It's been four days since we last put the word out on Conner & Teagan's progress, but it feels like weeks because so much has happened. Since then, they've progressed to over a week old (ten days now), they've had a visit from two of their aunts (Kelsey & Jen.... and Davey w/ a beard), both have started nursing/bottle feeding fairly regularly, Teagan has had her IV taken out and best of all she's gained enough weight to be dressed. Once premature babies hit the magic weight of 1500 grams (approx 3lbs 5oz) they can be dressed, swaddled and put on air temperature. Now that they're both on air temperature, if they start to regulate their temps at similar air temps then they can be put in the same bed. That may sound a little confusing, but if the air temps in their incubators get weened down to around 80 degrees, it means they'll probably be put in crib to see if they can regulate their temps at room temperature. The moral of the story is, they're one step closer to being together again and we're one step closer to watching, touching and talking to them without a plastic enclosure in the way.
As of today, Conner is just over 4 lbs. He's still being weened off of the air temperature in his isolette but he seems to be starting a steady climb and he has a noticeable boost in energy at each of his feedings. He does have some infrequent pauses in his breathing, but he always works himself out of them and the doctors assure us that his behavior is normal for a baby of his gestational age. To help, he's given a small amount of caffeine with his feedings to keep him a little agitated so he doesn't forget to breath.
Teagan is approximately 3lbs 5ozs. She is on full feedings (no IV) and she hasn't had any pauses in her breathing so they've taken her off of the caffeine. It also appears that she's started off regulating her temperature a little faster now that she's dressed. We've been told from our first day in the NICU that premature girls tend to come along faster than boys and we're really starting to see it now. Her progress and energy level for her size is amazing to not only us, but to their nurses and guests as well.
Another big event occurred on Saturday when Julie was asked if she wanted to participate in some skin-to-skin time with Connor during one of his tube feedings. Research has shown that this activity helps in the development of pre-mature babies (see the link below if you really want to see the research). Essentially, it's the simple act of putting the undressed baby on the chest of his/her mother for an extended period of time. To my surprise, the nurse then asked if I wanted to participate in the same activity with Teagan. After contemplating whether a mouthful of chest hair would have any lasting negative effects on the poor child I agreed to give it a try. Even more surprising, was how still and calm these restless babies became for 45 minutes or so while in the warm embrace of their parents. It was also the first time that we had both of them out of their incubators and in our arms at one time and it seemed all four of us were less restless than we had been in the last week. Even Teagan, with a V of hair the texture of a Brillo pad to rest her little head on.
A big thank you goes out to our little sisters and Davey for cleaning the house for us while we were out. Also, to our co-workers that have been keeping us well fed with home cooked meals after long days at the hospital. Thanks to everyone for the support and prayers that we've received over the last 10 days. We can't imagine where we'd be without them.
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