Overall, we have had a pretty good week since my last update, but as always, still need your prayers. Cooper is still doing very well and is now over 5 pounds! He is now attempting 2 bottle feeds per day and finished all of his bottle for the first time last night! I gave him one this afternoon and he finished all of that one as well! The nurses are very impressed, and said that most 33-34 weekers (especially boys) normally take much longer to get the "hang" of the bottle feed. He also got his nasal cannula taken out today, and though he had a few dips in his heart rate and oxygen saturation, is doing pretty well breathing without any support at all! We continue to be so thankful for his amazing progress!
Our main focus this past week has been Kinley's growth. She is gaining weight very slowly and Dr. Mandy has been a little concerned. While most days she has gained weight, it has only been 5-10 grams and a few times she has lost or stayed the same. One theory as to why she is struggling to gain weight is that she hates the CPAP so much. There have been a few days where she has spent the majority of the day (and much of the night) crying and fighting the CPAP prongs. She has even mastered how to push the prongs completely out of her nostrils! Many of our nurses have speculated that she is burning calories fighting so much. Dr. Mandy was hesitant to take her off of the CPAP because he didn't want her burning even more calories working too hard to breathe; but, finally yesterday he agreed to let her try to go off CPAP. His main stipulation was that if she desaturated or had too many dips in the heart rate or needed oxygen, that she would not get to try a nasal cannula but have to go right back on CPAP. They removed her CPAP yesterday morning, and as of tonight she is still off of it. So far, she has had some desaturations, but they do not last long. The best news is that last night when they weighed her, she gained 70 grams! While we are very excited about this, our doctor is remaining very cautious and is not entirely convinced being off of CPAP is best for her. She is much happier and more calm, so we are hoping and praying very hard that she will continue to gain weight!
Please pray for Kinley (and of course Cooper) to keep growing and for the doctors and medical staff to make the best decisions for them. It is definitely hard to see her struggle to get bigger, especially when Cooper is doing so well, and we really, really, need her to keep gaining weight. Thank you so much for checking in and for praying!
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