The increased feeding from yesterday showed an increase in Grace's weight, now up to 4lbs, 10oz. William hit the 5lbs mark! At least one more preemie outfit is getting tight for William. Dr Steve is monitoring the kids for hernias -- and William may be on the way to having one. David, when he was a little, had a hernia and then as a big boy, after we married, had a triple hernia. It seems that hernias are fairly common with preemies as can be maladies with their eyes (in part because of receiving oxygen after birth although the kids got very little). Next week a specialized ophthalmologist will examine the babes' retinas.

Lee, the lead nurse at CCN, suggested that we try some positive reinforcement with the babes related to breastfeeding. So, as strange as it sounds, a nose tube (very small) is connected to a bottle with pumped breastmilk. The tube is then placed under my breast shield and each rugrat then sucks like normal (at least for them) and wow, they get milk. We used this technique this morning with each baby and we had success -- in fact, perhaps too much success. Grace choked a bit (choked is too strong of a term) but she recovered nicely!

Earlier this week, the "hospital vampire" took blood for Factor V Leiden and we learned today that both Grace and William are positive for the heterozygous (on one gene) presence of the Leiden mutation (just like their Mom). There are several Leiden mutations, with the kids having the Factor V R506Q mutation. The everyday term for the Leiden mutation is thrombophilia. It is more common than we realize, with almost one in ten people in the US carrying one copy of the mutation, causing increased risk for clotting. Pertaining to William, the Leiden mutation may actually confound the hemophilia (i.e., he may have less bleeds, perhaps like his maternal grandfather) [Reference: Haemophilia and thrombophilia: an unexpected association! March 17, 2004 Y. Dargaud et al - Haemophilia (2004), 10, 319-326)]. With Grace, we will wait as it seems that the mutation affects women mostly when taking estrogen (i.e., taking birth control pills) or at pregnancy (i.e., when the body produces more estrogen) -- and of course, that will be decades away from now!

We wish, though, as you can imagine that we are finished with the diagnoses. We just want the babes to eat, grow and come home.

We're signing off to enjoy a yummy dinner from Anne.

Love to you all,

David, Victoria, Grace and William

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