Sand box, popsicles, ice cream, presents (thank you), bikes, subermain (Superman), cousins, grandparents, drawing, the wake (lake), cars-cars-cars, waking up earlier than we can comprehend, chicken fingers, candy, carrots (yep carrots) and sprinklers! The kid loves a sprinkler!
We have been stocking up on diapers (10 per baby a day, 40 diapers per pack, $10 per pack.... let me know if you are hiring!!)
30 of the 40....
All three have MRSA (staph). The bad, they have it. The good, they are all in isolation together. Mom is very happy as you can see!! The isolation room (The Everette Suite) is about 30 x 10 feet and there are only two other babies in the room with them so it is MUCH quieter. Since they all have MRSA now, we don't have to suit-up in the gloves and robe, we can hold them skin-to-skin! Before there was a risk of touching one and possibly spreading it to the others. We all have staph on our skin - yes, you, me and Jill. It can become infectious from scratching it into a bug bite, rash or possibly in the boys case - repeated pricks and stabs from needles. The staph bacteria could have inadvertently been pushed into their blood stream via a needle. We are not happy they have it but are thankful because the situation could be much worse.
The open room pre-isolation - they took up most of the room so we dubbed it The Everette Wing.... The isolettes are side-by-side of which there could be up to 7 or 8 babies in the room. You can't see the wings on the nurses backs, but trust me, they are there!
RO's "bachelor pad" before he was moved to isolation. He is still in the same isolette just a different room.
The following are photos taken over the past 5 days. They have gone from 1 tea spoon per feeding to 1 1/2 tea spoons every feeding. Feedings very from hourly to several hours apart. Weight of the boys range from 3.7 oz. - 3.12 oz. They have all been on and off the CPAP several times in this time period but have come on strong the last two days.
RO on the ventilator (he was the only one on this due to the pneumonia),
"Look Mom, no CPAP!" (RO two days ago)
RO today,
JW, next four pics.... CPAP
CPAP
Nasal cannula (humidified oxygen)
JW & "paci".... today room air.
RE on his CPAP, he just tried to pull it out. (remaining photos are RE)
Today
We are so blessed that the boys are 6 weeks old today. They will probably be @ UAB for another 2 months or so. We would not have been able to make it this long if not for our family, church, nurses and docs. We are in a bubble right now and have never experienced something this stressful and scary in our lives, threefold. Most days seem to never end, but what has really kept us on our feet, friends, old and new. Thank you.
Please pray for the babies in the RNICU and all of their Moms and Dads.