February 12, 2009

Mommy's Home!

Indeed, she is...but first to the boys.

Charles has begun to receive small amounts of milk every 3 hours. He is still receiving 2 liters of Oxygen, but no support to help him breathe. He's doing it all on his own. Gina has helped change his diaper and feed him through a bolus syringe. He's starting off with 1cc of milk and they'll see if he's able to tolerate it. If so, then he'll go up to 2cc every 3 hours and, probably, increase the amount depending on how he handles it.

Ambrose has been weaned from his blood pressure meds. He is still receiving Lipids, TPN, and two antibiotics. He also can receive morphine if he appears to be in pain. His O2 has been lowered to around 35% and the Nitric is down to 3.5 or so. The doctor today lowered Ambrose's pressure on the oscillator, but his O2 Sats started to drop into the 70s. The pressure was then returned to its previous number and the doctor said they will try again the next day. Overall, he is pretty much the same. He's still a sick little boy that needs lots of prayers. They may remove the chest tube Friday and they have a few x-rays still to do. I think they mentioned chest, head, and stomach. There is still a long road in front of him and we have to be really patient. It's hard to go from Charles to Ambrose, because we've seen so much growth already from Charles and we're still waiting for some glimmers from Ambrose. It's all a matter of time.

Gina was discharged today around 5pm. It was quite a shock for her to be back in the real world. She said all the colors were so vibrant and everything seemed so hectic to her. Her transition to home life will be slow, because she needs lots of rest still to recover from the cesarean. She's also dealing with her hormones diving, her milk coming in, constantly pumping and bottling, two eager kids at home that want to hold her and have her attention, leaving a hospital that she's stayed at for the last four weeks, and, most obviously, knowing that her two sweet babies are still in the NICU and she can't walk down the hall and see them whenever she wants.

She really appreciates all the emails, letters, calls, and visits she's received over the last four weeks. I want to encourage you to continue to support and pray for her. She's an incredible wife, mother, and friend. I'm so proud of her and all that she's done in taking care of the twins throughout this difficult pregnancy. I know how fortunate I am to have her in my life and I'm sure many of you are, too. So please keep praying for our little family and we'll keep all of you in our prayers as well. If you want to see the babies, let us know and we can tell you when we'll be at the hospital. It requires a parent to take a visitor into the NICU.

God bless you.
Ryan

2 comments:

  1. Gina and Ryan,
    Thank you both for taking the time to post on the blog. It really helps those of us so far away(and feeling so helpless) to get to read about Gina, Charlie, Ambrose, and of course, the "big" boys at home. We continue to keep you all in our prayers.
    Gina, try to rest. You've gone through so much already. I know you'll continue to need physical strength as well as spiritual and emotional strength.
    We love you,
    Nancie and family
    and

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gina, Ryan and Boys....glad all of you are doing well. I pray that the next couple of weeks will be calm and the babies will grow and continue to develop. Rest Gina when you can, you will need a lot of strength to keep up with all those boys. We have got to get you some more female help in there. Love ya. Karen, Jerry (in Iraq) Caty, Bryce and Scott

    ReplyDelete