Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Cannula Free is the Way to Be

As of 6:00 AM this morning, Charlie is on room air! He needed the cannula for a few minutes here and there throughout the day during his feedings, but for the most part he is breathing entirely unassisted and doing great. Lily is currently rocking the low-flow cannula and word is that she may come off it tomorrow or the next day to join her brother in the world of room air. She is especially looking forward to having people be able to gaze upon her beautiful face with nothing obscuring the view.

Feedings are going well. Charlie has been doing so well that he is now allowed to eat his fill (today he took about 2 ounces each feeding!) and will eat every 4 hours as opposed to every 2. As of yesterday we are alternating the babies between breast milk and formula, as I am weaning of the pumping. Both are doing just fine with the formula. In fact, Charlie has decided he prefers it to the breast milk that Mommy worked so hard for. This afternoon I was feeding Charlie his bottle of breast milk. He would get so excited to see the bottle and would eagerly take a gulp, then make a face, wiggle his head around and spit out the milk. After several minutes of this, his nurse Sid and I decided to try to formula on him, as his night nurse Sue had indicated that he was loving the formula. As soon as I gave Charlie the formula he perked right up, grabbed the bottle in his little hands and went to town on it. Stinker.

This evening we had a nice visit with both babies. Joe and Lily had some nice daddy-daughter time that involved cuddling and a bottle feeding. She was nice and awake and she and daddy had a nice chat before feeding time. This morning she wanted nothing to do with the bottle I was offering her, but tonight she drank the whole thing for her daddy.

Charlie and I hung out in the tub – well Charlie hung out in the tub while I scrubbed him down with his special Burt’s Bees shampoo. The entire time he was in the tub Charlie was smacking his lips and sticking out his tongue – he was so hungry! So hungry in fact that by the time he got his bottle he kept dropping his heart rate because he couldn’t pace himself – he was so anxious to get the food down. After a few minutes he settled down, found his rhythm and slurped every drop of his bottle. At least he was hungry enough to drink the breast milk! After he ate Joe read Charlie Where the Wild Things Are, borrowed from Charlie’s roommate Ethan. Charlie enjoyed the book a lot, mainly the parts that mentioned supper. We decided we needed to get some food-related books, so tomorrow I plan to pick up Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for the Chunk.

Both babies received two vaccines today and will receive three more tomorrow. They were very brave while getting them, but of course a few little needles don’t really faze them after all they’ve been through the last few months. They also both gained weight – Lily is closing in on the 5 lb mark with a weight of 4 lbs 13 oz and Charlie is 5 lbs 5 oz.

After my morning visit I spent the afternoon starting to organize my shower gifts. Wow, did we get a lot! After unpacking everything I had an overflowing laundry basket of clothes for Lily and Charlie, a big bag of toys and every cool gadget and contraption a baby could need. These babies are going to be so spoiled – but they deserve it!

Lily explains to her mommy all the drama of her day.

Charlie was quite comfy in his bubble bath. So comfy, in fact, that created some bubbles of his own (if you know what I mean).

20 comments:

Diana Lopez said...

Wow, I am just amaze of how big and fast they are growing, soon they will be heading home, god bless you and your family.

Katrina said...

Look at those big little babies! I had one 6 pounds and they are SO close. What a journey!
They are so cute!

Anonymous said...

I am just so happy for you guys. The babies look absolutely wonderful.....they are getting so big. They will be home before you know!!!! Yay!!!!

Stacey
gbb

The Deans's said...

Such good news...:) Yay!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful news angels - just magnificent. You are both heartbreakers and you have your sister to thank for so much - she is watching over you and pushing you along. Don't ever forget that. I love the way Charlie was eating and the fact that he made his own bubbles... That's my boy...

All My Love, Auntie :) xoxoxxo

Amanda said...

Awesome news! Sounds like they're doing great!!!

Tracey's Life said...

What fantastic news, I pray that they continue to do well and are home with you soon. Your family is in my daily prayers and thoughts (you don't know me, but I stumbled on your blog a few weeks ago and I am praying for you)

White Toast with Butter said...

Pick up Pickles To Pittsburgh too - by the same author - the sequel - so cute.

Sarah - The Home Cook said...

Go Charlie!! That's fantastic news about the room air. And yay for Lily closing in on 5lbs. I can't believe how different they look these days...nice and chunky. :)

Colleen said...

I LOVE seeing the pics without all the wires and just BABY! Glad to hear they are both eating well - let's hope Lily hits 5 pounds soon!

fresh365 said...

What a wonderful step! I am keeping you all in my thoughts.

Jenn said...

Charlie is so handsome and I love seeing his whole face. Here's to getting Lily's face free of all the tubes tomorrow. I'm pulling for her.

E. Merritt said...

The babies are doing SO great! Getting off the cannula is a huge deal-go Charlie!

Jade said...

Joe and Brooke, they look so good!! Yeah for them gaining weight and Charlie being off on room air. Hopefully Lily will be there in a few days!!

Jenn Collins said...

Every morning I get to work and read your blog to cheer for the babies. It is to great to read about their progress! Today's pictures are particularly wonderful.

Anonymous said...

They are getting so big. YAY! My son loved(s) If you Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff, while it doesn't center around food, the series sure is cute and provides a giggle or two for mom and dad, too.

Becca said...

They are getting SO big! Charlie is now 5 oz bigger than my baby was upon coming home from the NICU...such good news. And hilarious that they've both got attitudes already! Sounds like Lily Bug will be a daddy's girl for sure!

Lisa said...

Those bubbles are properly referred to as a "my gracious" - my sister did this in the time many years back and my mother said, "My gracious!" so she assumed that is what they were called. Jonathan had a my gracious in his first tub bath. :)

Congrats on cannula free!!!

The Madeira Triplets said...

Wow...great news! Our boys all came home on a four-hour schedule, so it sounds like when Charlie gets this down it will be a major step towards coming home! I love how he has to learn to pace himself. It's interesting that he doesn't like the milk. I had to supplement with formula pretty much from the beginning, and so we never got the chance to see what tastes our babies preferred since the milk was always mixed with the formula. We did find out that as far as formula they seemed to prefer the powder stuff to the liquid! That was funny. I seem to remember that they can go for longer times on the formula as well because it takes longer to digest. I do recall that the babies were READY to eat after four hours though!

We love the Burt's Bees bath products as well...especially the lotion! It's nice to know that there's a paraben free/natural product line that smells good for babies too :D

I can't wait to hear that you are spoiling your babies at home--it won't be long!!

Michele from FTHS said...

Keep chugging along, babies (and don't forget to take a breath). Way to go, Little D's!!!