...Both babies had sonograms early this morning (yesterday) to ascertain their brain development. Learned the results this afternoon. Given that the blood vessels to their brains are fragile and barely developed, Evie has a little blood on the outside of her blood vessels. In medical terms this is graded as a "1," the least severe. Holden, however, has a little more blood on the outside of his blood vessels and some has seeped into the brain. The amount of blood around his blood vessels is graded as a "2" and the amount of blood that has seeped into his brain is graded as a "4," the most severe. The doctor assured us that it's still early and he is not worried at this point. Multiple sonograms will be performed on their little brains over the next several months with the 2nd sonogram scheduled this Friday, 6.18.10.I can only imagine the mixed bag of emotions this family is experiencing. I know they've felt the highs and hallelujahs associated with deepest gratitude, and I'm guessing there are also the occasional bouts of fear and concern about how this journey will progress and how quickly Megan will bounce back from the trauma she's endured.
Megan's day started well. She is now able to piece together several words to form short sentences! At times her brain cannot recall facts, (i.e., she stated that she had eggs and toast for breakfast, which she did not; she did not recognize a picture of Holden and Evie this afternoon and that upset Kreig). She made such huge progress between Monday and Tuesday that Kreig wants her recovery to continue at that pace, but she simply is not going to. His head understands, but his heart is having a more difficult time accepting that one. He hasn't lost faith, he's just anxious for his wife to recover and meet their babies.
In addition to Tuesday's milestone, another one was reached late today. Megan was able to pump breast milk so that it can be fed to Evie Caroline and Holden. Breast milk is vital at this point in the babies' growth as Megan's milk would have been feeding them if they were still in her womb. They need the nutrients. The next few days are especially critical in this area as Evie and Holden's bodies may not easily accept the milk. Keep in mind, it's not the milk itself that can be an issue, it's the process of administering the milk. At 26 weeks babies are supposed to still be in Megan's womb. The nurses will place a very small amount on each baby's lip and monitor their reaction. If all goes well milk will be placed in their mouths. This baby-step process will continue for a few days until the nurses determine that the milk can be fed via a feeding tube into each baby's stomach.
Thank goodness Megan is hard-headed, strong-willed, and a fighter as it's these character traits that enabled her babies to grow inside her an extra 10 days and also brought her back to us! However, that fiesty girl became impatient tonight and wanted to use the bathroom in her room. Megan has a few tubes that connect her to various objects, (i.e., catheter, IV, etc.) yet she wanted to find her mom who she knew would take her to use a real facility. Thankfully the nurses at the station saw her just as she stood up and was falling, but did not make it to the room to catch her. Fortunately, God caught her as she does not have an visible signs of breaking, ripping of staples, etc. Let's pray that there are no internal injuries. As a result, Megan now has to have someone in the room with her at all times..
If you're checking for updates here it's probably because you feel as compelled as I do to keep on praying fervently, so until the Caringbridge site is up and running I'll continue to share what I know so that we can all pray specifically for the Bells!
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