As we've come to find out, white males typically do not perform very well in the NICU. They don't eat well, they don't grow very well and are generally outperformed by their female counterparts. White males have apparently done so poorly in their NICU stays that they have earned themselves a nickname - Wimpy White Boys. Well, I am proud to say that my boy, Jack William, is an exception to the rule! Not only is he doing well, he is outperforming all four of the girls. He is the first four pounder, weighing in at 4 pounds, 2.5 ounces, he is the first one to be moved out of an isolette and into a regular crib, and if he keeps it up, he is likely to be the first one we get to bring home! Go Jack!!
Though she is nowhere near as well off as Jack, Brooklyn is doing the best of all the girls. Ok, I may have exaggerated just a bit with that statement. Truth be told, Brooklyn is a close second to Jack's supremacy. She was moved out of her isolette today and will stay in a crib if she can do well with the change. She weighs in now at 3 pounds, 12.6 ounces.
Britton continues to be the baby of the bunch weighing in at only 2 pounds 12.3 ounces. The doctors are a little concerned that she hasn't been gaining much weight so they are increasing her calories and monitoring her red blood cell and platelet count. It probably doesn't help her weight gain that she is still the diva of the bunch. She spends much more time than the rest letting the nurses know about every little discomfort she experiences, of which there are many! I do not believe it will be necessary, but if she does not start picking up the pace, they are considering doing a blood transfusion to get her red blood cell count to pick up. Other than that, she is doing very well in all categories. Please pray for her to respond to the increase in calories and to begin growing faster! A bit of good news on Britton is that she is no longer on any oxygen support which means one less cord strapped to her face...yeah!
We have wonderful news on Lila's and Ryan's hearts - they double checked the PDA's that they had with great results! Lila's PDA was completely gone and Ryan's was classified as "trivial." Thank you to all who prayed for their little hearts to be healed!!! Both are growing well - Lila weighs 3 pounds, 2.4 ounces and Ryan weighs 3 pounds, 8.2 ounces. Lila has been removed from oxygen support, but Ryan will be on it for a few more days at least.
Four of the babies can now be held by grandparents as they can now maintain a good body temperature while bundled outside of their isolettes. Britton still can only be held skin-to-skin by me or Casey. Eliot has now held Jack and Britton while Grandma Stevie has held Ryan, Jack, and Brooklyn (that is Jack that Eliot is holding and Ryan that Grandma Stevie is holding in the pictures). All of the babies had a second cerebral ultrasound to check for problems with their brains and they found no issues whatsoever!! They will all undergo an MRI before they go home as one last check for any complications that may lead to long term developmental problems.
As of yesterday, the babies are one month old and continue to impress all of the doctors and nurses in the NICU. We expect that Jack will come home in the next 2-3 weeks and the rest will be home shortly after that. Then the real fun will begin!
God Bless,
Ethan
http://www.joneslife.net/
Though she is nowhere near as well off as Jack, Brooklyn is doing the best of all the girls. Ok, I may have exaggerated just a bit with that statement. Truth be told, Brooklyn is a close second to Jack's supremacy. She was moved out of her isolette today and will stay in a crib if she can do well with the change. She weighs in now at 3 pounds, 12.6 ounces.
Britton continues to be the baby of the bunch weighing in at only 2 pounds 12.3 ounces. The doctors are a little concerned that she hasn't been gaining much weight so they are increasing her calories and monitoring her red blood cell and platelet count. It probably doesn't help her weight gain that she is still the diva of the bunch. She spends much more time than the rest letting the nurses know about every little discomfort she experiences, of which there are many! I do not believe it will be necessary, but if she does not start picking up the pace, they are considering doing a blood transfusion to get her red blood cell count to pick up. Other than that, she is doing very well in all categories. Please pray for her to respond to the increase in calories and to begin growing faster! A bit of good news on Britton is that she is no longer on any oxygen support which means one less cord strapped to her face...yeah!
We have wonderful news on Lila's and Ryan's hearts - they double checked the PDA's that they had with great results! Lila's PDA was completely gone and Ryan's was classified as "trivial." Thank you to all who prayed for their little hearts to be healed!!! Both are growing well - Lila weighs 3 pounds, 2.4 ounces and Ryan weighs 3 pounds, 8.2 ounces. Lila has been removed from oxygen support, but Ryan will be on it for a few more days at least.
Four of the babies can now be held by grandparents as they can now maintain a good body temperature while bundled outside of their isolettes. Britton still can only be held skin-to-skin by me or Casey. Eliot has now held Jack and Britton while Grandma Stevie has held Ryan, Jack, and Brooklyn (that is Jack that Eliot is holding and Ryan that Grandma Stevie is holding in the pictures). All of the babies had a second cerebral ultrasound to check for problems with their brains and they found no issues whatsoever!! They will all undergo an MRI before they go home as one last check for any complications that may lead to long term developmental problems.
As of yesterday, the babies are one month old and continue to impress all of the doctors and nurses in the NICU. We expect that Jack will come home in the next 2-3 weeks and the rest will be home shortly after that. Then the real fun will begin!
God Bless,
Ethan
http://www.joneslife.net/
Oh, one more thing. Someone asked why Eliot was allowed to go into the NICU. Seton allows siblings of any age to go into the NICU once they have been checked by the nurses to be certain they do not have any sniffling, coughs, etc. We are so grateful that Eliot has been able to experience the NICU with us!!
3 comments:
Wow! The babies are doing great! That is wonderful about their PDA's & open cribs! Our little girl that had the PDA surgery also had to have 3 transfusions! She improved so much after she had them! That is wonderful that big sister gets to go in the NICU. At our NICU they couldn't go in until after RSV season, so the first month big sister didn't get to see them.
Shelley
Wow Ethan. That is all awesome news!! I can't believe Jack is that big already. I guess I have no idea how fast preemies grow- but... he weighs close to what my step-daughter weighed born at 36 weeks. So that's really great!
I will pray for Britton to gain weight if you'll pray for me to lose some. Casey is my new inspiration and I've been trying to literally work my butt off. ;)
Praise God!!! What an awesome report! We'll be praying specifically for Britton, that her body will be nourished and she will start gaining weight!
Jack can't be a whimpy white boy with all his sisters to contend with!!
My youngest boy, Hayden, was born at 39 weeks via c/s and he was a whimpy white boy - he spent 8 days in the NICU due to breathing issues. Go Jack go!
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