Plodding along…

Hello, all! I figured it was time for another update on the girls. Not a whole lot has happened, but I sure would appreciate everyone’s prayers! I think last time I posted I was recounting how difficult it was to feed Eva and how concerned we were about her. I’m happy to say that she has COMPLETELY changed.  She eats fairly well (for a preemie) and is now a whopping 9 lbs 8 oz! Yes, a bit low for a 3-month old, but in light of our struggles we are extremely proud of how well she is doing.  She still vomits on a daily basis, but when she eats well it doesn’t hurt her quite so badly.  I’m hoping we can get things under control in that area so she can truly become the Menicucci she was born to be! She has been sprouting lengthwise: 23 inches! I’m predicting a future basketball player.  I’m really hoping the low weight and long legs doesn’t mean she becomes a Project Runway model, despite the fact that I love that show.

Abigail, on the other hand, took a bad turn pretty much on the same day Eva did her 180 degree turn around.  For some reason, she just stopped wanting to eat.  Suddenly it’s been such a struggle to get her to take a good amount of food.  And we’ve tried EVERYTHING; we changed to slow-flow nipples on her bottles, we took out the rice cereal, we added Baby-dophilus powder to her feeds (although I’m suspecting that is keeping her from vomiting; that’s the one area she’s beating her sister in!), we give her glycerin suppositories every other day…only now is she starting to get back on track.  But she had lost 12 ounces, and for a 9 lb baby, that’s not a good thing! The feeding clinic at Pres hospital has been pushing us to consider getting a g-tube for her to feed her that way, but the negative consequences of that are just so drastic that we are doing everything we can to prevent that.  Poor Kevin has a better rapport with Abigail, so he has been coming home from work every 3 hours to feed her.  It’s been hard right now, but we know in a few years we will look back and know we did all we could to give the girls the best opportunity possible for success. Anyway, respiratory-wise she is doing really well.  The pulmonologist had us run a pulse oximeter test to see what her oxygen levels would be on room air.  She did great! Except for when she was fussy and screaming; her levels dropped then.  Of course, the doctor can only analyze the data he receives so he told us to leave her at 1/32 oxygen flow, which is just one step above room air.  We think she’s ready to come off, but hopefully before June both girls will be off oxygen!

So please still pray for us! Especially for Abigail, as we really don’t want to have her get a g-tube.  We’re a bit tired of specialists and medical professionals using scare tactics to persuade us to make choices that they would prefer for our daughters.  It may take a while to get these feeding issues behind us, but we are determined to do everything we can to get them to gain weight the right way.

So how about that for a short update? And as promised, some pics of the girls. 🙂

Eva being candid

Abigail chewing on her hand, despite the blanket

All dressed up on Easter!

Play time!

She's done with the oxygen!

Daddy teaching Eva how to enjoy hunting shows

Sawing zz's

Daddy makes the best pillow

Love this one!

There were never such devoted sisters...

Just plain cute

Eva and Bumpa!

All of us clean up good!

Found the Easter bunnies!

I got Abigail's attention

Abigail sleeping

Eva sleeping in her bouncer