Graduation Week

Big news this week from the Fratini twins. Both boys have graduated from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and have been moved to the Transitional Care Unit also know as the Step Down unit. This is great news and it means the boys are stable enough that they do not require the intensive round-the-clock care that is required for NICU patients. Anthony was moved up on Monday and Alex was moved up on Wednesday. They are now sharing a private room in the Step Down Unit. Mom is spending as much time as she can there including spending the night in the boys' room.

The goal of the Step Down unit is to get the boys ready to go home. The first goal is the boys need to be removed from the caffeine they are receiving and to prove that they can go a week without heart rate or breathing spells. The second goal is the boys need to be receiving all of their feedings via bottle or breast also for a given period of time. When these goals are met, the boys will be released. We have not been given a timeline for their release because it is so different for each baby. It will be at least several weeks at the earliest.

The boys are still hooked up to monitors at all times to measure heart rate, breathing rate, and blood oxygen levels. Alex is still in an isolette and he is still receiving a little extra oxygen via an oxygen hood which is like a little tent which encloses the upper half of his body. Alex has not started bottle or breast feedings yet, but that should start this week. Anthony is doing well in his crib and he has been breathing on his own for close to a week. Anthony has also been bottle feeding successfully several times a day and his feeding tube should be removed shortly.