Today's post is going to be short and sweet because it's after midnight and I'm exhausted, but I didn't want to go another day without letting everyone know what's going on. Especially since we have some good news - the girls have been moved to the "step-down" unit!! This is just another room in the NICU where babies go just before discharge. Babies in the step-down unit are expected to be discharged in 1-2 weeks. This is the final stage! The final move for the girls before they move right on out of there!
When we walked into the NICU tonight we couldn't believe that the girls had been moved. I mean, just this morning Melia completely spaced out on her 11am feeding and it took me (and 2 nurses) over an hour to get her to take her entire bottle - she had multiple bradys during her feeding and was like a completely different baby than she's been recently - it was like she totally forgot how to eat. Madison took her full bottle, but not with as much enthusiasm as usual. Mike and I left there this morning talking about what a bad visit it had been. So to come back in the evening and have them moved into the step-down unit, it was a real shock to us both. A shocking, yet pleasant, surprise.
Madison is still having trouble gaining weight, so they put her on a 24 calorie formula twice per day. Breast milk has 20 calories. The fortifier that Melia is on adds another 4 calories to her breast milk for all of her feedings - which helps her gain weight. The fortifier has been tough on Maddie's stomach the past couple times that they've introduced it, so they are trying to get her to gain without giving her the fortifier. This formula will give her 24 calories for those 2 feedings per day and they're hoping that this is easier on her stomach and will do the weight gaining trick. Yes, apparently an extra 8 calories per day can help her gain weight. Crazy isn't it?
Once again, things changing (without warning) by the hour over here. Let's see what tomorrow will bring....
- Mike and Amanda
- I am a 29 year old mother of identical twin girls, Madison and Melia. They were born at 29 weeks, 1 day gestation and spent 8 weeks in the NICU at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, NJ. They hit 40 weeks gestation on August 20, 2009 and are now considered full term. Even though they are actually 11 weeks old, they are just now considered to be newborns. I started this blog as a way to keep friends and family informed on what was going on with the girls while they were in the NICU. It has turned into a keepsake and a therapuetic outlet. I hope that everyone continues to follow along and enjoys sharing this first hand experience of first-time parents of premature twin girls.
Words that I came to live by while on strict bedrest for 6 weeks during my pregnancy, 4 of which were spent in the hospital ~ Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination. Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results.
