Surgery Update

Brinligh did have her eye surgery yesterday.  It took place much later than hoped in the day.  The poor thing was ornery and wiggly because she went without feedings since 6:00 am.  They started the surgery about 12:30 which was suppose to take place earlier in the morning.  The surgery lasted about 2 hours.  They said she was very upset during the surgery so they had to sedate her more than they hoped they would have.  She was still very knocked out when we left about 8:00 pm.  It was hard to see her with a breathing tube again and her little eye's taped closed.  It is just a small setback that is for the good in the long run.  We did find out more details about surgery.  The surgery was to give increase her chances of good eyesight.  We thought it was to assure her that she would be able to see.  That is not the case.  Without the surgery her chances of  poor eyesight were about 30-40%.  With the surgery it drops them to about 8%.   The surgery trimmed the sides of the pupil where the abnormal vessel growth is happening due her large swings in her oxygen which is of course due to her premature state.  The connection between her eyes and her brain which determines the ability to see still has to develop as normal and that was not correctable if it does not happen.  The surgery makes her pupils able to perform their job.  The trimming of her pupil on the sides will have some affect on her peripheral vision.  How much is not really known for some time.

Lastly was the surgery a success?  The Dr's have yet to come talk to Dustin and Carrie.  They were doing the same surgery on many babies yesterday so they don't know any details yet.  We just know Brinliegh was not a happy camper during the procedure.  They will continue to monitor her eye's and if they do continue to get worse they can do the procedure again.  This was the optimum window for this procedure.

Eye Surgery Today (most likely)

The eye doctors from Moran Eye examined Brinleigh yesterday and it looks like surgery today.  About 9:00 am they will dialate her eyes and have another look.  If they confirm their original findings they will then immediately do the surgery.  They will basically paralyze her eyes so they won't move during the laser surgery that will be done right at her bed in the NICU and last about 90 minutes.  Moran which is adjacent to Primary is supposedly a national leader in ROP eye research for pre-mature babies.  So they should know what they are doing.  There isn't much choice.  Without the surgery she would have very poor or no eye site at all.  With the surgery she has very good chances of having full vision.  Her peripheral vision will probably have some limitations but  how much is not known. 

It is a little setback in that she will have to have a breathing tube again and they will have to wean her oxygen after the surgery.  They are small setbacks but needed to save her eye sight.  They hope to have her well on the road to recovery by this evening.

Finally my very own duds

Yesterday Brinleigh got to wear clothes that her parents bought her for the first time.  Carrie loved being able to dress her in a little outfit she bought even if the frillies on the butt were mid way down her little legs.  She is now 3lbs 14oz and as Carrie puts it almost like a real baby.  Oh and she has had her first real bath in a little pink tub.  She wasnt' quite sure about it at first.

All Snuggled

What to do what to do.  Brinleigh is now about 3 lbs and 10 oz.  Approaching that 4 lb area where they were hoping to be able to remove her from her isolette.  The concerns are for her to be able to retain body weight if they do.  Will she be able sustain her body temperature and wiight by burining calories keeping herself warm.  They try to have Carrie Nurse her at least once a day to get her used to breathing and swalloing at the same time.  She burns calories when she nurses.  So between the two they don't know if it is time yet to put her in a crib.  The nursing is good for both Brinleigh and Carrie's milk supply. 

She will have her eyes checked again on Wednesday.  We will see if they are worse or any better then.

Eyes still a concern

Brinleigh had her eye exam and her eyes continue to get worse.  The condition is ROP (retinopathy of prematurity).  Basically her need for high levels of oxygyn contribute to the problem untill her eyes are fully developed.  There is a risk of decreased vision and blindness without successful treatment.  Here is a link to informaiton on ROP.  If her eyes continue on the current path she could need laser surgery by next week.
 http://www.ampersandcom.com/ampersandcommunications/prematurebabiesatriskforeye.htm
Of course the Dr's and all of us are hoping for a good outcome.  Her current eye development is at a 3 and getting better.  What we don't know is what is the development scale. 1-5, 1-10?  Once she gets to that stage her risk of ROP getting worse is gone.

They have done alot of blood tests on her recently.  To see if she is sick and to check to see if she is building red blood cells.  She is not sick and her body is starting to reproduce blood slowly.  At the rate she is gaining weight she may be out of her isolette/incubator soon.

Brinleigh and Maeleigh get a Cousin

Welcome cousin Easton born today to Josh and Megan Roberts.  He is 7.4 lbs and 19.75 inches.  Josh is Carrie's brother.

