Tonight I got to hold Kiernan. Mathew had gotten some glue on his hands at work that refused to come off, so he just talked to him and took some photos. Kiernan loved being held and spent most of the time sucking his thumb and looking around.
The nurses told us that Kiernan was up to almost 2.5lbs, and that Graydan had started gaining weight as well and was now 2.49. Both boys lost a bit of weight and are now making headway towards gaining! They both spent some time under the UV lights again today, as their bilirubin counts were higher again this morning.
Both boys are stable and making good progress. Tomorrow I will be able to talk to them about the Kangaroo Care program and find out more information on what that is. I will post a description of what that program is once I find out myself.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
A Great day!
The last couple of days have been very exciting for the little guys. On Sunday night, Graydan was giving his PIC line. A PIC line is a permanent IV that will allow them to both inject nutrition (the TPN) as well as medicine, and also to take blood when needed. It took them almost 2 hours to complete the procedure as it requires x-rays to be taken periodically. The PIC line went in easily and Graydan was very happy to have his hands free. As of today, Kiernan has had his PIC line put in as well.
Yesterday, we were able to hold Graydan for the first time. It was great. He opened his eyes for a bit and smiled at us both. While Mathew was holding him he got hiccups, which scared Mathew a little as he's so small.
Kiernan has gained .4 oz, and is about to have his sugars mixture readjusted to help him continue to gain weight. He continues to have no problems with digestion, though he still has an apnea. The apnea is less prevalent now, only happening 1-2 times in 12 hours. This shows the caffeine regiment is working well for him. They suspect he'll be able to come off of it in a few days.
Graydan is done with his indomethasin course and the murmur is all but gone. It will continue to decrease in size as he grows but it's no longer a danger to him. His sugars and digestion has evened out so he is going to start catching up to Kiernan on the nutrients. He hasn't gained anything as of our visit yesterday, but his lungs and heart are good to go and he should in the next day or so.
Both boys are doing great and becoming more active as they get taken off more and more machines. Soon we will be able to hold them a little each day and eventually start a program called Kangaroo Care. Thank you all for your well wishes and happy thoughts. It means a lot to us all that they are so loved even before meeting people.
Yesterday, we were able to hold Graydan for the first time. It was great. He opened his eyes for a bit and smiled at us both. While Mathew was holding him he got hiccups, which scared Mathew a little as he's so small.
Kiernan has gained .4 oz, and is about to have his sugars mixture readjusted to help him continue to gain weight. He continues to have no problems with digestion, though he still has an apnea. The apnea is less prevalent now, only happening 1-2 times in 12 hours. This shows the caffeine regiment is working well for him. They suspect he'll be able to come off of it in a few days.
Graydan is done with his indomethasin course and the murmur is all but gone. It will continue to decrease in size as he grows but it's no longer a danger to him. His sugars and digestion has evened out so he is going to start catching up to Kiernan on the nutrients. He hasn't gained anything as of our visit yesterday, but his lungs and heart are good to go and he should in the next day or so.
Both boys are doing great and becoming more active as they get taken off more and more machines. Soon we will be able to hold them a little each day and eventually start a program called Kangaroo Care. Thank you all for your well wishes and happy thoughts. It means a lot to us all that they are so loved even before meeting people.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Kiernan & Graydan are born!
Thursday morning, at 5:11 and 5:13, Kiernan Duke Kelly and Graydan Ramsey Kelly were born. I (Julia) had a rough pregnancy, but the babies were looking good and healthy at all stages.
Though they arrived at 29 weeks, there was no reason found as to why they came so early. I had not gained enough weight but that wasn't slowing down their progress any and they weren't in any sort of distress according to the monitors. But despite this- they arrived 11 weeks early. The road ahead would be long...
They were immediately taken and put on a bunch of machines to help them breath and monitor their progress. The breathing tubes were put in and provide a puff of air every time they breath to make sure their lungs fill with it each time. The air mixture is a high concentration of oxygen, rather than the 21% oxygen mixture we breathe- which the staff call "room air".
Day one we were told that they had the probability of needing to have umbilical cord IV's or permanent IV's rather than the regular iv, blue UV lighting for jaundice, ventilators, and possible treatment for heart murmurs.
Day 2- both babies are doing well though their oxygen levels are all over the place and will need watching. Graydan was having a problem with his sugar digestion and they began looking into what caused it. The answer was a difficult and erratic breathing pattern, so a ventilator was needed.
Kiernan did not like his IVs and tried to take them out a few times. He also has an erratic breathing pattern, but it manifests as apnea which is corrected by caffeine treatments.
