Day 67

We thought Dug was going to get the most amazing birthday gift this year... Reece coming home. Reece had been spell free for a week, passed his car seat test, had his feeding tube removed and was tolerating all of his feeds orally... all signs that he was ready to go home. BUT the night before he was to be discharged he had a brady while taking his medications. This was followed by two days of losing weight from not feeding well and having his tube put back in. He continued to have spells until we finally took him off his meds and he is a much happier camper now.

The nurses joked that Reece just didn't want to leave without Matthew so he purposely had a spell so he could stay longer. And funny enough a few days later Matthew had a spell so his seven day count down had to be restarted and later that day Reece had a spell too. LOL After finding them all cuddled up in bed like this I think the nurses might be right. They love being together. :)

Day 61

Day 58

Both boys are doing well. Matthew is now 5lbs 10onces and Reece is now a whopping 6lbs 2ounces!!! They are getting so big and have outgrown most of their preemie clothes.
We had a bit of a scare last week when the hospital called us and said that Matthew was having alot of apells and needed to be bagged to recover. They were worried that he was sick or had an infection so they took swabs, blood, urine and did a spinal tap!!! We were so scared. But after all that everything came back negative which was good but also bad because we still didn't know what was wrong. They started him on reflux meds and ended up giving him a blood transfusion and he has been fine ever since.
But then as soon as Matthew was doing better, Reece started having some major spells. So they started him on reflux meds and things seemed to have settled down.

Hair Cut

I finally chopped off my hair to be donated to an organization that makes wigs for children with cancer. I can't beleive how long it was; I was able to donate almost 15inches.

Day 48

For the first night of Chanukah I got a great treat... the boys are now together in the same cot. It is absolutely adorable! Also both boys are now over 5lbs!!!

Day 45

Matthew got his first full bath in a tub today. He was such a good boy. No fussing.
Reece tried bottle feeding for the first time and did quite well. Papa came for a visit and got to hold and feed Reece. At night, Dug got to hold and feed Reece too.

Day 44

Matthew had a rough day; lots of dsats and bradys. He obviously does not do well with change. They put him back on low flow air just to keep his airway open.
Reece had his first full bath in a tub today. He was failry fussy the entire time but he was also really hungry by then. After his bath he breast fed for the second time today and lached on very well.

Day 43

Yay!! The boys have finally been moved to Credit Valley. They both had some dips during the transfer but that is to be expected. They came together in the ambulance in the same isollete and then when they arrived they were put into seperate isolettes but Reece kept on looking for Matthew. It was soooo cute. Soon they will be put together in the same cot. I look forward to seeing what happens then.

Reece is now 2130 grams (4lbs 11oz), he is 43cm long and his head circumference in 32cm.
Matthew is now 2040 grams (4lbs 8oz), he is also 43cm long and has a head circumference of 31cm.

Day 42

Arrrrggg!!! Yesterday we were told that two beds were available at the Brampton hospital and that the boys would be transfered the next day but then today we were told that those beds got filled overnight so once again the boys are still at WCH. But at least they are at their level 2 facility and doing great.
In the afternoon I got to put Matthew to my breast and he took to it right away. Then at night I put Reece to the breast for the 2nd time and he did amazing. I'm so proud of my boys.
Reece is now 2050 grams (4lbs 8oz) and Matthew is now 1943 grams (4lbs 5oz).

Day 41

The boys were moved upstairs to the level 2 facility at WCH until beds become available closer to home. They are both doing great and have now switched to a 3 hour feeding schedule so Reece is getting 40 ccs every 3 hours and Matthew is getting 37 ccs every 3 hours.
I held Reece today and put him to my breast and he did very well. He actually started sucking!!!! I can't wait to try again tomorrow and see how Matthew does.
Reece is now 1979 grams (4lbs 6oz) and Matthew is now 1864 grams (4lbs 2oz). They are getting chunky!!

