Can you hear me now?

Having preemies is a nerve-wracking experience fraught with worry, speculation, and concern. Sometimes we fret over legitimate problems but other times we unnecessarily whip ourselves into a frenzy. Yesterday presented an example of the latter.

Our friend Christian came to the hospital to see the kids. As we updated her on how they were doing, Chris mentioned that she had been worried about Wilson's auditory ability until the nurses told her it was difficult to tell whether a young infant could hear. When telling Christian this, Chris looked at Morgan and admitted she hadn't wanted to worry him, but she had been talking into Wilson's ear with little to no response. She was worried about Wilson possibly being deaf but didn't want to stress out Morgan by putting something else on his plate.

Morgan laughed and responded by telling Chris he had the same worries! Morgan admitted even singing into Wilson's ear (the UK fight song and the Phish song "Wilson") and receiving no signs of recognition. Chris and Morgan were both tickled by the fact they were worried but didn't think the other had thought of the possibility Wilson could have sensory problems. However, it was Christian (a wonderful mother of two) who put the moment in perspective. She roughly said, "you all are crazy! Of course you don't think he can hear, he's an infant! And poor Wilson, he's probably thinking 'why do these people keep yelling in my ear!?!'"

We feel we know a lot about preemies but have a lot to learn about babies. And as the kids continue to grow, we need to learn quickly.

In other news, it seems the chronic diuretics are helping Clara. She is down to 25% oxygen from the 35% she was back up to a few days ago. She aslo seems to have a little more energy and was able to nurse for 15 minutes yesterday before passing out. Unfortunately she is not gaining weight, but that is not surprising since she no longer receives Prolacta (the human fortifier used to enrich her feedings - see our post below for more info on awesome power of Prolacta). 

Clara is also managing to be a good sport in the MRSA room. The poor girl has the loudest neighbor; it's amazing she can sleep in there. We jokingly told Clara we would bring in ear plugs but a nurse overheard and said they actually have preemie ear muffs to block sound! Although we joke about it, the situation is really sad. Clara's neighbor is going through withdrawal (or at least we think) and it breaks our heart for that little baby.

Listen pal, you are really loud. Talk to my hand because my ears aren't listening.

This lady doesn't know what she's doing.
I'll play along - weeeeeee!

Wilson is doing really well with his feedings. He took a bottle filled with 1 ounce 10 ccs of milk yesterday in under 10 minutes. He is a vigorous eater but is completely wiped out after eating. While he is eating well, he is not gaining much weight either. Since Wilson also finished his supply of Prolacta, the fix for this will be more food . . . which doesn't look like it will be a problem for Wilson. 

I love to eat. I'm so full and happy.