no more stitches!

The surgeon came to check on David again today and wrote an order to take his stitches out! YAY!
He also seems a bit less agitated since he opened his eyes - as if a major goal has been accomplished. He is tolerating weaning of the vent rate and they are thinking of reducing the pressure and possibly starting to wean the nitric oxide today. His oxygen supplementation has been reduced as well.

Mary Louise is tolerating the breast milk very well and they were deciding between doubling her intake and spacing feedings farther apart or leaving her intake the same and giving her more frequent feedings (which by the way, would give her the same amount).

So my pumping will continue and is going well. The nurses actually asked me to stop bringing it in for awhile because I've overflowed my section of their freezer! So, we've taken to freezing it at home and I would like to keep them on exclusively breast milk for as long as possible.

As of this morning, Mary Louise's cultures were negative. She needs to have 3 separate cultures, negative over 72 hours each to declare her infection free. Her vent settings are a little higher since her extubation stunt but she is doing well overall and I think the plan to try again with the nasal cannula next week is still in effect.

Both babies have been at the same weight for a bit now. Mary Louise's lipids were discontinued a few days ago in an effort to obtain a negative culture so that could explain her lack of gain. If she continues to progress with her feedings, she will resume weight gain soon. David was switched from vent to oscilator to vent which causes fluid shifts. He looks a little less swollen each day though and hopefully will put on "real weight" again soon. If they are able to start feedings next week on him, that will help once they get to a fair amount.

So, progress continues!

Hugs,
Heather