The past couple of days have been good for Timothy.  Yesterday when we went to see him, we were surprised to find him in clothes and swaddled in blankets!  The nurse said he'd been a completely different baby since they'd done that.  Before, he was wiggling and moving all over the isolette but after they got him in clothes she said he calmed down and was just eating, sleeping, and pooping! =)  He was up to 24 mL of food every 3 hours and weighed 2 lbs 9.7 ounces.

Today's report was similar to yesterday's.  Timothy was still in clothes when we got there this afternoon.  The nurse said he was doing really well.  They're trying to wean him off of the oxygen.  He's down to about 30% oxygen and she said when he gets to about 20% that they'd take him completely off.  His weight was up to 2 lbs 11.4 ounces, so he's really starting to put it on!  The big thing today was that I got to help out by checking his temperature and changing his diaper.  It's a little weird changing a diaper on a baby that small...I was worried I was going to break something!  But, I think I ended up doing it ok. =)                                                             

There's not much new to report with Timothy's condition.  He's still doing really well.  They're feeding him a bunch and he's slowly putting some weight on.  He's still on a small amount of oxygen, but seems to be doing well!  Pretty much every time we go, he's just sleeping peacefully. 

The big news today is that Paul finally got to hold Timothy!  It was great!  I loved getting to see him experience that for the first time!  We were talking about it when we got home and we both agree that things seem so much more real now.  We also agree that it's so much harder coming home to an empty house after getting to hold them.  But, we're glad they're doing well and that we're getting to be a part of things finally.  Pretty soon they'll be letting us help change diapers and do all sorts of stuff! =)                                  

Timothy seemed to be having a pretty good morning today.  He is up to 22 mL of food every 3 hours.  The nurse told us that 5 mL is a teaspoon, so he's eating just over 4 teaspoons of food right now.  He was having a few tummy issues when we were there, but nothing serious.  He's still on a small amount of oxygen, but was off of the thermotherapy (for now).  He is now up to 2 lbs 9 oz, which is just a little bit more than his birth weight.  Oh, and I got to hold him again today! -Overall, doing really well!

Timothy is also doing well.  Like Elizabeth, he is back on a small amount of oxygen.  They had to put a tube back in his nose because the isolette he's in isn't calibrated right.  They are increasing the amount he's fed by 1 mL at every other feeding.  He's also under the phototherapy for his jaundice but hopefully will be off of it soon.So, while there's not much news on the health front, we do have some other news.  I got to hold Timothy for the first time today!  We were getting ready to leave and the nurse practitioner asked me if I wanted to hold him.  I almost said no because Paul wasn't there and I didn't want him to miss it, but I just couldn't resist the opportunity to actually hold my son.  My son...it seems so weird to type, let alone say that.  This whole experience just doesn't seem real at times, but today helped make it more real.  It was so great to finally get to touch and hold him!  I really can't wait until Paul gets to go with me and experience it for himself!  As long as things continue to go well, we should get to hold him every day!

Thankfully, Timothy's day has been better than Mary's.  When we arrived at the NICU they were in the process of removing Timothy's central line that runs through his umbilical cord.  This is good news because it means he's getting enough nutrients through his feedings and no longer needs the central line.  It's also good news because now that the central line is out we should be able to hold him and help with changing diapers, etc.  His jaundice levels went back up a bit, so they're putting him back under the phototherapy but once he gets out from that they'll be able to dress him.  So, all of this was very comforting to hear! 

Towards the end of our visit, Timothy had a few issues with his oxygen saturation levels dropping.  They told us that if it continued, they'd pump oxygen straight into his isolette.  When we left, he was doing well so hopefully that remains the case and they don't need the extra oxygen.

Overall, he is making great progress and doing really well!  We're looking forward to getting to hold him in the next couple of days!

I know it's been a few days, so I'll try to catch you up on what's been going on! =)

Timothy has been doing very well lately!  Saturday he was eating 6 mL every 3 hours, then on Sunday they had him up to 7 mL every 3 hours.  They told us that if he continued to do well, they'd increase the amount of food they gave him by 1 mL at every other feeding.  It must be working, because when we went to see him today Timothy was eating 10 mL every 3 hours!  They check before each feeding to see how much each child is digesting.  Timothy had digested everything except for 0.3 mL from his previous feeding, which was great news!  They're going to continue to increase his feedings as long as he tolerates them.  At the same time, they're also reducing the amount of nutrients they're giving him in his IV.  The hope is that he'll reach a point where all of his nutrients come from his food and he won't need the IV.  Before we left for the day, I checked on Timothy's weight to see how he was doing.  He is currently 2 lbs 8 oz, so he's less than an ounce from his birth weight, which is great news!

Overall, Timothy is doing very well and we're so glad to hear that!

Well, today was our first day visiting the babies from home.  We went up mid-afternoon to check in on them and were pleasantly surprised to hear all the good reports!

When we got there, Timothy was sucking his thumb (something he wasn't able to do before because of his feeding tube).  He now has a feeding tube in his nose instead of his mouth and seems happier with that.  He is still doing well breathing on his own with no extra oxygen.  He's had a few apnea episodes, but they've got him on a maintenance dose of caffeine to help with that.

His feedings are also going well.  They've increased to the 24 calorie formula (which they use to supplement breast milk) and they've increased the amount he's getting fed.  Timothy is now receiving 4 mL of milk/formula every 3 hours (his feedings the day before were 2 mL every 3 hours).  He's had a little bit of residual left in his stomach, which means he's not quite digesting all of the food, but he's processing more of it than he was before. 

The doctors have decided to hold off on the PICC line for now and see if they can get by with just the UAC (the line in the umbilical cord).  Since his feedings have been going better, they're hoping they can just get rid of the UAC eventually and he can get all of his nutrients from his feedings (which means he wouldn't need the PICC line at all). 

So, overall he's still doing very well and we're very excited to hear that!

Today has already been an eventful morning for Timothy! 

It started when they attempted to put in a PICC line.  I say "attempted" because they were unsuccessful during their first try.  Basically, they use a catheter to thread the line up a vein in either the leg or arm until it's just outside the heart.  The PICC line is important because it will serve as an IV and provide nutrients to Timothy while he's learning to eat and digest food.  Right now he has a line going through his umbilical cord that provides those nutrients, but that line only lasts for a week or two at the most.  So, it's important that they're able to establish a PICC line in him sometime in the next week or so.  The nurse practitioner tried this morning and was unsuccessful, so now the doctor will try sometime later today to see if she can get it.

The second part of Timothy's morning was much more positive!  He has been breathing on his own since birth, but they've been supplementing with some extra oxygen through a tube in his nose.  His oxygen stats have been good for the past several days and they've hardly had to give him any extra oxygen, so they decided to take his oxygen tube out this morning!  When we left he was completely breathing on his own with no extra support!  It was the first time we'd really gotten to see his face without all the wires and tape attached to it.  His expressions were so cute as he looked around and stuck his tongue out!  We have a short video of him just after they got the tube out and some pictures should be up shortly as well.

The next big step for Timothy is to see if he can start handling his feedings.  They've been feeding him a combination of formula and breast milk, but he hasn't been digesting it very well.  So they're going to try again today and see how it goes. 

All in all, a good start to the morning!  It's nice to see him reach this milestone, even if it is a small one!