Day 40

The boys are doing well but still at WCH. We are just waiting for beds to become available at Credit Valley or another level 2 facility closer to home.
Below is a link to a totally cute video of Matthew... awake, alert and totally adorable!!!
http://rt-sys.com/TheHogarthBoys/Matthew/MOV04527.MPG

Day 38

Oh my goodness!!! I received some amazing news today; the boys are ready to be transfered and will be going to Credit Valley as soon as two beds become available. I'm so excited!!!!
Both boys are now off cpap and having very few spells. They are also both just over 4 pounds!!!!

Day 36

The boys are doing great.

Reece is upto 1796 grams (3lbs 14oz) and taking 24 ccs. He is cyclying off the cpap, 4 hours on, 8 off and tomorrow they may try him without the cpap all day!!!

Matthew is at 1700 grams (3lbs 12oz) and taking 23 ccs. He is cycling off his cpap 4 hours on, 8 hours off and doing great!

Dug and I are thinking (hoping) that the boys will be transferred to a level 2 hospital closer to home (hopefully Credit valley) by next weekend!!!! Fingers crossed :)

1 Month!!

Day 31

Day 28

Both boys are doing great. Reece is up to 1495 grams (3.29 pounds) and is tolerating 20ccs every 2 hours. He is cycling 6 hours on and 6 hours off the cpap and doing great!!
Matthew is at 1425 grams (3.14 pounds) and tolerating 19ccs every 2 hours. They have started cycling him aswell and he is doing well with 4 hours off and 8 hours on the cpap.
They are both alert and active with their eyes open and moving around alot. They are also quite fiesty, both of them pulling out their feeding tubes, cpap masks and other monitoring devices at various times aswell as fighting off their nurses when it is time to put the cpap back on!!!

Day 25

Both boys are doing great and tolerating 18ccs of fortified breast milk and formula. Matthew finally has a regular cpap machine like the one Reece has which I had bugged the staff numerous times for because Matthew seemed to be struggling the bubble cpap. Niether of the boys had any major spells today so they will probably try cycling them off the cpap again for a couple of hours tomorrow. Both boys are gaininhg weight and to our surprise Reece has actually surpassed Matthew in weight. Matthew is now 1324 grams (2.918 lbs)and Reece is now 1351 grams (2.978 lbs). They're almost 3 pounds!!! :)

Day 20

Day 19

Matthew is up to 12ccs and tolerating it well. He is getting his feeds through slow blous over 1 hour and that seems to be halping him absorb. They are going to wait to he he stable at full feeds before they try to cycle him off the cpap.

Reece is at his full feeds at 16ccs and is also getting fed through slow bolus over 1 hour which seems to help with his dips that he gets at the end of feeds. They have been trying to cycle him off his cpap for 4 hours and has been doing okay. He still has some dips but he has dips on the cpap too. They tried to cycle him off the cpap for 6 hours once but he had aspartes and reflux. Poor little guy was just exhausted by the end of the 6 hours.

Day 16

Matthew was not absorbing his food so they dropped him down to 5ccs and changed his feeds to a 1 hour slow injection feed. This seems to be working better for him and he is now back up to 6ccs.

Reece developed an anal fissure (ouch). The nurse said it is common among preemies and there is nothing to be done. It will heal itself in time.

Day 15

Matthew finally got his picc line in...yay!! No more pokes for 2 weeks. He is at 7ccs but still not always absorbing all of it.

Reece is at full feeds at 15ccs, which will increase as he gets bigger. He is still having some dips on and off the cpap.

2nd Week!

I HATE pumping!!! I'm so tired. My life revolves around pumping and it is exhausting. I'm suppossed to pump 8 to 12 times a day, which is almost every 2 hours. I have to pump for 20 mintutes and then set up and clean up takes another 10 to 15 minutes. So by the time I finish pumping I have to pump again in an hour and half. And in the middle of the night my body automatically wakes up, even when I try to sleep through a pump. I know it would be more exhausting if the boys were home but at least then I'd get to hold them and feeding time would also be bonding time rather than me staring at the wall half asleep.