Day 3- Graydan gets put on a ventilator for a while, as they try to get his sugars under control. He reacts well to the ventilator and is able to adjust down to "Room air". It's discovered that one of his lungs is under developed and does not have a substance called surfactant. Surfactant is a fluid that coats the lungs and keeps them open. He is given a corrective medicine which prompts his body to make more of the substance. Once his breathing is under control, the doctors found a murmur in his heart and did a chest ultrasound. It's found that his PD artery is still very big and they suggest a medicine called indomethasin to correct it. They do a brain ultrasound to make sure there are no brain bleeds- as indomethasin would make those worse. The ultrasound comes up clear and they begin this course of medicine.
Kiernan had a few more episodes of apnea, but the nurses are not worried. He is reacting well to the caffeine and his sugars are still good. He is up to 5.2ml an hour of his TPN- which is a bright yellow liquid nurishment given via iv. He is still under treatment for jaundice.
Day 4- Graydan is taken off the ventilators and doing well. He and his brother are breathing mostly "room air" and only bouncing up to about 25% when distressed. They are both on blue lights, but their bilirubin count is such that they will soon be off the UV lights for at least a while. Graydan is at 4.5 ml an hour on his TPN, and Kiernan is at 5.7ml as both are doing well with their sugars. The doctors find a heart murmur in Kiernan as well and they begin to run all the tests that Graydan already had.
Day 5- Kiernan and Graydan are doing well and are resting when I came to visit. Both are sleeping on their bellies and off their blue UV light treatments. Their bilirubin levels have corrected themselves enough that they will be off the UV lights for the foreseeable future. Graydan is up to 5.2 ml of the TPN and Kiernan is up to 5.8ml an hour. The caffeine is working as is the indomethasin. Both are well on their way and were looking much more comfortable today.
Though they arrived at 29 weeks, there was no reason found as to why they came so early. I had not gained enough weight but that wasn't slowing down their progress any and they weren't in any sort of distress according to the monitors. But despite this- they arrived 11 weeks early. The road ahead would be long...
They were immediately taken and put on a bunch of machines to help them breath and monitor their progress. The breathing tubes were put in and provide a puff of air every time they breath to make sure their lungs fill with it each time. The air mixture is a high concentration of oxygen, rather than the 21% oxygen mixture we breathe- which the staff call "room air".
Day one we were told that they had the probability of needing to have umbilical cord IV's or permanent IV's rather than the regular iv, blue UV lighting for jaundice, ventilators, and possible treatment for heart murmurs.
Day 2- both babies are doing well though their oxygen levels are all over the place and will need watching. Graydan was having a problem with his sugar digestion and they began looking into what caused it. The answer was a difficult and erratic breathing pattern, so a ventilator was needed.
Kiernan did not like his IVs and tried to take them out a few times. He also has an erratic breathing pattern, but it manifests as apnea which is corrected by caffeine treatments.
Day 3- Graydan gets put on a ventilator for a while, as they try to get his sugars under control. He reacts well to the ventilator and is able to adjust down to "Room air". It's discovered that one of his lungs is under developed and does not have a substance called surfactant. Surfactant is a fluid that coats the lungs and keeps them open. He is given a corrective medicine which prompts his body to make more of the substance. Once his breathing is under control, the doctors found a murmur in his heart and did a chest ultrasound. It's found that his PD artery is still very big and they suggest a medicine called indomethasin to correct it. They do a brain ultrasound to make sure there are no brain bleeds- as indomethasin would make those worse. The ultrasound comes up clear and they begin this course of medicine.
Kiernan had a few more episodes of apnea, but the nurses are not worried. He is reacting well to the caffeine and his sugars are still good. He is up to 5.2ml an hour of his TPN- which is a bright yellow liquid nurishment given via iv. He is still under treatment for jaundice.
Day 4- Graydan is taken off the ventilators and doing well. He and his brother are breathing mostly "room air" and only bouncing up to about 25% when distressed. They are both on blue lights, but their bilirubin count is such that they will soon be off the UV lights for at least a while. Graydan is at 4.5 ml an hour on his TPN, and Kiernan is at 5.7ml as both are doing well with their sugars. The doctors find a heart murmur in Kiernan as well and they begin to run all the tests that Graydan already had.
Day 5- Kiernan and Graydan are doing well and are resting when I came to visit. Both are sleeping on their bellies and off their blue UV light treatments. Their bilirubin levels have corrected themselves enough that they will be off the UV lights for the foreseeable future. Graydan is up to 5.2 ml of the TPN and Kiernan is up to 5.8ml an hour. The caffeine is working as is the indomethasin. Both are well on their way and were looking much more comfortable today.
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