Days 65 - 68: More to See

We left off last week right before the boys' third eye exam which ended up happening Thursday night.  My favorite opthomologist gave us positive news on Aiden.  His Stage 3 ROP Stage 3 is now regressing. He will continue to be monitored weekly because although highly unlikely, the ROP could start progressing again. Jackson did not need surgery as of Thursday, however, his follow up appointment is tomorrow morning. Both eye docs will be there bright and early to check Jackson's Stage 3 Zone 2 status. If it gets to the Plus stage, he will need the laser surgery that Aiden had. ROP is a tricky disease, it typically peaks at 36 weeks, and spontaneously could regress on its own without any warning. Once it gets to Stage 3 Plus, surgery has to happen very soon to prevent Stage 4 will is partial retinal detachment, and Stage 5 full retinal detachment. Full retinal detachment means blindiness. In fact, Stevie Wonder is blind because of ROP.  Granted that was quite a while ago, when most didn't know what ROP was, how to detect and treat it. I stay true to my original statement which is surgery over no sight, or impaired sight.

Because he didn't need the laser surgery on Thursday, Jackson was moved into a crib! He is holding his own body temperature and is loving it. Thing is, when we go see him now, we have to keep our distance if he is sleeping so that we don't disturb him. When he was in the isolette, he couldn't hear us as much because it was covered so we could get as close as we wanted to. No big deal though, I will sacrifice some distance from the crib if it ns him growing and getting his rest. As of Saturday night, Jackson weighed 4 lbs. 13 oz. He is also up to 43 mls of food. His sprinting on the cannula increased again. He is on 6 hrs day and 6 hrs at night on the cannula, and CPAP the remainder of the day. He also started Prevacid last week to aid in his refulx problem.
Aiden also moved into a crib! Saturday afternoon after our swaddle session, his isolette was traded out for a big boy crib. So far, 24 hours later he is holding his own body temperature just fine. His food is still being fortified, but no protein is being added since he does not need it. As of last night, he weighed in at 4 lbs 6 oz.
He is at 38 mls of food, tolerating well. Both boys are now able to be dressed since they are at the magic weight of 4.5 lbs. Kind of cool since we have a bunch of preemie clothes that we thought we'd have to take back and exchange for larger sizes.

Enjoy the pics from the last 4 days. I will update tomorrow on status of Jackson's eyes.

Thanks for continuing to read our updates!