More Good News

Got a late text from Sarah which I didn't open until this morning. She said the hospital had called to inform her that the girls had been moved from level D of the NIC-U to level G. A-C are intensive care, with A being the most critical.

All infants are admitted at level A and then evaluated for most appropriate placement. And the twins were moved from A to D on their first day in the NIC-U, levels D-G being "progressive care."

Their move to G, last night, means they are at the least critical level in progressive care and, of course, the new mom, and everyone else, is now saying, "When will they be coming home?"

Which is a great thing to be saying and thinking after the anxious months before, and the hours just after, their arrival...

LPK
LiveJournal
1.26.2012 (a) 

The Twins New Regimen and Saying No

Talking to a new mother who has twin daughters in the NIC-U provides some interesting insights. Prior to their first feedings by mouth, the girls were maintained through their IVs.

Their first feeding, called a "gut test" in hospital slang, consisted of a carefully-measured portion of breast milk which was then allowed to pass through the baby's digestive tract while carefully monitoring for indications of the baby's ability to actually process it, i.e., gain nutrients from it, etc..

Both kids successfully passed this stage and the process continued with incremental additions of milk and corresponding reductions in IV solution. In Amelia's case, she started with 5 cc. milk and added 2 cc. at each increase. Layla started with 3 cc. and added 1 cc. at each increase. Amelia is now up to 8 cc. per feeding and Layla is up to 5 cc. as of yesterday. And I'm sure that this demonstration of nutritional viability has contributed as well to the recent upgrading of the girls' overall status.

Tonight, after the twins' last direct-from-mom feeding, and providing that our daughter isn't too tired, we're taking the new parents out to dinner. When Little J heard this, he wanted to know if he could stay over and go with us.

I explained to him that this was something special that Grandma wanted to do for his aunt and uncle and that sometimes we make things special by including only that person.

Then I said that since this was Grandma's idea I would ask her how she would feel about having him come along. He looked at me confidently and said, "That's OK, Poppa, because Grandma never says no to me!"

"Yeah, you're probably right," I told him. Which, I guess, is OK too because it means we both understand that Poppa does sometimes say no. And "makes it stick."

LPK
LiveJournal
1.26.2012 (b)