Today has been a good day overall.
Tycen is still on CPAP :( We were really hoping the doctor would say that today is the day he can come off of it...he has done VERY well on level 4 for the past 24 hours (including when I held him for about 30-40 minutes off of CPAP). The doctor would like to keep him on for a "few" more days (when I asked him to clarify he said, about 1 to 6 days...ah, much clearer :) ...I guess he doesn't want to get our hopes up) because they are starting him on a 3 hour feeding schedule, which can sometimes affect their respiratory system.
Now that both babies are on a 3 hour feeding schedule, we get to do hands-on every 3 hours instead of every 4 hours :) Tycen is now 2.5 hours on and 0.5 hours off feeds and Shaylie is now 1 hour on and 2 hours off. They are getting closer and closer to a true feeding schedule!
We found out today that the babies have to get their first eye exam early tomorrow morning to screen for ROP (retinopathy of prematurity). It is routine for babies to get their eyes checked at about 4 weeks of life, then every 2 weeks after that until they are discharged or until they no longer are showing retinal prematurity. I tried to delay this first exam because I had heard from the nurses that it is a very stressful event for the babies. I guess the opthamologist has to open their eyes very wide with a clamp and hold them in place for the exam, which can all be painful. When I discussed this with the doctor, he made it seem like it wasn't as bad as the nurses had told me and strongly recommended they have it done tomorrow. I decided to trust his judgement on this one, but of course I am still very sad that they have to go through this.
**Please pray for our babies eye exams tomorrow. Pray that they will not have any pain/discomfort and that the exam will be quick. I plan to be there with them and I hope that they will get comfort in my being there and that I can hold them afterward and make them feel much better. Also pray that their results will be completely normal.
17 years ago
