Big news today - Clara and Wilson had their Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) lines removed. A PICC line is long, slender, small, flexible tube that is inserted into a peripheral vein, typically in the upper arm, and advanced until the catheter tip terminates in a large vein in the chest near the heart to obtain intravenous access. Clara's PICC line was in her head and Wilson's was in his arm. They are now getting their IV fluids through the feeding tube. It will be much easier for us to get them out of the isolette to hold them now that they are down to two tubes- oxygen and the feeding tube.
Speaking of feedings, Clara is up to 16ccs/3 hours and Wilson is at 17cc/3hours. Although the amount of their feedings is increasing, they still are not gaining weight as quickly as the doctors would like, (typical in preemies). Chris's breast milk was analyzed in the nutrition lab to determine the amount of protein and calories in each ounce. The average is 20 calories/ounce and the typical range is 16 - 34 calories/ounce. Chris's milk only has 16 calories/ounce. As our friends put it tonight, she is more of a meat cow less of a dairy cow. Hey, we all have our strengths. Starting this week, they will fortify her breast milk to help the babies grow.
Chris held Wilson after his 9am assessment. He loves to put his hands on his face! If you look closely, you can see he is gaining weight because his fingers look just the slightest bit chubby. When he was born, his fingers were very long and skinny!
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