thetadpoles.com

The mommy is going back to work. On one hand I am kind of excited. It has been 10 weeks since everything started and I feel it will be good for me to start doing “normal” things again. On the other hand I wont be able to spend long stretches with my babies like I did before. I have a laundry list of pros and cons of going back to work. High on my pro list is keeping my medical insurance current. Working at the hospital definitely has some benefits and the little ones are taking advantage of them. The con part is I am starting on nights. I have never worked night shift before so we well see how the next 3 nights go. The mommy might turn into a snarling zombie, daddy better watch out. Then there is the pro, I can run down to check on the babies throughout the night (I am on the 5th floor and the babies are on the 3rd.). Babies can soothe the savage beast.

Yesterday was bittersweet. I’ll start with the good. Derby got his first binker. He likes it but has a hard time keeping it in his mouth. They cut down the top to fit with his breathing tube. The surgeon was in yesterday morning and they were talking about reattaching Derby’s intestines in about 4 weeks. Derby weighed in at 4 lbs 5 oz but they think that is some water weight so I wont be surprised if he is lighter tonight. Loen is fluttering in the low 3 pound range (3lbs 4oz). Both of the twins had their feeding amount increased. The doctor felt the reason Loen hasn’t been able to stay off the vent is her size. If she were a little heavier and her bones a little stronger it would be easier for her to expand her rib cage to breathe. So we just need to wait for her to grow some more. They are still talking about trying them both off the vents this weekend.

They had their eye exams yesterday morning. Loen has had some “crud” in her eye for the last couple of days. He thinks she has a partially clogged tear duct but they will not do anything about it. Her retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) has progressed to stage 2 in both eyes, Derby is now stage 1 in both of his eyes. They will keep moitoring it weekly. If it progresses they may have to do laser surgery on their eyes. Dr. Barkley said because of their extreme prematurity he thought their ROP would be worse than it was. That didn’t make me feel any better. Then we discussed their lungs. Because of their prematurity and the fact they have been on the vent for 8 weeks now they both have chronic lung disease. What that will mean when they are older we dont know. He said that a lot of 24 weekers that were treated in the same manner as ours are around 5 years old, so there isnt a lot known concerning long term effects. I have heard that a lot in the NICU when you ask for statistics. The numbers they give you could be from babies that were born 10 years ago and neonatal medicine has advanced since then. Which means Loen and Derby will be a statistic of some form when they are older. I hate thinking about this kind of stuff. I look at them and they are so beautiful. I don’t want to think long term problems, I figure we will just cross that bridge when the time comes. Tadd is the more realistic one between us and looks at the big picture.

I cant believe Christmas is almost here.