It's a Preemie Thing...

I pledge allegiance

The nurses and I were talking about how "it's a preemie thing.. What I mean is, there is so much that happens in the NICU to preemies that you have to kinda experience it to get it.... with that here is my update.

Beckett and Archer are now 2 weeks old! They are still in the NICU and doing very well. They have both been able to maintain their body temps, and have been moved into an open crib. In order to be discharged from the NICU, the only thing left they need to do is to be able to thrive learning to eat. They must show that they can complete 100% of their feedings and gain weight for 48 hours. I will use a running metaphor to explain this better.... Learning to eat, when you are so little is like learning to run a marathon. If you are "out of shape" (just too little), you don't have the stamina or strength to complete any "miles" (or a whole bottle). This is very tiresome and means that some times you need to rest. Resting for a feeding is where they 'Gavange' their feeding through their feeding tube in their nose. This also allows them to get the rest of the bottles when they don't finish them. As of today, Archer and Beckett have only completed one whole feeding each. There is some debate amongst the nurses as to which was is better to "train" for the marathon. Meaning, is it better to keep practicing each time so that they train a little bit each feeding. Or, do you let them rest for one feeding (just getting it through the tube) hoping that the next one they will be able to complete a bigger one.

Archer

Vince and I are so anxious for the boys to come home. We both know that being in the NICU is the best place for them until they are really ready to come home. It is very frustrating that they do so well with all of their bottles all day, and are gaining weight, but because it's not 100% of the bottles, we have to wait. I am hoping that it will be soon that they are able to come home...but this is also scary for me.

Beckett

As much as the boys have grown (Beckett is 5lbs 13oz and Archer is 4lbs 6oz), they are still so tiny and precious. It terrifies me to think that if they were to get sick, this would be a huge thing for their tiny little bodies to fight off and only elongate their stay in the NICU (or put them back in the NICU when they come home). This is why we haven't had anyone come visit them yet. We are excited to have everyone come and meet them, but in time. I need to get them home first, and get them big and then I will feel more comfortable having people come to meet them. My sister, "Aunt Neenee" is going to set up a CareCalendar for us, mostly because I really suck at asking for help. You will be able to go onto a website and sign up to bring food (if you wish) and a time to visit. As lame as that may be, I have been feeling overwhelmed with people who want to meet them (which is awesome and we are excited for it) but for my sanity, when we do bring the boys home I don't really want to be spending time figuring out schedules and always being on the phone. So I figured we would put a calendar into place where you can go on and find a time that works best for you and then I don't have to worry about it :)

"Help! He's trying to eat me"