10 days old

At least, they were 10 days old yesterday, which is the information I'm posting....

On Monday, Tuesday and again yesterday, Charlotte seemed really lethargic. She was sleeping nearly every moment and she hardly reacted when someone would mess with her to change a diaper or give her attention. We've been starting to get a little concerned about it but the staff said that part of it was that she was taken off the caffeine (which helps stimulate their little nervous systems) and they didn't see any signs that she was fighting anything so they'd keep an eye on it. At the same time, she started having more and more dsats (where her breathing, heart rate or oxygen saturation drops) that needed the nurse to pat her or move her in some way so she would remember to start breathing again. Good thing for those monitors! Yesterday she had stopped breathing 8 times when we arrived and several more while we were there so they decided to put her back on the cannula to give her a break from working so hard. Then she had a few more dsats so they put her back on the caffeine. Again, they tell us this is nothing to worry about - it's all part of the path that's expected from babies this small.

Lilah's breathing is still outstanding thanks to the surfactant and she hasn't had a dsat in over 5 days. She and her sister are neck-and-neck in accomplishments, which is pretty much what I'd expect for the rest of their lives!

Charlotte is now eating a grand total of 5 oz of milk and formula supplement a day and they've taken her off the iv fat and assorted fluids. Before they put the next batch in her feeding tube, they draw out whatever residual is left from the last feeding so they know if it is all getting processed. Charlotte has had quite a bit of residual lately so yesterday they only fed her the difference until she starts digesting it all better. Lilah is up to 2 oz a day and well on her way to milk/formula only. Both of them still get bumped up by 1 mL every 8 hours and both are back at their birth weights!

**Update: I just got a call that Charlotte has had a bad time of it since we left last night, so they're running additional tests like drawing labs, taking x-rays of her abdomen and doing a spinal tap. My poor little girl! we'll know more when we get there this afternoon but right now I'm trying not to cry.... It's the first time we've had a call from the hospital and my heart dropped when I heard who it was. I was so hoping little Charlotte would pull out of it on her own.

I'll post more this evening so you're not left hanging.