Lucas was having a little more difficulty breathing and so last night they tested his hemoglobin and they found his levels quite low (83) and his coloring was quite pale. So last night Lucas received his second blood transfusion. Hemoglobin is what carries oxygen through your body which explains why he was having more difficulty breathing. We’re at the hospital now and he looks much better today. He is pinker and has been having an easier time breathing today. We told him, that when he gets bigger it’s ok to give his brother a shot in the arm for hogging all the blood in utero.
Sebastian is continuing to do well, though he’s had a few dips in oxygen saturation which is to be expected. They continue to not need any respiratory assistance and are still growing.
Lucas came off the high flow! He needs to focus on taking some slow deep breaths.
Daddy also changed his 1st diaper tonight. Sebastian peed all over him. Haha! That’ll be the 1st of many.
The boys seem to be doing so well. The doctors and nurses are very proud of their hard work. The doctor on rounds this week, Dr. Graven said “These two are flying in parallel. They are each others wing man.”
Thank you to all of you sending your prayers to our boys! They are both doing wonderfully!
Yesterday, they were both graduated to INTERMEDIATE CARE from INTENSIVE CARE. Yay!
Everyday the boys seem to be more alert. They recognize mami and daddy’s voices. They love to snuggle. Today mami will start reading some books to them. We’ll start with Dr. Seuss “Oh the places you’ll go in utero” but we’ll adapt it to “Oh the places you’ll go in NICU”. Haha.
Chris and I have started a new routine with our hospital visits. Now that Chris is back to work, we drive up the hospital in the morning so that he can have a nice visit before walking to work from the hospital. I stay here at hospital during the day. Taking some breaks to go for walks and make phone calls. Chris comes back around 5:30 for another evening visit. So far its working out for us. We’ll see how this continues!
Again, thanks for all of your love and prayers. We couldn’t be more proud parents!
Both of the boys have inherited their mother’s penchant for multiple sneezes. We happened to catch Sebi’s on video here… 3 in a row. BTW there is no sound in the video.
Aunt Amanda came to meet the boys today and it looks like she fell in love. A couple tears came down.
In the last couple of days, Lucas has come off insulin and is eating 2ml of milk. His vancomycin has been reduced which means he’s fighting off that infection. Sebastian has finished phototherapy and has come off the CPAP. His feeds have increased to 3ml and his vancomycin has also reduced. Sebastian was finally able to have snuggles with daddy for the 1st time tonight.
In the past week we have done our very best to grow and mami and daddy keep telling us we are doing such a wonderful job!
Lucas: “I escaped phototherapy and have started to drink some of mami’s milk. I can only tolerate 1ml every 2 hours. I’ve had some good poops to clean out the meconium from my system. Im still on a little bit of high flow to help me expand my lungs while I breath. I fought off an infection and had my 1st blood transfusion to increase my red blood cells. I like to sleep with one eye open occasionally. My mami and daddy say I remind them of my Tia Elisa. I also like to sleep with my ears covered, I must not like loud noises. On the 23rd I got to snuggle with mami and my bro for the 1st time since being in mami’s belly. This helped me regulate my temperature, heart rate, and breathing. I also got my first haircut so that they could take a blood sample from my noggin. I got to meet Nanny and Grampy Lowe for the 1st time this week. Mami and daddy say I look like Ill have daddy’s limbs. Yippy! And over the week I’ve gained 130 grams from my birth weight of 890 grams.”
Sebastian: “Ive got some pretty cool goggles on right now since this is the 2nd time Im on phototherapy for my bilirubin levels. My CPAP helps me remember to take some good deep breaths. On the 24th I got to snuggle with dad and his hairy rug chest. I’ve had some good poops to clean out the meconium from my system. Im fighting off an infection. I like to be very vocal to the nurses about what I do and don’t like with my feisty personality. On the 23rd I got to snuggle with mami and my bro for the 1st time since being in mami’s belly. This helped me regulate my temperature, heart rate, and breathing. My mami and daddy heard me sneeze for the 1st time and they said I sound just like mami sneezing in multiples. I got to meet Nanny and Grampy Lowe for the 1st time this week. I apparently have daddy’s limbs. Yippy! And over the week I’ve gained 90 grams from my birth weight of 1270 grams.”
Yay!!!!
Lucas came off the CPAP completely so no breathing assistance.
Sebastian came off the photo therapy for jaundice so his goggles are off and we can see his little eyes.
Good afternoon!
At 12:54 and 12:56 today we welcomed Sebastian and Lucas into the Lowe family.
Sebastian, formerly known as Baby A, is not having an easy time with things. At birth he weighed 3 pounds. He has had too much blood, his liver is large, his heart is weak and he is quite dark and red. These are all things they expected to see and we were prepared to hear. It’s going to be a tough couple months but we are here to help him and he’s got some great care in NICU.
Lucas, Baby B, was born at 2 pounds, a little higher than they estimated. He is pink and pale, sort of what one would expect for an offspring of mine. He’s pretty tiny but is actually doing much better than his brother. He is breathing on his own; however, he does require a blood transfusion.
There are lots of positive signs, such as peeing, movement etc. Sebastian opened his eyes for us when we were talking to him, which was pretty heart warming. We were also able to touch their tiny hands and give them some words of encouragement. A goal we can set in our heads is to remain in the NICU until regular term, possibly 10–12 weeks. We’ll be playing this day by day and it all depends on how they develop, could be shorter, could be longer.
Thanks everyone for being part of this experience with us. We can’t wait to introduce the rascals to everyone.
Analia, Chris, Lucas and Sebastian
Hey loved ones and happy St Patrick’s Day!
You should all have a solid grasp of what has happened to our little family unit since Wednesday, March 16th. Today we started off optimistic that the babies were recovering from the amniocentesis from yesterday and that things may stabilize. Analia received an ultrasound around 9 am and the tech wasn’t feeling to pleased. The brought in a new-to-us doctor who had a look and explained the concerns. Common practice is to go over some of the more unpleasant scenarios such as the death of one or both babies. The concern was mostly around the recipient, Baby A. Since he has been getting so much blood supply and has had an excess of amniotic fluid his little body has been working in overdrive. His heart is getting tired, and there is potential for failure. We talked about doing another amniocentesis and the possibility of a cesarian delivery.
The doc consulted with our OB and they decided to drain more fluid and see how the babies react. Remarkably, they drained an additional 1,400 ml of fluid from around Baby A, for a two day total of 3,700 ml. We were precautioned that things may go south quickly and they prepared for the option that they’s have to wheel Analia off to an OR rapidly for cesarian. The amniocentesis went smoothly and we were returned to our room for observation.
After a few hours of observation the nurses and docs weren’t entirely pleased with the babies reaction and decided to move us to the birthing floor (3rd floor) where we could get more dedicated attention. They are also better prepared for a turn of events. We’ve been here since 2:30, currently 6:00. We’ve spoken to a few doctors and a NICU doctor about the more definite possibility of delivery and how that looks for Analia and the boys. Nothing is set in stone and things could go in any direction, but the realistic outlook is delivery within the next 24 hrs. Analia would be hospitalized for a minimum of three days and the boys would be in NICU for 10–12 weeks. This is a situation nobody wants to be in, and there are serious risks, but we are optimistic and incredibly confident in the care here. As our friend Maria reminded me earlier babies are much tougher and resilient than we give them credit for, and there have been cases of babies overcoming worse situations.
We appreciate every email, text message, phone call, prayer and thought. So, thank you all for the support and I will keep you updated.
Lots of love from Analia, Chris and the boys
