Extubated?

A lot can happen in just a few short hours in NICU. We were told by the Neonatologist on duty this afternoon that he'd like to try to have them off of their vents by the end of the day today and moved onto less-invasive breathing assistance!! We are VERY excited for this because then they can start being fed breastmilk (through a tube, I'm sure). Not to mention I can see them sometimes gagging on those tubes and it doesn't look comfortable for them. Although the nurse did tell us that it's good that they have that gag reflex because it's necessary to get them to feed. They've turned both their vents down to minimum assistance and the boys are coping well. They will decide at their 11 p.m. blood draws if they can take them off or not. I'm planning on calling down there at midnight (40 mins from now) to see what the decision is. Brody is now off of Dopamine completely and his blood pressure is stable.

John and I went down for their 4 p.m. care time and I was able to hold Tyler for the first time. The nurse and a respiratory therapist helped him out of his little incubator and brought him over to me. They taped his breathing tube to my shoulder to keep it in position. It was thrilling! He was very peaceful and happy the whole time, just sleeping away (and light as a feather!). The nurse told him not to tell his brother that he was getting "mom-time." Brody can't come out and play yet because he has umbilical lines that cannot be disturbed because they run through an artery. I got to change both their diapers today which was exciting (did I say that?). I feel like I'm helping make them more comfy at least. Both boys had pooped for the first time. The nurse said that they have shown that they are identical in more ways than one! Yesterday when they were hooking the boys up to their vents she told me that they were wheezing in unison.

Thanks for all of the prayers, messages and good thoughts that are coming our way. We all appreciate this so much and are thankful to have such a caring support system to be thinking of us at this time. I think the boys are feeling the love!