There are not a whole lot of changes from the previous posting. The boys are now six weeks old! Aiden continues on his nasal canula doing very well. Evan continues on CPAP and still has his desat and apnea spells. He had quite a significant spell this morning that required some manual bagging from the nurse and respiratory therapist. It is very unnerving to see these spells. However, Evan also has some very good times, as well.
David mentioned in the previous posting that Aiden had an elevated bilirubin. There is a very long list of things that could cause this. They sent a urine sample on Friday to check for an infection and for a metabolic disease called galactosemia. Somehow, the urine got lost in the lab. By the time they found it, it had been sitting for too long. They will send it again today. The test for galactosemia came back negative (thank goodness). He also had an abdominal ultrasound yesterday morning to check for an obstruction or any abnormality. The ultrasound tech said that he never found his gallbladder. This test will most likely also have to be done a second time. The elevated bilirubin could also be his liver reacting the IV nutrition that he was on right after his surgery. However, this usually happens while the baby is on IV nutrition, and Aiden has been back on breast milk for quite a while now.
Evan’s urinary tract infection appears to be gone now, and he is off of his antibiotics. His color looks much better, and he acts like he feels a lot better also.
On a good note, I gave Aiden his first bath last night. He did very well. David was able to give Evan a sponge bath in his incubator.
The doctors (and us) are still very concerned about the lack of weight gain over the last 2 weeks. Yesterday, I started separating foremilk from hind milk when I pump. The foremilk is the watery milk that is produced the first half of pumping, and the hind milk is the fattier, more nutrient dense milk that comes in the second half of pumping. The boys are only getting the hind milk mixed with the fortifier now. Hopefully, this will help with their weight gain.
Evan after his first (sponge) bath.
Evan (now clean) relaxing.
Evan warming up after his bath.
Aiden's first bath.
Mommy holding Aiden after his bath.
Baths! How wonderful it must be for all 4 of you to have so much tactile contact....and do something so "normal" as a bath, albeit with all the attachments and tubing. Every day is getting us closer to that wonderful homecoming that we are all praying and planning for. Can't wait! Love, Gayle and Mark
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