Eye Exams

Audrey, Thomas and Charlotte will all have eye exams tomorrow (Tuesday) to look for Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). Basically, ROP is when the blood vessels in the retina don't develop properly. Prematurity is the most common cause of ROP, so our micro preemies are certainly at risk. Apparently, 60% of premature babies have some level of ROP. However, 90% of those cases are mild and relatively insignificant. The other 10%...those are severe and might even cause blindness. So we're praying that our little ones are in the 40% of the first statistic: totally clear of ROP altogether. 

Charlotte finally surpassed the kilo mark! She's 2lbs 4oz (1010 grams). Audrey and Thomas both gained a bit as well, so they're at 2lbs 6oz (1085g) and 2lbs 14oz (1300g), respectively. Thomas had low sodium levels at the last couple of readings (which is common during diuretic treatment), so they decided to give him a saline solution via IV. He and Audrey are both on diuretics and will likely stay on them for the foreseeable since they seem to help with the symptoms of their PDAs. Charlotte, on the other hand, hasn't needed anything like that. Totally unrelated, her stomach looked a bit large as we were leaving today. However, there doesn't seem to be any cause for concern given that she is feeding (and stooling!) as she should. There's nothing like newborns-- especially preemies in the NICU-- to get you thinking and talking about gas and bowel movements. 

Boring updates are good updates these days. So I'm not really sorry for boring. Thank you for your prayers!!