31 weeks and counting

Liam

Chloe
Chloe

Chloe

Liam

Liam

Liam

Chloe

Chloe

Isabel

The last week with our twins has been great. They will be at 32 weeks gestation on Saturday--only 8 more weeks until they are supposed to be born! We are getting more comfortable with the hospital routine, the nurses, desk attendants and other hospital staff recognize us now and have stopped asking for our ID. We found the cafeteria (surprisingly good!) and the hospital library. Isabel even got to come to the hospital and though she wasn't allowed into the NICU she was able to sit right outside it in a hallway with Grandma Mary. Before Kelly and I went into the NICU she asked, "Mommy, will you please tell the workers that The Big Sister is here?" We did tell the babies' main nurse that "The Big Sister" was out in the hall and she went out to say hi to Isabel. The nurse talked to her for quite a few minutes and Grandma said Isabel was beaming. When we went in, Grandma held her up to the small window so she could see us scrubbing in. Seeing that cute little excited face peeking through just about killed me - I knew how bad she wanted to come inside and I was so proud of her for handling it so well. She is doing really well and finally in the last two days she's started to miss Mommy and Daddy. It only took 2 weeks of 4-8 hours/day away from us. Grandma, Grandpa, a steady stream of cousins,and Christmas are pretty good distractions.

Today Kelly got to Kangaroo our baby girl. He was really nervous to do it but he was pretty hooked by the end of his time with her. He will get to hold little boy tomorrow and he can't wait. I did take pictures and at some point I'll get them onto the computer. The pictures I've posted today are from the last week and a half. Little girl is rounder and often has a bow in her hair. Little boy has a very long, skinny face. We can now tell them apart in pictures really well but it will probably be harder for you to do. They just get cuter and cuter. They seem to be learning our voices and smells better. Little boy has been responsive from the beginning but it's taken a little longer with baby girl. She really paid attention to us the last couple days and it's been fun. Little boy did have a scare a few days ago but thankfully he's recovered well and is making progress again. He was having trouble with his digestion and they were worried about a potential infection called NEC. It's an acronym for a really long set of words I can't remember. Thankfully he didn't have NEC and after a day without food, just fluids and a blood transfusion, he seems to be doing much better.

There are several milestones that each baby needs to reach before they can go home. These include weighing at least 2000 grams, breathing on their own with no extra oxygen or nasal cannula airflow, holding their own temperature in an open crib, getting all their food from a bottle or breast, and 8 days without any apnea or bradycardia spells.

Here's how they are doing on each of those things now:

Weight - Little boy weighs 975 grams. Little girl is at 1052.

Oxygen - Little girls spends about half her day without extra oxygen and she's on 1/2 a liter of nasul cannula airflow. Little boy spends his day between 24 - 33 % oxygen (regular air is 21% oxygen) and he's on 2 liters of nasul cannula airflow.

Temperature - Both still need a lot of isolette heat to keep their body temperature. When they weigh about 2000 grams they will probably be able to do it on their own.

Food - they get all their food via a tube that goes in their noses and down into their tummies. Hopefully they will be able to start learning to eat with their mouths in a few more weeks.

As and Bs - (Apnea is when they stop breathing or breath too shallow, Bradycardia is when their hearts slow down too much) Little girl hasn't had a real spell for a few days. Little boy had a couple yesterday.

So these are the things we watch every day. They have improved in all of these just in the last 2 weeks. It's exciting to see everymorning what they weigh and find out how they are doing on all the other measures. Better get to bed now so I can get to the hospital tomorrow morning!

Jen

Kelly goes back to Seattle on Sunday which I'm not at all excited about but it has to be done. He will stay home for 2 full weeks so he can get on top of work and then come out for a weekend on 1/16 - 1/18. Hopefully he will come out every weekend after that.

Glad to see so many of you enjoying the blog. We love your comments.

Jen