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!
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