Monday, June 28, 2010

Sorry, it’s been awhile again…

Anders is growing and improving steadily. He is now up just over 5lbs and has officially outgrown his preemie clothes. Due to his prematurity and extreme low birth weight, he has what they are calling “chronic lung disease” which he will out-grow as he matures. He still has a nasal canula which is providing him with slight oxygen and pressure to help him along. His ROP should also show some improvement soon as they boys approach their “full-term” due date of July 2nd. He also continues to bottle feed every-other time and has not yet found the energy to empty a full bottle on his own regularly. We are unsure of his homecoming but are grateful to see such strong progress.

Asher had a setback today as Dad brought him in to the neurologist to take another look at his reservoir and brain ventricles as his head had grown rapidly over the past couple weeks. The ultra sound showed that there was an increase in size in his ventricles and a buildup of fluid, thus they are going to schedule him for surgery to get a shunt placed. The shunt will be a tube that will drain the fluid in his ventricle down into his stomach. It is most likely that he will require a shunt for the rest of his life, but it should not affect his growth or activity. The only concerns are for infection and malfunction or clogging. Until he gets a little bigger and fatter, you will be able to see the shunt and the tube in his head but they should eventually be undetectable. Despite the growing pressure in his head, Asher is still our little mover. It is rare that to find him asleep in his crib in the position to which we laid him down in. He constantly maneuvers himself sideways and upside down – I think he will be quite the handful as they get older, good thing we have a durable baby gate and a couple of “watch” dogs (I use watch very generously).

Aaron continues to grow and be a handful for mom & dad. He is now over 8lbs and shows-off his strong vocal capabilities regularly around dinner time. He will go from sound asleep to full melt-down in about three seconds. The biggest struggle for this guy these days is keeping his tummy full and the nuk in his mouth, but he shows promising improvement in both areas which makes everyone very happy.

Mom heads back to work this week, so Dad will be tending to the herd (of goats and rottweilers). I’ve already instructed the boys that they should not allow their dad to let them watch too much Sports Center and they need to get their rest.

Funny story of this week… Dad found Athena in her kennel with a nuk, we assume she is just trying to fit in and get some attention.

Weight update: Aaron (8lb 2oz*), Asher (7lb 7oz), Anders (5lbs 1oz)

Stay tuned for some new pictures, Mom has to upload them and delete some old ones since CB will only allow 51 photos…