Davis visit and Kristen update

Davis, Grandma and Grandpa came for a short visit this afternoon.  Davis was very happy to show mom his matchbox cars he carried in from the car in his pocket and Kristen got a homemade lunch brought to her.  Grandma and Grandpa got to see Alex and Evan for the first time in two days while Davis spent some time with us.

Right now, assuming she is cleared, the plan is for Kristen to come home late tonight so she can sleep in her own bed and "do Christmas" tomorrow morning.  Alex and Evan will be here for a while, so Kristen is 51% ready to leave.  Staying another night, while possibly easier, creates a number insurance hurdles that we don't care to jump through.  Since we are really close the hospital, coming and going is pretty easy.  Since Kristen would leave early tomorrow if she did stay, the appeal of home, Davis, Domino and Lilly is winning out.

Davis liks to have his picture taken

He got a few minutes of snuggle time with mom, but didn't really know what to do

Davis on Christmas

Here is a very very long video of Davis opening his Christmas presents from Santa.  We have decided that our tradition will be that Santa brings presents for the stocks and that family presents will be wrapped and under the tree.  This morning Davis, Grandma and Grandpa and I opened his stocking.  Later, I took Kristen's, Alex's and Evan's to the hospital for mom to open.  When Kristen comes home, either Monday or Tuesday, we'll do the family presents under the tree.

Here is a shorter one of him and me:

Evan Update

Evan is doing much better since my last update.  He has come off the intubation and is on a CPAP machine with no added oxygen, just like his brother Alex.  I'll be headed over there in 10 minutes or so to drop off some milk and get an update from the nurses or doctor, depending on who is there. The plan for both boys is pretty much the same: ween them down to breathing room air unassisted, slowly and one step at a time.  At this point, I don't really expect either kiddo to come home before Wednesday at the earliest as the pediatrician is inclined to go really slowly with them.  The criteria for them coming home is: breathing room air on their own, maintaining their own temperature and taking all their food from either bottle or breast.

Twins Update (+Kristen)

Alex


Alex is still on the CPAP machine and is relaxed and doing well.  He may go to high flow air (no extra pressure relatively soon).  He is eating well and peeing a lot, which according to the pediatrician is a sign that he is past a lot of his early lung difficulties.  He said that babies, especially those given IVs retain a lot of liquid and when they start to recover/mend up they need to get rid of it all.  Kristen spent at least half an hour holding the little one this morning.  Our very very blond boy slept happily on her chest.


Evan

When we went to the NICU to see the boys at 8:00 last night, Evan was really laboring to breathe.  He was breathing very fast, with his stomach moving a lot with each breath and his oxgen level had been turned up to 50% (room air is 21%).  The doctors did an check and found that he had a small hole in his lung which had caused air to become trapped between the lung and the chest.  They drained this air with a needle and placed him on intubation and gave him surfactant to help his lungs develop and recover (Alex had received this on day one).  The hole will heal by itself, but the concern was that with forced air from the intubation, air could leak into the chest again which would require a chest tube to drain (an incision + tub).  Fortunately, Alex responded really well to the intubation and is much more relaxed and doing well this morning.  They are closely monitoring his blood gases (CO2 levels) and there is a chance he could come off of intubation and onto a CPAP machine today.

Kristen


Kristen is recovering from surgery well.  Her recovery is probably going along faster than it would be if the boys were in the room with us.  She is able to get lots of rest and take things very easy without the stress of trying to nurse two boys.  Because of the changes with Evan, she did not get much sleep last night.  Kristen is getting up and moving a lot and was able to walk down to the NICU and back this morning when she couldn't sleep.  There is a chance she could stay in the hospital one more day, but that would be because Alex might be able to come home on Tuesday but she would normally be discharged on Monday.   We'll see if that is something that she wants to do and her doctors is okay with.

Twins update

The twins status is largely unchanged.  We don't really expect to take either kiddo home with us when Kristen is discharged on the 26th, but we are hoping to be surprised.

Alex


Alex is still receiving air from a CPAP machine (intubation was removed earlier after his CO2 levels continued to be good).  He is about to receive his last does of the standard 48-hour course of anti-biotics.  After this, he will only get more if his cultures, which take 48 hours to grow, come back positive.  He has been taking food (5ml mix of milk and formula) every 3 hours.  Alex has also had the IV removed from his belly button as they will not need to draw blood as frequently, if at all.

Evan


Evan is still getting high flow air, sometime room air, sometimes oxygen enriched.  Like his brother, he is getting his last regular dose of anti-biotics this evening.  Kristen and I both held him for about 30 minutes today, which was stressful at times for him.  The nurse said that holding them during their sleeping times is much harder on them than holding them during their active feeding times, so we are going for our next visit at 8:00 which is the start of their feedings.

Mom and Evan

Evan in Mom's arms

Pictures of Alex and Kristen

I snapped these earlier today when Kristen was holding Alex for the first time.  We are currently waiting for the boy's 8:00 and 8:30 feedings when they are active and alert.

Holding Alex

Kristen just got the best christmas eve gift.  She is currently holding Alex with skin to skin contact in the NICU.  He has come off intubation and is breathing on his own with the help of a CPAP machine with a little bit of added oxygen.  Both Kristen and Alex are throughly enjoying this bonding time. 

Earlier he had his first taste of milk and we be getting milk and formula to get his strenght up.

I will try to post pictures tonight.