Day 98: FULL TERM

If you would have asked me back in October what we'd be doing come 1/11/11, I would have answered, "Driving my kids home from the hospital."  When we entered the NICU, they originally told us to aim for our original due date as our go-home date.  Obviously that is not the case.  As I keep saying in the updates, we are in the homestretch, but it can last a while.  Talking to the nurses, this is the second toughest part of the NICU journey aside from the very beginning.

Jackson is 7lbs 6oz and is 18.25" long.  He has gained 5lbs and 12oz since he was born.  Aiden is 6lbs 13oz and is 19" long.  He has gained 5lbs 3oz and grown 6" since he was born.

The boys have been challenged this week.  They were weaned down further on their O2 from 1.5 liters of flow to 1 liter, and are now at low flow.  The are doing well keeping their saturations in the high 90s where they should be, with the occasional drop into the high 80s, and even a 70 here or there when they are catching their breath after eating.  They were weaned off of Prevacid for reflux, and theophyllin, which is a bronchio-dialtor.  They were on a minimal dose, so it should not affect them all that much.  They continue to receive 2 albuterol and 1 pulmacort treatments per day.  They will most likely start being weaned from these next week.

They continue to make slow progress with their feeds.  Jackson is able to attempt the bottle 4 times per day, and Aiden 3 times per day.  They are up to around 60mls or 2oz every 3 hours, and during a bottle feed, they may take anywhere from 50mls to 10mls.  It's really up to them how much they want to take, and it largely depends on how much energy they have.  As frustrating as it is, we have to keep remembering we are in the homestretch and they will eventually one day pick it up.  We also have to remember that both boys have been through an extensive 3 months of needles, procedures, and surgeries.  They also still have chronic lung disease that continues to heal itself by re-building new tissue.

Both boys also are being treated for high blood pressure.  The condition is benign since the docs cannot figure out what is causing it.  Aiden has responded well to the med, but Jackson's bp trend over 24 hrs is still high, so his dose went up today.  Turns out high blood pressure is not very common in preemies.  The fact that it is benign is kind of disconcerning, but we think that since both boys have it, that it would have to be triggered by something that they both had in common.  Aside from all of the meds, needles, etc., both of them had a 3 day course of dexamethasone (sterroid) after their eye sugeries.  The blood pressure was never an issue until after the surgery either.  I don't like the word "benign."

Jackson had his 2 week follow up eye exam today.  Both eyes are regressing well however, the right eye had some vessels that are growing straight instead of angular.  He also had some blood in his eye.  The doc has some concern about this, and will follow up in a week.  Aiden's next follow up is end of January.

PS - I will post pictures within the next couple of days - just have to get them sorted and off the camera.