The boys left this morning for their trip to NM with Tiff and Erin's family. They were excited and very antsy for Tiff to pick them up. They made it there safely and the boys did well in the car.
Jordyn's doctor, Melanie, tried weaning Jordyn down on her rate yesterday. The rate is extra breaths that the machine gives per minute. They went from 30 breaths to 20. She didn't like that and she started swinging a lot more so they put her back up to 30. Since she didn't tolerate going down by 10 yesterday, Melanie thought we should try to trick her today and just go down by 1 or 2. They dropped her from 30 to 29 and she still wouldn't tolerate it. Jordyn is just a particular girl and wants it the way she wants it. We are going to give her a few days rest and see if she's ready then. I think Melanie can tell that I am antsy to get her off the NIPV and onto the next step because she keeps trying to reassure me and tell me how well Jordyn is doing. Melanie pointed out that Jordyn isn't on a ventilator anymore and that is a really good thing and I am grateful for that. It's hard to have twins because I am always comparing them to each other and wishing Jordyn would catch up with Addi with her breathing. The Occupational Therapist, Annie, came in tonight to talk to me about Jordyn's vocal chord and how it will affect breastfeeding. She will have to start out always laying on her right side so that the right vocal chord can do all of the work. Annie said that most babies get it all figured out and can still breastfeed just fine.
While I had Annie's attention I asked her when we would be able to start breastfeeding Addi. Annie said when she is alert during Cares and sucks really well on her pacifier. I told her that Addi is doing both of those things already and so Annie said we could start tomorrow. Unfortunately, she will be at other hospitals this whole week until Friday. She said the nurses are all really good and could help me but I wanted Annie to help me the first time so after we finished with Cares I went home to grab my pump kit and went right back down to the hospital. I pumped first and then we got Addi out and tried. It's definitely going to be a learning curve for Addi and for me. It's nothing like nursing a full-term baby. Their brain knows what to do and it sends signals but their body just needs to catch up. Annie gave Addi an A+ for this first time. She is still so little and gets tired so easily that we have to watch for cues and if she shows any sign of frustration then we have to stop because we want breastfeeding to be a positive thing. Annie told me that I have to learn patience because the baby can sense how I am feeling and respond and we always want her to be calm and relaxed. Patience is not one of my best qualities!
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