It has been 12 days since my last update. Aubrey had his surgery on the 8th and it went exceedingly well. I haven’t updated because I’ve been holding my breath. I had thought everything would be fine after the first surgery and I got comfortable.
Being in the NICU is hard. It’s hard on the babies who face challenges every day.
In the days since I’ve updated, Lydia has grown from 913g to 1063g. She weighs 2lbs, 5oz. She remains the feistiest of all of our babies. She is also the most advanced breathing-wise, and is on RAM trials. I tried to google it to provide an explanation, but mostly, it seems that it’s the way sharks breath. For my purposes, understanding that RAM breathing support is the final level before Lydia is just breathing room air is enough. Lydia is at full feedings, at 19ml/feeding and she is fed 8 times a day. She is eating approximately 5oz/day. At 30cal/oz, she is eating 150 calories each day. It’s so little, but is a lot for her. Despite that, she is below the 1st percentile weight-wise. My prayers for her are that she grows. Time will help, of course, but the doctors are also working with a nutritionist to help get her feeding perfected to help her grow.
Aubrey is doing so well. His swelling is almost all gone. He had gained about 1lb of water weight but now weighs 3lbs, 12oz, and it’s all him. The surgeon sewed the incision on Aubrey’s stomach as together as he could. However, he couldn’t quite close it. The nurse made analogy to when you try to pack a sleeping back back in the little bag it comes it - it never fits back as well as it did when it was new. In Aubrey’s case, the surgeon covered the open wound with biodegradable mesh. It looks like Aubrey has a baseball in his stomach. Then, every day, the nurses check the wound (nurses and doctors and surgeon). There is a yellow dressing that goes right on top of it to promote healing and, I think, minimize pain. On top of that is gauze. The skin will grow over the mesh, which will dissolve, but the entire process will take 2-4 months.
The earliest Aubrey may be able to eat is Tuesday (the 22nd). This is to permit his intestines to have sufficient time to heal and (hopefully) give him time to poop. He did poop last Saturday, and it was such an interesting poop that the nurse took it to the doctor, who photographed it and everyone in the NICU has seen it. He also texted me the picture for my, in his words, (s)crap book.
Aubrey is also breathing really well and is on RAM trials. He isn’t at the level of Lydia, but he’s close on her heels.
Finn is now the biggest, having it 4lbs last night. He is big enough to move to a crib, but he is working on keeping warm enough without support. He’s been eating milk since Monday (the 14th). He has started pooping, and I’m so very happy. He remains a bit behind breathing-wise, but is making progress every day. He is wearing clothes and it’s very cute to see him in them.
The NICU is also hard on the parents. The anxiety and stress are constant and it’s hard to focus elsewhere. Now that the babies have had a good week, for an entire week, I can take a small break from being there, but it’s still hard. I’ve been told I’ll worry about them for the rest of my life, but I have to imagine that it’s not this constant level-100 level anxiety. I’ve started taking daily walks to help relax. Spending time with friends and family is also a very welcome relief. We appreciate everything everyone has done for us.