One Week Old!

Monday, June 24

We've made it through the first week of our precious baby girls' lives. Both girls have made great progress over the week, but we've had a few setbacks as well.

The most exciting event was finally getting to hold Kinley! It was Devyn's turn to hang out while her sister got some skin-to-skin time. I got to hold her for about 20 minutes or so. Daddy missed out this time, so it'll be his turn next (hopefully tomorrow).

 

 

 Mommy and Kinley...our first snuggle!

 

 

Some more exciting news is that both girls are finally starting to gain a little weight! Devyn is back to 3 lbs (only 3 oz. less than her birth weight). And Kinley is back to 2 lbs. 10 oz. (only 2 oz. less than birth weight). Both girls continue to get 2 cc's of milk every 3 hours. Devyn was also taken off of her jaundice lights today, so both girls are done "tanning" for now.  

The NICU nursing staff decorated the girls' incubators with name tags today which include photocopies of their footprints.

The low point of the day was a visit with one of the girls' NICU doctors. This morning a heart murmur was detected in both girls. The doctor ordered an echocardiogram, which confirmed that both girls have Patent Ductus Arteriosus. There is a blood vessel in babies' hearts which remains open while in the womb, but normally closes before birth, or shortly thereafter. Since both Kinley and Devyn surprised us so early, this blood vessel did not have time to close on its own. Although this is somewhat common in premature babies, and is not life threatening now, the doctors want to get the blood vessel closed. Both girls started medication today that will hopefully help the blood vessel close on its own. Their hearts will be checked again in 3 days to look for signs of improvement.

Sleeping beauties......Kinley (above) and Devyn (below). They both prefer sleeping on their tummies. Devyn usually has an arm over her head. And Kinely often has her hand up to her mouth.