The first day was a good one.  The news from the doc seemed reasonable, all things considered.  We knew it was early but couldn't help celebrating a little - probably more relief than anything else.  Other milestones were hit on the first day - Tessa began to pass her urine and meconium so her systems seemed to be working.  The surfactant also seemed to take hold in her lungs.  Stace seemed to be in good shape.  Suddenly it seemed we'd get out of there.

Day 2 (Friday) was a little more sobering.  Georgia hadn't yet passed any meconium, and her kidneys didn't seem to be working.  They started to stimulate her excretion system with glycerine.  Plus, she was needing more and more oxygen support through her CPAP as her lungs seemed to weaken.  By Friday evening they'd made the decision that they would have to retube Georgia and give her surfactant directly into her lungs, as too much oxygen support would jeopardise her eyesight.  Tessa on the other hand continued to improve.

Saturday began to look up.  We met the neo-natologist in the morning for an update.  Tessa had further improved and they were even thinking of taking her off the CPAP.  The surfactant had taken hold in Georgia.  He mentioned a new concern though - a PDA.  There wasn't any evidence yet and he mentioned it in passing.  With hindsight I should have paid more attention, because on Sunday morning we heard that both babies were suffering from PDAs.

Every baby is born with an artery that is not fully closed.  After birth, the blood pressure forces this artery to close and the cardiac system works normally.  In some cases though, usually with prem babies, the hole doesn't close and blood begins to flood the lung cavity and pressures them.  Sunday morning we got this news early.  They had detected very strong heart murmurs in both babies which suggested the problem, cardiac scans had confirmed it.  It would have to be treated with drugs but there could be many complications.  Both kids had to go back to CPAP because of the pressure on the lungs.

So Sunday was probably the roughest day.  We spent the whole day waiting for news.  We heard that the babies were responding well late in the evening, with only some gastric bleeding from Georgia.  Good news to go to bed on.

Monday was again a pretty good day.  The gastric bleeding had stopped and they again were trying a little bit of mum's milk (this was fed to the baby though a tube from their mouth into their stomachs, as they don't know how to swallow).

Tuesday was more mediocre.  The docs advised us that 'shadowing' was evident on the babies' lungs in the x-rays - this could be Hyaline Membrane Disease (HMD), or possibly the start of an infection.  We couldn't tell either though and had to wait out the day.

Wednesday was the best day we've had yet.  The shadowing was still there but it appeared not to be infection, so was more likely HMD (more easily treatable).  The girls' colour was good and they were up to three mLs of mum's milk every two hours (all that their little stomachs could handle).  For the first time, the nurses gave us chairs to sit on while we said hello to the babies in the humidicribs - maybe they felt a little more relaxed to have us spend some time with them.

The major concern now is that the docs need to put a 'central line' into the babies, because they had pretty much exhausted all the usable veins for IVs, drips, etc etc.  A central line would run from probably their leg and then into the body close to the heart.  The tubs itself is 1mm in diameter so slowly inserting up these little babies' arteries is a delicate process, but by having it in place they will be able to use it for far longer than a regular drip.  The downside (there is always a downside) is that inserting any foreign body such as a tube into the babies increases the risk of infection.  We have to wait and see.

This morning the babies are one week old, and the emotional Snakes and Ladders continues.  We haven't yet visited the NICU for an update but we're hoping for back-to-back good days.  There seems to be more ups than downs, and Stacey and I are optimistic and confident in the support we've been getting.  One day occupies our thoughts - soon, the babies will get stronger and they can remove some tubes.  At that point, we'll be able to hold these kids for the first time.

I'll get back to blogging about Cognitive Edge-topics over the next week or so, but I will include a few updates here and there.  Thanks for the good wishes and the support we've had over the last week.