The little Engine that could!

It's been an uphill battle for Mckenna so far, but she definitely turned the corner this week! Our little miracle baby finally got off her ventilator and now has the nose oxygen, seen above (Cpap machine). The steroids have helped her lungs expand and she feels so much better. At first she really hated it, and mom had quite a battle trying to keep it on her-- she actually missed the ventilator tube and kept reaching for it with her tongue. Since it was on her since birth, we think she might have thought it was part of her body. She was also laboring quite a bit while trying to breathe with the Cpap, and her heart rate was ranging in the 220-235 range that day, but has since adjusted quite well. If she keeps it up, we don't think she'll need to go back to the ventilator-- our fingers are crossed. It's so much easier for bacteria and infection to grow with the ventilator. She often opens her eyes really wide now, and she is much more alert when we're in her little cube doing the "cares." We're so proud of her!

Con-man continues to do well also, but we need to somehow convince him to keep breathing. He has "brady" episodes, as the nurses call it, about once every two hours when he literally stops breathing. It's fairly common in premies, when either they forget to breathe or they are too exhausted (when he's held he does it more often, because he uses a lot of energy). When he does this, his oxygen saturation decreases and his heart rate consequently drops, usually from about 150 to 70 or even lower. It happens more often when he's held, we've noticed, or at the end of his feedings. The nurses (or mom and dad) frantically rub his back or head to try to stimulate his breathing again. It's dangerous because of how fast his vitals drop. Because of this, he's earned himself another oxygen tube (nasal oxygen) even though he went without any kind of support for three days. Although it's a bit concerning, he should grow out of this as well, and is on some reflux medicine to help. Both babies still have the feeding tubes, and are otherwise progressing pretty well. Connor weighs 3 pounds, eleven ounces, and Mckenna weighs 3 pounds, 6 ounces. They'll be two months old in two days!!