Swaddles and Clothing

Both boys are still doing well.  Carter gained another ounce, so he is up to 2lbs 5oz.  Anderson also gained and now weighs 3lbs 7oz.  They are both digesting all their food really well and have barely anything left in their stomachs when the nurses check before the next feeding.

The big news for today is that they both are now being swaddled and are wearing clothes!  Since they were born, they have been wearing diapers only and having their temperature entirely controlled by the isolette.  They are now starting to try and allow the boys to regulate their own temperature a little better and are using swaddles and clothing to help keep them warm.  To give you a reference for their size, Carter's swaddling "blanket" is actually a burp cloth; it wraps around him pretty well.  Carter has a preemie onesie on and it pretty much dwarfs him. Anderson fills out the preemie outfit a little bit better, but it looks a little large on him also.

They are both being seen by the occupational therapist now.  They work on having the babies sit up without escalating or dropping their heart rate.  They are also working with helping the boys to self-soothe and be able to handle more stimuli.  Carter and Anderson need to be able to sit up and lay back down without dramatically changing their heart rates in order to be fed by a bottle or breastfeed.

The great news is that the therapist told Ty that Carter was responding to visual and audio cues.  Both boys will get a visual screening next week, but it was very good news to hear that Carter was responding to visual cues.  Anderson definitely responds to audio cues as well, but we forgot to ask about visual cues.  We will know more about their sight next week after the screening. They also will receive a hearing exam before they leave the hospital.

Overall, it was a pretty good day.  Both boys get very tired after their time with the occupational therapists, and Carter had a few more episodes this afternoon where his heart rate dropped and oxygen levels dropped correspondingly, but we were still able to hold both of them and they did great while we were holding them. Lots of good news to celebrate and we hope for more tomorrow.