All is well in the cabbage patch. Lucas, Olivia, and parents are settling in to their new digs, growing, nursing, and enjoying another day. Lucas is now up to 4 pounds 2 ounces, while Olivia weighed in at a hefty 3 pounds 11 ounces. Olivia has caught back up to her birth weight difference on her brother of seven ounces. He tells us he is happy and that he hopes she continues to gain on him. More importantly, both kids are growing steady again--each making gains the last few days--which is the whole point of the cabbage patch after all.
The doctors are also starting to wean the kids off medications, just another sign that we are preparing for landing. As the attending said today, we are in the home stretch. Both kids are down to .5 mg per kg per day of aldactazide, which is a diarrhetic they've been on the last couple weeks to reduce fluid build up in their lungs. The plan is to have them off it completely tomorrow. Olivia's red blood cell count is also doing well, which means her need for her performance enhancing drugs (epogen) should be stopped soon as well.
Both kids also got passing grades from the speech and physical therapists today. Turns out Lucas sucked down two full bottles last night! And he did well with both his nursing sessions with mom today, both of which mom did not pump for in advance. Olivia also did well with her one nursing session and was okayed for only half pumping in advance of her next feed tomorrow. One of the three big milestones the kids have to meet in order to come home is to be able to take all of their feeds by mouth--apparently mom and dad will not be asked to set up feeding tubes at home--so their progression with p.o. feeds is most welcome. (The other two are to be able to hold their own temperature and steadily gain weight.)
For those scoring at home, we are getting close. Not any day yet, but close, maybe another week or two. For now, as ever, we continue to focus on today and its gifts, though tomorrow seems to be coming faster by the second . . .
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This progress is so exciting. We are really so pulling for these guys. We have another niece who was a preemie like yours. She is now two years old and a little terror. Her birthday was this past Sat. I can just see Lucas and Olivia in two years doing the same.
ReplyDeleteLOL, as always
Uncle Sal