Day 9: Grammy Comes to Visit on a Great Day!

My mom (AKA Grammy) arrived this morning from Pittsburgh. She’s come to help me while Skip and Calista are back in Bellingham, since I am as of yet unable to drive. Skip and Calista dropped me off at the NICU to pump and visit the boys while they went to the airport to get Grammy.

Lulu is thrilled to see her Grammy today and my morning visit with the boys was fabulous. First, I pumped (not very exciting), then Nate’s nurse invited me to rounds. That is when the doctors all discuss the patient and the plan of care for the day. This is the first time I got to go, and it was really neat — especially because I realized I understood all of the medical lingo!

First, Nate is off of the nasal cannula as another trial at breathing room air and has been doing well so far, so that will continue. He’s tolerating his feeds and continues to go up 1 cc every other feed, so an increase of +4 cc per day. They said his IV should be gone in a few days now that he’s maintaining his hydration on his own and almost to a level of nutrient intake that he doesn’t need the supplementation. Also, the temp in his isolette has been turned down because he’s been doing well maintaining his body temp so far.

The best part of rounds, however, was when the doctors asked if my insurance has been looked into for transport yet. They are thinking that the boys will be ready for Bellingham by Friday!!! If the transport to St. Joseph’s is not covered by insurance, they may be able to work on a discount or deal. They also said that because the care at St. Joe’s is much cheaper than the NICU at UW, they can use that as leverage as to why transport would benefit the insurance company. If it’s not covered, they think it might be about $1,500 – $2,000 and with what a hotel would cost should we have to stay here past the time that the condo is available, it may be a better move to just pay for transport. We’ll see! I am trying not to get too excited, but we might have the boys close to home very soon! Skip works near St. Joe’s, too, so he could even see the boys on his lunch breaks. But before I get to excited…

Ace is doing great, too! His IV is done. It will remain in his hand for 24 more hours to make sure he’s ok with out it, and then they remove it completely. That just leaves him with the tube for feedings. He’s tolerating his feedings and should be to full feeds in a few more days. Then it’s getting him to take his feeds by mouth. He’s so eager at the breast and with his binky that I don’t imagine it will be a big issue getting that little man to take feed by mouth.

Nate was so alert today, I got a cute video of him. He pulled out all the stops — he looked around, yawned, fussed and sneezed.

The video below isn’t from today, but I finally got a chance to upload a few, so here is one of Ace fussing last week.

After Grammy, Daddy and Calista went to the museum this afternoon, Daddy and Calista headed back home for the week and my mom and I went to the hospital. I took my mom to Ace first, and she cried when she saw and touched him. It was very sweet. Then I took her down to see Nate and she got to touch her second tiny grandson.

Ace was fussing to be fed a little early tonight, so I put him to breast and he nursed a bit, and then my mom held him while he got his gavage feeding. After supper, we did the same with Nate.

Nate also got moved today, so now he’s across from Ace, instead of one room down. It’s so much nicer to have them together instead of having to walk up and down the hall to go between them and now when there’s two visitors, we can just talk to each other across the way.

Nate got his IV out early as the nurse removed it around 8 pm tonight. That was great, because now he’s just got the feeding tube as well as the little things that monitor his heart and breathing rates) and I’m not as scared to move him around. I even took him from my mom and put him back in the isolette by myself for the first time. I am sure I will feel more confident and will take him out on my own soon, too.

Ace’s nurse was talking about next steps and she said that they will soon start to dress them and turn down the isolette temps to see how they do as “normal” babies in clothes and blankets, and when they show they can handle it (and I know they can!) then they can transfer to an open air bassinet! When Ace’s IV is out, my boys will officially be “feeders and growers”, meaning their only jobs are to eat and grow and that is the last step before coming home with us.

It’s been a wonderful day with the exception of Skip and Calista having to leave. I hope we have another wonderful day tomorrow.