We have finally decided on names! Visit the NAME Section for more info.
God has been so good! Things are going quite well with the babies. Today they took both Ethan (Baby A) and Evan (Baby B) off the ventilators and they are now breathing mostly room air on their own, receiving only a low dose of oxygen from a nasal canula. Aiden (Baby C) may be taken off his ventilator as soon as tomorrow!
All three had some jaundice and were on high-intensity lights for several days with little masks covering their heads to protect their eyes. Aiden and Ethan came off the lights today, and the light will probably be taken off of Evan tomorrow. It was wonderful to see their little faces again!
On Monday, the doctors thought they detected heart murmurs and performed echocardiograms on all three. The echocardiograms confirmed that they have a heart murmur called PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus). The ductus arteriosus is a blood vessel of the heart lined with muscles which automatically closes at birth in most newborns when their lungs fill with air and become the source of oxygen for the newborn. PDA is when the ductus does not close, or remains partially open. The doctors immediately started all three babies on a drug called Indocin which stimulates the muscles of the ductus to contract and close. Tomorrow morning (Wed., 09.12) they will perform repeat echocardiograms on all three to see if the treatment has been successful. If so, the ductus will be completely closed. If not, they may require surgery to repair. If the ductus has closed and the heart murmur has healed, they will likely begin to feed the babies in the next day or two.
Tomorrow is also nearly the milestone called “the first week of life.” At this time, the babies receive a brain scan to check for possible brain bleeds. This is also critical, so please pray that all three will be healthy with no signs of bleeding.
See below for some images from Sunday (09/09). Click here to see all the images.
The mask
Side shot of Ethan
Another “finger in hand”
Mom watching over her baby
