Oh the Roller Coaster...

Things have been going so well with Madeline and Mason the past few weeks. I hate to say Jason and I were feeling too confident and relaxed lately, but maybe we were. It's hard when you see them doing so well and acting and looking like newborn healthy babies. You start imagining them home in their own little cribs without all the monitors and oxygen. I went home one day last week to do laundry and work on their nursery. That night I sat in their nursery, in the glider that I will hopefully soon rock them to sleep in, and cried. I just wanted them home with me so bad. I wanted to nurse them, read them a story, and tuck them in to their cute little cribs. Its those moment that you almost forget how fragile they still are. Then one tiny little set back occurs and it snaps you back to reality. These little ones, although they have came so far, are exactly still that. LITTLE. They shouldn't even be here with us for at least another month and a half. Their due date (40 week due date) was April 11th. I have to keep reminding myself this every time I start daydreaming about having them home with me. 

On Sunday night Mason started having a few drops with his oxygen. This is normal for Madeline who does this quite a bit. Mason, however, usually only does this when he is having issues with his reflux and is about to spit up. So late that night the doctors called us to inform us that they were running some tests on Mason because he was having more difficulty breathing than usual and seemed pretty out of it. So of course Jason and I become immediately worried. A phone call an hour or so later in the middle of the night they let us know they did a chest xray which appeared normal and drew blood and a urine sample. They initially thought Mason aspirated when he spit up and possibly had aspiration pneumonia. However, the chest xray looked pretty clear. So they were waiting on the blood tests and urine culture to come back. They then suspected he may have an urinary tract infection which is common in preemies but can make them pretty sick. Another hour or so later we got another phone call (no I did not sleep a wink that night between the worrying and mini heart attacks every time the phone rang). They were calling to let us know they had to increase Mason's respiratory support. He was previously on 2L of hi flow oxygen through a cannula in his nose. Now they were having to put him on a RAM cannula. This was a little upsetting. We had come so far with their breathing in the past month that I really hated he was taking a step backwards in the respiratory aspect. The RAM means he is still breathing on his own (it's not like he was put back on the ventilator). It simply gives him a bit of pressure in his airways and puffs of breaths at a low rate. They also started an IV in his right arm for antibiotics since they suspected an infection (whether it was pneumonia or an UTI they weren't yet sure). 

All day Monday Mason stayed on the RAM cannula. Poor thing just wasn't his usual self. He slept all day and seemed very lethargic. He did not fuss during diaper changes or when being repositioned. I missed my poor little baby boy's wimpers and cries. 

By Tuesday Mason was back to his usual self. The urine culture came back positive to show he did in fact have an UTI.  I was actually relieved to hear this. It made me feel better knowing there was a reason for his change. By that time he had a full day of antibiotics and the doctor informed us they would continue the IV antibiotics for 7-10 days. They took him off the RAM and back on the hi flow oxygen at 3L (he was previously on 2L so we still need to wean him back down a little to be back where he was). So we are hoping the antibiotics continue to do the trick for our little man!

It's crazy how such a little thing like an urinary tract infection can effect him so severely. I'm not sure I would have caught this at home until it was too late. He never ran a fever (I'm told preemies usually don't). And they both sleep so much anyway I'm not sure I would have quickly caught how lethargic he was. And when he's home and not hooked up to monitors galore, I wouldn't have known he was having trouble respiratory wise.

So while I am eager to get my babies home, this did remind me that although they have came a long way.....we still have a long way to go. 

So with all that being said.....here are some pictures from their weekend. 

Madeline got a new hat this weekend!

   

And they both had a busy weekend full of visitors!