We are so happy for Josh and Megan that they have a healthy new little addition to their family.

It was alot of fun looking forward to us having 3 babies born all around the same time to watch grow and play together for many years.

Makes one wonder why things are the way they are. 

Do you think Easton and Maeleigh crossed paths before Easton arrived?

Welcome to the world Easton can't wait to see you and Brinleigh playing together.

Brinleigh Video

Here is a little video of Brinleigh being awake and stretching and yes even a little sneeze at the end.
She is now 3 lbs 8 oz and about 15 inches long.  When she reaches 4 lbs they may take her out of her incubator.  We thought when her original due date arrived and all is well she may be able to go home.  Today Carrie learned that they will keep her until her eyes are also developed.  It still could be in that timeline but another obstacle to get over before she can go home.  Carrie and Dustin are very ready to take their little girl home it's been a very long road.

Two Month Stuff

They feel Brinleighs health is good enough that they are giving her her two month shots.  I little weird thinking that she is two months old now but still not suppose to even be here for another month plus.  She is experiencing changes to her eyes for the worse but it is a wait and see situation.  They may heal themselves or they can do some lasik if need be on them.  They are working on getting her to breast feed.

She has all new neighbors in the NICU.  There is room for 5 babies in her unit and all of them have turned over at least once since she has been there.  A few of them more than that. She is the old timer there. Instead of a nurse just for her she shares a nurse with another baby.

Bracelet Information

Many of you have asked about the bracelets.

You can order them at the right for $5 plus $1 mailing and we will send them to you.  Or if you know a family member we can get the bracelet to you through them.  If they don't have any to give you we can get some to them.  We do have a very limited supply of the child size but think we have plenty of adult size bands.

We did the shopping cart method for you in case you want a child and an adult bracelet you can order them at the same time.  When you checkout you do not have to have a PayPal account.  It shows the PayPal stuff in a big large area on the right side.  However right below in smaller area it says "Don't have a PayPal Account?".  If you select(click) that you can purchase directly with any credit card and not have to go through and create a PayPal account.  It will still ask you at the end but you can ignore it.  Not having to have an account to purchase is the main reason we choose this method.

If you have questions on the bracelets send and email to Jenkins.Twins@gmail.com.

Soooo Very Cute!!!

This picture of her is so very cute.  She is wearing the bow and headband her Aunt Kirsten made for her.  She is starting to get her eyelashes and eyebrows back.  They think her losing them was due to the medications and stress her body was under. 

After they took her off the caffeine she started Bradying again so they have put her back on the caffeine.  They would rather have her have a higher heart rate than be Bradying (low heart rate).

She also has now hit 3 lbs on Sunday the same time she turned 9 weeks.  An estimated 7 more weeks till she can come home if all continues to go well.

We did some wrist bands with the girls names on them.
It is one wrist band with both of their names on it.  Inside it says Jenkins Twins also.  Ok so when I ordered them I messed up in says Jenkin Twins opps.

In Honor of sweet little Maeleigh

In Support of Brinleigh

MMMMM.... Good

Brinleigh looks like she has that white powder on her face after eating one of those white little donuts.  Of course she is smiling because it was so good.

Brinleigh has had a hard time sustaining her body temperature and was having an elevated heart rate for the past few nights.  They changed her bed (isolette, incubator etc) because it seemed to be the source of the problem.  They thought that the lack of constant temperature was also affecting her heart rate.  Last night she had a different nurse and she was talking to Carrie and the Dr's and reminded them that Brinleigh as on Caffeine and that could be affecting her heart rate.  They all went DUH that's right so...... they are taking her off the caffeine to see if that stabilizes her heart rate.  Normal range is about 175 to 184 ish.  Hers was getting above 200 consistently.

She is now up to her full feeding of 23 cc's of milk that they are also fortifying with extra calories to try to help her gain weight.

They tested her eyes the other day which still look good with a few areas to watch but nothing of concern.  With her problem of holding her temperature and the elevated heart rate they were concerned she may be getting sick.  Time will tell now that they have made the recent adjustments.

Her color looks good and her stomach now looks in proportion to the rest of her body.  All good things.  Oh and the white on her face is just dried saliva.  The only tube she has in her still is her feeding tube.  The blood tests they did on her earlier in the week were all good.

Eight Weeks

On Sunday was eight weeks for Brinleigh.  She currently has no lines for medicine in her.  She only has the feeding tube.  What a change for her.  She has no medication currently.

She is up to 19 cc's of feeding every three hours.  She is weighing 2 lbs 12 oz.  She is still tiny as you can tell by the pictures.