partial story

I've had a few questions...so just to clarify...

I started the voicemail updating thing before I announced it here on blogger so if my daily updates don't make sense it's because I'm not telling the whole story every time...just simply updating on that particular day from where I left off they day before. I did this mostly for my family because I don't even have time to talk to all of them every day and obviously they are anxious to hear about the boys. But I figured I'd let you guys know too. So if you are interested, feel free to call my cell phone on a daily basis mid-day to get an update on the boys. I probably won't hear my phone ring anyway because I don't have cell phone reception while in the NICU and since that's where I spend pretty much my entire day, well, my phone is likely to go straight to voicemail.

To give a brief background, however so things might make a bit more sense, Everett was being treated for something called Necrotizing Enterocolitis. Visit http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/digestive/nec.html if you want to know what it is. He had some of the telltale signs of the disease though they don't know 100% if he had it or not. Other than that, both Oliver and Everett are in the NICU at this point mainly until they can eat on their own instead of thru the Nasogastric tube (aka NG tube). Apparently being born 6 weeks early means that babies aren't necessarily skilled at breathing, sucking, and swallowing at the same time. And even though my babies can do this now, they get worn out easily so they can't usually complete a whole feeding on their own without being supplemented thru the NG tube.

In order to go home (assuming no other major problems arise) there are a few main things that the boys need to accomplish. They need to be able to eat every 3 hours on their own either thru breastfeeding or bottle (not quite there yet...Everett is at 3 oral feeding attempts a day and Oliver is at 5, but like I said, they can't usually complete a whole feeding). They need to eat enough to continually gain weight (no problem there...though the real test will come once they are eating completely on their own without the NG). They need to continually keep up their body temperatures on their own (Oliver tends to run a little cold sometimes). And they need to not have any "events" meaning that their heart rates, blood oxygenation, and respiratory rate need to remain stable before they can be discharged (they usually do fine but have had an occasional episode here and there).

Thanks for the questions and I hope this clarifies things a bit. I'll try to give a more thorough update on my labor, delivery, and the boy's time in the NICU at a later time...not promising it will be super soon though.