We’ve got a guest blogger for our condition report. Take it away, Mom…

What an honor and a privilege it is to appear on your blog – Thank you, Quinn and Cooper. I’ll be posting a special condition update from time to time in an effort to keep our friends and family up to speed on the progress (and trials) our sons’ are making. It will likely be a departure from our sons’ light-hearted blogs, but rather a simple explanation of the procedures and issues they face. And, if you are not interested in getting the nitty gritty on their condition, you can probably just read the 1 paragraph summary below, which I’ll try to post at the top of each condition update.

SUMMARY: Overall, it’s been a really good couple days. While I know they days won’t always be like this, it’s refreshing and encouraging to have some good days after a rough week. The biggest things we have to accomplish at this point are getting them breathing better on their own and testing their digestive system by taking milk.

Here are the dets:

* RDS (respiratory distress syndrome) – This is very common in preemies and something that requires them to be on a respirator or breathing device. While Quinn and Cooper have both been on and off different respirators, Cooper is the one that has switched the most. The doctors say that they have enough they are dealing with right now, so we’ll just let them tell us what they need with respect to breathing rather than force anything. The good news is that both are doing well on their current respirators and the NICU staff keeps turning down the support they are providing. They think that Cooper may be off his respirator as early as tomorrow, and Quinn shortly after. The downside to RDS is that the tube going down their throat increases the risk of infection in their lungs, which takes me to my next point…
* Lung infection – this is currently being treated with antibiotics, and they both seem to be responding well to it. This is something that will just take time to clear up.
* PDA (pulmonary something or other) – there is a valve that should be closed going from your heart to lungs. This often closes in the latter weeks of pregnancy, but since they were born so early, it was born open, causing blood to get into the babies’ lungs. So, they treated it with a couple rounds of medication, and it appears that that valve has closed off for both Q&C. Yeah!
* Head bleeds/hemorrhages – While this sounds super duper scary, it’s fairly common in preemies and something that is not really troubling unless severe. There is a scale of grade 0-4 head bleeds – Quinn has a slight grade 2 and Cooper has a grade 1. While I’d much rather those numbers be 0, we are confident that these bleeds will be absorbed and go away with time. A second ultrasound was conducted today and showed no change, so the good news is that they are not getting bigger. We’ll have another update in a week (they will do head ultrasounds every week until they are gone).
* Jaundice – looks like jaundice levels are down for both boys, but they have fluctuated a lot since they were born and could easily go on it again. Again, normal preemie stuff.
* Blood transfusions – Both Q&C have been losing a lot of blood because of the multiple tests per day. So, when AJ (auntie jackie) was in town, she donated a pint of blood for them to use at their leisure. The first blood transfusions happened yesterday for both of them, and it appears they are doing well with them.
* Poop – Quinn particularly needs to move some poo! I believe Coop had one poo, but they can’t start them on my milk until they can show that things are moving in there and they can take it. So, that’s one of the next big steps (along with getting them breathing on their own). We want to make sure their digestive track is working, but can’t do that until they show they are ready for the hard core stuff – MILK.

Ok – that’s probably waaaayyy more than you ever wanted to know, but hey, this is now my job until they get home.

Love to you all and thanks for the good thoughts and positive energy!

Back to you, Quinn and Coop.