Megan Groen: Team Sage & Gemma

Dear Family and Friends, near and far,

Almost 10 days have passed since the last update - and as the old adage goes, "No News is Good News." The girls have hit most of their major milestones earlier on, so the past 10 days have been about giving the girls time to grow and get stronger. The doctors keep saying that this period is just about being patient and waiting, which we are getting very good at! Tomorrow, the girls reach their 33-week gestational age - lots of developing still to do. But it's been amazing how much progress has been made since their birth!

Celebratory crafts from our night nurses :-)

Sage and Gemma have been keeping up with their new Oxygen level requirements so there has been no need to go back on any kind of breathing supports! They tend to do much better when they lay sleeping on their tummies (which sounds surprising and scary for anyone who has had experience with newborns.) Apparently with Preemies, laying on their backs can cause too much gravity on their little lungs to expand upwards sufficiently which decreases their Oxygen levels and makes breathing challenging. Laying downward allows gravity to do the work of drawing the lungs down to expand. Once they hit full-term, they'll be on their backs like most newborns are.

Little by little, the girls are gaining weight. At this point, Sage weighs 3 lbs, 6 oz. Gemma weighs 3 lbs, 7 oz. Once they hit approximately the 4 pound mark, they will be able to have the open-top isolettes, as they will be able to better regulate their body temperature. Right now, the girls would be outputting too much energy if they were required to keep warm on their own. When they do hit this milestone, they will also be able to co-sleep in the same crib! We're really looking forward to this!

We've continued to enjoy our skin-to-skin time with the babes, as well as the occasional bath-time, and the daily breastfeeding sessions. The girls have been more alert and social this past week. They open their big dark eyes and love to look at all the sights. We've also had a lot of company this week - friends and family from Seattle and Portland have come to meet the girls.

Gemma on top; Sage on bottom

Next week, the Occupational Therapists will being working with the girls. If the girls were still in utero, they would be tucked tightly into the fetal position and have distinct borders that they could not cross (aka, my skin). Because they were born about 8-10 weeks early, these positions and borders aren't naturally occurring anymore, so we have to do our best to recreate them with blankets and squishy, moldable pads. Even still, it's not as effective as in the womb. Preemies often lack flexion, which is how the muscles known to draw themselves back in. Imagine extending your arm or your leg, and not knowing how to flex it back in toward your body. This neurological development is something that has to be taught and practiced so that the girls don't develop a lack of muscle tone. So far, the doctors and nurses say that the girls are doing really well making these brain-to-muscle connections on their own, but we will still will work with the specialists to get advice and information.

As we transition into the new month, continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We are about half-way there! As always, things can change, but the projected time for going home is the end of October - (at which point we will have a huge party!) We love hearing from you and if you haven't already, we look forward to you meeting Sage and Gemma, our stars!

Sage