Charlton: It has been 4 days now that Charlton has been on his C.P.A.P. He has been working very hard to stay on C.P.A.P and is definitely getting a little weaker as a result. The doctors are really trying to keep him on C.P.A.P so that they do not have to put him back on the vent.

The more equipment he is on the more danger for infection.

He also continues to have periods of Apnea. Both Savannah and Charlton get caffeine on a daily basis for their Apnea.

Caffeine Intravenously, what a great invention.

He is doing well on his feedings
(5 mls continuosly), but is still not gaining much weight because he burns so many calories in order to breathe.

Savannah: She is also working hard to stay on C.P.A.P and continues to have periods of Apnea, but they seem to be getting a little better. She is doing very well on her feedings and has been bumped up to 9 mls every three hours.

She is also scheduled to Cardiac Echo this week. They are checking to see if the infection she developed a while back has attached to the heart.
As you can imagine we are anxious to find out the results of this test and will keep you posted once we know.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

It was nice to share my day with the babies Godmother Aunt Sue. I was also pleasantly surprised when I noticed the handmade cards with the babies photograph on each of the babies Isolettes wishing their mommy a Happy Mother's Day. Another item to add to their scrapbook.

As Aunt Sue mentioned in yesterday's update the babies love to compete with each other to see who can scare mommy the most. They were a little better behaved today, but still continue to fluctuate in their saturations.

Charlton and Savannah both weigh 1 lb. 13 oz. (Only 3 more oz. to go until they reach their 2 lb. milestone)

After bringing Aunt Sue back to the Airport I got to spend some additional time with the babies, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I hope all moms enjoyed their Mother's Day as much as I did.

Saturday, May 10, 03:03 PM Great Aunt Sue/Godmother
What a joy to visit the twins on their one month birth anniversary! Of course, they are the cutest and brightest kids in the NICU! Today they learned a new trick - Charlton would take a dip on his oxygen levels and then rebound and Savannah, not to be out done, would take a dip and then recover. I think they like to keep the staff on their toes and make the alarm bells ring. Sitting in between them and observing the action is like watching a tennis match in a Vegas Casino. Seriously, it is a bit unnerving - but they are being cared for by an excellent staff - and we are grateful. Got to go - time to play "animals" with Ashley.

Charlton: The doctor decided to extubate him this afternoon and put him on the C.P.A.P. The first blood gas numbers did not look good so they added a Nasal Inv., which they said is helping him. I guess only time will tell to see how this works out for him.
They stopped his feedings to give him some time to adjust to the new equipment and will start them again a little later in the day.

Savannah: She has being doing ok on the C.P.A.P, but are starting to notice a trend with her Apnea. Her saturation levels really drop after she eats because of the food and all the air from the C.P.A.P that stays in her stomach. She is continuing to be fed a 6 ML every 3 hours over a 2 hour period.

Charlton: His chest x-ray this morning still did not look that great, however, the doctor still wants to try to extubate him today. The doctor feels that the problems he is having may be caused by the intubation tube in his chest. At this time they still have not extubated him, but we think they will later tonight or possible tomorrow morning. We are really hoping/praying that the 3rd time will be the charm. Once he is extubated he will be put on C.P.A.P again.

They have increased his feedings to 5 ml every hour. He now weighs 1 lb. 12 oz. Only four more to go until he reaches his 2 lb. milestone.

They also gave him a binky/pacifier today, which he really seemed to enjoy. (see new pics.)

Savannah: She continues to amaze us by how well she is doing. We learned some new information today on her status which showed us how strong she really is. A while back I mentioned that she had an infection just after her birth. It turned out that the infection was life threatening and that the doctors really did not expect her to survive it. In addition, the infection could have led to Meningitis. They informed us that they did a spinal tap on her today for Meningitis and this came back negative.

She is not gaining as much as Charlton, but they have increased her feedings today to be 5 ml every hour as well.

She weighs 1 lb. 11 oz

We had a very nice visit with the babies today and are still currently at the hospital since this morning. We also found a local park in Chatam, NJ that Ashley really enjoyed.

CJ: He seemed to be resting peacefully for most of the day and still has his ups and downs with the vent. He is still on his feedings and is slowly gaining weight.

Savannah: She has also been resting peacefully today and continues to do well on her C.P.A.P. Her brain ultrasound was done this morning and showed that she is still at a level 3 bleed. They are also checking to make sure that no water appears on the brain or else they would need to put in a shunt. Luckily it appears that no water is on the brain. They will continue to check for the next 6 weeks or so to make sure it does not develop.

They have also increased her feedings again and she now weighs, 1lb 11oz.

Both babies were re-checked for a disease called CAH, which came back as negative so we were very pleased with that. They were also checked for Cystic Fibrosis which also came back as negative, another good thing.