Fifty days old! But today also marks 34 gestational weeks. Today is the day we were hoping our babies would be born. Instead they have been learning to navigate life in the real world and they just amaze us!
Most exciting news is that Gracie and Thomas are no longer in intensive care! They were moved to Continuing Care Nursing (CCM) on Sunday. Gracie has been completely off of all oxygen support and breathing on her own for 72 hours so far . Thomas is on 1 liter oxygen from the wall, free from the vent and doing well. He and Gracie have been periodically nursing with a bottle and working on developing their "suck, swallow and breath" skills and today they both got to try nursing from the breast. In addition, both have been able to regulate their own temperatures, wear clothes, and be swaddled. This has not come easy. In order to graduate to CCM a baby needs to be completely weened from the ventilator and be out of critical condition in terms of sickness. William and Cienna are well on their way, too. Tonight William is going to wall oxygen and Cienna is a couple days behind him.
There have been some challenges. Last week Thomas and Cienna both got nonMRSA staph infections. Thankfully the infections were caught early and treated with Oxacillin. However, Cienna's infection initially got into her bloodstream so she will be on antibiotics a little longer than Thomas. Both babies are now perky and responding well to treatment.
Despite Cienna's setbacks (she is the littlest and had intrauterine growth restriction), she has just reached 3 lbs! Yesterday she had her eyes wide open and avidly sucked her pacifier for 25 minutes. No doubt she will be ready to nurse when she is fully off of the ventilator.
Despite Cienna's setbacks (she is the littlest and had intrauterine growth restriction), she has just reached 3 lbs! Yesterday she had her eyes wide open and avidly sucked her pacifier for 25 minutes. No doubt she will be ready to nurse when she is fully off of the ventilator.
They are also plumping up, current weights are...
William 4 lbs 3 oz
Cienna 3 lbs 1 oz
Gracie 4 lbs 5 oz
Thomas 4 lbs 14 oz
So happy for the progress report and they are all just precious!!! Thanks for sharing the pictures! Our love and prayers, Mary and Ted
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Loved the outfits too, so thoughtful!
DeleteThank you so much! Loved the outfits too, so thoughtful!
DeleteWonderful news! So very delighted to see them (and the two of you).
ReplyDeleteYeah, God is good!
ReplyDeleteThey look amazing and are sure changing in looks!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful, Sally!!! So proud of all of you! Wish I could hold them. They are so precious! God bless you! Love, srp
ReplyDeleteHi Celina! I have often thought about you and I can’t find seem to find the right words to express how happy I am to see that you have four beautiful babies! What a dream come true for the both of you. And, you look like so radiant - how blessed they are to have you for a mom. Stay well mom and hopefully our paths will cross again one day. Michelle (from Walla Walla University).
ReplyDeleteMichelle! Thank you so much for the good wishes! Great to hear from you :)
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