Ethan has become a complete rock star in his new Loma Linda NICU home . . . we arrived at the hospital on Friday afternoon (Day 3) to see that all of Ethan's breathing assistance had been removed and he was managing it all on his own! He seems to have conquered his respiratory issues and has maintained fantastic breaths per minute and oxygen levels for going on 36 hours now. He was doing so well yesterday that we were able to initiate bottle feedings which was obviously a great milestone . . . I was able to feed him 8 cc's in his first feeding and he has definitely become a little food monster in each of his subsequent feedings which happen every three hours. Adam and I alternate feeding him and he even topped out at over 20 cc's in one of his feedings today. He has to achieve a consistent 45 cc's plus to be discharged from the NICU, so it's pretty amazing to think that he's achieved half of that a few times in just his first 24 hours of feeding! The most satisfying part of the last couple of days is just how peaceful and alert Ethan has become . . . now that he's breating comfortably and eating, he is sleeping like a champ and has even started to fill some diapers (which the nurses are all too happy to "allow" us to change). He stared at Adam for well over half of the 30 minute feeding time today and it's clear he's starting to become aware of his surroundings . . . he graducated this afternoon to holding onto his Daddies' fingers and craning his neck to see whomever is talking to him - all very, very satisfying, especially considering Ethan originally seemed to be the more distressed of the two boys. Ethan seems to have his sights set on experiencing life at the Hilton San Bernardino and we'll readily have him with us when he hits his target.
Noel has definitely had the longer, tougher journey . . . early on Friday morning, after a night of heightened breathing difficulties, the MDs made the decision to re-intubate Noel so that he could relax and expend less energy trying to breathe. After intubating him, they also issued a second dose of the Curaserf to aid his lung development. To compound matters, Noel also received a blood transfusion in the late Friday evening to aid in the circulation of oxygen and his antibiotics . . . he was just too small to produce enough new blood to replace the blood that they'd been removing to monitor his levels. Now that we're a good 36 hours past these collective decisions, we're happy to report that they seem to be paying off and Noel has had a very encouraging Saturday afternoon . . . he was extubated mid-morning today and his levels have looked encouraging since the extubation. He's still receiving breathing assistance, but his breathing is clearly much more relaxed and his oxygen levels look great. His numbers even looked good enough for him to have his first bottle feeding . . . Adam fed him 4 cc's of formula today at 3 pm and he'll now receive feeding every 3 hours as he starts the same climb towards a consistent 45 cc's plus. Noel is definitely on the road to standing on his own and he's visually a completely different baby today . . . calmer and much more comfortable given that he's not being poked and prodded every hour. Adam and I have each taken 2 hours to simply hold Noel against our chest and its been amazing to see how much his monitoring improves during that time . . . we know that its not best for him for us to hold him 24 hours a day, but all of the nurses have advised us that 2 hours/day with his ear to our heartbeat goes a very long way towards helping a premature baby fight their way through respiratory issues . . . its nice that something we've enjoyed so much has done so much good for Noel. Today was the first time we really saw Noel gain alertness and we're looking forward to watching that improve with each day.
This journey has definitely not been the one we expected, but they boys are standing pretty strong as we work through their fifth day and we're remaining very patient, as we can't be sure their progress will continue at today's fantastic pace. The staff at the hospital has been amazing and we continue to feel that we are in incredibly competent, intelligent, and supportive hands. Ethan and Noel are BIG hits with the nursing staff and we've had three different nurses ask to be their "primary" nurses when they are on duty . . . that obviously sits very well with us, as we've had great consistency in the care the boys have received.
I know that everyone is as curious as we are as to how long we will be out here and when we'll be coming home . . . the honest answer is that we just don't know yet . . . it certainly seems that Ethan is on his way to being discharged within 5-7 days assuming he continues to improve his food consumption . . . our best guess is that Noel is tracking 3-5 days behind Ethan, but that is truly just a guess from the MDs based on current state . . . if that comes to be the case, we'll likely leave California within a day or two of Noel's discharge, so I think the best case scenario is in the 10 -12 day range.
Love to everyone,
Bruce and Adam
P.S. Closing this one with our first official videos of Ethan and Noel, made early on Day 3 . . . super cute!!
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