Free Charlie!

Today we got some exciting news – Charlie may be able to come out of isolation! Ever since he was diagnosed with MRSA, Charlie has been in an isolation room in the NICU. If Charlie were our only baby this would be no big deal – the room is dark and quiet and we love his isolation roommate Ethan and Ethan’s parents. But since Lily is out among the regular population of the NICU visiting can be tricky at times. We must visit Lily first so we don’t spread any potential infection to her, so that means that no matter what Charlie is doing when we arrive, whether he be wide awake, getting a bath, etc., we can’t go into the room or handle Charlie or else we won’t be able to see Lily. This can be frustrating at times since we don’t want to gyp Charlie of any one-on-one time, but we also don’t want to miss out on seeing Lily. Anyway, today Dr. Hiatt informed us that he would be testing Charlie everyday for the next three days for MRSA. If all three tests come back negative, Charlie can rejoin his sister on the outside! The first test was taken today around 3:00 and it takes 24 hours for results to come in. So it’s possible that Charlie and Lily could be reunited by the end of the week. Of course, it’s also highly possible that he’ll still test positive and will have to stay put, but our fingers are crossed for the former.

Charlie and Lily both had pretty good days today. Lily was taken off her caffeine and lowered to 4 liters on the nasal cannula - both positive steps. She wanted nothing to do with her afternoon bottle – she was too busy being mad at Nurse Julia for having the audacity to reinsert the Bug’s feeding tube – but took her evening bottle perfectly. She also enjoyed a nice sponge bath tonight courtesy of Daddy and put on some grams to reach 4 lbs 5 oz.

Charlie did the opposite – he loved his afternoon bottle but was totally uninterested in the evening one. He’s still having brady episodes with his feedings, but we were assured yet again today that this was normal and nothing to be concerned about. Dr. Hiatt said that it was in no way a step backward and was just something that was common in preemies. The bradies seem to be caused by a combination of reflux and some failure to coordinate his sucking, swallowing and breathing when taking his bottle, but both are problems that he will outgrow. Other than his MRSA tests, Charlie will begin getting his first round of vaccines. He also gained weight and is now 4 lbs 14 oz.

Joe and I both visited the doctor today to get some vaccines and flu shots – we want to be as healthy and germ-free as possible when we finally start caring for Charlie and Lily. Those who come to visit the babies once they are home should be prepared to scrub, Purell and perhaps submit to being sprayed down with Lysol.

We realized recently that we have a lot of pictures of us with Lily but hardly any of us with Charlie. And as you can see, Charlie could not be bothered to wake up to pose with us.

Lily was so wide awake tonight and was more than happy to get some snuggles in with mommy!

Lily and her daddy took a pause from her bath to have a staring contest. Lily won.