Stadter Boys - Week 8 - June 19 to June 25, 2003

(June 19) Jon gets his first bottle feeding and takes about 1/3 of an ounce before passing out from sheer exhaustion. He's on a 3 hour feeding schedule, and he'll continue to get one feeding a day by bottle until he gets the hang of it. (June 20) They gave Jon a trial off the nasal canula and he did so well they just left it off. He's been on room air ever since, no more oxygen support at all. As soon as he learns to eat all his meals from a bottle he can come home! (June 23) Jon is up to 5 pounds 5 ounces, he's getting so big! (June 25) Jon is up to 5 pounds 8 ounces, still having a bit of trouble with his bottle feedings, though, he tries to take too much and forgets to breathe. The nurses assure us he'll figure it out eventually.	Will's sinuses seem to be healing and he's much more comfortable. He's starting to get chubby cheeks like his brother. (June 21) Will is doing much better with his oxygen requirements and is now only getting one liter of flow per minute, down from a liter and a half, now once he gets down to only getting room air along with it he'll be ready to come off all breathing support, too. He's at about 30-35% oxygen now, we all breathe 21%, so not much farther to go. (June 23) Great news! We got the call from the hospital and the boys have been moved out of the NICU! They're now in the Family Infant Care Unit, a much smaller and quieter ward for babies who only need to feed and grow, last stop before coming home! Will is all the way up to 3 pounds 13 1/2 ounces. (June 25) Will has hit 4 pounds!!! He's finally getting chubby cheeks and really starting to fill out.

Stadter Boys - Week 9 - June 26 to July 3, 2003

(June 26) Jon's doing OK taking one bottle a day, the Occupational therapist came to feed him and evaluate him and she tells us that he's been faking out all the nurses. He's got them all convinced he knows what he's doing because he's so eager to eat, but he forgets to stop and breathe and ends up with a heart rate drop. They'll work with pacing him until he figures it out. (June 28) Mommy got to give Jon his bottle today and he did just great, he's getting the hang of it now. (June 29) Jon is up to 5 pounds 14.8 ounces, he'll probably hit 6 pounds tomorrow or Wednesday, he's already outgrown his preemie clothes! (June 30) Jon's doctor gave the go ahead for two bottles a day now, when he gets to eight he can come home, maybe late next week.	(June 26) Since Will was gaining weight so fast and still needed quite a bit of oxygen (he was back up to 40% - 50%, the doctor decided to give him a diuretic for a few days to see if he's retaining fluid that's making it harder for him to breathe on his own. (June 28) Well, apparently Will was hanging onto too much fluid because he's back down to 3 pounds 12 ounces after a few days on the diuretic. The boys will get their two month old vaccinations over the next few days. (June 29) Will got the last dose of his diuretic and actually put a little weight back on, he's back up to 3 pounds 14 ounces. He's had a big day, his oxygen requirements have dropped from 40% this morning all the way down to 28% (we all breathe 21%, so he's hardly getting any help now), he also graduated to an open crib! (June 30)Will got his first bottle today and had no trouble at all, got it right away. (July 1) Will had an upper GI done today to check on his reflux, the test confirmed that he has moderate reflux, but the good news is that he isn't aspirating anything when he eats from a bottle, in fact he took the Barium from a bottle, so he gets to continue his bottle feedings.

Stadter Boys - Week 10 - July 4 to July 10
Stadter Boys are Ready for Summer!
(July 4) Jon's really got the hang of the whole bottle thing now and has been upped to getting a bottle every other feeding. His pediatrician stopped by while we were there and he thinks it'll be about a week before Jon comes home, and two weeks for Will. (July 6) Jon's up to getting bottle fed 2 out of every 3 feedings now and still doing great. He's up to 6 pounds 9 ounces now. (July 7) Jon's still doing great on the bottle feeding and could go to every feeding by bottle today or tomorrow, he may get to come home as early as Wednesday!	(July 4) Will's up to 2 bottle feedings a day and still doing fine. The reflux continues to be an issue for him, though. He's still getting a bit of oxygen support, but the doctors think his lungs are fine and he'd be completely off it if not for his reflux. When he gets uncomfortable his breathing pattern is more shallow and he needs the extra oxygen to keep from desatting. (July 6) Will has graduated to three bottles a day now, and he's up to 4 pounds 9 ounces, such a big boy!

Stadter Boys - Week 11 - July 11 to July 18

Jon came home July 13th! He's doing great, and after the first night of deciding to be constantly awake has settled into a nice schedule where he only wakes Mom and Dad up once or twice a night. Slinky and the kitties were slightly interested then decided to ignore him (except for Frankie, he's pretty sure he'd like to help finish off any bottles of milk that Jon doesn't. (July 17) Jon went for his first doctor checkup and is doing great, he's up to 7lb 10oz.	Will has moved off the oxygen and has his feeding tube out! He's almost home! (July 15) Will finally hits 5 pounds! He's been moved to one of the FICU annexes since the NICU and FICU are totally swamped with babies, he's currently sharing a room with the quintuplets that were born here a few weeks ago. Their poor parents, and we think we're tired!