13.8.2010

Friday the 13th!

Maya is not here anymore.  Rest in peace little one.  I feel so sorry for her parents and so so thankful for our two.  May they continue to grow big and strong.  Please!?!

Esther and William seem fine this morning.  A few desats but mostly self correcting.  They have a lovely nurse called Louise who we met when William first came into the nursery.  We watched her weigh Esther, who has lost 25 grams.  She now weighs 1155 grams.  Our babies do not come out on to the scales to be weighed, there are scales built into the incubator!  Very clever. 

David changed Esther’s nappy and cleaned her mouth this morning before he went home to do some work.  She was just all clean when she decided to make herself dirty again!

The doctors came round about 10am.  It was a different doctor who basically said just to carry on the same.  The next step would be trying to breast / cup feed.  I laughed when he said this, saying about their mouths being so small.  No one laughed with me!  While the doctors finished their round I went to have a snack and do milk.  When I go back I am going to ask Louise about the steps in the breastfeeding process.

I will also have to do William’s care.  Esther’s next care will be due at 3pm and William at 4pm, unless of course the two of them decide otherwise!  Mucky pups!

Both babies are having two hours off CPAP today though they may try William for more, depending on his blood gas result.  Poor Esther’s nose looks very sore today so I am glad that she will be getting a good rest.  Both babies are coming off together at 2pm.

Had some lovely chats with Louise today.  She said that I can do mouth care with expressed breast milk – EBM.  You place the milk laden stick in the centre of the bottom lip until the baby’s tongue comes out to meet it.  Then use a scooping action from the centre to each side to clean the mouth with milk instead of water.  I can also put a milky stick in their mouth when the babies are tube feeding so that they can start to associate feeling full with the taste of milk in their mouth.

Both babies have been alarming a lot this morning with high heart rates and low oxygen levels.  I comfort held them, talked to them and sung to them, all of which worked for a short while but then they would start again.  Esther was particularly unhappy and forgot to breathe 3 times in short succession.  I know that they will grow out of this but in the mean time it is just awful, flitting from alarm to alarm, worrying about who will do what next.  It cannot be good for a lady’s nerves!

Louise also told me today that on the Thursday or Friday of the week beginning 23rd August the twins’ will have their first eye examination by an opthamologist.  He will be looking for any damage to their retinas and something called Retinopathy of Prematurity.  Any damage can be corrected with laser treatment if found early enough. 

http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Retinopathy-of-Prematurity-(Retrolental-Fibroplasia).htm

After this first eye exam the optometrist will come to see them every week or two weeks until they go home.  Louise gave us some print outs about the eye exam and what they are looking for.  She also gave us some information about the development of preterm babies from 28 – 33 weeks.

At 12.00 Granny and Grandpa Henley came to visit.  It was the first time they had seen the babies in over 2 weeks and they definitely noticed a difference, and particularly I think with William.  After their visit we all went to Pizza Express for lunch to catch up on the last 2 weeks.  We will see them again tomorrow after Si and Em have been to visit for the first time.

I got back to the hospital at 3pm and William and Esther were just coming off their CPAP.

We are now nearly at the 2 hour mark (off CPAP).  William is fine but is in 27% oxygen, Esther is hiccupping away in 26%.  They have both had some desaturations and William forgot to breathe one time!  Whilst they were off I read Esther the second Milly Molly Mandy story and William a tale for mothers and sons called ‘Snot Nose’!   They were both so peaceful after that, I just let them sleep.

Esther had a good gas at 5.15pm.  She went back on her CPAP and I put some milk in her mouth while she had a tube feed.  She seemed to really like it.  Louise gave me Esther’s CPAP hat as she got a new one today.  She is nearly ready for the next size up – but not quite!

William has gained weight and is now 1470 grams.  Our lovely big baby!  He had his gas done at 5.30pm and this was also good.  As his stats were steady too Louise let him have a bit longer off.

Meanwhile, Esther, who was back on her CPAP, had managed to pull her prongs out of her nose in protest, as if to say, “I’ve done 2 hours, let me do more!”  Bless her!  She was only on 24% oxygen and her levels were alarming high.  She is getting stronger.  Slowly, slowly, day by day!

Not sure about having cuddles today as William will still be off CPAP when David arrives.  Maybe we will let them rest today and have them out for longer cuddles tomorrow.  See what Daddy thinks when he arrives!