Update

After taking the normal weight loss dips, the babies are above their birth weights. Bryson is 3-13 and Addison is 3-9. Both are off the two fluid IV's so no splint on their arm and they are starting to look normal as we lose more tubes. They ran out of options in resetting the IV in Bryson and started setting one on the top front of his head, had trouble, called the doc and he said try him without fluid IV's. So far so good. Thanks to Billy Gamblin for preparing me for that one however all I saw was a little cotton taped to his head where they tried it. Kim definitely was taken aback from the thought of an IV in the head of one of her babies. Addison lost her IV splint a day later on Tuesday, Sep 18. However both got put back on a small input of oxygen. So something comes off and something goes back on. The doctor wants their oxygen saturation to increase and now that is has increased on both, they'll start weaning them off the oxygen again. Basically they set the goals higher on the sat rate and therefore needed more O2 to meet that goal.

Touching times are every three hours for our babies. Each time we visit we change the diaper and take their temperature. I tell you this because I've had some embarrassing moments. Two times I've wrapped the diaper not only around the mid section but I left the wires running up into and out the diaper. One time I left a leg out. It is not fun doing this with three wires and a feeding tube inside an incubator with each arm through a port hole! I didn't feel too stupid when a nurse told me a mother had put on a diaper with the baby's arm inside.

Tonight, Kim came down with a fever so I flew solo on the last visit of the day. Bryson stands a good chance of leaving the incubator on Friday or Saturday if he maintains his body temp at 98+ with pajamas and swaddle wrap with the temp turned down in the incubator.

There are three main criteria for leaving the hospital; 1-4lbs, 2-sustain body temp with only assistance of clothing and swaddle and 3-suck from a bottle every 3 hours for a few days. Bryson is close to two out of three. He actually took his first bottle Monday like a champ but on Tuesday they called off the bottle feeding due to his respiratory rate (breaths/minute) had increased. I never sought an explanation but I do know that sucking, breathing and swallowing is a workout for those babies. Addison is a few days behind Bryson in progression but she actually has gained the most weight since birth.