Bad News/Good News

Bad News:  Madeleine's most recent head ultrasound showed that she has developed a new bleed in one of her ventricles and in part of her brain tissue.  Possibly a result of the shunt surgery, possibly a result of the pressure change in the blood vessels now that the swelling is going down.  Not quite sure what this all means yet, but Madeleine had an MRI this morning and we should find out the results tomorrow.  Very sad and frustrating.

Good News:  Madeleine no longer needs any assistance to breathe.  This was a big shock, since she had only recently transitioned on high-flow oxygen (oxygen plus pressure, but less pressure than CPAP).  I assumed she'd still need to be on high flow for a while, but Madeleine had other ideas and let everyone know that she was so over the breathing machines.  Can't believe my little girl is breathing like a normal baby now.

Good News:  Reid also decided to ditch his CPAP and give high-flow a try.

Bad News:  He only lasted a few hours.  I felt so bad for Reid when the respiratory therapist decided it was time to put his CPAP helmet back on - Reid is so big now (4lbs 9oz) that he gets very frustrated having all that equipment on his head.  It's pretty clear that he really wants to be done with CPAP, but for now, he still needs a little extra help.

Good News Best Ever News:  We were finally able to get the twins together for a cuddle!  We knew all along that this could only happen once at least one baby was off their breathing apparatus, so once I heard that Madeleine was breathing on her own, I knew we had to try and make it happen.  Even though Matt and I had always been looking forward to the day we could have both babies together, it was obvious that neither of us was quite ready for it.  Having the babies in different rooms had somehow made it feel like we only really ever had one baby - we've only really ever had to think about or care for one baby at a time.  Holding them both made it sink in that there really are two of them, and we really will have two babies at all times for the rest of our lives.

As excited as we were to hold both babies at once, we were equally as excited to see how they would react to each other.  Up until two months ago, Reid and Madeleine had spent all their time cramped up against each other in my belly.  At the same time, and unlike most twins, they had also spent the last eight weeks completely separated.  I guess Reid didn't exactly mind the alone time though, as the first thing he did when his sister came in the room was turn his head away!  Madeleine promptly grabbed a hold of Reid's hand once we snuggled her in with us though, which we'd like to consider was a deliberate sign of love and goodwill towards her brother (though it was probably much more a product of her infant reflexes).  That was pretty much the end of their interaction however, as both babies promptly conked out for the next hour before we had to put them back in their beds.