Nov. 20, 2010 - They have made it 72 Hours

The first milestone has been reached today at 3:00 PM. Both boys have made it through the first 72 hours of there lives. Overall it was a good day! We just got back from visiting with Nick and Jenni, we didn't get a chance to see the kids but that's OK, we got caught up on everything going on from the parents(it was our choice not to go see the boys and let them rest). Kooper is still making slow steady progress. They have turned down his oxygen concentration from 100% to around 60%. He is still on the ventilator, but they changed him to a different ventilator yesterday. This ventilator doesn't force air in and out of his lungs as the old one did, it is more of a fluttering. The advantages of this ventilator is that he can be on it longer if needed. Both boys are still making plenty of urine, which is a great sign, and they are both on caffeine, which is what we use to call "The Mountain Dew" when Carly was in the NICU. The caffeine is to help reduce bradycardia(slow heart beat) and apnea(not breathing), by stimulating the brain.  Garrett is continuing to do well on the C-Pap machine. Jenni got to touch Garret today for the first time, she also got to hear his squeaky little cry for the first time as well. His weight is down to 1 lb - 7.3 oz, which is expected as every baby looses a little bit of weight after they are born, and his head measures 9 inches in circumference, the same size as a baseball.

Nick and Jenni are excited to go home tomorrow. Jenni plans on resting at home for a few days while she can and while Nick returns back to work. Then they plan to stay at the Ronald McDonald house once they are able to have more physical contact with the boys. They have been happy to celebrate the little milestones and look forward to celebrating many more in the future. BUT as the doctors keep reminding them, this is not a sprint it is a marathon, and there will be good days and there will be bad days. Right now there have been more good days than bad days and we are hoping/planning on keeping it that way. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and comments.

P.S. - If anyone has or knows of someone who has preemie car seats that they could borough or buy please let me or them know. Probably won't need them for a while, but eventually they will.