Sleeping and Growing

Sorry it has been so long with no news. This motherhood stuff is exhausting, and the girls aren't even home yet! At least when they come home I won't have to worry about driving back and forth to the hospital.

The girls are doing great, and we can't wait for them to come home. They were moved to the Special Care Nursery at Durham Regional on December 30th. Since they have been there, every other baby in their room has gone home. They now have the room all to themselves, and we are encouraged by seeing so many babies getting to go home.

Both girls are now in basinettes, controlling their own body temperature. Elzi weighs 3 pounds, 9 ounces and Lilly weighs 4 pounds, 3 ounces. They are gaining weight very quickly, especially since they are only taking 2 or 3 bottle feeds per day instead of every other feed. They had not been finishing their bottle feeds and were just getting too tired, so they decreased the number of bottle feeds to allow them to rest and grow. The rest of their feeds are given to them through their NG tubes.

We are practicing breastfeeding daily with the lactation consultant. Each girl only practices for ten minutes, so they don't get worn out. Both girls are doing well so far, latching on and sucking. Elzi was even able to swallow some. Hopefully, both girls will continue to make progress on the feeding front this week. From what I understand, they must be able to take all feeds orally (by bottle or breast) for 24 hours in order to come home. Let's hope they are able to that this week!