Day 35: Feeding issues

Kangaroo care with Adalyn (on the left) and Emma (on the right).

Well, I was spoiled today. For the first time since I was pregnant I was able to hold both of the girls at the same time. I did kangaroo care with both girls for 3 hours, I loved it! They seemed to really enjoy it too :)

Emma and Adalyn continue to have feedings issues. Both girls continue to spit up fairly regularly so this morning Dr. K decided to move them both to continuous drip feedings. This means that Adalyn is getting roughly 7.67 mL over the course of an hour and Emma is getting 5.67 mL over the course of an hour. They are hoping that this helps with their reflux which will in turn hopefully help decrease their regurges. Adalyn continues to have some alarms, the majority are associated with spitting up and/or her CPAP care. Adalyn's weight tonight was 2 lbs 14 oz (1300 grams), praise God for Adalyn's good weight gain.

Today Emma was doing what they call periodic breathing. This means she breathes pretty good for a few seconds then she doesn't breathe then she breathes really good for a few seconds and then she does not breathe. She is not having any apnea at this point (apnea is when they do not breathe for over 20 seconds). However at times her periods of not breathing are long enough to cause her oxygen saturations to drop. Dr. K said this can come from a few different things. 1) infection - they did blood work and Emma shows no signs of infection - Praise God! 2)brain damage - Emma's head ultrasound was normal and Dr. K said there is no reason to think this had changed - he said we would know 3) reflux - which we know she has 4) prematurity - once again...we know she was very premature 5) a change in the compliance of her lung tissue (he increased her CPAP from 5 to 6 to help in case this is the cause). So basically what he said is that she needs to get older and this should all get better. Unfortunately because Emma is spitting up more and is not at her goal feedings she has lost some more weight again tonight. Her weight tonight was 2 lbs 11 oz (1210 grams). Hopefully tomorrow they will start adding the Similac Special Care 24 to Emma's feedings to help increase the calories.

The doctors have said that the girls need to get older in order for these issues to get better. I believe that they also need prayers. I serve a God who does do miracles (our girls are evidence of that) and I believe that He has the ability to help Emma with her periodic breathing, help Emma start to gain weight again, as well as help both girls tolerate their feedings better. So please pray that Adalyn and Emma tolerate their feedings better and do not spit up much. Please pray that Emma tolerate the addition of the formula to her feedings. Praise God for Adalyn's good weight gain and pray that it continues. Pray that Emma starts to gain weight again and that she can catch up to Adalyn again. Also pray that the reflux the girls are having does not hurt them. Thank you so much for continuing to pray for our girls!

Stay warm and safe in this storm!