On a more positive note, I'm so impressed with how well Reece is doing. He's a superstar. Dug thought it would be funny to ask the nurse 'when is he going start talking already?' lol Matthew is progressing, but at a much slower pace which does worry me a bit. I'm frustrated with the mixed messages I'm getting from different nurses. Matthew is on a bubble cpap machine, which is old technology which they only take out when they run out of the newer cpap machines, like the one Reece is on. Because of this, many of the newer nurses are not familiar with this machine and I feel Matthew is not getting the best care he needs. Some nurses blame the type of cpcap he is on for his feed problems and others for his dips. I keep asking them to change his cpap machine or even switching Reece and Matthew's machine for a while since Reece is dong so well and Matthew seems to be struggling or lagging behind but the staff just keeps brushing me off and saying that the machine he is on is fine.... it's so frustrating!!

Day 14

I held Reece today. Reece is up to his full feeds, 15ccs every 2 hours. Now his feeds will increase as his weight increases. He is still having some dips but most are small and self recovered.

Matthew had a few dips today so they did not try cycling him off his cpap. He was up to 7ccs but it was not all absorbing so they brought him back down to 6ccs. His iv from 2 days ago is still good so they have decided to keep it in rather than poking him again. They are hoping to get him upto 3/4 of his full feed, 16ccs, so that he doesn't need the iv anymore. The night nurse changed the nose prongs to a smaller size and added a chin strap to keep his mouth closed so that the pressure on the bubble cpap remains constant.

Day 13

Reece is taking 14ccs of breast milk every two hours and has finally surpassed his birth weight, now at 1106 grams!! They cycled him off the cpap for 4 hours today and he did very well. Only a few dips, which he also has on the cpap. The nurses are noticing a pattern though, he tends to have shallow breathing and bradys at the end of a feeding.


Matthew is now 1225 grams and is tolerating 6ccs of breast milk, still increasing 1cc every 12 hours. He was cycled off his cpap for 4 hours and did great!! His iv from yesterday was still okay so he got a break from being poked today :) I held Matthew again today and he just fell asleep. So cute!!

Day 12

Matthew pulled out his iv today and it took the nurses 4 attempts to get another one in. Poor little guy has so many bruises from the constant poking. He is up to 4ccs of breast milk which a nice step forward but he needs to be absorbing so much more.

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Reece had his umbilical cord iv removed today because he doesn't need it anymore. Yay!! He is taking 11ccs of breast milk every 2 hours and still increasing by 1cc every 12 hours. He still isn't back up to his birth weight but if he keeps eating like this he will surpass it in no time. I held Reece again today. He was a bit fussy at times but slept most of the time. In addition to just being so nice to hold Reece, after I hold him I pump so much more milk which is an added bonus. :)

Day 11

Reece is up to 10cc of breast milk and tolerating it well. A few more ccs and he will be able to have his umbilical cord iv removed. He had a few spells today but they were self correcting which is great. His weight is now 1059 grams, which is still below his birth weight but he should surpass that weight by tomorrow. Best of all Dug got to hold Reece for the first time!

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A third attempt at putting a picc line in for Matthew was again unsuccessful but his current iv is holding well and may last another day. The doctors are thinking of sending him to sick kids to get the line put in under ultrasound. He is up to 3ccs of breast milk and he is past his birth weight, now at 1215 grams.

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Dug finished putting the cribs together tonight that his friend Monica, who had triplets a few years ago, graciously lent us. Thank you so much Monica :)

Day 10

I got to hold Matthew for the first time today. He opened his eyes while in my arms for a little bit and then fell asleep. They tried to put in the picc line for Matthew again but it was unsuccessful. He has beentollerating his 1cc of food so they are increasing it to 2ccs.

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Reece is still having some dips but also still increasing his food by 1cc every 12 hours and is up to 8cc every 2 hours. His poops have been irregular so they gave him a suppository.

Day 9

Reece is doing great. I was able to hold him for the first time today. He lay on my chest for an hour and fell asleep. It was so amazing. They are increasing his breast milk intake by 1cc every 12 hours. He is still having some dips of Bradycardia (heart rate drops) put mostly it happens when he pulls out his cpap machine.

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Matthew's iv got puffy so they wanted to put in a picc, a long term intravenous catheter which goes all the way up the arm to reach one of the larger veins located near the heart, so that they don't have to keep moving his iv. Unfortunately the procedure was unsucessful and had to be removed so another iv was put in. He is also having some problems absorbing his food so they reduced his breast milk back to 1cc every two hours.

