Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas from the Oftedahls! Although we are spending part of our Christmas in the hospital, we are so blessed to be able to spend this special day with our girls!
Eva & Abriella
Their first Christmas outfits! :)
Friday, December 23, 2011
Our Little Feeders and Growers
I just wanted to give a quick update since I last wrote. The girls were one month old on Tuesday, December 20th. It's been about 4 1/2 weeks for them in the NICU and are doing very well. We are so blessed to have two healthy babies. Abriella is currently weighing in at 6 lbs. and Eva is 5 lbs. 4 oz. They get bigger every day!
Eva holding her pacifier
Sleepy Ella
Many people have asked, "How big do they have to be in order to come home?" We have learned that their weight is not what will get them home. They need to be able to do a number of things. First of all, they need to be able to maintain their body temperature. Check. As I mentioned in my last post, the girls are now in "cribs" and have been keeping their body temperature for a few weeks.
Second of all, they need to be breathing on their own and not having any spells. By spells I mean apnea, bradys (significant drops in heart rate), and oxygen desaturations in their blood. Ella check. Eva not so much. Ella has been breathing on her own for a few weeks now and is doing great! She hasn't had any spells. Eva on the other hand has been a little bit slower with all of this. She recently came off the nasal cannula and has been breathing completely on her own since last weekend. She still has spells though, especially when she eats. The nurse told me that each time a baby "spells", they have at least 5 more days in the NICU. They can't have any spells for 5 days before they go home. So Ms. Eva has some work to do in that category.
Finally, the thing holding them both back for the most part is eating. They both have NG tubes in their noses, which is how they used to get all of their feedings. Slowly, we started breast and bottle feeding. They are doing pretty well with it, but preemies get tired very easily and lack the coordination to suck, swallow, and breathe at the same time. In order to go home, they need to be taking 80% of their feedings by mouth (breast or bottle). Once they hit that 80% mark, they will pull the girls' NG tubes and see how they do for 3 days. For 3 days, they need to gain weight consistently. If they can do that, along with the other two things, they are set! Neither of our girls are at this point yet. They have good and bad days. We thought Ella was getting close, but then recently she hasn't been as interested. I'd say Ella is at 50-60% and Eva is somewhere between 25-50%. It's hard to say because it's so different each day, but they both have a ways to go. I've heard from the nurses and other moms that one day it will just click and they will get it. I'm hoping this day comes soon for my girls. :)
Eva bottle feeding!
So overall, they are doing really well and are healthy little peanuts! They passed their eye and hearing tests, so we are thankful for that. It is common for preemies to have immature eyes and potential hearing problems. Their eye exams were the hardest thing this momma has ever had to sit through. They clamp the girls' eyes open while they do it and they just screamed. I felt sooo bad! At least they won't have to get their eyes checked again until they are 2. :) They are just in the "feeders and growers" category now, where they just need to keep getting bigger and stronger. We hope to get them home soon, but I don't want to get a date in my head, because it's too hard to know, and I don't want to be disappointed. So until that day when we get to bring them home, we rejoice and are thankful for two beautiful, healthy babies!
Eva & Ella
Our little family
Many people have asked, "How big do they have to be in order to come home?" We have learned that their weight is not what will get them home. They need to be able to do a number of things. First of all, they need to be able to maintain their body temperature. Check. As I mentioned in my last post, the girls are now in "cribs" and have been keeping their body temperature for a few weeks.
Second of all, they need to be breathing on their own and not having any spells. By spells I mean apnea, bradys (significant drops in heart rate), and oxygen desaturations in their blood. Ella check. Eva not so much. Ella has been breathing on her own for a few weeks now and is doing great! She hasn't had any spells. Eva on the other hand has been a little bit slower with all of this. She recently came off the nasal cannula and has been breathing completely on her own since last weekend. She still has spells though, especially when she eats. The nurse told me that each time a baby "spells", they have at least 5 more days in the NICU. They can't have any spells for 5 days before they go home. So Ms. Eva has some work to do in that category.
