Big leaps in the right direction

Well we have certainly been busy these last few days. The girls are both doing phenomenal. Renna now weighs 3lbs. 11oz. and Reagan weighs 3lbs. 7oz. Reagan is determined to catch her big sister. They are both making so many advances the last two days. I will do a paragraph for each to make it less confusing.

Renna began yesterday with getting off of her vapo-therm which is the oxygen that she has been on that is pressurized. She was off of it for about twelve hours and then had to be put back on a regular oxygen canula. She seems to be doing great with it and they have it set at a very low setting. Hopefully she won't need this very long. They discontinued her IV nutrition and lipids and tonight the plan is to take her off of the dextrose solution she has been on! She also got to try "non-nutritive" nursing with me which is basically really hard for them right now. It is just a practicing for nursing later. Renna's milk feedings have now gotten moved up to 30mls. every three hours. This is considered full feeding and is where Reagan is right now also. What amazing accomplishments Renna has made in just this short week. We are really starting to see her personality more as she seems to be feeling so much better and being awake more now. She is our little smiler!

Reagan continues to do well with the "non-nutritive" nursing and so got to start trying to nurse for real today!! It is really hard because it makes her really tired but she is really trying. I think she is determined...or maybe stubborn like her mom (and daddy too)! Reagan did start having a few more episodes of slow heart rate and forgetting to breathe, so she got her second blood transfusion yesterday. This seems to have made her feel better and she has had less episodes today.

Now there are several large leaps that they have both decided to make together that started yesterday. Both girls got their feeding tubes moved from their mouth to their noses. This is a great step because it means they can practice sucking and nursing easier. So the next step was they also got to try nipple feeding, which is a gigantic leap! So they both had their first bottles yesterday. The nurse fed Reagan hers and she drank it all! Then Adam got to feed Renna her first bottle last night...she did wonderful and drank it all as well. As if that wasn't enough they also got to wear clothes for the first time! Now you can imagine how excited I was about that. Getting to dress my sweet little angels for the first time. We will definitely post some pictures later of all their cute little outfits. We appreciate everyone who got us preemie outfits as they are now going to be put to good use. So yesterday they stayed in their incubators swaddled in blankets. When we got there this morning and took their temps they were both really hot and their beds were turned down as low as they could go...so you guessed it....they are both out of their incubators/warmers now and are in a crib together! I can't tell you how amazing it is to see them swaddled together and sleeping in a crib! They have done great with it so far today and are keeping their own body temp up. We hope that this continues. They are now both getting three bottle feedings a day and doing pretty well. So many huge leaps in two short days. Adam and I are pretty proud parents right now. Can't wait to see what they get to do next. We will try to post some pictures soon.

Such Big Girls!

Well today was a great day for us in the NICU! Renna got off the ventilator about 9:00 this morning. It was a great way to start my morning. We are so excited. She is still on an oxygen canula but seems to be doing great with it so far. It is so wonderful to see her little face without the huge tube in her mouth (of course she still has the feeding tube, but you know what I mean). So this evening at 5:00 I finally got to hold my sweetheart! I was super excited. I can't even tell you how much I missed holding her for one week...it seems like she has grown a ton. We had an enjoyable kangaroo time, I am convinced she missed it too! The only sad part is her little hoarse cry. It is so sad and pathetic when she gets upset that this barely audible hoarse cry comes out. Poor little angel! But things are now looking up for her. Hopefully she continues to do well and doesn't need the ventilator again. Her incision seems to be healing great and she seems a lot less painful. We think the only thing bothering her now is her throat, as I can only imagine how irritated it is. Renna weighed 3lbs. 9oz. tonight, even without the vent tube. Reagan has some exciting news as she has now surpassed the 2lb and moved right on to the 3lb. club! We are so proud of her, she weighed 3lbs. 2oz. tonight. Look out Renna, little sister is coming up fast! So as I mentioned today was a blessed day in the NICU. What an answered prayer for our little Renna Ann.

The Rollercoaster that is the NICU

Well Renna isn't off the ventilator just yet. Yesterday the x-rays of her chest showed a little haziness so they turned the ventilator back up. Today they look much better so we are back down on the lowest setting. Everyone kept waring us what a rollercoaster the NICU is and they were definetly right. They also took Renna off the pain medication pump. Since then she has required two boluses (single injections) of the pain medication, hopefully she doesn't continue to need that. It breaks my heart to see her in pain and trying to cry with no sound coming out because of the tube in her throat! I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will get off of the ventilator tomorrow. She is still on the iv nutrtion as they continue to decrease it they are increasing her milk feedings via the tube to her stomach. Her GI tract is still moving slowly but continuing to improve. Reagan continues to do great. She still weighs 2lbs. 15oz. I don't know where all that milk she consumes is going. She seems to have a ton of energy and is always moving around burning calories, I guess. We enjoy the three times a day "kangaroo time" with her and can't wait to get to do them with Renna again, or both girls at once! Adam is going back to work tomorrow. Me and the girls sure are going to miss him during the day. He will still be able to make it to the 8AM so we can get our morning report before he heads off to work, then he will be back in the evening for the 8PM. I am sure I will have to save a kangaroo time for him to get some time in with Reagan too! Adam downloaded some new pictures of our little miracle babies. I will try to share a few periodically. He is becoming a great photographer since becoming a proud daddy. The first two pictures are of Renna on her ventilator, we always laugh about how she has one arm up. The second two pictures are of Reagan. It is so hard to get pictures of them awake, I will try to post some more later.