Reagan has not been progressing along quite like her brother. She is still on oxygen support and has not even started to try and feed from a bottle. The doctors discovered that she is pretty anemic, so they suggested a blood transfusion. She had been on Lasix (a diuretic) for a couple days, which they were hoping would be enough, but her red blood cell count stayed low. They tell you going into this that having preemies in the NICU is a rollercoaster ride, because they will take two steps forward and then a step back. Aaron and I have been incredibly blessed that the babies haven't needed too many procedures done and they have been progressing steadily, so hearing Reagan needed a blood transfusion was pretty hard to swallow. It sounds like a scary procedure and I was terrified at first, but the doctors and nurses assured me that there was nothing to worry about and the procedure is a pretty normal thing for a premature baby. They also explained what a difference it would make for her energy levels and that it would help get her off of her oxygen, so the decision was made to go forward with the transfusion. The procedure was done overnight and when I went to visit her the next morning, she already looked so much better. She had pulled her feeding tube and nasal prongs out (again), but the nurse noticed that her vitals looked fine with out the oxygen, so they removed her prongs. I couldn't believe that results like that could happen so quickly. She even started bottle feeding and has done extremely well (maybe even better than her big brother). She breathed room air for the majority of the day, but unfortunately had to go back on a little support that night. I am still optimistic, because the amount of oxygen support is less than she needed before and the fact that she is nippling so well is a good sign.
Some pictures I took of Reagan while her nasal prongs were out
In other news, the babies were moved out of the NICU and into the Special Care Nursery. We knew this was a possibility, because the babies have been doing so well and they were first on the list to move if sicker babies needed their rooms. Moving to the SCN is a step in the right direction, but it will take some getting used to. The NICU consisted of individual rooms, each with it's own bathroom, tv, monitors, etc. It was so nice to have privacy when visiting the babies. The SCN is a giant space with many babies hooked up and no privacy. If a nurse requires the light on for one baby, then the lights go on for all of the babies, which is pretty annoying when your babies are trying to sleep. At least we know they will not be affected by noise when they come home. Overall, we are so thankful that they continue to do well and each day we are closer to having them home with us. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support, it means so much to us!
Our New Home (At least we get to be next to each other now)
