July 3,2012

Happy early 4th of July!

Aryiah now weighs 4lbs 7oz and Lily is over 3 lbs, We do not have Lily's exact weight because she was sleeping so soundly that the nurses did not want to disturb her.

 Lily is now off of oxygen and had her UB line removed today. We get to give her a bath tomorrow! I am so excited I cannot sleep!

Aryiah is a little bit behind her sister in her feedings. She is not progressing as fast as Lily. We thought that this was odd because we assumed that out of the two, Lily would be the one to progress at a slower pace. We assumed this because Lily was the smaller of the two. We were wrong. The doctor told us that this was actually quite common to have the smaller twin progress more rapidly than the bigger one. Aryiah was having irregular hear rhythms and because of this they put a PICC line in her leg.

"A PICC line is, by definition and per its acronym, a peripherally inserted central catheter. It is long, slender, small, flexible tube that is inserted into a peripheral vein, typically in the upper arm, and advanced until the catheter tip terminates in a large vein in the chest near the heart to obtain intravenous access. It is similar to other central lines as it terminates into a large vessel near the heart. .
A PICC line provides the best of both worlds concerning venous access. Similar to a standard IV, it is inserted in the arm, and usually in the upper arm under the benefits of ultrasound visualization. Also, PICCs differ from peripheral IV access but similar to central lines in that a PICCs termination point is centrally located in the body allowing for treatment that could not be obtained from standard periphery IV access. In addition, PICC insertions are less invasive, have decreased complication risk associated with them, and remain for a much longer duration than other central or periphery access devices.
Using ultrasound technology to visualize a deep, large vessel in the upper arm, the PICC catheter is inserted by a specially trained and certified PICC nurse specialist.
A PICC line may requested for a variety of treatment options which include some of the following:
-Prolonged IV antibiotic treatment;
-IV access obtainable by less invasive and longer lasting methods;
-Multiple accesses obtainable with one access line;
-TPN Nutrition;
-Chemotherapy;;
-IV access related to physiological factors; and
-Home or sub-acute discharge for extended treatment."

http://picclinenursing.com/picc_why.html

 

 They are monitoring  her heart to see if either there is something wrong  with it or if her heart is still developing and working itself out.

We met with their physical therapist today-yes preemies have physical therapists! I had no idea. She taught us some calming massages to use on the girls that work like a charm! The therapist mentioned that Aryiah is a little bit more irritable and more easily startled than Lily.

I have been working on my milk production more aggressively now that the girls are getting bigger. It is hard to want your body to do something when it is doing another. They girls are starting to intake more than my output so we have opted to use both my milk and donor breast milk. 

Nate is doing well. He loves holding the babies every chance he gets. He is lucky to have the job he has. He is able to work from here. It is such a blessing to have that set in place so that we are able to focus our energies towards our new little family. 

We miss everyone and hope all is going well! I will write more tomorrow :)