Mommy got to feed the boys!

Today was my first shot at feeding my boys - what a special day! Here are some pictures of our first "bottling" together.

Mommy & JD



Mommy & Cole



Lots of great strides today. Wednesday is "re-write" day in NICU which means that the nurses re-write orders for the upcoming week with regard to feedings, meds etc. They try to stick with a plan for a week or so and tweak it throughout the week as needed. It just gives them a baseline plan for each baby for a given week.

The following changes were made today - all of which are getting them closer to coming home!!! They both had their 2nd eye exam today which showed great results. Their eyes look good and there are no issues to be concerned about at this time.

JD - They changed his lasix (for fluid retention) to Dyerell which is a different diuretic which should work better and be less strenuous on the kidneys. He has moved to compressed feeds (no more continuous feeds) and will be fed every 3 hours, over a period of 2 hours at a time. In other words, the tube is still in and every 3 hours, they feed him either via tube or bottle. The bottles alternate with every other feed and when he gets the bottle, he's allowed to eat as much as he wants, as long as he eats a minimum (I forget what that number is but the max is 38 cc's). We're hoping he'll just chow down on his bottles! JD also had his oxygen monitor (pulse ox) removed since he was not having any episodes. We're hopeful that this will last and he will continue to not need it. The best part of that is that the monitor doesn't ding any more - big smiles for that!

Cole - they pulled his NJ tube today which was the tube in his upper intestine. Now he just has his stomach tube and all of his feeds are back to going into his belly. This is HUGE for him! So far, both boys reflux has not gotten any worse so with the prevacid that they are on, it appears to be controlled for now. They both are holding down their feedings and don't seem uncomfortable at all. Cole is still on continuous feeds, changed every 3 hours. Every 6 hours he will get a bottle of 9cc's. They increased his feedings today from 8cc's per hour to 9cc's per hour.

Both boys had their regular meds increased since they have gained weight. Cole is now 3lb, 5 oz and JD is 4lb, 6 oz.

That's about it for updates. Here's a cute photo of JD from Grammy's "photo shoot" this afternoon!