Progress is Perfection

As we mentioned yesterday, between the snow, our lack of a bathroom, and lingering colds, we realized these added stresses simply had to resolve themselves in the near future.  Not that things always have to get better, we just like to believe that they will.  Today, these things got better even faster than we had expected.

Of course, most of you probably want to hear about the kids first.  This is their blog after all.  Though we do like to respect ladies first, let's start with Lucas.

Lucas had a pretty awesome day.  He officially graduated from his picc line.  According to about.com (in case you think I actually knew all of this), a picc line (percutaneously inserted central catheter) is a long, thin, plastic tube that travels from a vein in an arm or leg into one of the large veins near the heart.  It is used to deliver fluids or medications.  The picc line is similar to a peripheral iv, but it is longer and lasts longer in the baby's fragile veins, with the picc line lasting 1 to 2 weeks compared to 1 to 3 days for an iv.  Both Lucas and Olivia were given picc lines as soon as the iv was removed from their belly buttons.

Picc lines are kind of a pain to insert.  The baby is given pain medication, the line is inserted, an x-ray is taken to confirm the location of the line (it has to be far enough in but not too close to the heart), the line is adjusted, the x-ray retaken, etc. until the line is properly placed.

So, you see, they don't remove a picc line unless they are pretty confident they don't need it anymore.  Lucas has officially graudated to full feeds.  He is now eating only breast milk (fortified with extra calories to help him grow) through a feeding tube that goes through his mouth directly to his stomach.  And they are confident they don't need to give him more medications.  At the end of rounds this morning, the attending doctor, smiling, surveyed the residents and nurses, "Anyone need the picc line for anything?  Last call.  Going once, twice?"

Removing the line is a big deal.  We are very proud . . . sigh . . . how fast they grow up.

And then there's our daughter.  Olivia's feeding tube actually goes through her nose to her stomach, instead of her mouth, because she ripped it out yesterday after she threw up and ripped out her breathing tube.  I jest.  She's just so darn cute and makes us smile so much, she can't mind a smile on her behalf.

Olivia is still working on her heart.  They took the echo today, and the preliminary report was that her pda valve is still open, though it might have closed a little.  Provided the final report from the cardiologist does not say it is too far open, they are going to give her a chance to prove hereself starting tomorrow.  The valve is still open, but if she can prove that she can handle more breathing and eating responsibilities (i.e. graduation to cpap and larger-than-trophic feeds), they will let her progress with the valve open.  Sometimes, the valve being open prohibits the baby from breathing and eating.  Sometimes it doesn't.  If Olivia proves herself, she will be allowed more time to close the valve on her own.  If she has trouble, they will close it surgically.  We're proud of her either way and look forward to supporting her whatever path she chooses.

So everyone had a pretty good day.  Most important, Lucas and Olivia looked comfortable.  When we arrived in the morning, they were both sprawled out, sleeping happily.

It was when we left the hospital that things got fun.  After going to a grocery store for the first time in nearly a month, we decdied to try our hand at parking the car in our neighborhood for the first time since Marni first went on bed rest.  We found a parking spot only a block away from home--a huge accomplishment considering there is still several feed of snow piled up on the streets--and our little car will enjoy its first night in our neighborhood in over three weeks.  A big step toward normalcy for mom and dad.

Things got particularly exciting when we turned the corner walking to our house.  Two bobcats were working away on our block clearing the snow.  You can actually drive down our block now, and while there are less parking spots than normal (they had to put the snow somewhere), it's another large step for everyone.

Oh, but things get better.  Our contractor, who had already proved himself by somehow working through both blizzards of the past week, spent all day and into the night in our house working to finish the bathroom.  We may actually have a working shower by tomorrow, but, super exciting, we now have a working toilet upstairs, which means no climbing downstairs for mom after her mid-night pumpings.

All in all, there was much progress to be excited about today.  Of course, there is progress every day, but today it seemed a bit more tangible.  Like the sun coming out after a a couple feet of snow.  To celebrate, we lit our shabbat candles over yet another dinner provided by a friend.  We look forward to more progress tomorrow, and are especially grateful for the gift of today.  Shel shabbat!