Two Weeks Old!

In just a few minutes, Si and JB will be two weeks old. We can't believe it!

The boys are getting bigger and stronger every day. After gradually decreasing the oxygen and pressure settings on their breathing apparatus for several days, the boys both stopped using breathing assistance altogether. They've both been breathing room air all on their own for three days now, and are doing great.

They've also both been "eating" more and more; Si is now getting 100% of his nutrition through his stomach. He has one more day to go in his 10-day protocol and will be at his full-size feedings every three hours. JB is a day behind Si and doing well. They are both still getting their milk through a gavage (feeding tube), but they are nearing the age where their sucking and swallowing reflexes will be strong enough for them to start to actually eat on their own.

They're getting bigger now too. They were both born weighing about 3 pounds and dropped down to about 2 1/2 pounds in the first few days - it's normal for all babies to lose some water weight right after birth. They both passed their original birth weights in the last couple days and now weigh around 3 pounds 2 ounces.

You can start to see that weight in their cheeks. They were born looking incredibly like little old men - now they're starting to look like babies. It also helps that they have all the breathing apparatus away from their faces. They've been having longer and more pronounced periods of alertness at feeding time. They'll hold on to a parent's finger super tight and look around and take everything in.

Suzanne is getting stronger too. She went to the doc last week to get her blood pressure checked and do a general post-op check-in and got all thumbs up. They're so confident about her health at this point that they scheduled her next appointment three weeks out! She's pretty much out of the woods on the pre-eclampsia and related issues. Her main issues now are recovering from a major surgery and adjusting to a schedule of producing milk every three hours.

All their grandparents and several of their uncles and aunts have been able to meet the boys and we can't wait to introduce them to the rest of our family and friends. It's still difficult to meet them, however. They'll be in the NICU for another week or so and still in the hospital until some time around their due date (Dec 3). Visitors need to be with us and we're limited to one accompanying visitor per child at a time. Unfortunately, it's not set up so you can look through a window at them, so it's not much use to go to the hospital without us. We are going for a 2-hour visit a couple times a day, so please do drop us a line to arrange to go with us.

Thanks again to everyone for all the calls, notes, and generous gifts. We're counting our blessings every single day. We'll get some newer photos posted soon.