Our Little Fighters

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the last 2 weeks, it’s that our babies sure are fighters.  Aryanna lets the whole world know this.  Almost anytime we have a new nurse they tell us “I’ve heard she’s feisty.”  Word gets around!  Anthony doesn’t have the same reputation his sister does but he keeps progressing despite all the obstacles he’s facing.  Here’s what they’ve been up to the past couple of days.

Anthony

The most exciting news is that Anthony came off the ventilator yesterday and has been doing well on the RAM CPAP!  He’s breathing pretty fast, but his blood gases have been good so it’s not affecting him.  He also came off the bili lights so we finally get to see that sweet face!  I realize I’m biased, but he’s such a handsome little guy.  Between getting all of the equipment off his face and getting the IV out of his arm that they had used for his blood transfusion, he’s been moving around a lot more, which is so nice to see.

Today he had another brain scan, which showed that the bleeding on the left side of his brain that had been a grade 4 is now a grade 1 and that the right side is still a 3 to 4.  We’re grateful that the left side is looking better, but there are still a lot of unknowns.  We basically won’t know how the bleeding will have affected his brain until he starts developing more.  We’ll have to wait and see if he crawls, walks, talks, etc when he’s supposed to.  It will be a long road and require lots of patience, but we know we serve a big God and we continue to trust that he has good plans for our precious Anthony.  The doctors will continue to check his brain scans weekly to make sure he doesn’t develop any swelling as a result of the bleeding.  He also still has the heart murmur, but he’s not having any symptoms (his digestion, breathing, and blood pressure are still good) so they’re not looking at doing surgery yet.  We’re so grateful that despite all of these obstacles he continues to be stable and move forward.  His feedings are up, too—8 ml every 3 hours—way to go buddy!

Our handsome little guy

Love seeing his eyes now that his goggles are off

Aryanna

Aryanna keeps trucking along.  Her feedings are up to 10 ml every 3 hours and she has exceeded her birth weight.  She now weights 2 lbs. 7 oz.  She is back on the RAM CPAP like Anthony.  She was doing fine on the Vapotherm, but the doctors decided in a meeting the other day that any babies under 32 weeks should be on the RAM CPAP to improve their long-term outcome.  So we’re guessing  that once she’s 32 weeks (next Thursday already!) she’ll go back to the Vapotherm.  They also heard a faint heart murmur this morning, but nothing to be concerned about right now.  If it does become an issue she should be able to take the medicine since she doesn’t have a brain bleed.  She continues to make us laugh with all her funny faces!

Thank you again for all the love and prayers!  We’re so grateful for all the wonderful people in our lives!

Doesn't she look cozy?

Love those smiles!

Hanging out with Anthony & Aryanna