Aug 10 - Wednesday
Happy 1 week birthday Will and Audrey!
Aug 11 - Thursday
Misty's birthday. Happy 22nd Misty! NanaCat and Misty visited Will and Audrey
and Bill met us there later. Misty got to see the babies twice in one day. The
best birthday present, with the exception of being able to take them home!
Aug 13 - Saturday
Momcat returned home
Aug 14 - Sunday
Poppy (Grandpa Mike) drove in from Alabama to help with Matthew's first week
back at school. We went to see the babies and Misty's parents came up to see
them as well and they stayed the night in Shreveport.
Aug 15 - Monday
I took off work and Poppy and I took Matt to the bus for his first day in First
grade! After that we all went to eat at Sharon's and then to Misty's appointment
at the LSU Women's Clinic where Misty had her staples removed. This was a big
relief for her. Next we went to the NICU and Will and Audrey got to meet Poppy.
Nana and Pappy Thibodeaux were there seeing them once again before returning to
Baton Rouge.
Aug 16 - Tuesday
The twins and Matthew's cousin was born today. Carter Corbin who weighed 7 pounds
11 ounces. Pappy and Nana Phyllis say he feels and looks huge compared to his
older cousins!
Will with a big grin!
Aug 18 - Thursday
Poppy and Misty visit the twins. Audrey is put on zantac and regulin. They think
her excess of bradys may be due to acid reflux. Misty gets to try and give them
both a bottle. Will was somewhat successful. Audrey was not interested at all.
When I removed the bottle to see how much she had eaten (which was nothing)
she clamped her little mouth shut and I could hardly pry it open! The nurses
say she is stubborn...I wonder who she gets that from?!
Aug 19 - Friday
I got to hold both babies at one time! Wow, that's when it REALLY hits you that
you have TWO!!!
Aug 20 - Saturday
Poppy had to leave today and I had to double check that he did not kidnap our
dog Lucy (they have grown very fond of each other). We drove to Shreveport,
dropped Matt off at Julie's and went to LSU. Will is doing fine, he weighs 2
lbs, 12 oz and is only having a couple of bradycardia's per day. Both twins
have been struggling with "bradys" since birth. This is when their heart rates
drop below 90 bpm. They give them caffeine to help with this. It's
administered through their feeding tubes every afternoon. Audrey bradys a lot
more than Will. The nurses say she has 6-7 bradys to Will's one. Sometimes they
pull themselves back up, but sometimes they have to be stimulated. Will is taking
breast milk (20 ml) in a bottle and through the feeding tube. Audrey is still
having several bradycardia's and needing to be stimulated to come out of some
of them. She weighs 3 lbs, 2 oz. (finally back up to her birth weight) today
and is trying to bottle feed also (25 ml). Preemies don't know how to suck,
swallow and breathe that is why they have to be fed through tubes. They just
started trying to bottle feed them 3 days ago and they only try twice a day.
Sometimes they will do it and sometimes they won't. I think when they do, it's
by accident; they don't realize what's going on yet
Instead of her incubator regulating her body temp, they have kept it at a constant temp and lowered it a little each day and tomorrow they think they will be able to move Audrey into an open air bed. Will is still being warmed in his bed. He is still to little to regulate his body temperature, but he is catching up to his little sister very quickly!
Aug 21 - Sunday
Audrey has been moved to an open-air bed because she can regulate her body temperature
on her own now. She is still having frequent bradys and none of the doctor's
prescriptions seem to be helping them. I think it is something she'll just have
to grow out of. They have taken out her feeding tube and just put it back in
when they feed her. It seems to help her not gag so much, which should help
with the acid reflux. Will, not to be outdone by his sister removed his own
feeding tube! So they're leaving his out as well and just putting it back in
when they feed him. Both are doing much better with the bottle feedings. The
nurse this morning managed to have both of them finish their whole feeding with
the bottle. They only try the bottle feedings with them twice a day, they will
gradually add more as they get better at it. Will is still being warmed in his
isolette. He is still too small to be in an open air bed and regulate his temperature.
He is however, quickly catching up to his younger sister. Will's weight today
was 2 lbs. 13.1 ounces and he is still taking 20cc at each feeding; Audrey's
weight today was 3 lbs. 3.3 ounces and they've increased her feedings to 27
cc. They were both active and alert today. Will spit up and got some up his
nose and got very mad about it. He turned red as a lobster and cried. That is
the first time we ever heard him cry. Bill cleaned him up and calmed him down
and he went right back to sleep. Audrey has the cutest little pouting face you've
ever seen, she pulls her little bottom lip in and makes it quiver. Her daddy
will never be able to tell that face no!
