One Week Old!

While this site is still a work in progress, we wanted to get an entry posted and get the web address out, as its hard to keep up with all your emails and send individual updates!

We cannot believe that they are already a week old today!  In just seven days, they have already accomplished so much and we have a lot to be thankful for.  Both Paige and Andrew have made great progress from a respiratory standpoint and have weaned off their pressure support and only require minimal oxygen support now.  They also both received their first bit of breastmilk a couple days ago.  Each of them started mid week at 1 mL (a couple drops) every three hours and will advance slowly each day.  Feeding will likely be our biggest obstacle and will take weeks to reach our overall goals, but at least we've made a start!  Both of them have apneic and brady episodes (times which they stop breathing and drop their heart rates), but that is very normal for this age, as they are still undergoing brain development to control this.  They usually recover from this with a little pat or shake and are both getting caffeine (or as Jack says, their daily "cup of joe":)) to help with this.  Blue lights are still on for both, as their bilirubin is a little high (also very normal for this age), although they only need biliblankets at this point and are free of their overhead lights and face masks - Andrew is VERY happy about this!

We are already learning that they each have very distinct personalities!  Andrew is way more active and quite the wild man -- not a big change from when he was inside!  We always had the most difficulty getting his ultrasounds done!  Paige on the other hand is much quieter and sleeps very calmly.  She will occasionally open her eyes but definitely feels sleep is a priority and often is passed out even during our holding sessions.  Andrew on the other hand is wide eyed as soon as he hears our voices and fights to stay awake throughout the time we hold him.  He seems to definitely be aware of our presence. 

Being home from the hospital and sleeping in our own beds is definitely nice, although it is hard to not be in the same building as them.  We have been visiting twice a day though and love staying later at night to "put them to sleep."  Jack will go back to work on Monday, which will be another adjustment, but we are getting settled in with this new routine and are working hard at home to get ready for their arrival! 

Thanks for checking in on us!  We will attempt to post each day so that we can all celebrate their progress!