One Month, One Week, One Day

It’s a good day when one of the babies takes a step forward. But it’s a very good day when all three of the babies do it! Joe had plans to meet his friend Wilbur for lunch today (hi, Wilbur!) and a doctor’s appointment, so I went to the NICU on my own this morning. When I arrived the first thing I saw was Miss Lily on CPAP! The doctor’s thought that the BiPap was pushing too much air into her tummy so they decided to try her on CPAP. So far she’s been behaving the same on CPAP as she was on BiPap, which is enough for now. I took her out for a morning cuddle, but apparently she wasn’t in the mood to snuggle today. Her oxygen levels kept going down so she went back to her isolette after only 15 minutes or so. As soon as she was back in, she went right to sleep and her numbers shot back up. I understand how she feels though – some days I just want to be left alone too! In addition to the switch to CPAP Lily is making progress in the weight department as well – she’s up to 1065 grams, up 30 from yesterday.

Lily’s weight is up, but Annaleigh shot right past her today, weighing in at a whopping 1095 grams (that’s about 2 lbs 6 oz). After not gaining any weight for the past few days, Annaleigh was due for a nice increase. She’s also increased in feedings – she’s now receiving 14 ml of breast milk and is no longer receiving lipids since she’s getting enough fat and nutrition from the milk. She should be taken off the fluids tomorrow and she’ll be IV free. We took Annaleigh out of her isolette this evening and both Joe and I got to hold her. She was such a good girl, never dipping her in her oxygen the entire time she was out. I was also flattered that it seemed she was searching for me when I was out of her sight. I held her first, and when I passed her off to Joe I stood off to the side talking to him. Annaleigh, who had been sleeping, opened her eyes and was clearly looking towards the sound of my voice, trying to see me. It was so, so cute!

Charlie had a much better day today with his breathing, so much that the doctors decreased his respiration rate so he’s getting less help from the machine. The plan is to take him of BiPap and move him to CPAP sometime in the next day or so. We’re excited over the prospect of having all three babies on CPAP. I held Charlie for about half an hour this afternoon and he did wonderfully while in my arms. Well, technically he spent the first 25 minutes squirming around like a nut, and only got all sleepy and snuggly right as I was about to put him back. Turns out he was working on a nice big poop while in my arms – that’s my boy. Charlie gained 10 grams today for a total of 1210 grams, or 2 lbs 10 oz. Joe and I also discovered tonight that Charlie enjoys songs about food. We sang to him a lovely medley of songs like “Candy Man,” “The Good Shop Lollipop,” and the like. Just like his mommy, he can’t hear enough about sweets.

And speaking of food, after my afternoon visit I was treated to a yummy lunch by my friend Colleen. Charlie would surely be jealous of my big roast beef wrap and Colleen’s steak salad, which was served in the biggest salad bowl known to man. Thanks again, Colleen!

So it was a very nice day all around. We are so proud of our strong babies. We’re hoping that they can all keep making progress like this – if they do they will be home before we know it!