28 March

Sorry for the delay - a lot has been going on.  To catch everyone up, here is a lengthy entry:
o Thursday 3/25 - Mom and Dad could not go see the boys but Grampa and Gramma Page did.  Aiden had a few apnea episodes, but otherwise both boys were doing very well.  (Here comes another big hill on the rollercoaster!)
o Friday, 3/26 - This day was probably one of the biggest valleys of this rollercoaster we've been riding.  We were awoken at 1 am and told that Aiden needed to have a spinal tap because they wanted to rule out an infection in the brain and spine.  After much discussion, Mom and Dad consented and tried to go back to sleep.  Upon arriving at the NICU the next day, Mom and Dad, along with Grampa and Gramma Page, spoke with one of the doctors at length.  It was a good discussion and we got a lot of our questions and concerns answered and addressed.  Aiden also had to be put back on a ventilator as well because he had been having so many apnea episodes to the point where he had simply quit breathing.  He had 10 in 30 minutes at one point.  The doctor told us that he was basically getting tuckered out.  So they had to put him back on the machine and administer sedatives as well in order to keep him calm because the tubes in the throat cause discomfort.
o Saturday, 3/27 - Austin continued to do well and show positive signs.  He went from 16 ml of milk to 21 ml of milk and gained 1 oz to weigh 3 lbs 12 ozs.  Since he hadn't been getting feeds for a while, Aiden lost 1 oz to weigh 4 lbs 2 ozs but started feeds again at 2 ml of milk.  They did take him off sedatives as well but continued with some pain meds.  Aiden also spiked a temperature of 103 degrees Saturday which concerned Mom and Dad as well as the doctors and nurses.  They monitored his temps and got him cooled down gradually, but this gave them more reason to believe that he had an infection they just can't track down yet.
o Sunday, 3/28 - Austin is getting 26 ml of milk every three hours now and the doctors say he is doing very well.  Aiden is at 4 ml of milk every three hours.  Aiden's spinal tap results have not come back but that is a good sign.  If anything were wrong, the lab would have called.  They had extra fluid left over from the spine and sent that off to another lab to have it tested for any possible viral infections (vice bacterial which they have been focusing on).  We will hear about that in 4 to 5 days.  They also took a sample of his saliva and that came back negative for any infection.  Aiden's tummy X-Ray was good showing no gas problems, but an X-Ray of his lungs showed them as hazy which could be an infection, or areas of collapsed airsacs and such, or simple immaturity.  He is still on the ventilator and on a little bit of morphine for the pain but is off sedation meds.  They will do another Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) Line on Aiden today in order to get him off the I.V.  Time to go back inside!  Mommy is holding Austin!  Thank you all for all your support and prayers!