Both of the girls are doing great. They have been moved to the “Feed and Grow” area of the NICU. This means they no longer require the same level of critical care and are basically in a holding room while they learn to eat and add a few ounces of weight. Eating takes a lot out of these girls so they sometimes require a little help from their feeding tubes to get the required amount of milk.
The big question is “When will they come home?” We still have no idea. The basic requirements are that they finish all of their bottles for a 24 hour period and that it be at least 6 days since their last bradycardic episode. For us non-medical people, this is when heart rate drops for no apparent reason. It only lasts a short time and they show no other signs of distress. According to the medical staff, this is common in preemies and they should grow out of it soon. Both girls had these episodes over the weekend so it will be at least a week before they come home.
The girls are finally starting to gain some weight. Tonight Cora weighed in at 4 pounds, 11 ounces (over birth weight!) while Caroline weighed in at a scrappy 4 pounds, 5 ounces.
I am tired! I definitely expected this when they came home, but I completely underestimated how much working, visiting the hospital, and pumping breast milk would take out of me. I know you think April is doing all the work, but I feel like I wash 3,000 pieces of pump equipment per day. April basically pumps every 3 hours, 24-hours a day. I had no idea that we would have to wake up twice in the night to feed the girls BEFORE they ever made it home from the hospital.
Finally, Princess Mommy is doing very well. While she is tired like me, she is gaining strength and feeling more like her old self every day. As you can imagine, she is spending many hours a day hanging out with our girls in the NICU and can’t wait to get them home.
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