Chuggin' right along

Aiden and Austin continue to make progress on their journey home. There are four areas in which Aiden and Austin must prove themselves, before the doctors will even consider discharging them...(1) they must be able to breathe on their own (with or without oxygen support), (2) they must be able to maintain their body temperatures without external heat source (i.e. the isolette), (3) they must be taking good volumes of milk by nursing or bottle feeding and gaining weight consistently, (4) they need to remember to breathe while sleeping (i.e., stop having apnea). So with that in mind here is where we are. The boys still require some respiratory support via the high flow nasal cannula, but they are slowly being weaned off and we hope in the next couple of weeks that they will not require further respiratory support (fingers crossed). They both have been able to maintain their temperatures since they were moved out of the isolettes last week. Aiden is now up to 44ml of milk every three hours and two of his feedings are by bottle each day. Austin is at 42ml of milk every three hours and he's still working on his sucking, swallowing and breathing techniques. Mom was able to feed him 12ml of milk from a bottle today. The nurses tell us it's just a matter of time and they both will be taking a bottle like little champs. Aiden now weighs 5lbs 9oz, and Austin is at 4lbs 10oz (nice steady weight gains for both). The final area (no apnea) is still giving the boys trouble (though not as much as in the past). As the boys continue to grow and mature and approach their original due date (May 21st) we hope the apnea episodes will subside. One final note, both boys had another eye exam today with no signs of ROP noted, which is great news. So that's where we are. Please continue to keep Aiden and Austin in your thoughts and prayers. They are truly an amazing miracle...such little fighters with so much strength and spirit. We look forward to the day we can bring them home where they belong.