Day 38: Rounding another corner

We almost can't believe it's been 38 days since Sydney and Ethan came into our lives...and yet we can. Time has gone by fast and slow at the same time. Today we rounded a corner.

We went for the 7 am feeding after a short night's sleep and had a decent feed with them. Ethan took 10 cc from me and then was too sleepy to take a bottle from Doug. Sydney did okay--can't remember how much she took. It was somewhere in the 20s.

Both Ethan and Sydney lost weight from yesterday. I spoke with the doctor today and she confirmed my thought--it was the fluids working their way out after the blood transfusion. It's the first time they've lost weight in weeks. Sydney is 2696 grams or 5 lb 15 oz. Ethan is 2896 or 6 lbs 6 oz (with the cast).

We moved to the 'penthouse suite' as the nurses call it, on the third floor around noon today. I asked if there was a window and was told there was. When I got there at the 1 pm feeding, I realized that the window was to the outside. This means no more window visits. That made us sad, but there is a lot more room for visiting and feeding and we can see the outside world! My sister came to help me with the feeding (thanks Tiff) and Ethan got about 16 cc from me and the rest from the bottle Tiffany gave him! Then, Sydney got 50 cc again...wow. Both babies had belly aches after the 7 am feeding and still again after the 1 pm. No more dairy for me. I ate a little cottage cheese last night and felt awful watching them squirm and cry. I had a belly ache all night last night, but felt so bad that 3 people had belly aches because of my choice.

I got a call from the doctor on the way home with so much good news:

1. Sydney would be moved back to 24 calorie milk (they fortify my milk with additional calories). This means less belly aches and less stinky diapers.

2. Both of them no longer need to have iron--less belly aches.

3. Sydney was moved to 4 feedings per day. The fourth is at 1 am--so I gave the nurses permission to give her a bottle at that time. They said it won't make a difference in her coming home earlier. I am torn--wanting Sydney to slow down so Ethan can catch up with her.

4. The discharge nurse will call our insurance to see if they would cover a vaccine for RSV (can't remember the name) which is basically not a true vaccine. It's an injection of synthetic antibodies. I'm going to do some research, but from what the doctor says, there are very few side effects.

5. We will start preparing for discharge! They will pull their feeding tubes as soon as they are doing better with their feedings. It is quite possible we could be breaking out by the end of the week and bringing them home. Woo hoo!

We went back for tonight's feeding and Ethan 10 cc from me and 25 cc from a bottle. Sydney got 50 cc again. She is a big fan of that round number. The funny thing is, her feed is set at 53 cc. They end up giving her a tiny amount in her feeding tube every time.

The sad news of the day? We didn't take any photos today. Nope, not one. We had focused so much on getting them to eat, that we forgot to snap a photo. Bummer. We'll take a photo of their new home in the 'penthouse suite' tomorrow.