Days 32, 33, 34: Moving Ahead

Next update will be posted tomorrow - Wednesday.  Dad's tired.

Both boys are up to 21mls on their feeds now, which equates to just under .7 ounces.  Being on the ventilators, both boys have their lungs suctioned out multiple times throughout the day.  Clear to white mucus is normal to pull from the lungs, and anything yellow/green would be cause for concern.  Saturday morning, the nurses got some yellowish-green mucus out of Aiden's lungs and sent it immediately for a culture.  The CO2 levels in his blood that morning were also on the higher 'normal' end, so it was better to take the precaution of the culture.  As of today, the culture is stll negative, so there is no infection.  However, as Saturday progressed, the CO2 levels remained on the higher 'normal' end and so they ordered a chest xray.  The NP was awesome, and actually showed us the x-ray explaining the fogginess that they were concerned about.  It turned out that Aiden's ETT tube that goes into his lungs for the vent, needed to be pushed in a bit more.  He has been developing his sucking ability over the past few weeks and as a result of sucking on the tube, he inadvertently pushed the tube out a bit.  Aiden's vent settings remained at 40 breaths from the vent with an O2 concentration level of about 30%.  As a gauge, the air we breathe has a 21% O2 concentration.  Aiden also received another blood transfusion, to help reduce the CO2 levels, and because he is anemic.  Both boys have chronic lung disease, which is very common for preemies, and they will grow out of it over time.  A lot of the things I mention about their breathing or lungs is directly the result of their immature lungs, and the effects of the chronic lung disease.  To read more about CLD, visit this link: http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/PrematureBabies/Chronic-Lung-Disease.aspx?articleID=7780&categoryID=PI-nh1-04c

If you remember back about 5 weeks, I talked about Christie receiving a betamethasone (steroid) shot in her hip as soon as she arrived at the hospital and it was determined that delivery was imminent.  The steroid shot was one of two doses that were to be given spaced by 24 hrs, and was administered to speed the growth of the babies' lungs.  The steroids are not a cure for CLD, but was meant to promote and stimulate growth.

Jackson continued to be weaned from this vent settings over the past three days, so much so that he was migrated to SiPAP again!  He was getting 25 breaths from the vent with an O2 concentration just above room air (21%), so they decided to extubate him and see how he did.  He was extubated at around 2pm today to CPAP, but was not digging it, so they put him on SiPAP with 10 breaths from the machine.  Now remember about 3 weeks back, this was our boy that went on SiPAP for 4 days, and then to mechanical vent, and then to oscillating vent because he was exhausted.  He is back to SiPAP again, but this time he's almost one pound heavier, so hopefully it will last this time.  Jackson enjoyed some quality kangaroo time with dad and mom the past couple of days, and there are some great pics below.  Jackson puked twice this morning, but then tolerated the rest of feeds just fine today.  As of last week, he has been getting he feeds from gravity, otherwise known as bulus feeds.

Both boys will be getting their first eye exams tomorrow to check for various things.  One of them being Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP).  To read more about preemies and their eyes, visit this link: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1225022-overview

To close, we would like to thank everyone for all of their support, concern, and encouragement.  We have not been able to address everyone, but wanted to be sure you are all aware how appreciated we are.  Thanks again!

PS - The Sabres win on Saturday was due to the Sabretooth guys that both boys have hanging from their IV stands.  Thanks Grandpa K!

Above: Aiden's first 'sign' of communication.  Check out which finger it is.

Above:  Aiden holding on to mom

Above:  Mom and Jackson's kanagroo session

Above:  Nurses take Jackson out of isolette for kanagroo session.  You can really tell his true size here.