Cameron was doing really well today. Sophia, not so much.
They were both sleeping when we got to the NICU today. It was time to change their diapers & feed them, so we slowly woke Cameron up first. He & Tanya share the same distaste for waking up…
After Tanya worked some magic on Cameron (diaper, temperature, and a little bit of lovin’ – I documented it all), she moved over to take care of Sophia. Cameron was so happy (ok, maybe he doesn’t mind waking up all that much), that I just had to take some photos. Every time I said his name (“Hi Cameron!”), he’d light up and smile. It can’t be even remotely possible that they know their names already, right?
Cameron seemed easy to take care of, so I offered to hold him first. Sophia initially was excited about Tanya’s attention, but eventually had some issues. She woke when Tanya changed her. Once Tanya started holding her, it looked like Sophia was really fighting to stay awake. Sophia was definitely happy to see Tanya – they did lots of smiling at each other. Tanya sang to Sohpia and she just loved it. After a while, she’d open her eyes to look at Tanya, then slowly close them. I thought Sophia was just really enjoying her nap. It’s tough to decide between mommy and nap, you know? Within about 15 minutes, Sophia started to really have a hard time maintaining her oxygen levels. For a while, they hung out in the “low, but safe” range. It wasn’t too long before they fell pretty low though. Tanya was able to get Sophia to bring her oxygen levels back up, but her levels kept dipping low.
Sadly, Tanya had to put Sophia back in her playpen. Tanya & Sophia’s nurse gave Sophia some great attention and finally got Sohpia’s oxygen stabilized back in the “safe” range. Still, for at least an hour later, Sophia’s oxygen levels were on the low end of safe. I’d hate to see it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Sophia’s back on a little bit of oxygen help tomorrow.
The good news is Sophia’s doing really well with her feedings now. It sure looked like the oxygen thing wore her out though…
Cameron did some great cuddling with Tanya tonight. He did his normal “look at her with loving eyes” thing for a while, then completely zonked out. When he’s “really” sleeping, he doesn’t seem to like to hold his mouth closed yet. It’s a pretty good indicator that he’s out & not faking it…
My visits with the kids are about to get drastically cut down. I’m starting back at work tomorrow, so I’ll probably not be able to see them every day. That also probably means you won’t be seeing daily status posts any more. Don’t be alarmed though! Just because we cut back on posts, doesn’t mean they aren’t doing well. Tanya got the thumbs up from her doctor today to start driving again, so she’ll be spending lots of time at the NICU with the kids. As I pick back up at work and we get closer to the kids coming home, Tanya & I will definitely get much more busy. We’ll try to keep everyone up to date on how the kids are doing, but there’s only so much time in the day.
So, it was a pretty scary day for us with Sophia. In the grand scheme of things, it’s probably not a big deal. It’s pretty hard to see that right now though.
It’s easy to forget when they’re doing well, but the kids are in the NICU for a reason. They’re not supposed to be out yet and they still have some work to do before they can even think about coming home. They’re at 34 weeks gestational age today. Even if they were born today, they’d still be 6 weeks early compared to a full term kid.
Here’s hoping for a better tomorrow…
Prayers for all of you! Tanya is looking gorgeous! Keep up the good loving on those sweeties!
Sorry to hear about Sophia. She’ll get stronger. She’s still just a preemie and they take time to grow and develop. Praying for a better day for Sophia and continued protection as they grow. We’ll miss the daily updates!
Love all the wonderful updates, Bryan. Thanks. Tanya is glowing in her role as Mommy! So fun to see those sweet pumpkins growing and filling out–love it!
Still keeping up with your posts daily and loving all the sweet pictures of your darlings. Great photo of Tanya. Thinking of you guys. Keep up the good growing, babies!