We called the hospital tonight (10:05pm) to see how they are doing with the C.P.A.P and so far both are doing ok with it. We are very proud of them both.

We were surprised when we got to the Hospital today to find that Savannah was no longer on the ventilator and doing well! Then while we sat there with Savannah they took Charlton off the ventilator too! Charltons transition was really scary and he needed to be bagged but he seems to have calmed down now. Dr's say the next 48 hours will be a huge test and struggle to see if they can remain off the ventilators. What they are on now is called C.P.A.P. (continuous positive air pressure). They are getting oxygen through their noses but now they have to do the breathing. Now they don't have anything obstructing their vocal chords so they can cry if they want to, I haven't heard them cry yet. Other than that they are going to try to leave Charlton alone until Friday and I think Savannah is having some blood work done around 2 pm today.

They seem to be holding their own today, which is always nice for us to hear.

Charlton is up to 1.4 mls on his feedings every hour and seems to be doing ok on the new ventilator. His Ventilator is at 34% and he is requiring 35% oxygen.

Savannah is up to 4 1/2 mls on her feedings over 1 1/2 hours. Her ventilator is set at 32 % and is requiring 28% oxygen.

They heard some fluid in Savannah's lungs so they did give her a one time dose of medicine to help clear it up.

We are at the Hospital and it is definitely an up day today. Charlton's X-ray show that both his lungs are open and not collapsed so they moved him off the oscillatory respirator and back onto the conventional one. Both of them are requiring less supplemental oxygen. Both of them went up in their feedings again. Savannahs head ultrasound shows that her level 4 bleed is actually a level 3, so she has bilateral level 3 bleeds and not a 3 and 4 like we originally thought. Also, there isn't any development of water on her brain. The nurses also took two really good pictures of Savannah today but I wont be able to upload them until I get home.
The only bad news I have to report is that a guy speeding through a construction zone on the highway kicked a bunch of gravel up onto our van and cracked the windshield. I guess you cant win them all.

Savannah's respirations still seem to be up and down, but not as much as yesterday. Her feedings are now up to 3mls and she seems to be tolerating it. They did another head ultrasound on her today, but we still have not heard any news on that. Hopefully one of the doctors will fill us in tomorrow. At this point they are looking to see if she develops water on the brain, which would then require a shunt (not even sure what that is).

Charlton's latest x-ray of his lungs seemed to look a little better than earlier today. However, the collapse is still there. They are slowly decreasing his supplemental oxygen. He was at 50 - 60 % last night and is currently at 30%. This is very important because they want to put him on a different machine, but they need to get this number down and get him more stabilized. They have increased his feedings to .7 ml continuously every hour.

We just arrived home today from being at the hospital since Thursday.

It is difficult being near your babies and not being allowed to comfort them when they are in need. Thankfully we are able to put our hands on Savannah, however we are not allowed to talk to them loudly or stroke their skin because this will only cause them stress and for their saturation levels to drop. With little Charlton we are only allowed to look at him through the isolette (incubator) since he is in such respiratory distress and just our touch can cause dramatic changes for the worse.

As noted on Friday Charlton's left lung had particially collapsed and today we found out that he left lung is doing better, but now his right lung has particially collapsed.

Both babies are now taking breast milk and they are slowing increasing their dosage. Since babies typically lose weight when they are born, both are still under their birth wieght at this point. However, we are hoping that will change soon.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.