Daily Update - Big Day

There is a board in the babies' room that is updated each day with how much they weigh, how much they are getting fed, and anything else that happened from the previous day.  They each gained 4 ounces from yesterday and are now both above their birth weights again! (which was 4 lb 1 oz for Cooper and 3 lbs 11 oz for Brinley). That's a lot in one day so we don't expect that to be happening every day; it'll usually be more about a 1/2 - 1 ounce per day growth. 

(FYI - Brinley is Baby A and Cooper is Baby B)

They have been going up on their feedings every day as well - they now each get about 1/2 ounce per feeding (30mL is 1 ounce), every 3 hours.  I'm producing 3 ounces of milk per pumping right now, every 3 hours, so I'm already getting ahead of them which is an awesome feeling.  This board was at 1pm and by 8pm tonight, Cooper had already gone up to 19 ml!

They also both came out of the jaundice lights today which was great to see their faces fully and not have their sleep masks on.

 

Also big news that Brinley got taken off of the nasal cannula and is completely breathing on her own without any assistance!  She still has monitors on her that make sure she's breathing so no worry there; they just think she doesn't need any help anymore.  They expect Cooper to get rid of his cannula tomorrow as well! 
We did have a little scare tonight - The nurse thought that Brinley's stomach was a little distended before the 5pm feeding. They checked to see if she'd digested her food from the 2pm feeding (the tube down their noses can put food in their bellies and can also take food out of their bellies if they don't digest it all), and she had not digested it. So they did an x-ray and there was a ton of gas and poop in her belly still, more than is normal, so they did blood work to test for a stomach infection that's common with preemie babies and can potentially be very serious. Luckily she did not have this infection and is going to be fine; they just stopped her feedings for the night and will do an x-ray in the morning to see if she's getting rid of the gas, etc. She didn't appear to be in any pain tonight and was sleeping peacefully. They said this is common with babies their age; still a little scary but again so great to know that the NICU staff there is so cautious and observant that they noticed something unusual right away.

 

                                                            Brinley without the nasal cannula - you can see her pretty face soo much better!!