Happy Memorial Day and Happy 4 Weeks!

David and Margot are 4 weeks old today!  I can't believe it.  I was discussing this with my dad today, and we decided that they are 4 weeks old today, but won't be a month old until Wednesday, May 27th (since they were born on April 27th).  Is that right?  It is almost as confusing as the whole counting pregnancy in weeks vs. months.  When I was 20 weeks pregnant, my mom would ask me if that meant I was 5 months pregnant.  Well, close, but not quite.  I was really more like 4 and 2/3 months pregnant.....

Anyway, there were lots and LOTS of fun updates from the nurse today.  When I got to the twins' room, David was wide awake, and she had just finished changing his diaper.  I held him for a while while she told me that the doctor had just seen both of the babies and had made some changes.  

David:

1. Is now exclusively on fortified breast milk (he had been alternating between formula and breast milk).  Both babies are having my milk (20 calories/oz) fortified to 24 calories/oz.
   
2. Is now getting his feedings over a 2 hour time period vs. continuous.  They each get fed at 3-hour intervals, so this is basically moving his feeds from being spread out over 3 hours to being over 2 hours.  He gets 38 ounces per feeding, so he is now getting 19 ounces/hour vs. the 12.7 ounces/hour he was getting.  This is a huge step because it is increasing the amount in his stomach at any one time.  And it is also moving him closer to a "normal" eating experience.
   
3. IS OFF CPAP!!!  This is probably David's favorite update.  He is now only on nasal cannula - all the time - with 2 liters of flow.  Hooray!  No more squished nose and swollen eyes for David.
   

Margot:

1. Is also getting her feedings over 2 hours vs. continuous.
   
2. IS BACK ON AN NG TUBE!!!  Yes, they removed her NJ and put an NG tube in (now food goes into her stomach again vs. directly into her intestines).

Also, the nurse told me they have some big exams coming up on Wednesday.  They will have follow-up head sonograms to make sure there is no bleeding on their brains.  They had one of these the first week after they were born, and nothing was found, but they are checking again to make sure there have not been any changes.  And they will get their eyes examined on Wed. as well.  This is to see whether they have ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity).  This is something some preemies can get, which is when their eyes are not developing correctly.  It can lead to vision problems, but sometimes will work itself out or can be corrected with laser surgery.  Keep your fingers crossed that both exams go well and find nothing.

So, this has been a very important day.  I sat with the babies through two feedings, and they both tolerated them pretty well.  David got squirmy and squeaky towards the end of each feeding, but he never spit up.  And neither did Margot!  This is great because it has been a few days before her stomach has had anything in it.  Both babies had lots and lots of alarms, but none of them required any stimulation - they both came out of any desats or bradycardias on their own.  Yay!