60 Days Old!!

Today the twins are 60 days old! Gantt continues to do well and he has his 2-month check up this week. Brett is doing a little better every day. Today his oxygen was at 36%, and the doctors are talking about beginning to "challenge" him a little more with his breathing. That means turning down the settings some on the ventilator and seeing how he will tolerate it. Tonight he did not do so well, so they turned it back up, but not quite as high as it was before, so he is still making some progress. The goal for this is to get him back on a conventional ventilator - two reasons, one is that they are more familiar with the conventional kind, and the other is that he does not have to be quite as sedated on the conventional kind. Of course as little sedation as possible is best, and that way he could also move around more, and that's good for his body as well. He continues to release the fluids the way that we want, and today he was back down to about 8 1/2 pounds. At one point he had gotten over 9 1/2 pounds because of retaining all the extra fluid. 

Also, now that it's 10 days post-op, his surgeon gave the OK to start feeds again! He is on continuous feeds of maternal breast milk at 1 mL per hour. They started this afternoon and he has tolerated it well so far the couple of hours he's been on it. Tomorrow we have the meeting with the doctors.

Today was Mark's last day of kindergarten.  I made it through the "celebration" with minimal crying! I must brag on him a little. On his standardized tests he scored very well.  What I am most proud of, though, is his score on Bible assessment. A score of 565 or above is considered advanced on Biblical knowledge, and Mark scored a 633! This means "exceptional mastery of biblical facts and principles with a strong understanding of how to apply them." We pray that Mark continues to grow in his knowledge of the Bible and in his relationship with the Lord. We are so proud of what he has accomplished this year at school. 

Nine days post-op now. Brett has done a little better each day on the high-frequency ventilator. We've seen the oxygen percentage decrease while his oxygen saturation increases, and that is what needs to happen for him to be able to be free of the machine. Just last Monday, Memorial Day, he was on 100% oxygen. As of yesterday he was down to 37%, and he is doing a lot of the breathing on his own. We and the doctors are very encouraged by his progress. He has responded well to the diuretic medication they have given him to help him release all the extra fluids his body was retaining from the surgery, so he is looking a little more like himself now. Yesterday I (Jennifer) saw him open his eyes and look around for the first time since May 21.It also was the first time since his surgery I have been able to see his chest rising and falling from breath.  He is still on a continuous morphine drip, but instead of giving him additional morphine doses, they have changed to a different pain medication that is keeping him comfortable but doesn't leave him completely sedated. He is now stirring around more. He still does experience a lot of pain, but that is to be expected with all he is going through, and they try to keep it under control. 

He still gets chest physical therapy and has his lungs suctioned out several times a day. Right now he is in a more stable place than last week. There are no more surgeries or procedures that must happen before he comes home. However, that still may take a long time. We are talking with the doctors on Tuesday to discuss what things Brett needs to accomplish before he can come home. Probably he will be at UNC a few more months, but we will see.

Gantt continues to do well. He is such an agreeable baby and he is such a joy to have. With all the additional stress of having Brett sick in the hospital, it is a blessing to have Gantt be a low-maintenance and good tempered baby. He is just happy. 

Rob and I have been able to get a lot more sleep for the past few days because G.G. (my mom) came to visit. She got up with Gantt for 4 nights! It is amazing how much better a little rest can make you feel. 

We had Mark's 6th birthday party yesterday with kids from his class at school. Tomorrow is Mark's last day of Kindergarten and he is out for the summer. We are keeping him busy with fun day camps through the summer while looking forward to first grade. No vacations this year...we're counting on everyone being well enough to go next year though!