Week 2

Liv and Will are doing great! They have both been off CPAP for a full week now, so they are eligible to move to a Level 2 NICU (I'll talk more about this later). They are both off IV, so the only thing they really have now is the feeding tube (plus the monitors). Liv is finally above her birth weight, weighing in at a whopping 3 lbs 9 oz. Will has been a bit up and down this past week, but nothing to worry about. He's now at 3 lbs 10.5 oz. They both are wearing clothes now - my favorites are ones that say "I love Mommy". I've changed many diapers (we have to fold over the newborn size because they are so big on them). Will even tried to pee on me today, but I outsmarted him and caught it before he made a mess!

They both are having occasional "spells", as they call it, where they forget to breathe, and their heart rate drops. This is common with preemies their age, but I still hate to see it. They will usually correct it themselves, but sometimes they forget, and have to be tapped to wake them up so they remember to breathe. They're adding some caffiene to the breast milk to help with the stimulation - something they might be on for weeks. Hey...many adults need that cup of joe to get going in the morning, right?...no different for Will and Liv, I guess!

I hold them both every day at least once (usually more) for an hour or so, typically doing what they call "kangarooing"...this is where they lay on my chest skin-to-skin...it's a very special bonding time for us! They are both starting to "root", but they are still to young for true breast-feeding, because they will not develop a gag reflex for a couple more weeks.

There's a parent's room at the NICU, and I stayed there for the first time last night. It was so great to get to see them throughout the night. It's amazing how attached I've gotten to these little babes, and it gets harder each time I have to leave them to come home. Brent and I are going tomorrow to look at a couple of hospitals that have a Level 2 NICU, since they now qualify. If we can get them closer to home, it will make it much easier to go back and forth, and allow me to spend more time with them, rather than on the road.

Brent is just now over his cold, so he'll finally get to see them again tomorrow afternoon. Poor guy - it's been a week since he's seen them! I can't imagine...

I don't have a lot of pictures to share yet - it's hard to get good pictures when they're in the incubators or when I'm holding them. Now that their daddy can start going again, we'll hopefully start to get some more pictures to share. The picture below is the first time Will and Liv have been reunited since birth! It looks like Liv is turning to Will saying "what the heck happened??".