Week Two

Today is Grandma's Birthday! Happy Birthday Grandma!

Well, another week has passed and Dr. Potter, the girl's Neonatologist, said everyone is doing great. Sydney was diagnosed with PDA, Patent Ductus Arteriosus. It is when the ductus, does not close, or remains partially open. This is due to either an absence of the normal oxygen sensors in the ductus muscle, or a weakness of the muscle which does not allow complete closure. It is relatively common in preemie babies and with a few doses of indomethacin, a medicine given via shot, the valve should close. We think the medication worked since they have not heard a murmur for a day or two and we pray that it is gone forever. After they did an EKG things look good! The girls have also been having weekly head ultrasounds. One major concern with preemie babies is hemorrhaging in the brain because the capillaries are so fragile, we were so relieved to find out that there were no signs of bleeds in any of the girls. Thank goodness!

The girls have been getting breast milk pretty much from the get go, and for the most part are tolerating it well. The nurses feed them through a tube they put down their throat, they really won't have the gag reflex for a few more weeks, so it doesn't seem to bother them much. After each feed if they tolerate or have little residual (undigested milk from the previous feed) they increase the amount of milk for the next round. It is pretty cool how quickly things are progressing.