Two Little Hensons

Anna Claire and Charlie are now 3 weeks old!!!  They are doing so well.  Yesterday after church, we went to the hospital and Devin got to feed Charlie a bottle.  It took him a little while to get figure it out, but he did ok.  He eats 23 mL each feeding and he ate about 13 mL through the bottle.  They fed him the rest through his feeding tube.  (To put this into perspective – 1 ounce is 30 mL.)  We are going to try one bottle a day and see how he does.  Hopefully Anna Claire will be able to have a bottle soon.  They are both now only on clear fluids through their IV’s.  Soon they should be able to get rid of the IV’s.  Here are some pictures from this week. 

Day 18 and Anna Claire is OFF OF THE LIGHTS!!  Woo Hoo!  Therefore, she get’s to wear clothes.  Isn’t she so cute?  As one of the nurses said, she looks like an Easter egg! 🙂

AND…Charlie has reached the 3 pound mark – actually 3 lbs 2 oz!!  Here’s a cute picture of him just hanging out.

Charlie and Anna Claire are two weeks old now.  (As far as the NICU is concerned, they are 33 weeks – they pay attention to gestational age.)  Here’s the first picture we have of just the two of them together.  Aren’t they precious??

Here’s a picture of Devin changing Charlie’s diaper.

Updates:  Charlie is doing much better with his feedings.  He is having less residual left over on his tummy every day.  He is now eating 9 cc’s every 3 hours.  He was unfortunately having several “episodes” today where he was forgetting to breathe, so they raised his “flow” in his nose to 2 liters instead of 1 liter.  Other than that, all is well.  He is now 1313 grams – which is 2lbs 14oz. 

Anna Claire is doing well with her feeds.  She is now eating 2.6 cc’s every hour.   She is still doing great breathing room air.  Unfortunately, she is still under those lights.  I can’t imagine having to wear a mask and lie under really bright lights all day long.  She’s a trooper though.  Her billy level is 4.1, so hopefully sometime in the next couple days she will be able to be taken off of them.  Other than that, all is well with her.  She is now 2lbs 7oz.

Here are a few pictures of their room. 

Today was a big day.  Anna Claire has been doing so well with her breathing that they took the oxygen tube out of her nose.  They were giving her 1 liter of “flow” to make it easier for her to breathe.  It is so nice to have all of that tape off her face.  They have also increased her continuous feed from .2 cc an hour to 1 cc an hour.  She gained 12 grams since yesterday.  Her bilirubin level is 5.4, so she is still under the lights. 

Anna Claire – notice she doesn’t have the oxygen tube in her nose

Charlie is in big boy clothes now! (actually they are the smallest little clothes you have ever seen).  His bilirubin level is low enough to turn off the lights.  He is still on 1 liter of flow to make it easier for him to breathe.  His feeding was increased from .5 cc in 3 hours to 2 cc in 3 hours.

Devin holding Charlie – doesn’t he look cute in his big boy clothes?

We are so excited about their progress.  They had brain scans yesterday and everything came back normal. 

I went to the doctor today and everything was great.  My incision is healing nicely and the doctor told me I can start driving next week!!  Yay!  Thanks to our friend Jeffrey, my grandparents, and Devin’s dad, we have worked out transportation for me this week – which I really appreciate!!  I have to go back in 4 weeks for another checkup. 

That’s about all for now.  Check back for more updates soon! 🙂