Aubrey had a very good day. The surgeon said that Aubrey is progressing as expected after his surgery. He received a blood transfusion today and his color is amazingly better. One thing we’ve learned while having the babies in the NICU is that blood and platelet transfusions are very common. The babies are so tiny and their blood is drawn frequently for tests. Their little bodies just can’t keep up. So they get blood and/or platelets when necessary. Donors for preemies have to go through extra screenings to qualify, so the babies are getting some premium quality blood!
Speaking of blood being drawn, Aubrey had blood drawn for his 6th blood culture today. The great thing is that the last blood culture he had done (yesterday) finally showed positive for a bacteria (a type of gram negative staphylococcus). The bacteria is one that is easily treated and Aubrey’s antibiotics were changed from the broad-spectrum antibiotics to three specific antibiotics. He will be on one of them for at least 10 days. His white blood cell count was down for the first time in five days, which means his little body can relax a bit since the antibiotic is helping him out. Right now, Aubrey is being treated with morphine for pain so he’s definitely zoned out. He is still a bit feisty when the nurses irritate him (surprisingly, that’s not during blood draws, but rather during benign times, like taking his temperature in his armpit).
There is a washcloth on his face to protect his eyes from the heat lamp above. Even sedated, he wants to see the world.
Lydia is still breathing like a champion. She is our only baby who is not intubated and she’s doing a great job. She still has “Bradys,” which is NICU language for bradycardia. Bradycardia is when a heart rate slows abnormally. For preemies, it happens frequently when the baby “forgets” to breathe. Sometimes, they remember to breathe by themselves (the best) and sometimes, they need a reminder (brushing them on the foot, re-positioning them, or sometimes giving them extra oxygen). 9 out of 10 times, Lydia remembers to breathe on her own but occasionally she needs a reminder. She has not had Bradys that last for longer than a few seconds and the doctors aren’t worried. However, while she still has them, they will leave the chin strap on her. The chin strap helps her keep her mouth closed so she doesn’t breathe out of that and instead can rely on the CPAP. It also makes her face all scrunched up so she looks kind of irritated all the time. She also LOVES being swaddled so we never want to disturb her because she sleeps constantly with an angry look on her face. Lydia is at 20% feeds, which means that she is eating 20% of the maximum amount of milk that she should eat.
Lydia, like her mother, dresses for comfort over style!
Finn is catching up with his brother size-wise and now weighs 1lb 15.2 oz (just under 2lbs!). That’s 50g more than when he was born (about 1/10 of a lb). He is an eating champ and is at 80% feeds. They’ve stopped his lipids (a fat supplement consisting of soy, fish, coconut and olive oils). This is great news because as soon as he is eating only milk, they can remove the PIC line, which cuts down on one more source of infection. It’s also good because the goal of the NICU is to get the babies to the point that all of their organs and systems are developed as they would in the womb. Finn’s breathing is still a bit behind his siblings’ but he’s working hard every day to improve.
Finn just opened his eyes yesterday and he’s eager to peek out at the world!