Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Progress

Matthew had his second echocardiogram today, and the preliminary report is that his PDA (heart murmur) has closed up -- yay! We're still waiting on the official report, but it sounds like even if it's not completely closed, it's smaller (and smaller is better!) He's also continuing to gain weight, and they're starting him back on feeds this evening. (I don't know if we mentioned this before, but for now their feedings are breastmilk given though a stomach tube.)

It looks like James had a clear-enough X-ray today, so apparently this is Day 1 of his bowel rest. (Our impression from the nurse is that the little problem area is still there, but that it's either not changing or getting better, so they're not worrying about it.)

Instead of having one nurse each, the boys now have one nurse who takes care of both of them during any given shift. At first I thought this was just during the holiday (Memorial Day), but it seems to be a permanent change. It's probably a good sign that they're more stable and don't need the constant care, but at the same time, it makes me just a little nervous -- I want someone paying attention to my precious babies all the time! Really, though, they're hooked up to lots of monitors, so if something happens (say, Matthew pulling his CPAP out, as he likes to do), the monitors beep and someone is right there to take care of it. And even though there is just one nurse whose primary responsibility is the twins, there are several other nurses in the room at all times (in charge of other babies), but who can step in as backup.

2 comments:

Jeff Pomerantz said...

We're so pleased to hear how well the boys are doing, and just loved the picture of the four of you together.

And being less interesting to the NICU staff is ALWAYS a good thing. :)

-Yvonne

Anonymous said...

Yeahhhh!!! Good news on both of the boys--I was so happy to hear that. I love the picture of the 4 of you too. Peace and love, Kerry, Richie and Mary