Monday, July 20, 2009

10 weeks!

We are in double-digit weeks! I just can't believe how fast they are improving right now. They said that once they get on a good run of weight gain, they just seem to take off! It has been kind of a wild week so hopefully I can remember everything:

Picture of the girls together at 10 weeks old! L to R: Mckenna, Madison, and Carly

They love to touch each other, it must be comforting. Here Madison looks like she is checking Mckenna's temperature on her forehead.

I didn't get this picture at the perfect time I wanted. Carly is on the right, Madison on the left and here it looks like she is kissing Madison's head but earlier it looked more like she was sucking on the back of her head.
Updates:
Mckenna- So I guess I shouldn't have said that Mckenna was having surgery last week. They ended up postponing it because she had kind of slowed down on her breathing, eating, etc. improvements so Dr. Churney is waiting a little longer before he has to make the permanent decision. He's trying to give her a chance to take care of it on her own. But in the last two days she has improved again so possibly (and I do mean possibly) she might have the surgery this week. If not this week, then next week. Things change back and forth all the time in the NICU.... there's a lot of planning and then the planning didn't matter cause things were cancelled. And it's not unorganization on the hospital's part, it's because of the girls. They really act according to what the girls do not according to what the doctor's and nurse's want the schedule to be. I love that they put the girls as first priority- it really has been a great NICU experience for us. Also, we won't know if they are going to do a shunt or stint until after surgery since Dr. Churney has to wait until he gets into her head to know what will be best for her. Good thing we have a lot of confidence in him! Besides the big brain surgery, Mckenna is doing amazing. Still the best coordinated eater (sucks, swallows, breathes the best) and she just had her feeding tube pulled out a few days ago and I think it will stay out (except for post surgery for a few days) permanently. Hopefully.... She also is gaining just as well as her sisters, she's just about a pound behind but she should catch them eventually. She is 4 lbs. 8 oz. so getting close to 5 pounds! Oh, and she is still being tapped (brain liquid sucked out of her head) every other day and they are taking out about an ounce when they do it. She still tolerates it pretty well but I would assume she gets a big headache in the process (I know I would) because she is a little sensitive for an hour after. But with surgery, that would be stopped. We'll see what they decide this week.

Mckenna always has the sweetest happy face. It's rare that she looks upset. Such a happy little girl, especially with her major stuff she is dealing with right now.
Madison- I don't know how I missed it but Madison has become the front runner of her sisters of first to go home. She has had her feeding tube out well over a week and eats at least 2 ounces of formula right now. She is actually quite a little piggie. She makes a lot of noise while she eats and really acts like this is her last meal. But she is the best at not desating while she eats (her sisters are still working on this). We actually were able to room in (at the hospital- they have separate rooms set aside for this) with Madison and Carly on Friday and Saturday night. What they do is put the babies in the room overnight with mom and dad. The girls are set up on monitors still so that the nurses can make sure nothing goes wrong. But besides that we take care of them through the whole night. So we change their diapers, check temperatures, feed them, report on anything strange or not good that happens. I was very excited to do this but after the first night, Kyle and I both said to each other "What were we thinking having this many kids!?" It was pure chaos..... They had tried to get them on the same schedule before night started but Madison ended up eating early and Carly late right before they came in with us so they were exactly 1 1/2 hours apart in feeds. Plus, Carly was quite a pill. I think she must have been so overstimulated with mom and dad alone in the room with her and in a different environment that she wouldn't go to sleep for about 4 hours! So by FOUR in the morning, we finally were able to get them closer together on the same schedule and we were actually able to finally fall asleep! AND, that was only two, we haven't even thrown Mckenna into the mix yet. I knew I would be busy and tired but good grief. I learned that I really am going to need my mom (who is coming to stay for a few months once the girls come home). But, after such a crazy Friday night, we made sure that they were on the same schedule on Saturday night before they came to the room with us (and had taken their vitamins earlier in the evening which gives them an upset stomach) and Saturday was actually a pretty smooth experience. They both slept for four hours between two of their feeds! Amazing! Now I know it won't always be like that but I at least have hope when we can have SOME good nights like that. Anyways, this is going to be a lot of work... So don't expect blog posting to be quite as good when they come home.
Anyway, Madison did great for the two nights but Carly struggled a little with desats, etc. so there is a chance that Madison could be coming home in the next week. But, like I said with Mckenna, that doesn't mean it could happen. She could take a step backwards and not come home until a few weeks later. We'll just see. When I think of taking care of three babies, one sounds like a piece of cake. I did make a mistake on Madison's weight last week. I said she was 4 lbs. 13 oz. and she was actually 4 lbs. 10 ounces. But are you ready for this? Through most of the week she gained up to 4 lbs. 13 ounces so not a lot of weight gained in a week. But then, the two nights she roomed in with us she gained 9 ounces in those two days! So she is now 5 lbs. 6 1/2 ounces! As of yesterday she was only one ounce smaller than Carly. I told you she has been eating like crazy! So maybe they will all easily be over five pounds before they go home.
I put this picture of Madison because she has serious cheeks and a double chin. Good thing it is so adorable to have those at this age! We love to touch and pinch her little double chin, I think it's adorable!


