Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Another Eye surgery

The past few days have been extremely long and eventful. Tuesday (11/10) the girls had their follow up eye exams. Rachel's eyes are looking better every week and are heading in the right direction, but Haley's left eye was not looking good. Dr. Coats was concerned that maybe her retina was detaching and recommended a retinal specialist from Texas Children's Hospital to look at it. After the specialist examined the eye, he thought it best to do another surgery, but more involved than just the laser. So Haley was transferred to Texas Children's Hospital for the surgery. The surgery was done this morning and it went well. Haley made it through the surgery just fine and the report from the doctor was better than expected. Her retina was only detaching a little and was on the corner of her eye which is a better location for that to happen than in the center of the eye. There was some scar tissue that formed after the laser surgery she had a couple of weeks ago that was pulling on her retina. The doctor originally thought the Retina was folded and had torn off a lot, but it wasn't as bad as they had expected. So we are hopeful that her eyes will heal and her vision will be spared. The doctor will check her eye in a week and the plan is for Haley to be transferred back to Woman's Hospital to be with her sister Rachel. Rachel is such a feisty little thing. Today her nurse told us that she pulled out her feeding tube and its hard to keep the prongs in her nose for the cpap. Rachel likes to move around a lot. The biggest goal we have right now for Rachel is to help her grow more. Rachel's last weight was 4 lbs 11oz. She hasn't quite hit 5 lbs yet. They have added more calories to her breast milk feeds so hopefully that will help increase her weight gain. Rachel and Haley are such little troopers. We are so proud of them.

Haley after her eye surgery. She was intubated again, but just for the surgery. They should extubate her soon and she will be on cpap again.



Rachel enjoying her pacifier. She grips that pacifier strong and can almost hold it in herself.

11 comments:

  1. Hang in there!! They are incredibly strong and I can't wait until they get more chubby and are both ready for nasal cannulas:)

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  2. I was just telling my hubby last night that you guys must have had something going on because there hadn't been any updates!! I'm so glad that everything went so well for them. I love the pictures! Haley's chubby cheeks are so cute :) And little Rachel with her binky is so sweet. I'm glad you have such wonderful doctors to care for your little ones and of course, a loving Heavenly Father to watch over them as well. Prayers for healing eyes and weight gain!!!


    Praying for you always,

    Christina McKinney

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  3. I knew that was something going on. No updates for so many days... I prayed a lot these past days and sent my ‘love vibes’ your way. Now, I’m glad to know that all is under control. I love Haley’s chubby cheeks! Rachel looks so precious in her pink outfit! Don’t worry too much about Rachel’s weight. She is stable and improving every day. She will get there! I keep all of you in my heart. All my love, Claudia

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  4. Phew! That is a lot going on! I'm glad that Haley's surgery went well. I hope she's able to be back with her sister soon - and see her clearly with both eyes!

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  5. Wow, it has been quite a week. I am sure it is hard having one Haley at one hospital and Rachel at another. Hang in there we keep you in our prayers.

    I love Rachel's fiesty little personality, it reminds me of one of my NICU babies, she did a lot of the same things :) That picture of Rachel with her binkie is so cute.

    Haley looks so big but I know it is just the picture I am sure she is still so small but growing everyday!!

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  6. So sorry..it must be hard having two babies in two different hospitals. Wishing you all the best.

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  7. doggone it! i had hoped you were just having fun rocking the girls - sorry for all the other stuff - glad they caught it before too much damage.
    every time i think of Rachel i just smile - she is such a live wire! i love fiesty!
    hope Haley does just exceptionally well in her recovery.
    they are soooo beautiful, you lucky lady!
    love, Erma from Midvale, Utah

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  8. Haley looks a bit like Thomas to me (from what I have seen in pictures). :) They are both adorable! Glad things are going ok. You seem to have some amazing doctors! Your family is so blessed!

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  9. Boy, they are getting so big! Dare I say "huge" :-) They are so adorable, you are truly blessed. I hope they come home soon.

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  10. I found your blog through someone else's blog. Your family is precious and so, so strong. I will be thinking about each of you and praying for the girls to come home very soon. My daughter was born at 25 weeks and we spent 107 days in the NICU. As I was reading through your blog it brought back so many memories.

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  11. It must be very difficult having the girls at different hospitals. Praying for you all. Thank you for sharing your story. I love the pics

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