Beckett has remained pretty stable since his surgery. His nurses have been keeping a close eye on indicators of pain (how his vitals are looking, any grimacing, being really squirmy or agitated, etc) and adjusting his pain medications as needed. That will continue to be the plan for the next couple days as he recovers. His blood culture came back looking good, so the antibiotics are doing their job in fighting infection. 

He had another brain scan this morning and we haven’t had a chance to talk to the neurologist yet, but we were told everything looked pretty similar to the last scan, so it’s good that there haven’t been any negative changes. We know it will take weeks to get a full picture and see improvement, but it’s hard not to be nervous until we get some good news. 

Beckett had one pretty severe spell (a period where his vitals drop) today and I watched his heart rate drop dramatically on the monitor as 11 people ran into the room in about 10 seconds. They had to use a bag to get him breathing again and he recovered pretty quickly, but it was incredibly scary and overwhelming to witness. Everyone on staff remained so calm and had a plan to move forward immediately, but it definitely rattled us. They are monitoring his brain activity to make sure he didn’t experience a seizure, but they think he just briefly forgot to breathe. They gave him some steroids to help with that. 

Juliette has been doing great and increased her feeds several times over the past few days. She started at 1mL of my breast milk every 8 hours (with additional nutrition from a feeding tube) and today is at 4mL of milk every 4 hours. She has also been pooping like a champion, going through 3 diapers during the noon diaper change alone. 

The nurses suggested we use a recognizable object to compare the twins to and show size and growth. These little peanuts are working hard to grow into chunky monkeys. 

Dan’s parents visited yesterday and it was so nice for them to be able to meet the twins and experience the NICU. They brought some artwork made by Addie, Jack, and Will to brighten up our rooms. Beckett got to have his first nap time with grandpa and Steve somehow ended up with 66 free cans of beer from Big Grove. It was a big day for everyone. My parents are planning on visiting soon. 

Dan and I are still recovering from the weekend, getting used to the constant cycle of pumping (with excellent help from NICU lactation specialists), figuring out confusing parental leave specifics, and trying to remember to leave the dark NICU rooms a few times a day to get natural light. We really appreciate everyone’s well wishes and prayers as we adjust to this chapter of parenthood!