Twin Rivalry

4/18/10

So, I think our twins are already having sibling rivalry. Last night, Cade had a very rough night, and then, today Camdyn decided she needed the attention.

Cade was back up to 100% oxygen needs last night. Jimmy and I decided we needed to go up to the hospital last night at 1:00 AM. They weren't able to get his oxygen down. We arrived at 1:30 AM. It was very hard watching him struggle. At one point, they had to bag him which means they had to use the air pump bag to breathe for him. They then raised the settings on his ventilator and he was able to slowly come down on his oxygen. It's so scary to sit there watching your baby struggle to breathe and not be able to do anything for him. All you can do is sit there and pray really hard and have faith that God will give the doctors the wisdom to help him. Luckily, he was able to come down on his oxygen needs. We finally left the hospital at 4:30 AM and got home at 5:00 AM. We finally went to sleep for the night at 5:00 AM. As you can imagine, we are very tired.

Today, Cade was doing much, much better. His oxygen needs were around 45-55%. So, he has been doing great today.

But, Camdyn decided she needed some attention today. X-rays showed that her right lung had again collapsed, so her oxygen needs went up to 90%. They just did respiratory therapy, and now her needs are dropping and she seems to be doing better. They are going to keep trying to wean her tonight. It appears that her lung has opened back up, but they are waiting to do an X-ray until later. They try to only do X-rays when they really need them. So, we are happy to see that it looks like things are going in the right direction for her.

All the doctors we have talked to have told us to expect several ups and downs, but it does not get any easier. If we aren't worrying about one, then we are worrying about the other one. And, although much of this is expected for babies as little as ours that doesn't make it any easier to handle when it is your baby. So, we will continue to pray for strength for our babies and strength for us to get through this.

On the good side, both babies are now feeding and digesting well. They both have gone up from getting .2 ml to .5 ml to .6 ml to now 1 ml every 3 hours. This is a big step even though we have been told they may have to stop and start feedings. They have each gained a little weight which is great. Cade was born at 1 lb 8 oz. He dropped to 1 lb 6 oz after birth. He is now at 1 lb 9 oz. Camdyn was born at 1 lb 2 oz. She dropped to 1 lb after birth. She is now at 1 lb 4 oz. So, both babies now weigh a little more than they did at birth. We pray for continued success on the feedings and continued weight gain. As they gain weight, their lungs will get stronger, and we really need that.

God, we pray for a good night for our sweet babies. Allow them to gain strength and to be able to lower their oxygen needs. We pray for continued success on their feedings and more weight gain. Comfort them as they fight through these challenges. We ask you to give us strength and faith as we face these challenges along with them. In your name we pray - Amen.