The First Week (or so)

It sure has been a busy week and a half since the boys were born. Jaime was released from the hospital on 10/26 and we have been busy commuting back and forth from South Bend every day. Jaime's parents have been an awesome help watching Drew and taking Jaime to and from the hospital. Both boys are now gaining weight and doing really well. Nicholas actually had his feeding tube removed this past week and was able to breastfeed for the first time tonight. Nathan is working to catch up. His cleft lip makes it difficult for him to feed from a bottle and he hasn't quite yet built up enough stamina to complete a bottle feeding. We're working on different feeding methods now, but hopefully as he gains weight he will get stronger and his feedings will go better.


Nicholas

Nicholas is really doing well. He has been gaining weight for the the past few days well enough to remove his feeding tube. He is typically very curious of his surroundings for the short spurts he is awake during the day. Both the boys are the spitting image of their big brother (and their dad) already. He's even developed enough strength already to hold his head up for short spurts. Nicholas is about 3 lbs - 12 oz. right now so he has a couple more ounces to go before he reaches his birth weight, but we expect him to surpass that soon.



The nurses in the NICU are so wonderful. They have been so helpful and caring for the boys. Every day they document interesting notes about each of the boys on a calendar. Here's the listing of updates for Nicholas for October...

10/23: Happy Birthday, 17-1/4", 3 lbs. 14 oz.
10/24: Just hanging out in my isolette. I have an IV because I'm not eating yet.
10/25: I started eating today. I eat 10 cc's every 3 hours (3 lbs. 11-2/3 oz.)
10/26: I'm tolerating my feedings well! I now eat 15 cc's every 3 hours. (3 lbs. 8 oz.)
10/27: (3 lbs. 9-2/3 oz.)
10/28: I love my bottle! I'm eating 25 cc's now! (3 lbs. 8-2/3 oz.)
10/29: Thanks for the pictures Drew! (3 lbs. 8-1/3 oz.)
10/30: I get 30 cc's to eat. That's a whole ounce! I'm getting stronger. (3 lbs. 8-2/3 oz.)
10/31: Happy 1st Halloween, 35 cc's to eat! (3 lbs. 10 oz.)


Nathan

Nathan was born with a cleft lip and some issues with his palate that do not appear to have resulted in a hole in the palate. Nevertheless this has caused some difficulty for Nathan to feed from a bottle. We're still working on the feedings, but the good news is that he is gaining weight now and hopefully with the added weight he will gain some endurance for feedings. Nathan also had issues during the first week with his breathing. From time to time his respirations would drop and his heart rate would drop as well. Nathan was the smaller of the twins at birth and the ultrasounds a few days before he was born showed that he wasn't practicing his breathing in the womb as well as Nicholas. Had Nathan just didn't have enough time to build up strength and practice before being born. To help Nathan out the doctors started giving him caffeine daily. Basically Nathan is now getting a morning cup of coffee every day. He has been doing much better with his breathing since then, but he still has issues from time to time. We continue to work to find the best method of feeding, but it seems like it's just going to take a little time for Nathan to catch up to his brother.

Here's the notes the NICU nurses left for Nathan in October...

10/23: Happy Birthday, 16-1/4", 3 lbs. 7 oz.
10/24: I'm resting well in my isolette. I have an IV since I'm not eating.
10/25: I started bottle feeding today. I eat 10 cc's every 3 hours. (3 lbs. 5-1/3 oz.)
10/26: I started getting caffeine today to help my heart rate. (3 lbs. 3-1/3 oz.)
10/27: I am now getting 20 cc's of mommy's milk! (3 lbs. 4 oz.)
10/28: I'm still learing to digest all my food. (3 lbs. 4-1/3 oz.)
10/29: Today I get to eat 25 cc's every 3 hours! Thanks for the pictures Drew! (3 lbs. 4 oz.)
10/30: TGIF! 1 week old. 30 cc's every 3 hours. I'm trying out some different bottles (3 lbs. 4 oz.)
10/31: Happy 1st Halloween! 35 cc's to eat. (3 lbs. 5 oz.)


We are so blessed to have such a wonderful group of friends and family and we really appreciate everything you have all done for us. We feel very blessed that the boys have done so well to this point. This will be a long journey for our family, but we are so excited and blessed to have two wonderful little boys in our lives.

Check back again for updates.

Thanks again and God bless!