Finally, the thing holding them both back for the most part is eating. They both have NG tubes in their noses, which is how they used to get all of their feedings. Slowly, we started breast and bottle feeding. They are doing pretty well with it, but preemies get tired very easily and lack the coordination to suck, swallow, and breathe at the same time. In order to go home, they need to be taking 80% of their feedings by mouth (breast or bottle). Once they hit that 80% mark, they will pull the girls' NG tubes and see how they do for 3 days. For 3 days, they need to gain weight consistently. If they can do that, along with the other two things, they are set! Neither of our girls are at this point yet. They have good and bad days. We thought Ella was getting close, but then recently she hasn't been as interested. I'd say Ella is at 50-60% and Eva is somewhere between 25-50%. It's hard to say because it's so different each day, but they both have a ways to go. I've heard from the nurses and other moms that one day it will just click and they will get it. I'm hoping this day comes soon for my girls. :)
So overall, they are doing really well and are healthy little peanuts! They passed their eye and hearing tests, so we are thankful for that. It is common for preemies to have immature eyes and potential hearing problems. Their eye exams were the hardest thing this momma has ever had to sit through. They clamp the girls' eyes open while they do it and they just screamed. I felt sooo bad! At least they won't have to get their eyes checked again until they are 2. :) They are just in the "feeders and growers" category now, where they just need to keep getting bigger and stronger. We hope to get them home soon, but I don't want to get a date in my head, because it's too hard to know, and I don't want to be disappointed. So until that day when we get to bring them home, we rejoice and are thankful for two beautiful, healthy babies!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Life in the NICU
It's been almost two weeks since Abriella and Eva were born. They have made great progress and continue to do very well. We are so fortunate and blessed by God to have healthy baby girls. They still have needs that we could not meet if they were at home, but most of their "issues" are things that are very common for premies. Ella has now passed the 4 pound mark weighing in at 4 lbs. 2 oz. and Eva is about 3 lbs. 9 oz. So because Ella is bigger, her lungs are slightly more mature and she can eat more. Eva still needs some help breathing and is still on a cpap which just gives her the extra puffs of oxygen that she needs to keep her lungs open and functioning. They say she will hopefully be off of that by early next week. They are both completely off of the IVs now and are receiving all breast milk through a feeding tube. We will start trying to breast and bottle feed them early next week (34 weeks). The suck/swallow/breathe reflex takes a while, but with the little practice they've had, they are doing great! I think Eva will be our big eater. Today was a big day too! They both came out of their isolettes and are now in open cribs, which means they can maintain their body temperature. Woohoo!
Eva in her new "crib"
Ms. Abriella WIDE awake!
It's funny how we can kind of see their personalities already! I think Eva will be our feisty one. Brett says that I shouldn't think that because if that's what I think, that's how she will be.. but I don't know! I see it more and more every day. She is more vocal than Ella and more aggressive with her eating/sucking! :) She was the donor baby, so maybe she's learned that she has to fight to survive. I love that they have different personalities. Even the nurses have noticed!
So after crying the whole ride home the first night we left the hospital, I'm happy to say that I have done a pretty good job holding it together since then. Yes, it's hard to leave, but I find that if I leave when they are both happy/sleeping, it's not as hard for me. It's been interesting trying to find a balance of how much time to spend there and doing other things. During the week, I typically go to the hospital around 1:00 and stay until Brett gets there after work. We end up going home around 7:00 or 7:30 each night. On the weekends, it just depends on what we have going on, but at least Brett is able to spend more time with them. It's hard because we aren't able to do much because the girls sleep most of the day. Every 3 hours, they have what are called "cares", where we take their temps and change their diapers. The nurses listen to them and then once or twice a day we can take them out and hold them while we push the breast milk into their bellies with a syringe. Holding them is perfect! :) It's my favorite part of the day. Other than that, they are sleepy girls most of the day. They can only stay awake for about 30 minutes max.
Ella & Eva - What do you think? Do they look like identical twins?
We were able to give the girls baths about a week ago. This is Brett giving Eva a bath.
Overall, our experience so far in the NICU has been wonderful. The staff has been great, and we love our team of nurses. It helps me knowing that when I leave, the girls are in GREAT hands. I'm not going to lie though.. having some freedom has also been wonderful for me. I feel like a new person again. I am feeling really good and have had a lot of "firsts" in the past few days. I drove yesterday and I took the dog on a walk for for the first time in three months. I have also been able to go to the store again which is great! We started putting together the nursery. Once it's up and running, I will post some pictures!
As always, thank you for your prayers and thoughts! We are so blessed!
It's funny how we can kind of see their personalities already! I think Eva will be our feisty one. Brett says that I shouldn't think that because if that's what I think, that's how she will be.. but I don't know! I see it more and more every day. She is more vocal than Ella and more aggressive with her eating/sucking! :) She was the donor baby, so maybe she's learned that she has to fight to survive. I love that they have different personalities. Even the nurses have noticed!
So after crying the whole ride home the first night we left the hospital, I'm happy to say that I have done a pretty good job holding it together since then. Yes, it's hard to leave, but I find that if I leave when they are both happy/sleeping, it's not as hard for me. It's been interesting trying to find a balance of how much time to spend there and doing other things. During the week, I typically go to the hospital around 1:00 and stay until Brett gets there after work. We end up going home around 7:00 or 7:30 each night. On the weekends, it just depends on what we have going on, but at least Brett is able to spend more time with them. It's hard because we aren't able to do much because the girls sleep most of the day. Every 3 hours, they have what are called "cares", where we take their temps and change their diapers. The nurses listen to them and then once or twice a day we can take them out and hold them while we push the breast milk into their bellies with a syringe. Holding them is perfect! :) It's my favorite part of the day. Other than that, they are sleepy girls most of the day. They can only stay awake for about 30 minutes max.
We were able to give the girls baths about a week ago. This is Brett giving Eva a bath.
Overall, our experience so far in the NICU has been wonderful. The staff has been great, and we love our team of nurses. It helps me knowing that when I leave, the girls are in GREAT hands. I'm not going to lie though.. having some freedom has also been wonderful for me. I feel like a new person again. I am feeling really good and have had a lot of "firsts" in the past few days. I drove yesterday and I took the dog on a walk for for the first time in three months. I have also been able to go to the store again which is great! We started putting together the nursery. Once it's up and running, I will post some pictures!
As always, thank you for your prayers and thoughts! We are so blessed!
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