Carly- I kind of already gave Carly's report in Madison's. She stayed in the room with us. I think we have learned that Carly is going to be the most sensitive baby. She cries the easiest (mainly when she wants to eat and we just aren't moving fast enough to get it to her). She also drinks her bottle like she is in the Sahara and hasn't had water for days! The problem that she has is that she doesn't breathe when she sucks. It's like she gets so panicked that it is going to be taken away that she decides breathing isn't necessary. And then she desats and you have to pull out the bottle until she catches up with breathing but she gets so mad that you have taken the bottle away. It's quite cute in the middle of the day but at 3 in the morning, so frustrating... But after she has the edge taken off her hunger then she gets coordinated with her eating and does great through the end! So she might need a little more time in the hospital to get better at that. We are assuming that she is probably going to go home at the same time as Mckenna (if Mckenna recovers fast and well from her brain surgery) but once again, that could all change. They also got concerned again with Carly's bigger right arm (like she had at birth and still has) and so they ran tests but we don't have the result back yet. They are pretty sure it is a hemagioma (I'm sure I slaughtered that word) which is kind of like a tumor that sucks blood from the blood vessel it's next to. It's typical for people that have it to have a limb larger than the other one and it's discolored (kind of like a port wine stain). They can laser out the little tumor-cysts things but if they are too big she might just always have a big arm. We'll see how it progresses as she grows. Her right arm is very functional and it's not life threatening (they've already done tests to make sure of that) so we'll just wait and see. She is still gaining weight, just a little slower this week. She weighed 5 lbs. 7 1/2 ounces.


Don't mind me in the picture but I put this up of Carly because she LOVES to cuddle. It's the best way for her to calm down. She just melts into you when you hold her like this. And Mom loves to cuddle too!

They are doing so well and we are so blessed! They are getting so close to going home, I can hardly believe how fast it has gone!

3 comments:

  1. I love reading your blog posts. Those little girls are so cute. It's such a miracle how well they are doing. I also loved seeing a picture of you with Carly this week. You should post more or yourself and Kyle. Take care!

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  2. They look so cute! I'm glad they are getting so big! Enjoy the sleep while you get it!

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  3. Sunny, I love reading your posts and seeing photos of your little ones! They are all so adorable and it's fun to see a photo of you holding one. I can't even imagine how tiny they are in real life (probably the size of Tristyn's little doll)! How great that they've been able to room in with you--such a great idea to give you practice before taking them home. Keep up the great work! It sounds like they're all doing great and I'm sure it's because of your love and faith! I hope I can see you all in person sometime soon!

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