March 21, 2009

Charlie Takes His First Bottle

Charles wide-eyed and hungry!

Proud Daddy with Charlie - all tuckered out after his feeding.

Charlie after his diaper change.

Mommy washing his face and changing his diaper.

Ambrose resting without headgear.

The last four days or so have been huge for the boys. Last week, Ambrose had his vent removed and was placed on a CPAP. It soon became obvious that the CPAP nasal prongs bothered him and that he was uncomfortable. The doctor then decided to try Ambrose on a high-flow nasal cannula without any assistance from a vent or a CPAP. He would be breathing on his own. Once the change was made, Ambrose was placed on his stomach, which is less work for his little lungs, since gravity helps, and he remained at stable levels throughout the night and continues to do well on his own today. He is receiving 4 liters of oxygen per minute and his Fio2 is between 25%-38%. He is now up to 26ml of milk every three hours and currently he weighs 3lbs 2oz. There seems to be some interest on his part to start to bottle* feed, so he may do so fairly soon.

Charles is also on a high-flow nasal cannula and receiving 1 liter per minute, usually at 21% (room air). He still has his apneic episodes, but not as frequent as before. Yesterday we were told that Charles was ready to try and nipple feed. The nurse prepared a bottle of 32ml and gave it to Gina. Charles was so alert and happy when he was taken from his isolette. When the bottle was given to him he began to suck and drink milk and look around at all the onlookers. He drank about 16ml and fell asleep. It was cute to see his little throat moving up and down as he took sips from the bottle. It was enough milk to call the event a success!

Everyone is amazed at how far the boys have come, especially since they are 41 days old today and their due date isn't until May 1st! It helps to have such wonderful nurses attending to them. They become so familiar with the boys that they are able to suggest to the doctors that one or another therapy may or may not work. With Ambrose, one of his nurses felt confident that he would be able to breathe and be more content off the CPAP and on a nasal cannula (and the doctor agreed!).

Two friends of ours from Spain flew in to see the boys this past week. They were so excited to be in the NICU and see all the changes that have taken place over the last four days or so. It was a wonderful experience for all of us.

Thanks again for all the prayers and please keep praying. They still have many steps to take before they are ready to come home....so do we!

Gina and Ryan
*The boys can be taught to breastfeed later, but for now the bottle is necessary because they require preemie-size nipples and also for measuring the amount of breastmilk they are taking.

1 comment:

  1. That is wondeful news, thinking of you from London
    besos
    Arantxa

    ReplyDelete