Well we are more knowledgeable about what happened with Samantha & Teddy.
Samantha - She is now 6 lbs 6 ounces. Her "Spell" was reflux and choking on it. Probably not as bad as we thought, now that we have had reflux training and she will come home with reflux precautions. Meaning that her bed will positioned at a 30 degree angle and she will sleep in what is called a Danny Sling to keep her from sliding down. Babies usually outgrow this by the time they can sit up unassisted. Very common in preemies. All 3 will come home on reflux precautions.
Teddy - He is in at 5 pounds 5 ounces. His was more of an apnea episode where he just forgot to breathe. His is definately scarier. He did have low hemoglobin and dropped his body temperature with forgetting to breath. He has benifited greatly from the transfusion. Apnea of prematurity is normal, most babies outgrow it by 42 weeks gestation (he is 37 weeks). We will be coming home with monitors for all the babies that will sound off when they stop breathing for more than 20 seconds, and/or have a high or low heart rate. Most parents keep these between 4-8 weeks.
Bridgette - Is in at 5 pounds 7 ounces. She has done fantastic at maintaining her oxygen levels. Looks like she will come home without it! :) They did a 12 hour test and her average saturation was 95%. She has reflux like Samantha.
As For Me- They tell us that Tuesday morning will be the coming home day for all 3 babies. Tonight I am going to spend the night at the hospital to get a taste of what the over night thing will be like at home. When we are at the hospital they are to use the home monitors. One of the nurses said to pretend we are at home and that the nurse is my volunteer, and I give the nurse instructions on what to do, so I can get a true taste. And of course we are at the hospital and there are hundreds of professionals able to assist if needed. Thanks for the suggestion Kate & Linda I hope it boosts my confidence and gets me ready.
So Tuesday November 18th will be like a new Birthday for them. They will be coming home like a newborn (even thought they are 2.5 months old.) Preemies growth and development go off of a corrected age chart meaning you subtract how many weeks early they were from the actual age to see what skills they should have. Somewhere between 2 - 2.5 years old they move to the regular chart.
This time they will be ready to come home and we will be to. Thank-You GOD!!!
"Keep The Faith"
