The Tortoise and the Hare

Or, the Importance of Being Patient...

Today the children are beautiful.  They've been beautiful everyday, but just in case anyone is wondering, they were even more beautiful today.  After his day of rest, Lucas got the thumbs up to return to nursing.  He did a wonderful job, and Mom loved the bonding time.  He's terribly cute as he looks up at me, at the beginning just searching around and then once he gets into it with his wide-eyed concentration face.  We'll try to take a picture that does it justice.  Olivia is also making faces at her parents.  Some kind caregiver over the past few days readjusted her cpap, including moving her hat higher up on her head so that her eyes are no longer smushed into her cheeks.  As appreciation, she has been wide-eyed the past two mornings, spending some time checking out her Mom and Dad before she falls asleep in our arms.

Other than getting the ok to end his by-mouth feeding hiatus, Lucas also returned to his pre-transfusion flow level on his nasal canula.  If all continues to go well, he may be off the breathing support soon.  Olivia got very close to getting her cpap off.  The resident recommended it, because she's had a number of very stable breathing days in a row, and the attending considered the proposal, but after examining Olivia determined that she would be better served by another day or two of support as her chest muscles grow stronger.  Though we are very eager for her to get off cpap, especially Mom, who can't wait to be nursing both babies, it's a little easier to wait for the go ahead now that she looks more comfortable.  The attending has been very clear that she wants Olivia to be able to fly once she comes off cpap, and she's just not quite big enough for that yet.  It's not entirely a weight thing, because as the fellow pointed out to me today, some extra fat will not help her out much--other than making her more irresistibly cute--but the extra time helps her muscles to grow stronger.

Mom had a small meltdown as she was getting ready to leave the NICU, tearing up as she expressed frustration to the fellow about what seems like Olivia's slow weight gain this week.  The fellow very kindly sat down with Mom in the family meeting room and was extremely encouraging about the positive trajectory of both children.  She assured Mom that if they want to accelerate Olivia's growth, there are nutritional ways to achieve that, but said that if the medical staff was concerned in any way--about growth or any other issue--we would know that.  When they say the children are doing great, they really mean it.  She described her experience of the babies--which has been primarily since the start of March--as Lucas making rapid strides and then setbacks, while Olivia plods along more slowly but steadily.  Upon reflection, we could agree that this is a pretty apt description of our children, as well as their parents.  So far, Olivia has gotten herself to exactly where she needs to be, even if it's in her own sweet time.

So even when the dayto-day doesn't seem to bring much progress, we need a little perspective to realize the gains since their birth, or even in the past week.  Patience has never been Mom's strong suit, but she's learning it, as otherwise you'd go crazy in this situation.  It also helps to try and remember to live in the moment, which hopefully will help us to experience all the wonderful stages of having new babies.