Gestational age: 28 weeks, 6 days

Day of life: 28 

Beckett: 2lb 1oz 

Juliette: 2lb 9oz 

 

Beckett hit two pounds! His sodium levels have been looking better thanks to the steroid he’s on. Their plan is to wean him off the steroid gradually and teach his body to make more sodium on his own. He has been getting head ultrasounds on Mondays and Thursdays since he was born, but they have been stable for long enough that they’re considering dropping him down to just Mondays. They told us that change happens fast during the first few weeks and any changes after that would happen more slowly, so if tomorrow’s still looks stable, they’ll drop to weekly monitoring. 

 

Both babies had their first bath! When they’re this little, the baths consist of wipes that you dip in water and rub together to create a lather. The soap doesn’t need to be rinsed off, so it’s more of a wipe down. Dan and I did both baths and got to help lift the babies up to switch their bedding, which was the first time we have lifted/held them without help. Juliette seemed to really enjoy her bath, but Beckett was on the fence, going back and forth between liking it and big, silent cry faces. The jet ventilator goes down their windpipe, which means they can’t make any noise, so their cries are totally silent but their faces show they’re having a full meltdown. Beckett also likes to hold onto fingers when he cries - or if the fingers aren’t available, his emotional support wires and tubes that he definitely shouldn’t be grabbing. 

 

Juliette got her breathing support changed from the jet ventilator to NAVA, which is a huge step! NAVA is kind of like training wheels to breathe on their own because rather than taking all the breaths for them, it monitors their breathing and kicks in a support breath when needed. It also goes through their nose rather than their mouth, so we’ll be able to hear her little voice! It will be pretty raspy and squeaky first, but we’re very excited to see what our feisty girl has to say. The doctors told us Beckett is not far behind and we have a feeling he is really going to let us hear it when he’s able to. They also told us that these changes aren’t always linear and they might need to take a step back to the jet ventilator for a little bit, but any practice with NAVA is good for their eventual progress. 

 

Update: After rounds, they decided to extubate Beckett today and he will be on NAVA as well!