Monday Monday Monday

(Sigh) It's always soooo hard going into work after spending the weekend with the family.


Anyways..... Jenna and Blake are doing great for April & Anna.
Blake has gotten big enough that he is not "swaddled". That's basically where they wrap him up in blankets like a big ole burrito. He's maintaining his body heat mostly on his own, AND.....he can wear clothes now! So the possibilities are endless for great pictures.
He's been doing much better with his breathing. He only had two A's & B's last night and one for April so far. MUCH better than his 10-12 per shift.
He's weighin in at 3lb 30z, & 14.8 inches long! He's currently on 9.7cc per hour.
Dr. Cho just came by to check on them and should be issuing his orders for the day, which will include an increase in his feeds.

Jenna is doing great as well. She just needs a few more ounces and she's been doing the "swaddle" thing as well. I'm sure Kim can't wait to get them dressed up in some cute clothes.
She weighed in at 2lb 15oz & 13.2 inches long. She'll most likely break into 3lb territory tonight or tomorrow at the latest. It's absolutely amazing seeing them grow before our eyes. At this stage, an Ounce or two makes a noticeable difference, so they are changing daily.
She's on 4cc per hour feeds and should be going up today.

We are really starting to get into an exciting phase of their development.
Now that they are bigger and more stable, they are growing quite fast. It took them a whole month to put on the 1st pound, and only took two weeks for the second!
It really warms my heart that they respond to us soooo well; things like opening their eyes when they hear us talk to them, to requiring less oxygen when we touch or hold them.
Reaching the 2kilo (4.4lb) mark is supposed to be a huge developmental mile stone for them. Dr. Su mentioned that is a big deal as they are much bigger, stronger, and stable at this stage.

As they reach wk 32-34 big things will start to happen. If they are on track, they'll be getting off CPAP and onto cannula airway. They'll also be developing the suck, swallow, breathe response so they can start feeding from a bottle. Once we hit that stage, we'll be able to hold and feed them, which I'm sure will be a dream come true for Kim. Can't wait to get pics of that! With their strength, comes quite a bit more activity from them, which just presents more of an opportunity to see their little personalities come out. It is truly an amazing time we are living through.

Lately as I've been watching and talking to them, I keep having these images of them grown up (around 8-12yrs old) flash through my mind. While those will be glorious days indeed, I never want to forget this period of their life. How small & fragile, innocent & fresh, at the beginning of the journey that will be our family and their life. Taking tons of pics and writing this blog will certainly help keep these memories, thoughts, & feelings vivid for many years. I never want to loose this perspective.

Time to get some work done.
Thanks & take care everyone.
-J