Two Peas in a Pod

At last Madison and Kaitlyn are together! Madison is still testing positive for VRE. The new development is that Kaitlyn has now also tested positive for it, and therefore was moved into contact isolation. They decided to put both girls into the same crib, so as of their 11 week birthday, they now share a crib and isolation room.






It's been a long wait for Mommy and Daddy to hold both girls together! Happy Day!

Kangaroo Care

Madison and Kaitlyn continued to do well with Mommy and Daddy holding them, so they advanced to Kangaroo Care a few weeks ago. This is where Mommy and Daddy do skin-to-skin contact with the girls. Many studies have shown that Kangaroo Care has a very positive impact on babies (and their parents).

9 weeks old on 4th of July!

Madison and Kaitlyn turn 9 weeks old on July 4. This also would have been the week the doctor would have taken them by c-section (July 2... ~32 weeks) had they not needed to be delivered in May.

There have been several ups and downs since the last post on Father's Day, but all-in-all, they have both made wonderful progress. Madison remains in contact isolation, but no lab tests have come back showing VRE presence. It's a tricky bug to understand, but most likely they will err on the side of caution and keep her in isolation until she goes home.

Both girls have had good developments with their breathing and moved from the ventilator to the nasal CPAP to the high-flow nasal cannula. The high-flow nasal cannula is another device to provide continuous positive airway pressure, but it requires the baby's lungs to be a little stronger where they are breathing on their own. With the nasal CPAP, it almost looks like a little viking helmet (and it doesn't look too comfortable). There is an adhesive over the babies nose which holds tight fitting plastic prongs in place in the baby's nose. With the nasal cannula, it is a less restricting fit, as it is just small rubber tubes placed in the nose.

Madison was put back on the ventilator for a couple days last week after some difficulty stabilizing her breathing after a night with several d-sats. Apparently she just needed a little rest, as within 2 days, she bypassed the CPAP and was moved straight back to the high-flow nasal cannula.

Both girls have continued to progress with their breast milk feedings. Just this week, Kaitlyn was finally taken off TPN.

Kaitlyn now weighs 2 lb 14 oz, and Madison still leads the race at a whopping 3 lb, 1 oz.

Nasal CPAP ("viking helmet")



High-flow nasal cannula



Daddy holds Madison




Mommy looks SO happy. :o)

Increased holding time for Mommy and Daddy

Mommy and Daddy have started holding Madison and Kaitlyn on a regular occurrence, and they were able to start Kangaroo Care this week (the parent gets to hold the baby on a bare skin chest).


Daddy puts his scrapbooking skills to work for Madison.



Mommy holds a pacifier in Madison's mouth while she is on the CPAP.



Daddy holds Kaitlyn after she was moved to the high-flow nasal cannula.