the whole time, much longer than with mommy:(!! So jealous!

Headed back over to the hospital around 8pm to get in some more bonding time to find out that both Bri and I could give the boys a bath!! Of COURSE I didn't bring the camera thinking it was going to be a quick visit:(. I was over with Grant while Bri was with Landon. Both boys gained weight too, yeah! The nurse had to actually weigh Grant on two different scales to make sure. He went from 720 grams to 775 grams in 3 days! Grant also had his first BM, two in one day! Landon is back up to 1lb 13.5oz.