Day 8

The night shift nurses had a little fun with the nicu babies for halloween last night. They took pictures of all the babies and drew funny faces on the print outs.

Earlier in the week one of the nurses made name tags for all the babies. Dug and I have been adding a sticker everyday to their stars! Today they are 8 days old!

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Matthew is peeing and pooping more regularly now. He is being increased to 2ccs of breast milk with an increase on 1cc every 12 hours. His umbilical cord fell out which sucks because now he has to have an iv which needs to be changed every 48hours (ouchy!) They tried to cycle him off the cpap today for 2 hours but he had multiple spells of apnea so they have decided that it still too early for him. The nurses say he is very fussy when he is handled but Dug and I have yet to see this side of him. All he ever does when we are around is sleep.

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Reece is still having spells after his time off the cpap. He is being increased to 4ccs of breast milk with an increase of 1cc every 12 hours. Oh boy, I better get pumping!! I changed his diaper today and he had a huge poopy but at least he did not poop while I was changing him.

First week!!

Wow! The boys are a week old. Both Dug and I are amazed how fast they are progressing. I thought they would be on the ventilator for weeks but they have both moved on to cpap and are at room level oxygen which is amazing. The steriod shots I received at 26 weeks have made a world of difference. Like all babies, they lost wieght in their first week of life but are both almost back to their birth weight. And like almost all premature babies, and alot of full term babies, they have both had spouts of juandice which have been treated with photo therapy. They are both already feeding on breast milk every 2 hours and tolerating it well. They are still so small but I'm getting used to changing them and the routines at the NICU. At first you are so hesitatnt to touch them or do anything because you don't want to do anything wrong and they don't really feel like yours but now I'm much more comfortable being around MY babies and I take every opportunity to do more and more with them. I am really looking forward to kangaroo care (skin to skin contact on your chest) which we may be able to start next week of the week after that.

Even though the boys are not at home with us, Dug and I are thoroughly exhausted. From late nights at the nicu, travelling back and forth between downtown and Georgetown, fast food meals at the most bizzare times, making calls to update everyone on the latest developments and nondevelopments, Dug going to work and me pumping every 2-3 hours, as well as pure excitement and apprehesions, we are both totally sleep deprived. My dad has been my saving grace; driving me to and from the nicu when I'm too tired, bringing me good nutricious meals to the nicu and my house. I would be even more sleep deprived and laking any energy if it wasn't for him. Thanks dad!!

We are hoping that next week will be better as fall into a schedule and put some limits on what we can and just cannot feasibly do. The boys are doing so well so we want to start planning how we can manage long term. Needless to say it has been quite the adventure so far and I look forward to many more firsts as Reece and Matthew continue to grow.

Day 7

Matthew is stable but has gained more weight than expected so they have decreased his suger water intake. He hasn't pooped so they will be giving him another suppository. Mommy got to change Matthew today and he peed on me... thanks!

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Reece had a few spells without the cpap last night so they had to put him back on it. He was also given another round of phototherapy for jaundice. They increased his food to 3ccs of breast milk. Dug changed Reece for the first time and he kept on pooping while he was being changed. This is becoming a wierd little habit for Reece or some kind of joke he is playing on us.

Day 6

Matthew is down to room level oxygen on the cpap. He had a poop after last night's sopository but just the one. Mommy got to change him for the first time and he was such a good boy. This boy can sleep through anything!

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Reece is being cycled off cpap for 4 hours and you can tell he is so much happier without it. They increased his feeding to 2ccs of breast milk. Mommy got to change another pooppy diaper and Reece just kept pooing... even more than last time... and then at the end he peed on me! Welcome to mommyhood!! He stayed up after with his eyes open for a little while and we just stared at each other.

Day 5

Reece remains stable. Mommy got to change Reece again and he was such a good boy. He had a big poopy that was all sticky and while I tried to clean it up he started pooping some more. lol

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Matthew started getting breast milk today, only 1cc every 2 hours. After some convincing Dug changed Matthew for the first time and did a great job. Thankfully there was no poop for daddy to clean... but maybe next time :)