Isaak is back at WakeMed

So after much discussion with many doctors, and after hours of agonizing between ourselves, Bekka and I made the decision to move little guy back to WakeMed. That transfer occurred today and he is now ensconsced in an isolette right next to his sister. We are, of course, ecstatic to have them together again and close to home. It was tough being daddy and not being able to easily see my little guy whenever I wanted, and mommy had a really difficult time being in Chapel Hill and not seeing Penelope every day. Their nurses at WakeMed were almost as excited as we were to see him again and that was very touching. It's still scary when you do this type of transfer on a baby that is so small and delicate, but we felt it was the right thing to do for us and for Isaak. Now we wait and watch them grow (together!) and hopefully stay healthy.

We must give many thanks to the doctors and nurses at UNC. Their efforts saved his little life and they have been caring for him well these last 2 1/2 weeks. Isaak isn't done with UNC, of course. He is tentatively scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday, July 13 to repair his ostomy. He'll probably be transferred back to UNC a couple of days before that and he will be there 1 to 2 weeks for recovery and GI services as they calibrate his TPN levels and feeds before coming home.

Of course, to complicate this, if Penny stays on schedule, she will probably be coming home right about the same time. Luckily we've no shortage of volunteer grandmas, aunts and friends willing to step in and babysit. Funny that.

They both had pretty good days. Isaak's was perhaps a bit better. As mentioned in the last post, Penny is experiencing anemia right now and she's been having a few more cases of "A's and B's" as the nurses call them (Apnea and bradycardia episodes). She had a couple of deep de-sats while we were there this evening. No neo-puff was needed but it was pulled out. That isn't like her at all so they'll be keeping an extra close eye out. She really hasn't been herself today - much more lethargic than normal. One thing we keep telling ourselves is this is a process with steps both forward and back. They are only 31 weeks gestational age as of today and that is pretty tiny. Little girl has also been off caffeine for about 2 weeks, which is significantly earlier than normal so she's been way ahead of the curve. We'll see how this goes.

In other news, Grandma (Bekka's mom) arrived from Oklahoma today. She couldn't wait any longer to see the babies again. She'll be with us through Saturday. (Well, I say us, but really with the little ones :)

That's all the news that is fit to print for now....