DAY 18 - MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2008

This morning Katie had her follow-up appointment with the perinatalogist. He is the one who delivered Andrew and Aaron. He also initially had painted a bleak picture about Andrew's outcome. The doctor is very happy, of course, that he was wrong. He gave me a great big hug to let me know that he was so happy and that everything is turning out much better than expected. The doctor said that her incision is healing nicely and they removed the remaining steri-strips holding her incision together. I was amazed that all the nurses at the office have heard how wonderful the babies are doing and especially what a fighter Andrew is, and were so excited about the blog we set up.

ANDREW -  Earlier this morning Andrew had a renal ultrasound to follow up on his kidneys and another one of his spine to determine if there were any abnormalities. Andrew's urologist said that the ultrasound found that the swelling in his right kidney had gone down slightly. Both kidneys also continue to have quite a bit of health tissue, but his right kidney is a bit more healthier than his left. Plus is creatine levels continue to remain at 0.2, which is as normal as they can get. His feedings remain at 20cc/3 hours but most feedings is is still given through the tube.  Today, though, he was wide awake at 2 pm and his nurse said he drank down the whole bottled- which is a first. Way to go Andrew.  Although he was a little sleepy for his 8 pm bottle feeding and couldn't finish it. The dressing where his chest tube used to be was also removed and the surgeon said it has healed up very nice. We also leaned that his VCUG test is scheduled for Wednesday and he has a renal scan scheduled in a week or so. The renal scan will help determine how much each kidney is functioning. This will help determine whether it will be beneficial to do surgery on both kidneys or just one. But each day Andrew is continuing to look better and better.  

AARON -  It has now been over a week (8 days to be exact) since Aaron came home. He (and his parents)- have beginning to adjust well. We are gradually getting used to less sleep, lots of diaper changing, and less time to ourselves. But we love it.  Aaron really is a good baby, growing quickly, and eating a lot. He was more fussy this afternoon and didn't get much sleep between one of the feedings.  But he has finally settled down and sleeping nicely. We are still learning how to read his moods and actions.  But we know that the more time we spend with him the more we can know if he is feeling good or uncomfortable. When he was first born we thought he had brownish-blonde hair. We now realize he's got red hair- very light red, kind of reddish/blonde but definitely with red. He gets this from Katie's side of family.