Another day, another NICU adventure

Hello all,
Yesterday night at about 7pm when we went back to the hospital, things started off great. Rowan got her nasal canula and UAC (umbilical arterial catheter) removed, so she is more free and is easier to hold. She is breathing well and I was able to feed her (only 5 ml. but it was still nice). Saoirse was still having desaturations, but seemed to be ok. The caffeine probably hadn't taken effect yet and the NICU attending decided to add back a nasal canula to give her a little boost. Backtracking is never fun but nothing to worry about at this point really, since her oxygen was going down when she was moving. In other words, she was holding her breath, rather than having apnea(which is when the brain forgets to tell the body to breath). Then we went back at 10pm and it was rougher. Rowan was still ok, but Saoirse was having a rough night. She had her cast changed. (Her right ankle turns 90 degrees inward. An orthopedic surgeon put a plaster cast on it last week to begin straightening it. Every week, the cast is changed and straightened a bit more. Saoirse does not seem to like it at all.) She wasn't eating and would begin screaming like crazy every few minutes. Gwen took it hard. Neither of the babies have been crying much, and that has made it easier to leave them each night, but the thought of them screaming in pain for hours over the night without someone to soothe them was torture (The nurses do a good job but they have babies who are in much worse shape than ours that often require their attention. Crying is not always a big priority.) We are both hoping when we see them later today, that Saoirse is doing better.

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