A Long Week

Well, we've made progress - and hit a few stumbling blocks this week. In summary:

On Tuesday morning, Henry had a bad episode of drop in heart rate and oxygen level in his blood. He's totally fine otherwise and has been great since. I guess he just didn't want Sam to get all the attention. :) We discovered later in the week that his hemoglobin had dropped down to 6.4 (normal is around 12 - I think). So he received some of Dad's blood on Thursday and some more on Friday to get his hemoglobin back up into the normal range. We tried a bottle feeding with Henry on Tuesday and he drank a whopping 5 cc's before falling sound asleep. Not too shabby for his first time out. We're working with the nurses to attempt bottles at pretty much every feeding and he's doing pretty well.

Sam had a big day on Wednesday: the infection on his chin and cheek finally absessed and formed 2 "heads" - one on his left cheek and one under his chin. The swelling was very pronounced in those 2 areas, but much of the swelling and redness over the rest of his face and neck had decreased substantially. So at 1:30pm on Wednesday, an ENT came to lance the absesses. Come to find out, it was actually all one big absess - with a channel deep under the skin connecting the 2 "heads". Crazy. The ENT actually commented several times about the "impressive amount of fluid" that came out of the little guy. Almost immediately, he seemed to feel so much better. And even thru the worst of his swelling, he really took to his pacifier. (If you're familiar with The Simpsons cartoon, imagine Maggie Simpson sucking on her pacifier.) So we tried a bottle with Sam on Thursday and he did really well. Like Henry, we're trying bottles with almost every feeding. One of the nurses even got him to finish an entire 30cc feeding by bottle the other night. Go Sam! What a trooper - especially after the week he's had.

We both stayed at home Wednesday night. Since Sam was doing so much better, I felt more comfortable leaving the hospital and sleeping in our own space. Foolishly, I came into the NICU Thursday morning expecting and "easy" day since Sam was on the upswing after his infection. Then I saw 2 nurses working with Tom and knew this couldn't be good news. Wednesday morning, Tom had a bad heart rate and oxygen drop episode (like Henry's earlier this week). That wasn't a very big deal - until he did it again (a couple times) Thursday morning. So the doctor ordered antibiotics for Tom and several blood tests and cultures to figure out what was causing the problems. Tom's abdomen was distended, so the doc feared he might have NEC (I don't remember what the acronym stands for, but its something to do with the digestive system and can get very bad very quickly). So they're holding Tom's feedings until Monday at the earliest. In the meantime, he's getting nutrition via IV. They gave Tom some of Dad's blood, as his hemoglobin was low and that seemed to help perk him up. His blood tests indicated a possible infection, so we're watching him closely. He had a pretty good day Friday and I was able to get some good one-on-one time with him in the afternoon. His abdomen came down substantially in size, so we're hoping that's a good sign. We stayed at the hospital Thursday night, but since Tom was stable on Friday, we stayed at home last night.

Joey has had a few episodes of low heart rate and apnea, but nothing as serious as Tom or Hank. He's really holding his own very well. We also started bottle feedings with Joe. Tim gave him his first bottle and he did very well. When the nurse fed him by bottle over night, he finished an entire 30cc feeding! Quite impressive for our little peanut!

Sam's absess tested positive for MRSA, so they swabbed the other boys' noses and skin to test them. We know Henry and Joe have also come back positive. I haven't heard yet about Tom, but expect that he'll have it too. Much of the general population has MRSA on their skin. It's not a serious threat to most people - but can be very serious to those that have compromised or weak immune systems - like premature babies. So, we will remain in isolation in the NICU until the boys are discharged. This is a preventative measure to reduce risk of infection to any other babies in the unit. Our nurses put on clean gowns over their scrubs and clean gloves when they come into our area to care for the boys - and they change into clean gowns and gloves if they move from one baby to another. Tim and I are not required to wear gowns, but we do if we've held one baby and want to hold another - as the MRSA bacteria can be transferred on clothes. For any visitors, we'd like you to wear gowns as well when you visit. And if you touch anything (the cribs or isolettes, their blankets, etc.), you need to wash your hands thoroughly. There is no serious threat to you - this is merely a precautionary measure to keep from spreading the bacteria.

On a lighter note, we have made progress this week (in addition to the bottle feedings). Three of the boys have been moved out of their isolettes and into cribs. Sam and Henry are actually sharing a large crib together. And Joey is in a small crib next to Tom. Because Tom is still not quite himself, we're keeping him in his isolette until sometime next week. Once he's ready, he and Joe will share a crib like their brothers. It's strange to see them "out in the open", but it shows how much they're growing and getting stronger.

By the way - we're all convinced that Tom & Joe are NOT the twins. It appears that Joe & Henry are. The nurses - and even Tim - agree. Time will tell - and perhaps a pathology report on the placentas that my Dr. Donald should have... We'll keep you posted on any developments on that... :)

I really wanted to include some photos, as I've taken quite a few this week. But I'm on my laptop and don't have the photos downloaded to this computer. And it's getting late...I want to get back to my boys at the hospital! We'll post pics soon - hopefully yet this weekend.

Tim is on his way to the dealership now to buy a mini van. He brought it home last night so I could see it and so we could test it out with all of our baby gear. It's a 2008 silver Chrysler Town & Country. Not too shabby. Tim thinks it'll look a lot better once we add the flames on the sides... We'll turn in Tim's truck and keep my Vibe for Tim to drive. I still can't believe I'll be driving a minivan...

Current weights are listed below. Please note that they are ALL OVER 3 POUNDS!

Sam: 3 lbs 7 2/3 oz
Joe: 3 lbs 4 1/3 oz
Tom: 3 lbs 4 oz
Henry: 3 lbs 8 1/3 oz

Well, I'm off to the hospital. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers - and for your posts. We love to hear from you. By the way - Stacey: The picture in the newspaper doesn't show all the baby weight I'm still carrying. Very clever of me to use that pillow on my lap to rest the babies on, eh? :) Oh, and Brooksie, I'm so glad you enjoyed the head measurements. I should have known you'd get a kick out of that!

Lots of love,
Tim, Kristin, Tom, Joe, Sam & Henry