Tuesday, May 21, 2013

12-Hour Request

Wendy called me at 11 today after doing rounds on the girls.  She was very pleased with the girls' numbers from yesterday and thought we should maybe try a 12-hour request.  A 12-hour request is when the babies get fed from me or a bottle for a 12 hour period.  They have a certain amount of milk they have to eat each time to pass.  The babies decide when they want it but the nurse won't let them go longer than 4 hours in between.  She was more impressed with Addi and thought for sure she was ready for the 12-hour request but was willing to put Jordyn on it too.  I told her I liked the idea of keeping the girls on the same course if we could so we decided that we would try it out because we had nothing to lose.

I went down at 1:30 for the first one and Gena fed Jordyn a bottle while I tried to nurse Addi.  She fought me a lot and then would finally latch on, only to fall asleep right after.  Eventually after a half hour of that I just gave up and fed her a bottle.  She drank the whole thing in like 7 minutes.  Jordyn did great with Gena and ate the whole thing.

I went again at 4:30, 7:30, and 10:30 to help feed the girls.  I didn't have very high of hopes for this first 12-hour request because Wendy had told me that most babies fail the first one and have to repeat it a few times.  But, of course, the girls did awesome and drank the full amount all 4 times!  We passed!  After the 10:30 feeding tonight they will give the girls a 12 hour rest with only gavage feedings (through their tube) and then we will start up a 24-hour request tomorrow.  After all this time, there is finally an end in sight!!

 Nick and Mom came in tonight with me and he fed Addi a bottle while I gave Jordyn hers.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Tiff called me this evening to share the great news about all of the success of those darling girls. I was so glad to hear about their amazing progress. It is so fun to think of an end of the hospital. It will be so nice for you to have those babies home with you and not have to leave them at the hospital anymore. Congratulations! We will continue to pray for all of you to have the strength needed for the things that are to come.

Corinne said...

Awesome Holly! I just love you!